TA-0388: Racal Dana 1998 Frequency Counter 1.3 GHz - Calibration

Compare to 1992 and Calibration and Teardown
The Rapco setup is also permanent now.
OCXO on ebay: www.ebay.nl/itm/375055840131?...
dana OCXO: www.ham-interfaces.com/racaldana
HAM Datamode: xggcomms.com/
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#dana #racal #frequencycounter

[@anandarochisha]

High stability ovenized option is good enough to use as a reference for other equipment for my needs.

[@TonyAlbus]

Thats great! yes some are still amazing stable

[@anandarochisha]

@@TonyAlbus Mine is the 1994 and has the 04E option. Specs are < 5×10 -10 per day. They also offered the 04R Rubidium option which promised

[@TonyAlbus]

@@anandarochisha Thank you for sharing, is i keep being amazed by the super stable options that are availabe for these counter, thay made a great series. wow, those numbers are impressive!

[@ptronix]

70 Watts On the Philips counter that ridiculous, at least it will warm up your workshop. My whole workshop in standby was using 75 Watts, I can't afford that anymore so I've cut it down to 25.
I also have one of those racals, they are a nice counter and the high stability oven is very stable. Nice red display.
If you want the ultimate counter, look out for a hp53132a it's even better with more digits of resolution, not cheap but worth getting. I was lucky to get one for less than £500 with the 3 Ghz option too. Best wishes for Xmas

[@TonyAlbus]

Yes you are right, 70 Watts is ridiculous, prob some caps i need to replace, never thought of of like that. i switch my whole lab off when not there so never thought of it to much.
yes that HP is great, good catch! .. i will have a PM6690, if all goes well :) .. i was waiting for Fluke friday to come to those numbers, but i am not sure i can wait to show it. its the same as the Pendulem CNT-90 .. pretty cool. Best wishes for you too!

[@MrDubje]

I actually have 2 RD's both model 1998. They were once sold on marktplaats by Gerrit. But the main pcb in mine is a lot smaller, the sensitivity adjustment on the front has a fairly lengthy axis-extension to it, internally.
I guess it has to do with the optional battery pack that the 1998 could be delivered with.
However that space came in handy for someone that put a small toroidal transformer in it, power regulation board, a rubidium reference (FRS-C by Efratom) and a fan. It makes the counter very accurate and also useful as portable external reference as the ref. output on the back is actually the rubidium clock. Someone did a very good job making it all fit in the Racal.
But the Racal's themselves are old and I had to intervene a couple of times already with small repairs as solder joints were cracked, replacement of the TCXO header where the rubidium connects too (bad contact due to tinned pins), miscellaneous troubleshooting and a partial recap (not everything is very accessible anymore)... But if they run, they run great.
Fun fact: The whole instrument runs on the reference clock. If you unplug it, it doesn't even "boot" or start...

[@TonyAlbus]

Great find! cool Rubidium, still looking for a counter with that, just to see. thanks for the funfact.

[@zdzisiek1979]

👍 fajny miernik

[@TonyAlbus]

Thank you!

[@Manticore1960]

It's very strange that those ready made OCXO boards on ebay are made in UK, yet are not available on ebay UK. I even chose "worldwide" search, but no hits. Looks like they are only sold on ebay NL ???

[@TonyAlbus]

Hi, try this: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375055840131?hash=item575311f383 or this : www.ham-interfaces.com/racaldana

[@thomasives7560]

Does your 1998 have the 'buttons' mod? I have a 1991 that had issues with all of the buttons, so I installed a whole pile of tactile buttons and fixed the problem. These are quality instruments and very nice for working on period equipment. Cheers!

[@TonyAlbus]

Maybe the buttons are done already, mine does not have the problem (yet?)

[@SoddingaboutSi]

My1998 has a poor OCXO. Calibrate it and within a few months its a good few Hz out.

[@TonyAlbus]

Hi Simon, have a look at this: www.ham-interfaces.com/racaldana
Wish you great holidays and healthy 2024 sir!