SRS PRS10 problem
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
Right, to follow up on my own email
I took it apart
The lamp assembly has failed.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
I made contact with SRS about purchasing a replacement lamp assembly but
since I bought it on the used market they are not willing sell me a
replacement lamp assembly. Frankly I am not terribly impressed with
their response on this.
Does anyone on list have a 'donor' PRS10 that might have a good lamp
assembly that they would be willing to sell me ?
Perhaps someone on list has a commercial relationship with SRS and might
be able to assist me with purchasing it?
Hoping someone can help out, My alternative is to attempt to source an
MRF134 and have a go at replacing it but there may be other damage in
there
regards
Brendan
On 14/02/2011 18:53, Brendan Minish wrote:
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
If you want to write a turd note about their service, I will pin it on their door. These companies need to know the reach of the internet.
If they had any brains, they would offer you a replacement at a ridiculously high price.
-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan Minish ei6iz.brendan@gmail.com
Sender: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:11:37
To: time-nuts@febo.com
Reply-To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
time-nuts@febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] SRS PRS10 problem
Right, to follow up on my own email
I took it apart
The lamp assembly has failed.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
I made contact with SRS about purchasing a replacement lamp assembly but
since I bought it on the used market they are not willing sell me a
replacement lamp assembly. Frankly I am not terribly impressed with
their response on this.
Does anyone on list have a 'donor' PRS10 that might have a good lamp
assembly that they would be willing to sell me ?
Perhaps someone on list has a commercial relationship with SRS and might
be able to assist me with purchasing it?
Hoping someone can help out, My alternative is to attempt to source an
MRF134 and have a go at replacing it but there may be other damage in
there
regards
Brendan
On 14/02/2011 18:53, Brendan Minish wrote:
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
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.
write a letter (real one) to their ceo & pres and if there is a
engineering VP, only cost you a buck, fifty.
sometimes works
-pete
On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 12:11 PM, Brendan Minish
ei6iz.brendan@gmail.com wrote:
Right, to follow up on my own email
I took it apart
The lamp assembly has failed.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
I made contact with SRS about purchasing a replacement lamp assembly but
since I bought it on the used market they are not willing sell me a
replacement lamp assembly. Frankly I am not terribly impressed with their
response on this.
Does anyone on list have a 'donor' PRS10 that might have a good lamp
assembly that they would be willing to sell me ?
Perhaps someone on list has a commercial relationship with SRS and might be
able to assist me with purchasing it?
Hoping someone can help out, My alternative is to attempt to source an
MRF134 and have a go at replacing it but there may be other damage in there
regards
Brendan
On 14/02/2011 18:53, Brendan Minish wrote:
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
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.
MRF134's are available on *pay and from other sources for a LOT less $$
than a lamp assy would cost if available.
Adrian
Brendan Minish schrieb:
Right, to follow up on my own email
I took it apart
The lamp assembly has failed.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
I made contact with SRS about purchasing a replacement lamp assembly
but since I bought it on the used market they are not willing sell me
a replacement lamp assembly. Frankly I am not terribly impressed with
their response on this.
Does anyone on list have a 'donor' PRS10 that might have a good lamp
assembly that they would be willing to sell me ?
Perhaps someone on list has a commercial relationship with SRS and
might be able to assist me with purchasing it?
Hoping someone can help out, My alternative is to attempt to source an
MRF134 and have a go at replacing it but there may be other damage in
there
regards
Brendan
On 14/02/2011 18:53, Brendan Minish wrote:
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
Well a couple answers.
If those are RB whiskers try the heat gun at 300 degrees on it for 15
minutes. As Magnus suggests and I just tried for the first time. It actually
worked and I recovered the rb lamp.
I imagine the transistor may be hard to get but its a motorola should be
obtainable.
Good luck
Regards
Paul
WB8TSL
On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 4:19 PM, Pete Lancashire pete@petelancashire.comwrote:
write a letter (real one) to their ceo & pres and if there is a
engineering VP, only cost you a buck, fifty.
sometimes works
-pete
On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 12:11 PM, Brendan Minish
ei6iz.brendan@gmail.com wrote:
Right, to follow up on my own email
I took it apart
The lamp assembly has failed.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
I made contact with SRS about purchasing a replacement lamp assembly but
since I bought it on the used market they are not willing sell me a
replacement lamp assembly. Frankly I am not terribly impressed with their
response on this.
