| BARRY FONE MUSIC |
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| A somewhat belated journey into the "present" technology - setting up my digital bench / study / playroom lab deal thing |
| If you've gotten this far into my website, by now you're probably thinking I'm a hopeless nerd with a little mad scientist mixed in, a wandering soul with no real life outside of electronics. And you would be correct! Well, except for the fact that I do have some loose connection to a domestic life - after all, the wife is a great cook and I love to eat, and I've even been known to hang out and watch TV with her between my many and varied excursions into the unknown worlds of electronics I haven't yet taken the time to learn. That's something, isn't it? Someday, if she decides to take a trip to visit her family members, I may have to learn how to operate the kitchen faucets, find the Banquet TV Dinner aisle at the store, and maybe even throw a load of laundry into that weird machine with the big knob - the house vibrator? The fact is, when I'm not fixing stuff at work or at home, I'm probably reading one of my more than 500 books on electronics, or otherwise trying to expand my knowledge of such. This brings us to my current project - setting up my digital electronics playroom and study area. |
| So far, I have an HP 1660C (136 Channel Logic Analyzer), and HP 8016A Word Generator, a Tektronix 318 (32 Channel Logic Analyzer), a couple Lab-Volt Logic Trainers, a Digiac 3013KD Logic Trainer (not pictured here), and a few other toys such as a Triple Output Power Supply, Pulse Generator, 2.4 Gig Frequency Counter, Fluke Bench Multimeter, and let's not forget the most important thing - VCR and DVD players to watch my favorite old movies while I play around. |
| A Closer Look |
| Ahhhhh, my beloved HP 1660C, a 136 Channel Logic Analyzer. Using this, I can monitor the logic state of 136 points in a given circuit at the same time, to check for proper timing of the many signals running into a microprocessor or other digital circuit. This cool gem also has jacks for a keyboard and mouse, and only cost me about $320. The manuals, cables and connectors, however, cost me another $800 |
On a much smaller scale, here is my Tektronix 318, a 32 Channel Logic Analyzer. I use this one for smaller challenges, or when I'm afraid of blowing up my 1660 by not knowing what the heck I'm doing. This analyzer has such a tiny screen, it has a composite video output jack, which I connect to an old color monitor originally designed for use with the Commodore 64 computer system. This was my first Logic Analyzer, and I soon realized I want more channels. |
| My HP 8016A Word Generator. This generates sets of complex logic signals called "words", for troubleshooting and testing the performance of complex digital circuits, microprocessors, etc. I was extremely lucky in that this entire unit seems to be in perfect working order, and came from Boeing. Since it was used in Avionics (hey that's my line of work!), it was kept in meticulous calibration. Sitting on top is a Victor 2.4 GHz Frequency Counter, which should be fast enough for any digital work. |
separate supply voltages (+15V, -15 V and +5 V), this Systron Donner Triple Output Supply works great for my needs and also works for most op amp type analog experimenting. I chose the Systron Donner Pulse Generator over my HP 8012 for this application, mainly just because its physical cosmetics match the Power Supply better. As soon as possible, I'll be replacing the Tektronix 2465 4 Channel scope with a digital storage unit, which should make the digital bench fairly complete and FUN! Then, I have no idea what I'll do with the many spare pieces of test gear I went through on my way up to my current level. |