Hi!
Regarding the comments below on the 5370: there are always two questions with temperature: meeting spec and reliability. Instruments vary as to which is a bigger issue. Some have temperature proof measurement techniques that will work virtually until something burns up, so you can get lulled into a false sense of security just because the instrument meets spec.
I think most people would agree that reliability comes in the first room, specs in the second. It is fairly meaningless to have super-spec when you know that your box is approaching dysfunctional at a high speed, and you don't know when what effect will kick in to fiddle with your performance before it says "poof" on you.
Infact, cooling (for reliability) and performance to some degree can become troublesome, as the noise of the airflow and vortexes can affect performance and forced air onto ovens will make very efficient connection between ambient temperature and oven shield, so any shift there will quickly and effectively cool or heat the oven. Self convected boxes has longer time constants than forced air boxes.
Many times when I "investigate" the design of boxes I react on their inability to design for reliability. I react on very basic design errors such as mechanical mounting of heavy components (solder is not long term stable fixing when heat and vibration comes into play) and heat (when the heat sink forms a heat-pocket into which all heat gathers and stays rather than distribute the heat sources so dissapation through self convection becomes easy is just another example).
Repairing failed gear can be rewarding in terms of understanding failure modes. Becoming experienced in various forms of failures is as important as understanding how to perform the task of the project.
Cheers, Magnus _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