Does anyone on list have a 'donor' PRS10 that might have a good lamp
assembly that they would be willing to sell me ?
Perhaps someone on list has a commercial relationship with SRS and might
be
able to assist me with purchasing it?
Hoping someone can help out, My alternative is to attempt to source an
MRF134 and have a go at replacing it but there may be other damage in
there
regards
Brendan
On 14/02/2011 18:53, Brendan Minish wrote:
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
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.
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.
On 02/16/2011 10:31 PM, paul swed wrote:
Well a couple answers.
If those are RB whiskers try the heat gun at 300 degrees on it for 15
minutes. As Magnus suggests and I just tried for the first time. It actually
worked and I recovered the rb lamp.
While the heat gun on the Rb lamp is a nice trick, the whiskers most
likely is nothing but traditional tin whiskers. A bit of re-soldering to
remove bad metal and replacement of burned transistor is where I would
start.
Cheers,
Magnus
Hi
Since the unit is current production, the part should be around. There are a
number of the old Motorola RF parts that are very hard to find. They have
been out of the RF business for quite a while. That should not be one of
them.
Based on a quick search, M/A-Com seems to make them. $20.95 at RF Parts.
There may be other sources as well.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On
Behalf Of paul swed
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:31 PM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] SRS PRS10 problem
Well a couple answers.
If those are RB whiskers try the heat gun at 300 degrees on it for 15
minutes. As Magnus suggests and I just tried for the first time. It actually
worked and I recovered the rb lamp.
I imagine the transistor may be hard to get but its a motorola should be
obtainable.
Good luck
Regards
Paul
WB8TSL
On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 4:19 PM, Pete Lancashire
pete@petelancashire.comwrote:
write a letter (real one) to their ceo & pres and if there is a
engineering VP, only cost you a buck, fifty.
sometimes works
-pete
On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 12:11 PM, Brendan Minish
ei6iz.brendan@gmail.com wrote:
Right, to follow up on my own email
I took it apart
The lamp assembly has failed.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
I made contact with SRS about purchasing a replacement lamp assembly but
since I bought it on the used market they are not willing sell me a
replacement lamp assembly. Frankly I am not terribly impressed with
their
response on this.
Does anyone on list have a 'donor' PRS10 that might have a good lamp
assembly that they would be willing to sell me ?
Perhaps someone on list has a commercial relationship with SRS and might
be
able to assist me with purchasing it?
Hoping someone can help out, My alternative is to attempt to source an
MRF134 and have a go at replacing it but there may be other damage in
there
regards
Brendan
On 14/02/2011 18:53, Brendan Minish wrote:
Hello all
My SRS PRS10 ( http://www.thinksrs.com/products/PRS10.htm ) Rubidum
frequency standard was power cycled a few days ago, since then it has
not achived rubidium lock.
I have tried a full rest and also further power cycles with no joy.
The SRS RS232 application reports the following parameters that 'look
wrong'
ad3 (lamp drain ) 2.001
sd2 (fet voltage set ) 255
ad3 at 2 (Lamp drain volatge 20V) would appear to correspond with the
Rb
lamp discharge not beginning
this unit is of course out of guarantee and came to me via Ebay about 5
years ago, is anyone on list familiar with troubleshooting these units
who Might have some general ideas of how best to proceed with repairing
the unit
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
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.
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.
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.
Hi
Real solder has lead in it to eliminate tin whiskers.
We're going to see a lot of stuff die in the coming years from these little
critters.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On
Behalf Of Magnus Danielson
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:55 PM
To: time-nuts@febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] SRS PRS10 problem
On 02/16/2011 10:31 PM, paul swed wrote:
Well a couple answers.
If those are RB whiskers try the heat gun at 300 degrees on it for 15
minutes. As Magnus suggests and I just tried for the first time. It
actually
worked and I recovered the rb lamp.
While the heat gun on the Rb lamp is a nice trick, the whiskers most
likely is nothing but traditional tin whiskers. A bit of re-soldering to
remove bad metal and replacement of burned transistor is where I would
start.
Cheers,
Magnus
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.
MRF134s are pretty available. Usually under $25.
In the PRS10 the lamp is exited by a strong RF field @ 150Mhz
this is generated by an MRF134 within the lamp package
The failure mode was caused by the growth of a substantial tin whisker
within the lamp assembly which appears to have killed the MRF134.
--
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Oz
POB 93167
Southlake, TX 76092 (Near DFW Airport)