Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

This forum exists for the purposes for discussing service monitors (This includes but is not limited to Motorola, HP, Aeroflex, GD, etc). Additional topics allowed include test procedures, interpretation of test results, where to find information about specific tests, antenna VSWR, return loss testing, duplexer and filter alignment, etc.

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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

Best bet: check the board for bad caps.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
tornado229
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by tornado229 »

Wowbagger,

I have a COM-120A service monitor. It fails self tests, deviation and distortion. It is also about 400Hz off frequency from preliminary testing. Does it just need a calibration you think?
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

It *it* indicating it's off frequency during self test, or are you testing it against an external reference?

If the former, you may have capacitor plague - it should never see itself as off frequency against its own generator.

If the latter, then the TXCO just needs to be calibrated.

The others sound like it could be plague, or just drifted cal.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
tornado229
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by tornado229 »

Thank you for your reply. I did a comparison with another unit and found that the frequency is spot on. Now, I still get a deviation meter and distortion meter fail. If I let the unit warm up for a long while it will pass the deviation test.

I did the duplex 105MHz test you have tikd several people to do and my results are:

Deviation: 2.63 kHz
AF freq: 1000Hz
Distortion: ---%
RF power: .0-.1 mW
Rf error: -2.5 kHz

Think it just needs a calibration? I have seen no leaking caps or signs of it. The unit is in the 7000 hr range.
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

The distortion being dashed out worries me - you should be seeing a value there. Check that your squelch is wide open, but if it is, then you have an issue on the baseband tray, and that issue likely is a failing cap - it may not yet be leaking, but it is not at all well.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
Jamezo97
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Jamezo97 »

G'Day

We have a COM-120B with a type 1 CPU controller tray, which appears to have had its software corrupted.
We are trying to reload the software into the unit in order to remedy this problem, however are at a loss on how to do it.
We have done it before many years ago over the RS-232 port using a program, however this program is now sadly lost.
We currently have the software for this unit (BIOS.bin, DSP.bin, FMY.bin, FMYVID.bin, MPTAUTO.RCI, v4.05), but have no method of uploading it onto the machine.

Could you please refresh our memory on how to reload the software into the unit? Any suggestions / instructions / program you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

When you say "type 1 CPU", do you mean the old 80188 CPU boards? If so, then the files you have are not going to do you any good, as they are for the 80486 board.

If you have a 486 board, then I can walk you through the reload process. Let me pull some information together at work, and I'll post the steps you'll need. I do need to know exactly what the unit does when you power up - what beeps does it make?
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

OK, it turns out I had the information here.

First of all: if you DON'T have the 486 board, DO NOT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS. You WILL BRICK your unit totally, and there's nothing I can do to help you.

AGAIN: if you don't have a 486 board - if you have the old 80188 based board, DO NOT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS.

Next: I am going to assume the BIOS is already loaded and OK, because if it isn't, you are dead in the water.

So, connect your favorite terminal emulator to the serial port. You will need to find the current baud rate for the board. You can do that by setting your terminal emulator's baud rate, then hitting return a few times. When you get the Sysvue prompt you have the right baud rate.

Next, enter the command "baud 115k" and hit return. You will now need to switch your terminal emulator to 115200 baud. Hit return a few times and make sure you get the SysVue prompt.

Next, issue the command "buffer 440" - this will turn on serial port buffering - you need that to reliably load.

Next, you will need to erase the flash that stores the main system files. Enter the command "ERASE 20:C00000 100000" and hit return. When that completes, enter the command "ERASE 20:FFF90000 50000"

Next, load the main system file. Be ready to start an XModem or YModem transfer, and enter the command "XRCV 20:C00000 0". Start sending FMY.BIN.

Next, enter "XRCV 20:FFF90000 0". Start sending fmyvid.bin

Now, reboot the unit, and see if that has fixed your problem. If not, tell me the symptoms, and we'll go from there.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
akadi@txdot.gov
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by akadi@txdot.gov »

Do you have any idea why does the IFR 2975 freezes. This unit has not been used much and it has already been fixed once. since I got it back, it just never worked right. It is an expensive piece of garbage. Every time you press a button it freezes and it takes a while for it to work. It has become a waste of time to even bother turn it on....Thanks for your input!
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

Gosh, with such a pleasantly written and politely phrased message, I am so motivated to spend my personal time answering your question, knowing that with the detailed description of the behavior of your unit I can identify the problem and that you will be gladdened by my response.

