[time-nuts] End of Range Oscilloquartz 8600-3

[Magnus Danielson]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the pictures. I had to change the dewar flask on one of mine, 
so I saw about the same thing some 10 years ago or so, but memory.
Didn't go all the way into the oscillator.

The oscillator picture is mirrored.

Cheers,
Magnus

On 12/12/2017 06:32 PM, Ed Palmer wrote:
> It sounds like yours is different from my 8601.  How old is yours? From 
> the label inside it looks like mine is from 1983.
> 
> Internal pictures are here:
> 
> http://s701.photobucket.com/user/edpalmer42/library/Oscilloquartz%208601%20Oscillator 
> 
> 
> If you click on 'view as story' you'll see some comments that I added to 
> the pictures.
> 
> Ed
> 
> On 2017-12-12 11:00 AM, <ulf_r_k at yahoo.com>  wrote:
>> Emailed Oscilloquartz that now has another name: Advaoptical... This 
>> in my capacity as aresearch engineer at Onsala Space Observatory.And 
>> the oscillator is at my work bench. Nothingprivate/hobby about this.
>> The answer was that since we do not have a service agreement,they 
>> would not disclose any information.
>> (Compare this with Keysight who has a free downlad area for 
>> oldmanuals. IMO the Keysight approach benifits their businessin the 
>> long term).
>> So...
>> I went along and started to dissassemble the 8600-3.
>> The outer case was easy. Inside is a PCB with RF buffersand 
>> temperature regulation circuitry.
>> Then there is a thermo bottle with the ovenized oscillator.This unit 
>> is connected to the PCB using two flex cables.
>> The oscillator unit can simply be extracted from thebottle using an 
>> Metric 3 mm screw lightly screwed inone of the holes in the oscillator 
>> assembly.
>> The assembly can be accessed by carfully unscrewingthe flex-cable end 
>> from the other mechanics. No needto touch the three small screws at 
>> the lid.
>> Now it is starting to get intersting. I have not foundthe RF wiring 
>> into the crystal. The PCB in this unitseems to deal only with 
>> temperature regulation.Possibly, the RF is routed together with some 
>> heaterwinding.
>> Or the crystal and the oscillator parts is sealedin such a way that 
>> there will be no wayto dissassemble it. There are several 
>> thermistorsglued inside to various parts of the 
>> oscillator/ovenassembly. That will make any further attemptsdifficult 
>> as the connecting wires are thin and delicateif they needs to be 
>> unsoldered.
>> The construction is a nice piece of engineering.I'll give them that.
>> Right now, I cannot see any typical oscillatorcircuitry (pF, nH, RF 
>> transistors) etc.
>> I think I'll contemplate on the next movefor a day or so...
>>
>> Ulf Kylenfall
>>
>>
> 
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