I believe the reason the steel springs in the front panel button mechanisms break or dislodge and have excessive “snap” is because of accumulated dirt in the area where the spring and plastic contact one another. I used Deoxit F5 spray for faders and pots to restore consistent feel and lighten the snap action of the buttons, without disassembling the unit. Examining your video, I can see that spraying into the gap at the upper third of the right side of each key cap will direct the cleaner/lubricant into the spring assembly. A small shot of F5 was enough to clean and lightly lube the contact surfaces. Be sure to use F5, as D5 lacks the needed lubricant to restore the feel of the key action. Should prevent future damage to the keys.
I have the HP 5343A (26.5 GHz). Both of these counters can use the 10544A and 10811A ovens since they are pin compatible. I recently acquired a HP 5343A and discovered that the 10811A's trimmer cap had come lose making adjustment impossible, the fix was just re-tightening the jam nut on the trimmer. Other than the cut of the crystal the 10544A uses a heating wire, the 10811A uses a pair of transistors to heat the crystal enclosure and has better long term drift.
Hi. Great job making those videos. Finally you can learn something. Not like this Fake EEV BLOG or Mr. Carlson looking for suckers who pay membership- to make revenue. You are the pro who has electronics background. Please keep making more videos. You are the one who should have thousands of views. Looks like there is never appreciation for for smart people.
Great video! I recently picked up one of these with only the HPIB interface option equipped. I ordered a 10811-60111 oscillator from ebay to upgrade from the TCXO. Mine has the add-on LED in the bottom left corner of the front panel, as a few of yours do. I know there is an OVN annunciator on the right of the LED display. This extra LED illuminates whenever AC power is connected to the unit. Does this LED mirror the OVN annunciator, or does it just verify power is applied to the oven when in standby?
It is actually a problem that those buttons are clicking. It is very easy to fix: wash that part of the board in alclhol and put some lubrication on the switches. The HP 8568A spectrum analyzer has exactly the same kind of buttons, terrible clicking. After cleaning and lubrication, they are good as new. Compeletly silent.
You are correct. I believe the buttons on my HP 438A are the same type but they are very quiet. I'll have to look at it again sometime. The front panel of the 5342A is quite finicky though, I'm not looking forward to it.
Yes the 5343A had a frequency extension to 26 Ghz I believe. Some boards may be inter-changable but I haven't looked into it much. This is where the manual is your friend.
Hi. Love your videos, you can learn something from them. Looks like you have electronics background . I have Hp 5342 with option 005 . Do you know what this option is? Couldn’t find anything in manual.
The only options for the 5342A I see in the manual are 001, 002, 003, 004 and 010. The 005 may be a later frequency extension option to bring it up to 26 GHz (aka the 5343A). Thanks for the comment.
I believe the reason the steel springs in the front panel button mechanisms break or dislodge and have excessive “snap” is because of accumulated dirt in the area where the spring and plastic contact one another. I used Deoxit F5 spray for faders and pots to restore consistent feel and lighten the snap action of the buttons, without disassembling the unit. Examining your video, I can see that spraying into the gap at the upper third of the right side of each key cap will direct the cleaner/lubricant into the spring assembly. A small shot of F5 was enough to clean and lightly lube the contact surfaces. Be sure to use F5, as D5 lacks the needed lubricant to restore the feel of the key action. Should prevent future damage to the keys.
I have the HP 5343A (26.5 GHz). Both of these counters can use the 10544A and 10811A ovens since they are pin compatible. I recently acquired a HP 5343A and discovered that the 10811A's trimmer cap had come lose making adjustment impossible, the fix was just re-tightening the jam nut on the trimmer. Other than the cut of the crystal the 10544A uses a heating wire, the 10811A uses a pair of transistors to heat the crystal enclosure and has better long term drift.
Thanks for the comment. Now that you mention I do remember the heating element difference. Glad to hear that you fixed your 5343.
Hi. Great job making those videos. Finally you can learn something. Not like this Fake EEV BLOG or Mr. Carlson looking for suckers who pay membership- to make revenue. You are the pro who has electronics background. Please keep making more videos. You are the one who should have thousands of views. Looks like there is never appreciation for for smart people.
Great video!
I recently picked up one of these with only the HPIB interface option equipped. I ordered a 10811-60111 oscillator from ebay to upgrade from the TCXO. Mine has the add-on LED in the bottom left corner of the front panel, as a few of yours do. I know there is an OVN annunciator on the right of the LED display. This extra LED illuminates whenever AC power is connected to the unit. Does this LED mirror the OVN annunciator, or does it just verify power is applied to the oven when in standby?
It is actually a problem that those buttons are clicking. It is very easy to fix: wash that part of the board in alclhol and put some lubrication on the switches. The HP 8568A spectrum analyzer has exactly the same kind of buttons, terrible clicking. After cleaning and lubrication, they are good as new. Compeletly silent.
You are correct. I believe the buttons on my HP 438A are the same type but they are very quiet. I'll have to look at it again sometime. The front panel of the 5342A is quite finicky though, I'm not looking forward to it.
I got dizzy from camera movement
I’m sorry to hear that that. Sometimes it can’t be helped but I do try and use the tripod when I can. Thanks for the comment.
What about hp 5343A. Can you swap parts from hp 5342A to hp5342A? They look alike. Only 43 is higher frequency count?
Yes the 5343A had a frequency extension to 26 Ghz I believe. Some boards may be inter-changable but I haven't looked into it much. This is where the manual is your friend.
Hi. Love your videos, you can learn something from them. Looks like you have electronics background . I have Hp 5342 with option 005 .
Do you know what this option is?
Couldn’t find anything in manual.
The only options for the 5342A I see in the manual are 001, 002, 003, 004 and 010. The 005 may be a later frequency extension option to bring it up to 26 GHz (aka the 5343A). Thanks for the comment.