Every time you press a button? Do you mean the physical buttons, or do you mean the soft buttons on the display. Do you truly mean "every time without fail", or do you actually mean "only in this one case that is important to me and I never bothered to check any other cases"? Does a while mean "five hundred milliseconds", "five seconds", "five minutes"? You say the unit was sent in for repair: what was the nature of the repair?
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
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xmo
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by xmo »

I have a 2975 question. I have two 2975's in my life - one at home and one at work. (BTW, neither of them ever "freezes" - they might take a long time to boot but once running respond just fine -also - I particularly like the 2975 better when driving with a mouse)

The two units are different versions. The one at work is an earlier unit with the IFR name on the front. My personal unit has the Aeroflex name on the front. My question is regarding the lithium battery. The battery went dead in each of these units. In my personal unit, after replacement of the battery it booted fine and all I needed to do was set the clock.

The earlier unit won't boot even after replacing the battery. This happened once before and it had to take a trip to Wichita for recovery. I realize they should go in regularly for a cal anyway but cheap bosses cut that from our budget leaving us with a dead unit.

Is there anything we can do in the field to recover the unit?
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

My guess is that the hard drive parameters in the BIOS are wonky. I really came to regret the decision to use VxWorks as the OS, as it really was limited. One problem is that the initial boot loader has to use the drive geometry the BIOS reports, which is LBA, but VxWorks uses the actual drive geometry, and there really is no standard way (at least that I have found) to query the mapping from the BIOS. It made every new type of drive a real pain to use.

Try changing the drive geometry parameters in the BIOS. I am assuming it does not display any meaningful messages on boot (writing a bootloader in the 512 bytes of the first sector is an art unto itself, and you don't have room for error messages).
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
SmokChsr
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Com 120B Speaker

Post by SmokChsr »

I have a Com 120B that has apparently lost the speaker. The HP jack still has good audio, thus I'm guessing it's just the speaker itself.
I'm curious if there are any known issues concerning the audio and speaker circuit before I open it up? Also if you might know what the speaker is I'll have one on hand when I go in.

With this same unit I also had a very weird problem that self corrected, I was using the analyzer split screen with the tracking generator, and on one side the received signal was down at noise level, while the other side displayed normally. That was even with the RF out fed directly back into the ant in.
2 weeks later it was just fine. Couldn't explain it.
I called service when that was happening, and their response was we don't fixem anymore.


Main Program 4.19
BIOS 4.10
GSP 4.15
Keyboard 3.01
DSP 4.15

With a whole bunch of options.
POCSAG, RCC Encode, LTR Trunking, EDACS Trunking, Tracking Gen, Optional IF Filter, Generator Amp, & New Counter

Thank you,
Alan
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

The speaker problem may be that the wire that goes from the speaker on the left side of the unit to the speaker on the right side of the unit has become pinched between chassis and case and is shorting (that happened to mine). Take the case off and look at the bottom of the unit - you may want to pull one speaker out and wiggle the wires to help you identify which wire it is.

The analyzer problem may have been something like the gen unlocking as the frequency switched (unlikely - it should have thrown the unlock screen) or just that the code was confused and programming in the wrong frequency on the second half of the screen (while it was a clever hack, the way we handled state variables in the code did have some issues like that. Mistakes are how we learn; I learned a lot on the COM-120 project).
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
SmokChsr
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by SmokChsr »

[quote="Wowbagger"]The speaker problem may be that the wire that goes from the speaker on the left side of the unit to the speaker on the right side of the unit has become pinched between chassis and case and is shorting (that happened to mine).

Thank you Wowbagger,
I'll do that, One day I also have to repair my 1000S, but that one can wait. The nice part about it is that it has a new display tube. It's only had around 10 hours use since I replaced the tube right as they were becoming "unobtanium"..
SmokChsr
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by SmokChsr »

Wowbagger wrote:The speaker problem may be that the wire that goes from the speaker on the left side of the unit to the speaker on the right side of the unit has become pinched between chassis and case and is shorting (that happened to mine).


It actually was the R (display) side speaker was open, they are wired in series so of course when one opened they both got quiet. It appears to be a 2.25", Mylar, low profile, 8 Ohm 0.2W speaker. As long as I've had this unit I've never noticed it had 2 speakers. For now I've bypassed the bad speaker with a 8.2 ohm resistor until I can find a suitable replacement.

PS Wowbagger, I'm sure you know the info I just posted but it may assist others down the road.
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xmo
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by xmo »

Wowbagger,

Following your advice to my earlier question about the 2975 that would not boot, I found a set of drive parameters that worked and the unit does boot.

