Help needed identifying triaxial connector on HP 4339B high resistance meter - measures to 1.6 x 10^16 ohms.
I bought an HP 4339B high resistance meter. It is designed to measure high
resistances (as the name suggests) and also low currents. It is essentially
a variable voltage source up to 1000 V, and a low current ammeter.
I got it from eBay, as non-working, with no output voltage. After paying
for it, I thought I had bought a lemon, as it became apparent the seller
had more than one of these, and his lab had switched parts to try to get
one working. I thought I was going to end up with a paperweight.
Unable to do any tests on it due to lack of suitable connectors, I took
Keysight (UK) up on the offer of a free technical evaluation of this -
Keysight even pay the shipping charges! Much to my surprise, they sent me a
4 page technical report
http://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/tmp/Measurement-report-As-received_1-9690444179-1.pdf
with far more useful information than on most cal certificates I have seen.
I don't think this is a full calibration, as resistance measurements are
only made with voltages up to 100 V, and the highest resistance used is
only 10^11 ohms. But the report shows.
-
The output voltage is working, and within the specification. This was
nice, as I was told there was no output. -
Resistance measurements are within specification too, although I suspect
the meter has not been pushed to its limits on this free technical
evaluation. -
Current measurements are a bit out of spec. A test current of 10 nA,
there's an error of about 0.082 nA, but the specification is an error of
0.063 nA or less.
Given it works to some extent, I thought I'd pay Keysight for a full
calibration, to find just how good/bad it really is. Keysight have it now,
and I expect to get it back next week, with a full calibration report.
In order to use the meter, I would obviously need to be able to make
connections to it.
Is there anyone here that knows what the triaxial (tri-axial?) connector in
the attached pictures ? One picture is of the female on the 4339B and the
other the male plug on a fixture that I don't have.
The picture of the meter is not the one I have, since the meter is at
Keysight. But it has a better picture of the triaxial connector than the
meter I have.
Does anyone have a bit of trixial cable with one of these connectors on?
I stuck a bit more information about this on the Keysight multimeter forum,
https://community.keysight.com/thread/26937
but there have been no replies on there. I don't know if is considered a
multimeter or not. Maybe the people that read that forum don't support this
meter.
https://community.keysight.com/thread/26937
Dave
Hi David,
Am Sat, 17 Feb 2018 15:32:15 +0000
schrieb "Dr. David Kirkby" drkirkby@kirkbymicrowave.co.uk:
In order to use the meter, I would obviously need to be able to make
connections to it.
Is there anyone here that knows what the triaxial (tri-axial?)
connector in the attached pictures ? One picture is of the female on
the 4339B and the other the male plug on a fixture that I don't have.
The picture of the meter is not the one I have, since the meter is at
Keysight. But it has a better picture of the triaxial connector than
the meter I have.
Does anyone have a bit of trixial cable with one of these connectors
on?
Unfortunately, I don't know this kind of connector either.
I can confirm however - which probably does help a bit still - that it
is neither the three-lug BNC triax HP/Agilent/Keysight uses on all
measurement equipment capable of going down to picoamp levels I have
ever seen, nor the two-lug BNC triax that Keithley uses for the same
purpose. To me it seems to be a threaded connector, and dimension-wise
should be pretty close to BNC, so TNC-style triax it might indeed be.
But be prepared that these are a bit pricey, the last time I bought the
standard three-lug BNC-style triax connectors they were about 80 Euros
a piece.
HTH,
Florian
It looks to me like a MIL-C-49142 style connector, however I'm not sure
what the rated voltage of that style connector is.
Either way, Trompeter sells their 370 series that are essentially threaded
BNC-size triax connectors that conform to the 49142 spec. I believe
Trompeter is now absorbed into Cinch. Maybe something like the PL375.
Digikey has some in stock that accept various cables. The datasheet
drawings + calipers may be enough for you to confirm a match, or at least
this might be a starting point for you.
http://www.jrhelec.com/assets/images/manufacturers/cinch/catalogs/catalog.pdf
https://www.digikey.com/products/en/connectors-interconnects/coaxial-connectors-rf/437?k=pl375
On Sat, 17 Feb 2018 at 12:32 Florian Teply usenet@teply.info wrote:
Hi David,
Am Sat, 17 Feb 2018 15:32:15 +0000
schrieb "Dr. David Kirkby" drkirkby@kirkbymicrowave.co.uk:
In order to use the meter, I would obviously need to be able to make
connections to it.
Is there anyone here that knows what the triaxial (tri-axial?)
connector in the attached pictures ? One picture is of the female on
the 4339B and the other the male plug on a fixture that I don't have.
The picture of the meter is not the one I have, since the meter is at
Keysight. But it has a better picture of the triaxial connector than
the meter I have.
Does anyone have a bit of trixial cable with one of these connectors
on?
Unfortunately, I don't know this kind of connector either.
I can confirm however - which probably does help a bit still - that it
is neither the three-lug BNC triax HP/Agilent/Keysight uses on all
measurement equipment capable of going down to picoamp levels I have
ever seen, nor the two-lug BNC triax that Keithley uses for the same
purpose. To me it seems to be a threaded connector, and dimension-wise
should be pretty close to BNC, so TNC-style triax it might indeed be.
