I work 40 years with all different kinds of Electronics and i know a lot of people with Phd..... but you are definetely at another level......respect.....very interesting...
Well I don't usually post comments because time zone means I am always lagging behind. But you put so much effort in this video, and show us such a high-end complex piece of gear, and as always a little experiment to actually DO something with the bloody thing... that really I thought what the heck, for once I will post anyway. So ...Thanks a million, as always, for all the time and effort that you put into all your videos. At school 20/25 years ago, I was only taught general purpose electronics, never even a hint about RF. So I am immensely thankful for your numerous videos, past and future, which help me demystify this field, thanks to your hands on, real world approach. It allows me to grasp the basic concepts, some terminology, typical building blocks/topology, see how instruments are designed and built in practice....and even how to fix them/work on them. So, sorry for wasting bandwidth, first and last time, but just wanted to post at least once to thank you properly from Frog land (hence sorry for the approximate English), and encourage you to continue in this path. Best regards and keep up the excellent work ! :-)
Very interesting video! As a retired L-band RADAR technician I'm used to slightly larger wave guide, circulators, isolators , directional couplers, etc. W-band looks much more workbench friendly. Looking forward to more videos featuring the T/R module and controller!
Brings back memories of working in a communications laser manufacturing site in the early 2000s. We used to drive the HP 8510 via a GPIB bus, we would set up a mask that the devices response had to fit within then we would get a pass/fail decision from the machine. The test program would test hundreds of parameters with the various HP and Keithley instruments in the rack. Many hours writing code.
Wow that's an amazing amount of work for this video...picked up another Patron supporter for this alone, lol. Always love to see high end older equipment teardowns/repairs. I bet this thing cost a pretty penny back in the day!
I liked how they used two 11970W harmonic mixers from stock as the mixers for this system. One of those by themselves cost $600 - $4200 today (depending on whom you're buying from and urgency; source ebay; will look up HP catalogs for back then price). I also now know why, sometime few years ago when using the 8560E series, I saw some W band mixers with different markings. (supposed to have the model number and serial in place of the tabular cal data we see here; cal data is graphed out rather than tabled; prefer tabled ;) ) The isolators are also two W365A. The couplers I'll have to review the video on my pc to see (on mobile atm).
Absolutely amazing video.. and totally jealous of your lab! Even if I'd had no use for it (which I don't)... Very cool demo!!! now you "just" need to find a second probe ;-)!
I can only say: YOU ARE A GOD. This video is incredible. The amount of work and knowledge you've put here is amazing. Most of the stuff is way over my head, but I've surely learnt something from it. I really hope you're working for the NASA or something and you're being paid accordingly. From my part: thank you!
Any chance you can share the ROM dump? What you called tedious might be interesting to others. While technically HP/Agilent/Keysight still has a copyright on it, I doubt there is any value for them in protecting it anymore. If you ask nicely they might respond nicely.
super cool video ! I find it a bit weird that the description is done in 3rd person ... feels rather impersonal ... I liked it much more when it used to say "I am looking at .. and doing and etc"
@@Gengh13 I noticed the alignment, so you think it is only mechanical? I thought the bend could have a slight loss associated and that it was intentional at that stage.
@@Thesignalpath Is the isolator using the Faraday effect internally? That would explain rotation of the plane of polarization. I believe (fibre) optical isolators work in that way, but I know nothing of microwaves!
karl ramberg Don’t be discouraged. This video covers advanced topics and would be difficult to follow for many people. To properly learn RF you would not want an overly simplified description because you would miss some of the foundational concepts. I’ll try to make some tutorials at some point.
@@Thesignalpath Some tutorials to get the foundations would be great :-D It's such an amazing technological achievement of mankind to be able to utilize radio waves. It's almost undistinktionable from magic for me :-) (paraphrasing Arthur C Clarke)
@@Manawyrm I agree, w2aew has some very nicely done tutorials for beginners. For instance, he's got a video explaining the diode switch mentioned in this video. Also I believe I recall a good one about mixing frequencies and obtaining IF and why that's useful (unless I'm confused and I've watched that here, in The Signal Path), also relevant to understanding the concepts of this video.