There is still however, an issue of some sort. After it boots it comes up completely to the last screen it was on but it is completely unresponsive to user input from front panel controls, the keyboard , or the mouse. While it is unresponsive to input the display is also not updating, for example the spectrum analyzer trace is also frozen.

If left to sit on its own, after an hour or so it starts working and will appear to be completely OK but after a few minutes of normal operation it locks up again. I am not sure if there is a fixed time to the not working / working / not working cycle because the time is too long to just sit and watch it.

Is is possible there is another BIOS parameter that's not quite right?
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

It could be that an IRQ conflict is causing problems. I don't have ready access to a 2975 to look up what the IRQ mappings are, but if you could get the IRQ map from the BIOS, I can see if I can dredge up the information.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

OK, since the COM-120 series is no longer sold or supported by Cobham, I will reveal a few useful items to help people out. I hope I don't come to regret this....

How to reset the serial number (e.g. in case of RTC battery fail).
You will need a serial terminal connected to the unit, with the correct data rate etc. so that you can issue commands to the unit.
You should be able to issue the "*IDN?" command and get the response. You should confirm you have a serial number of 0.
Next, on the serial terminal, enter the following command:
syst:sec off
cal:state on
cal:eeprom:serial 12345
Obviously, replace the "12345" with the appropriate serial number from the back of the unit.
You will also likely need to set the IF bandwidths of the installed filters. Issue the following commands:
cal:eeprom:ifbw0 "300"
cal:eeprom:ifbw1 "15"
cal:eeprom:ifbw2 "25"
Those are the correct values for most units. If you have the cellular option, you will likely have a 30 kHz IF for ifbw2. If you have the SSB option, you will have a 3kHz IF for ifbw2. (A very few units had both options, then IFBW1 is 30kHz and IFBW2 is 3kHz. Honestly, I think most of those units were owned by IFR people). Keep in mind that this ISN'T a software defined radio - just saying you have an XX kHz IF won't magically change the properties of the actual crystal filter installed in your unit!

You will now need to reboot the unit to let the serial number "take".

At this point, you should be able to enter the options strings for your unit and get your options back.

Now, I am *not* going to reveal how to compute the options strings. I am not going to reveal how to enable options by any other means. Don't ask. (also, if anybody here knows how to enable options by other means, I'd really appreciate you shutting the hell up. That would be proprietary information, just like RSS and other things that can get you ban hammered. I *will* report anybody I see talking about that to the admins).

I make a great deal of money at my job. I am a nice guy, and I like to help people - up to a point, and that point is losing my job. I don't *think* anybody who matters gives a damn, but I am not willing to push too hard to find out. I have gone as far as I feel comfortable going.

Now, if people ask me *nicely*, and if they are straight with me about what they have installed, I am willing to compute option strings for them. I will need the serial # of the unit, and the options you think it should have. I will compute the appropriate options strings and send them to you *when I get around to it*.

ADDENDUM:
You can greatly increase the likelihood of a quick response if you do the following:
1) If you haven't already lost your options, get them now - issue the following 2 commands over a serial connection:
*idn?
*opt?
Save the responses. They tell me the serial number and the options code in the form I need to regenerate the settings. (there are option bits that don't show up on the screen that I need to know).
2) realize that I am not doing this as a Cobham (Aeroflex) employee. I am doing this as a "private citizen" who just happens to have access to the tools to do this. Nagging me every day won't make me more likely to get around to doing this.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
GlennD
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by GlennD »

I just received an IFR 1200S not superS. I get a Cmos error on bootup and the battery measures .86V. Will I loose the options if I replace the battery?
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Andy Corbin
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Andy Corbin »

I don't *THINK* so. I have a 1500 that I replaced the battery on. When I powered the unit up, I would get a "NV RAM" error message. Battery replaced and all was fine with all functions. It may be different on the 1200 Super.

Andy
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by GlennD »

In looking around it seems that on the 1200S the options are in ROM. On the superS they are in the battery backed up ram. I should have time this afternoon to find out!

I was surprised about how much smaller the unit is compared to the 1500. On my 1500 it looks like I have a bad connector on the upper pcb, Oh joy!
GlennD
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by GlennD »

Well, the options are in the ROM. The battery replacement went well. This unit seems to be fully optioned. It has option 12 and the DVM/DTMF seems to be a stock thing. The display says IFR 1200 and then ver 7-05 so I did not lose anything.
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Andy Corbin
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Andy Corbin »

Glenn, glad to hear it worked out for you. The 1500 series had two styles of batteries. One was a 3v coin style tabbed battery. The other (which is on mine) is a cylindrical 3 volt tabbed battery. I didn't lose any functions on my box either. Only thing being maintained by the battery were frequencies, tones, offsets, etc.