But be prepared that these are a bit pricey, the last time I bought the
standard three-lug BNC-style triax connectors they were about 80 Euros
a piece.
HTH,
Florian
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what others do is just buy the available Trompeter triax connector and file-off the host connector pins. I went through all the trouble to get the right connectors and then looked at my Electrometer and saw someone had already filed off the extra pins leaving one. I was a upset on many levels as I would never file off anything on a piece of test equipment, except may the RIGOL label.
look for an eBay seller n2cbu. Great guy, sent me extra connectors and cable. The biggest challenge in making your own cables is the fit between the connector and cable. There are about a dozen types of triax connectors for the same number of cables.
Regards,
Jerry
Jerry Hancock
jerry@hanler.com
(415) 215-3779
On Mar 23, 2018, at 6:40 AM, Stephen Locke stephen.locke@gmail.com wrote:
It looks to me like a MIL-C-49142 style connector, however I'm not sure
what the rated voltage of that style connector is.
Either way, Trompeter sells their 370 series that are essentially threaded
BNC-size triax connectors that conform to the 49142 spec. I believe
Trompeter is now absorbed into Cinch. Maybe something like the PL375.
Digikey has some in stock that accept various cables. The datasheet
drawings + calipers may be enough for you to confirm a match, or at least
this might be a starting point for you.
http://www.jrhelec.com/assets/images/manufacturers/cinch/catalogs/catalog.pdf
https://www.digikey.com/products/en/connectors-interconnects/coaxial-connectors-rf/437?k=pl375
On Sat, 17 Feb 2018 at 12:32 Florian Teply usenet@teply.info wrote:
Hi David,
Am Sat, 17 Feb 2018 15:32:15 +0000
schrieb "Dr. David Kirkby" drkirkby@kirkbymicrowave.co.uk:
In order to use the meter, I would obviously need to be able to make
connections to it.
Is there anyone here that knows what the triaxial (tri-axial?)
connector in the attached pictures ? One picture is of the female on
the 4339B and the other the male plug on a fixture that I don't have.
The picture of the meter is not the one I have, since the meter is at
Keysight. But it has a better picture of the triaxial connector than
the meter I have.
Does anyone have a bit of trixial cable with one of these connectors
on?
Unfortunately, I don't know this kind of connector either.
I can confirm however - which probably does help a bit still - that it
is neither the three-lug BNC triax HP/Agilent/Keysight uses on all
measurement equipment capable of going down to picoamp levels I have
ever seen, nor the two-lug BNC triax that Keithley uses for the same
purpose. To me it seems to be a threaded connector, and dimension-wise
should be pretty close to BNC, so TNC-style triax it might indeed be.
But be prepared that these are a bit pricey, the last time I bought the
standard three-lug BNC-style triax connectors they were about 80 Euros
a piece.
HTH,
Florian
volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts@febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts
and follow the instructions there.
volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts@febo.com
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and follow the instructions there.
On 23 March 2018 at 15:27, Jerry Hancock jerry@hanler.com wrote:
what others do is just buy the available Trompeter triax connector and
file-off the host connector pins. I went through all the trouble to get
the right connectors and then looked at my Electrometer and saw someone had
already filed off the extra pins leaving one. I was a upset on many levels
as I would never file off anything on a piece of test equipment, except may
the RIGOL label.
look for an eBay seller n2cbu. Great guy, sent me extra connectors and
cable. The biggest challenge in making your own cables is the fit between
the connector and cable. There are about a dozen types of triax connectors
for the same number of cables.
Regards,
Jerry
Thank you Jerry,
The idea of destroying an instrument to make the socket fit a plug is one I
would not do!
Worst case, on a cheap and nasty bit of kit, I might consider changing the
socket for triaxial BNC, but I have no desire whatsoever to do that on the
4339B, which sell for several thousands of dollars. I have already sent the
meter once to Keysight for calibration, which they can obviously do if it
has the right connector on it. If one started changing the connectors, then
it would never get calibrated again. Depending on the age/value/rarity of
the connector, I might consider other options, but not this time.
On Monday I should have a partially complete Agilent 16339A component test
fixture
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Agilent-16339A-Component-Test-Fixture/112871963210
arrive. (It cost me $400, which is more than the $350 I paid for the
meter). That fixture will have the correct plug on it. HOPEFULLY there will
be a manufacturer and part number on the plug. Also, I will have the
ability to take a decent photo, so hopefully someone experienced has more
chance of being able to positively identify the connector. I might try
asking Keysight again. They told me the interlock connector was a Hirose,
and knowing that I managed to work out a plug that fits.
I've bought a couple of 4349Bs, which are quad channel high-resistance
meters that take the same CPU as my 4339B. I'm hoping to do a bit of
transplant surgery and hopefully get my 4339B to the point it can be
calibrated properly - Keysight were unable to adjust it before as the CPU
board apparently has a fault which is stopping the EEPROM being updated.
When sent back to Keysight, it will have a 'heat transplant' of a CPU, and
a new EEPROM, so all calibration data will be missing, as that's stored in
the EEPROM. I'm pleased to say Keysight are not going to charge any extra
to calibrate the meter with a blank EEPROM. So hopefully I will get this
meter right.
Dave