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HP Agilent 8590A RF attenuator fault

I've got an Agilent Analyser which appears to have developed a fault with the 10dB attenuator resistor or relay contact (poss. sticky relay?) which is hampering operation of the unit when front-end attenuation is needed to pad the level down on an incoming signal. It also affects the unit's RF level self-cal so I've not been able to auto-calibrate it for a period of time.

I suspect either a resistor has gone o/c, has a dry joint or the relay has a sticky contact. Has anyone experience of this and does someone have a copy of the unit's service manual for schematic references etc? It shouldn't take long to sort but wouldn't mind a .PDF of the manual to hand for this and further problems I might encounter in the future.

Cheers

Neil.

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Neil
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Neil

Take the cover off of the attenuator to reveal the solenoid side of things. Each section/solenoid has "Y" contacts made from springy wire. These contacts must function correctly if the solenoid is to do so. Try stepping a good section to see how it should work. Compare with the

10 dB section. It is very possible that the "Y" has a problem and that you can see what it is. That was a problem with some of those attenuators.

Unless you determine that there's actually a problem with the 10 dB section itself, you shouldn't need to dig into the RF path. If there is, you can follow generally the same comparative method to figure out what's wrong. They can be safely disassembled and reassembled if one uses care.

Glenn

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Glenn

Cheers Glenn, I'll give that a go over the weekend. I'm sure when I first saw it that it was probably a common fault with the attenuator section.

Neil

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Neil

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