Andy
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by GlennD »

Both of my 3000's sn units have the coin style batteries. One may now be working but I can not figure out the options. The other has no 12V for the menu items. Since it looks like I will have to pull the front panel I will clean and resolder the connector. Since the front panel is such a lot of work to pull I will also replace the cable
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Wowbagger
i would like to know,Now that Cobham no longer supports the com120B who would be able to activate options would calibration depots be able? Such as if we bought a used 120 on ebay and wanted to a the tracking generator who would we turn to.
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

OK, I am willing do to that within the bounds of reason.

1) anybody want this WILL follow these instructions. Ignore them, I ignore you. Remember, I am doing this as a favor.
2) You WILL provide me with the output from the following 2 commands, issued to the unit over RS-232 or GPIB.
*IDN?
*OPT?
That will tell me your current options and serial number.
3) I will send you the codes when I get around to it. Don't keep nagging me.

Sorry to sound like such a :o, but some people tend to get very pushy about this sort of thing....

Addendum:
I have people who have never posted (as far as I can tell) PM'ing me for options. I am doing this as a favor for Batlabs regulars - I feel a bit uneasy about people who have never posted asking for me to switch on options. This is not Cobham Customer Service here....
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
roxbox
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by roxbox »

I am sorry for the PM as I was just wanting the option codes for the options the unit already has and did not think I should post that in the open as that would fill this with *IDN? posts, if Cobham Customer Service can and will do this, I will contact them. I did not think that they supported the com-120A/B anymore. I have been reading every post I can find on the com-120 and started thinking about what I would do if I lost the options I already have.

Frank
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by roxbox »

I have a com-120b that everything seems to work fine except one item. when i put in a FM square wave tone at any hz, I get a funny looking square wave. I have replaced every module with other modules one at a time trying to find the one with the trouble with no luck. it looks like what you would see on a scope looking at a pulse modulated sine wave with 4 levels. does anyone have any ideas on this.

frank
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

Can you give a better description of how you are making this measurement? Ideally, either post a screen shot from the unit, or give step by step instructions on what you are trying to do?
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

roxbox wrote:I am sorry for the PM as I was just wanting the option codes for the options the unit already has and did not think I should post that in the open as that would fill this with *IDN? posts, if Cobham Customer Service can and will do this, I will contact them. I did not think that they supported the com-120A/B anymore. I have been reading every post I can find on the com-120 and started thinking about what I would do if I lost the options I already have.

Frank
What concerns me is that I looked at your post history, and didn't see ANY posts other than the one to me. That means you aren't really an active participant here on Batlabs, just a lurker.

What I don't want to see happen is that this forum becomes posted Internet-wide as "go here for COM-120B support." Again, I am doing all this as a favor to the Batlabs members.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Wowbagger
I used the information you posted and now i have my monitor information written down should i have a failure, thanks for the information very valuable. I saw on one of the other post you have done that you stated the 1600,1900 and com120c used the same tft lcd display, my question, can the display board and screen from a 1600 be used to replace a screen in a 120b?
my com120b display is getting speckled with missing pixels so i am thinking ahead on what i should be looking for such as a com120a parts rig? or as i have seen 1600 parts on ebay your thoughts thanks again for all you do for the forum.
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

ljohn6 wrote:Wowbagger I saw on one of the other post you have done that you stated the 1600,1900 and com120c used the same tft lcd display, my question, can the display board and screen from a 1600 be used to replace a screen in a 120b?
COM-120C is the operative word here. The 1900 (not the 1600) and the COM-120C used the same TFT, but in both cases it required a modification to the video boards. Moreover, the video board the 1600/1900 use is basically a VGA card in a different form factor, while the COM-120 family used a totally custom card based on a TI graphics engine (TI34010). In both cases there were significant modifications to support the TFT - so a COM-120B display board won't work with a TFT, and a 1600 display board won't work with a TFT either.

Your best bet would be to find a dead COM-120A or B, and get the Planar EL display from that.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Thanks
I will keep my Eye open for a dead unit.(just not too dead)
roxbox
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by roxbox »

Wowbagger wrote:Can you give a better description of how you are making this measurement? Ideally, either post a screen shot from the unit, or give step by step instructions on what you are trying to do?
rec mode, sending to unit from HP ESG-D1000A, fm 900 MHz, 10k dev, square tone 1KHz.

screen shot att.

