Summary - Wavetek 3000 series Signal Generators

[Pete Ferrand]

Funny this should come up. I have a 3006 Wavetek that I bought for what I
guess is the going price (low end!) that doesn't work. Looks good, though.

Wonder if anyone who's now woken up to this has any ideas on fixing it. I
did replace a shorted bypass cap in one of the modules that was bringing the
power rail down, I guess I can handle that.

If anyone wants to help I can check on the remaining problem, which is that
one of the fault LEDs in one of the modules lights very very dimly but
enough to raise the failure line.

Overall symptom is output all over the place since it's unlocked.

Unfortunately although I have a manual I have no money to pay a professional
and have zero experience at gigahertz frequencies and no test gear and the
only gear I have that works at remotely those freqs is a TV receiver and
microwave oven.......


tnx es 73,
-Pete
WB2QLL
Enfield, NH








> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boat Anchor Owners and Collectors List
> [mailto:BOATANCHORS at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV]On Behalf Of Don Buska
> Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 8:28 AM
> To: BOATANCHORS at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
> Subject: Summary - Wavetek 3000 series Signal Generators
>
>
> To the many who have sent me their experiences on the Wavetek
> 3000 series Signal
> Generators, thank you so very much.
>
> For the reflector members, here is a summary of what others have
> emailed me.
>
> 1) Poor Reliability - Synthesizer Unlocks Alot  (always get a manual!)
>    Most people indicaed this fact!
> 2) Drifty - Some model use no TXCO, just plain old crystal master
> oscillators.
> 3) Lots of Spurs.
> 4) A great deal of Phase Noise, especially when compared to the HP8640.
>
> So over all the $100 might not be to bad a price if your willing
> to work to keep it
> going and don't do alot of critical receiver work where the spurs
> and phase noise will
> kill you.  IMHO it is to much money!
>
> As a side note, Scott Johnson added a comment about the HP8640's
> I felt was important
> enough to pass along to the group.  The HP8640's do use some
> custom IC's that are no
> longer available from HP (Agilent).  So if you intend on buying
> an 8640 it might be
> wise to also look for a few parts junkers for future use.
>
> At this time I think I'm going to stick with my ICOM IC-745
> transceiver as an HF
> signal source.  Actually it's a pretty good signal generator
> guys!  The 745 can
> transmit from 1MHZ through 30MHz continuous coverage and if you
> supply a transverter
> control voltage (8VDC if memory surves me correctly) to the rear
> ACC Jack. Then the RF
> Output control on the front panel will allow adjusting an RF
> signal from zero through
> around 150mW.  The tranverter output on the 745 simply bypasses
> the final amplifier.
> So for around $300 to $450 (going price for a good IC-745) you
> have a very stable RF
> signal generator that can do CW, SSB and FM (with FM option
> board) across the HF
> bands.  Unfortunately, the 745 doesn't do AM transmit.  How many
> other signal
> generator can also receive, hi.
>
> Again, to all of you that replied a sincere thank you for sharing
> your Wavetek
> experiences.
>
> 73
>
> Don N9OO
> http://www.qsl.net/n9oo