Marwin Thedja In don’t think so. It is most likely from a surplus where they were cleaning a lab without any knowledge of equipment. So they just cut everything out.
I had met with liquidation companies before..... They literally don't care. They see a mess of cables in the back (especially on a rack) and just cut them. Then they see the box and say that is what to sell [and sometimes mark up for losses]. Time is money. Just be lucky they somehow don't have bolt cutters/use a saw for the rack screws. XD
I work 40 years with all different kinds of Electronics and i know a lot of people
with Phd..... but you are definetely at another level......respect.....very interesting...
Thank you.
instaBlaster
Well I don't usually post comments because time zone means I am always lagging behind.
But you put so much effort in this video, and show us such a high-end complex piece of gear, and as always a little experiment to actually DO something with the bloody thing... that really I thought what the heck, for once I will post anyway.
So ...Thanks a million, as always, for all the time and effort that you put into all your videos.
At school 20/25 years ago, I was only taught general purpose electronics, never even a hint about RF. So I am immensely thankful for your numerous videos, past and future, which help me demystify this field, thanks to your hands on, real world approach. It allows me to grasp the basic concepts, some terminology, typical building blocks/topology, see how instruments are designed and built in practice....and even how to fix them/work on them.
So, sorry for wasting bandwidth, first and last time, but just wanted to post at least once to thank you properly from Frog land (hence sorry for the approximate English), and encourage you to continue in this path.
Best regards and keep up the excellent work ! :-)
Thank you. :)
I know this isn’t the most recent video, but I just wanted to say I learn more from you than a lot of other EE TH-camrs. Thank you!
Very interesting video! As a retired L-band RADAR technician I'm used to slightly larger wave guide, circulators, isolators , directional couplers, etc. W-band looks much more workbench friendly. Looking forward to more videos featuring the T/R module and controller!
Brings back memories of working in a communications laser manufacturing site in the early 2000s. We used to drive the HP 8510 via a GPIB bus, we would set up a mask that the devices response had to fit within then we would get a pass/fail decision from the machine. The test program would test hundreds of parameters with the various HP and Keithley instruments in the rack. Many hours writing code.
Such an impressive and ambitious video!
My mind is blown! Fantastic inspiration to go and fix something, thanks for sharing
Sorry , my mind needs for replacement...
Wow that's an amazing amount of work for this video...picked up another Patron supporter for this alone, lol. Always love to see high end older equipment teardowns/repairs. I bet this thing cost a pretty penny back in the day!
jcims Thanks!
your room it's like paradise for me!
Please do a video on reverse engineering the code, I want to get bored with all the details :) @37:20
Awesome video. Looking forward to other videos where you'll play around with the milimeter waves some more.
When you -with your lab- say things like "these connectors are very very very expensive" I can't even imagine the insane pricing they have jajaa
WOW, this video is very good. I love the detail.
I liked how they used two 11970W harmonic mixers from stock as the mixers for this system. One of those by themselves cost $600 - $4200 today (depending on whom you're buying from and urgency; source ebay; will look up HP catalogs for back then price). I also now know why, sometime few years ago when using the 8560E series, I saw some W band mixers with different markings. (supposed to have the model number and serial in place of the tabular cal data we see here; cal data is graphed out rather than tabled; prefer tabled ;) ) The isolators are also two W365A. The couplers I'll have to review the video on my pc to see (on mobile atm).
Very cool! Thanks very much for all your hard work.
That was so complex, that my head almost exploded.I had to take few breaks and cool my brain in iced bath.
Sorry , my mind needs for replacement...
Absolutely amazing video.. and totally jealous of your lab! Even if I'd had no use for it (which I don't)... Very cool demo!!! now you "just" need to find a second probe ;-)!
cool a new video... always my first reaction.
