[volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice

[Paul Fox]

thanks joe, and to the other couple of people who responded privately. 
i need to figure out how much of a project i want this to be, and how
it ranks against all the other projects that i also don't have time
for.  :-)

i have the full users manual (two copies!), but i don't have anything
else that speaks GPIB.  i'll play with some of the front panel
commands you've suggested, while i think about what to do.  thanks!

paul

j. l. trantham wrote:
 > Paul,
 > 
 > First, the meter is worth something if nothing other than parts.  It is
 > quite a meter and you should at least open it up and see what it might take
 > to get it operational again.  I am sure there are folks on this list
 > (including me) that would love to have the meter if you want to part with
 > it.
 > 
 > It is still in production, still supported and you can get the manuals from
 > the Agilent website.  The assembly level repair manual should be able to
 > give you an idea of where the problem is.  The CLIP is available and you
 > might be able to find the specific part (or parts) that need replacing.
 > 
 > I don't know of a way to get the serial number if there is no sticker on the
 > back.  You can open it and look at the date codes on the chips, etc., and
 > get an idea of when it was manufactured.
 > 
 > You can enter some queries from the front panel to get some other
 > information.  I can't remember what they all are but if they end in a '?',
 > it will return the data.  Things like 'OPT?' will tell what options are
 > installed, '1' being extended memory and '2' being the high stability
 > reference.  You can tell how many times it was CAL'd, what version of
 > firmware it has, etc.  I think version 9 is the latest and version 8 is 'out
 > there' somewhere, IIRC.  If you just start with shift A and scroll down the
 > list, you can see what questions you can ask.
 > 
 > Agilent offers a 'repair service' for about $1900 (IIRC) that will put it
 > back in operational condition, up to specs, and with a fresh calibration.
 > However, I don't know if that service requires a serial number or not.
 > 
 > There is a guy at the Agilent calibration center in Colorado, Gary Bierman,
 > and he is 'the man' when it comes to that meter.  I have spoken with him in
 > the past about other 3458A questions and he was most helpful.  I suspect he
 > would be more than willing to talk to you about the meter and what it might
 > take to get it up and running.
 > 
 > I think his contact information is in the archives if you would like to
 > pursue that.
 > 
 > Good luck.
 > 
 > Joe
 > 
 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
 > Behalf Of Paul Fox
 > Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:50 AM
 > To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement
 > Subject: [volt-nuts] hp 3458a advice
 > 
 > hi --
 > 
 > i'm not a volt-nuts regular, and not even a precision measurement nut
 > at all, but given past discussion in the list archives, i think you
 > folks might be able to help.
 > 
 > i was recently given an HP 3458a multimeter.  the donor thought it
 > worked when he last used it, but that was quite a long time ago, and i
 > think it was stored in an attic for some time, so i'm not too
 > surprised that it now doesn't pass self tests. :-/  he mainly wanted
 > it out of his house, along with a bunch of other vintage (sadly mostly
 > non-working) equipment he'd accumulated over the years.
 > 
 > the self-test error is:
 >     ERRSTR 204, "Hardware Failure -- Flatness DAC Convergence: 198"
 > 
 > judging from past list traffic, repairs on these units are 
 > expensive, and it would still need recalibration to be useful, and
 > there are may be other parts (eeproms?) that may not be good
 > any more.  i'm not really interested in pursuing any of this
 > myself.
 > 
 > what's worse is that the unit doesn't have a serial number.  (i assume
 > the s/n would normally be obvious on the rear of the unit.)  it bears a
 > sticker on the back that says "MTG PROTO 27".  i think the unit came
 > from a place that themselves produced reference standards, and they
 > may have gotten a very early model from HP to work with.  that's
 > conjecture.  i haven't opened the unit, so i don't know if there are
 > other clues to its age inside.
 > 
 > so:  is this machine useful to anyone?  given the error message above,
 > are there any measurements at all that it might still get correct, in
 > it's current state?
 > 
 > paul
 > =---------------------
 >  paul fox, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 63.1 degrees)
 > 
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=---------------------
 paul fox, pgf at foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 48.4 degrees)