Racal Dana 8010B

[Refugee]

I have been looking for a user handbook for this impressive counter that i (I) intend to use in my workshop.
The air filter is the first problem.
It has turned to dust
The one on the other side has been preserved to give an idea what it looks like before i (I) get in with the vacuum cleaner to remove it.
There was a 1250uf capacitor getting a bit hot so i (I) replaced it with 2200uf.
It still runs a little warm so it is going to have to be replaced with an SMPSU type with a 125 DEG C rating.
Some of the functions look interesting and i (I) would like to find out how to set them up and try them. Others can be worked out without too much bother.

[threeseven]

Nixie tube display, nice !
I would replace the filters with BAF, bonded acoustic fibre, the stuff thats used to fill speaker cabinets. It doesn't decompose over time like most expanded foam does.
The quality of these older instruments is very satisfying.

[Refugee]

I have looked at quite a few things on it.
One thing I would like to know is how long does the crystal oven take to warm up.
I ask this because an RC oscillator that had been warmed up for several hours was producing a falling indication over a period of about one hour of about 5 counts per thousand. I have an NOS crystal block from some kind of IT equipment that I could run from a bench power supply and use to test the internal crystal. It looks like it is supposed to be run 24/7 as the crystal oven remains powered when the front switch is turned off.
I will have to use another counter in order to find out what comes out of the crystal oven as this will tell me what the external oscillator should be then I can bypass the warm up time if I want it for a quick one prod test without paying for the power to keep it warm all the time. It has the socket and switch to do this.
User manuals are a pain to get by the looks of the Google results
There are a few more little things to do apart from that and then it will be up and running.
Maplin did not have an axial high temperature capacitor either
How frustrating. I am not paying £3.50 for a radial one because that is almost as much as a real one plus postage.
For the filter I looked at using a beer mashing bag chopped up and fitted as several layers but they were £10 so I will check first to see what Wilkos have got that I could chop up for that.
I think gold plated audio foam is likely to be a quid or two over the top for an air filter.

[karesz*]

Hi Refugee,
you can have an original (on paper) SM from "yourmanualsource.com" for $50,-& +5 for postage-if you likes it...
Others: You can hope an exact XTAL/Oven frequency only if you don`t wish to switch off your counter.
Similar is if it was over long time unused_first it needs to run a couple of days two reconditioning!
Other question; are your supply voltages really enough stabile-clean or hum free please?
K.

[Station X]

Have you tried the Racal Dana yahoo group?

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Racal_Dana

[threeseven]

Due to my audio messing habits I always have a bit of BAF knocking about and was fortunate to have a large quantity in a recently received package used as packing material !
Anyway, another option is vacuum cleaner filters.

[Refugee]

I was thinking of adding a switch in the optional input C socket as it only has a blanking grommet in it at the moment and fitting a modern 4 pin can oscillator in the unused space where the option PCB would have been fitted. I may have some US thread screws to fit the standoffs.
I will be scoping all the rails before the covers go back on and then will add any replacement caps to the order for the new one intend to fit in place of the temporary one have put in for now.

[Chaparal]

Hi Refugee,

the oven warmup time depends on the installed options:
Option 050 - 1 hour
Option 200 - 72 hours
Option 300 - 96 hours
(Time to reach aging specification after 24 hours off.

Peter

[Refugee]

I have warmed up another counter i bought from new in the 1970s for about three hours and connected it to the clock out socket on the back.
It settled down after about an hour and then remained stable.
I am happy with that.
There are some optional settings that are not fitted.
Input C has a blanking grommet where the socket would have been so the option is not fitted.
I will continue to work out what else is optional and not fitted.
I think i can manage for now with what i have got.

[Chaparal]

Dana 8010 - 150 MHz - Input A

Dana 8030 - 150+500 Mhz - Input A + C

Peter

[Refugee]

I was wondering how to get some of the other functions working and what they do.
It is obvious what remote and check do and I am guessing that period uses input B but I have not tried it yet as I am building a new bench and have got it ready to do basic frequency in the first instance.
I would like to find out what PER AVG does.
Frequency A is obvious as is frequency C however the pre-scaler for this is not fitted
Totalize is obvious and looks like just an un-gated count.
I have no idea what the two TI functions do and I guess the A/B is A gated by B.
Could you enlighten me please.

[PETERg0rsq]

Period is the reciprical of frequency, or time period of cycle.

Per Avg is usually the average period of some number of cycles (usually selectable in Decade steps).
Normally used to measure low frequency signals, DC to a few KhZ. Averaging is used to give a higher resolution at lowest frequencies when triggering errors become noticable.

TI is Time Interval, usually from start signal on A and Stop on B, though could use external triggering on rear of unit. Sometimes can be triggered and stopped on a single channel (e.g. falling edge triggers and rising edge stops)
Used to measure the time between two events. Acts like a stop watch, but electronicly controled. Can measure the width of pulses for example, rather than the time period between rising (or falling edges) as in Period above.

A/B is ratio of A frequency over B frequency.
Used for pre-scalling. E.g frequency B input is connected to 10Mhz, then the displayed frequency will be Input A frequency divided by 10Mhz.

Peter

[Refugee]

I have at last found a manual for this set tonight after a query was made about the accuracy of my test equipment. I am having some fun challenging the query and have obviously not taken offense to it.
The crystal oven has a part number that appears to be a higher number than any listed in the manual.

[Chaparal]

What manual do you have ?

Racal 980448 ?

[Refugee]

The scans I have are four huge PDF files with no image of the front cover.
They are entitled installation, theory of operation, maintenance and schematics.
The PDF files do have 980448 in the titles.

I do have a query on the crystal oven though. The part number does not match anything in the manual.

[PETERg0rsq]

What you have there is the later option 200 oscillator.

Its part number, 730647, is made reference to in the parts list.

It is an ovened oscillator


Peter

[Chaparal]

Refugee,

the PDF manual consist of 6 parts,
maybe download the missing two parts, too.

Here the parts list for
406749 - Option 200 - with TCXO-Oscillator 730647

Option 200 has 2 parts:
406130 regulator board 28V and
730647 TCXO

[Chaparal]

When i got my first counter in 1972
a DANA 8020 (500 MHz)
I had a lot of problems with disfunctions.
I think it was contact problems/errors
(Bad IC-Sockets or PCB-Board ....?)

Now there are problems with tantals, too.

I have here now 4 counters from the 95xx series, all bad.

Peter

[Refugee]

The push button switches get a little bit dirty if it is not used for a while.
I have not seen any blue tants but I do know about the problems with them.