Image
Image
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Wowbagger
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

OK, what do you get if you use the COM-120's generator to make a square wave? Are you sure your signal generator isn't the issue?
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
roxbox
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by roxbox »

the COM-120's GEN give a good clean square wave, the signal gen used is also good as I have two other 120's that do not do this. Not every screen capture looked like this, some look normal, some look half power, then you have the above that is a mix of the two. the low level part of the above is not always at the same level. if i change the FM dev to 20khz or more, it cleans up a lot with only a glitch showing every few seconds. makes me think that the memory buffer used to store the digital form of the wave has bit errors, or the AD converter.

I got my Service Manual and did all of the cal I could without the 'extenders', working on finding parts to make them now.

Thank You for Your time
frank
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

roxbox wrote:the COM-120's GEN give a good clean square wave, the signal gen used is also good as I have two other 120's that do not do this. Not every screen capture looked like this, some look normal, some look half power, then you have the above that is a mix of the two. the low level part of the above is not always at the same level. if i change the FM dev to 20khz or more, it cleans up a lot with only a glitch showing every few seconds. makes me think that the memory buffer used to store the digital form of the wave has bit errors, or the AD converter.
First of all, I don't think the problem is in the scope/analyzer digitizer - you are getting what looks like a valid data stream from it. If the COM-120's generator is clean, then I would suspect your external signal generator. You say you have more than one COM-120 - have you tried hooking both of them up to the signal generator, and comparing the displays?
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Hi Wowbagger
Can service manuals or calibration manuals still be purchased at cobham? and if they don't would you know where one could be purchased. I am looking for a 120b and 1900.
Thanks for any suggestions
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by Wowbagger »

You might be able to get the 1900 manual, but the COM-120 manuals are unobtainium - even for me.
This is my opinion, not Aeroflex's.

I WILL NOT give you proprietary information. I make too much money to jeopardize my job.

I AM NOT the Service department: You want official info, manuals, service info, parts, calibration, etc., contact Aeroflex directly, please.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Thanks for the info, I will call cobham and see about a 1900. So does anyone know where you can buy a service manual for a com120b could be found even a pdf on cd. any info would help
Thanks to anyone that can help.
GlennD
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by GlennD »

ljohn6 wrote:Thanks for the info, I will call cobham and see about a 1900. So does anyone know where you can buy a service manual for a com120b could be found even a pdf on cd. any info would help
Thanks to anyone that can help.
There is a 120C manual on repeater builder. Considering that it is board level it might help.

http://www.repeater-builder.com/test-eq ... manual.pdf
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Thanks, I have downloaded it along with the manual for the 1600 so can the 1600 calibration procedure work on a 1900 ?
how many differences in the procedure ? as these 2 monitors are basically the same how much of the 1600 service manual translates to the 1900.
jry
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by jry »

at a very high level the 1600 service manual could be applicable ...some of the modules are close but a lot of the details changed as well.

The calibration is far more detailed on the 1900 and had a dedicated manual for it
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

So jry the calibration manual is separate from the service manual ? or if I where to buy a 1900 service manual would it have all the info I need for a calibration. It would be nice it there was a library where we could get these online at least for monitors no longer in production. I have a 1900 that fails 4 of the self test and my bet is a calibration will fix the issues. thanks for all the input everyone provides.
jry
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by jry »

Service manual did not include the calibration.

Which self test is failing ? The self test routines usually have a pretty broad tolerance so calibration impact is usually minimal.

chances are your unit is broken and not just slightly out of alingment.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Jry the monitor fails 4 test
1 AM modulation
2 FM deviation FM 1 passes FM3 fails
3 receiver selectivity
4 Analyzer level
all other test pass along with all test for the csa if you have some suggestions on what to test or look for I would be very grateful.
Thanks John
jry
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by jry »

I would start with the first failing test like the AM
You will need another service monitor or modulation analyzer to verify when on that test you see
100Mhz +- 100Hz at -10dbm +- 2dbm with 30% +-5% with a 1Khz tone on the RF I/O
The service manual has the alignment procedures for parts replacement only which may be helpful if you repair an assembly or want to try the alignments to get past a self test issue.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

I will do the test and post my results.
thanks for the advice and instruction.
ljohn6
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Re: Aeroflex (IFR) Questions

Post by ljohn6 »

Hi Jry here are my measurements I made from and to my 1900
1 gen mode AM 1 100mhz dev measured on my com120 .09hz and level measured 27%
2 AM 1 receiving from my 120b dev -18.1 kHz modulation reads 75%
3 AM 2 dev .093khz modulation reads 29% I also verified measurements with a 1500 and measured pretty much the same.
what is my next move.
thanks John
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