> We are having trouble getting beam current on our #2 HP5061B. Ion > current has gone down in a week from 10 to zero. It looks like the rf > chain is working normally. Both HV power supplies had to repaired. > Beam current is all the way up and which gives 2 on the meter. We are > preparing to do the Low Frequency Coil test mentioned on page 5-22 > section 5-175. > > I got this idea from that procedure. On our good #1 instrument we set > the beam current at 20 with normal lock. The middle coax J2 which > carries 12.631 mc to the harmonic generator was removed next. The > beam current instantly dropped to 2. We set the beam current with the > front panel control at 10 to 30 and all three settings dropped about > 10 to one when the cable was pulled. This ratio seems to be a good > indicator of beam tube quality.
Other useful cues are the effect on the beam current when you turn the modulation off -- it should rise a bit -- and the stability of the meter needle in the beam-current position as an indicator of tube noise. In that regard, excess noise from A13CR1 could potentially be mistaken for noise in the tube itself. It could stand a bit more bypassing IMHO. > I don't see it in the manual, but the > fine five turn pot oscillator control works much better than the > course adjustment for setting peak beam current. It also works better > for setting the control voltage to zero. The push to turn course > frequency control slot has been chewed up by the previous owner. It's a good idea to remove that contraption altogether. You don't want anything poking into the 10811's trimmer access hole or otherwise touching it. Drill a hole in the panel that will let you reach the 10811's trimmer directly with an alignment tool. It will then be easy to follow the guidelines in the manual -- i.e., set the OCXO trimmer to the central peak with the pot at 250. The intent was probably to achieve a consistent operating point at a linear spot in the EFC curve, while discouraging technicians from setting the 5-turn pot near either extreme. By specifying a midscale setting for the pot, they were able to maintain a consistent damping factor between units while incidentally making it easier to return to the central peak after any temporary adjustments. The 10811-60109s are all labeled with a factory-selected resistor value for the same reason. Overkill, but that's how HP rolled. -- john, KE5FX Miles Design LLC _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
