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Old 3rd Mar 2021, 4:47 pm   #35
Matt kd4pbs
Tetrode
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
Posts: 62
Default Re: Spectrum Analyser TR4172

And the obligatory thousand words each...

Fortunately, after a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner for a while I found that things in the mixer weren't quite as bad as I first thought. It appears that the mixer has just enough leads left to facilitate some solder surgery, so I may be in luck there. Pictures for that to come...
Unfortunately, the interface module was in pretty poor shape. They appear to have used a ceramic substrate with gold plated copper or pure gold foil. Whatever it is, one can see the lifted trace in the coupler section. This was likely the cause of the initial loss of sensitivity. I'm debating on the method to affix this, and the best I can come up with is using a sharp needle to apply a very thin layer of cyanoacrylate to the substrate and an artist's brush to lightly press down on the trace, similar to applying gold leaf.
Anyone have any better ideas?
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