@59:56 Poes alert! Thx again for a good vid, be safe around those high frequency’s.
I can only say: YOU ARE A GOD. This video is incredible. The amount of work and knowledge you've put here is amazing. Most of the stuff is way over my head, but I've surely learnt something from it. I really hope you're working for the NASA or something and you're being paid accordingly. From my part: thank you!
AFAIK he works for Bell Labs
Often GPIB commands stored in raw ASCII in firmware, so you could just dump the firmware for us to look inside. :)
Cool, thanks for the video!!
Any chance you can share the ROM dump? What you called tedious might be interesting to others. While technically HP/Agilent/Keysight still has a copyright on it, I doubt there is any value for them in protecting it anymore. If you ask nicely they might respond nicely.
super cool video !
I find it a bit weird that the description is done in 3rd person ... feels rather impersonal ... I liked it much more when it used to say "I am looking at .. and doing and etc"
Yes! New signal path :D
RF electronic Respect !!
Why is the waveguide slightly helically twisted on its X axis between the magnetic isolator and the mixer?
I'd guess just to allow you to more easily remove the screws, so they are not all aligned.
@@Gengh13 I noticed the alignment, so you think it is only mechanical? I thought the bend could have a slight loss associated and that it was intentional at that stage.
The isolated rotates the E and H plane. The twist re-aligns the orientation.
@@Thesignalpath Is the isolator using the Faraday effect internally? That would explain rotation of the plane of polarization. I believe (fibre) optical isolators work in that way, but I know nothing of microwaves!
I would love to see a "best of Pooch" collection of clips from your videos. I'm sure there must be some Pooch blooper scenes around, too!
Haha... He has definitely caused some trouble in the lab. He once chewed through a 67GHz cable.
I have a really hard time understanding anything RF. Does anybody know of a RF explain-it-like-i'm-5 channel/ series on youtube ?
karl ramberg Don’t be discouraged. This video covers advanced topics and would be difficult to follow for many people. To properly learn RF you would not want an overly simplified description because you would miss some of the foundational concepts. I’ll try to make some tutorials at some point.
Yes - just go back to episode 1 of The Signal Path and follow it through... :-) It is a truly outstanding body of work!
@@Thesignalpath Some tutorials to get the foundations would be great :-D It's such an amazing technological achievement of mankind to be able to utilize radio waves. It's almost undistinktionable from magic for me :-) (paraphrasing Arthur C Clarke)
not exactly „eli5“, but look for „W2AEW“ on TH-cam...
@@Manawyrm I agree, w2aew has some very nicely done tutorials for beginners. For instance, he's got a video explaining the diode switch mentioned in this video. Also I believe I recall a good one about mixing frequencies and obtaining IF and why that's useful (unless I'm confused and I've watched that here, in The Signal Path), also relevant to understanding the concepts of this video.
@85105: suspiciously low price, seemingly removed from a working setup in a hurry (with wire cutters Oo) - > stolen goods???
Marwin Thedja In don’t think so. It is most likely from a surplus where they were cleaning a lab without any knowledge of equipment. So they just cut everything out.
@@Thesignalpath Probably cut the wires for copper :D
I had met with liquidation companies before..... They literally don't care. They see a mess of cables in the back (especially on a rack) and just cut them. Then they see the box and say that is what to sell [and sometimes mark up for losses]. Time is money. Just be lucky they somehow don't have bolt cutters/use a saw for the rack screws. XD
Nice !!!!
:)
@@Thesignalpath I am the first electronics big channel here in Brasil because of you and EEVBLOG !! Thank you for inspiring me
Por favor, alguém sabe onde posso comprar um LCD do Fluke 43B??
Amazing!
My mind just got a blue screen of death in this very moment :)
awesome
👍👍👍
Sweet sweet 360p!
1089p60 here
1
Highly valuable comment
Brad , I never understood why people do that,...
👍👍