Wavetek 183

[bandersen]

Here's another toy I picked up recently. It's a Wavetek function generator from the late 70s. I've owned several RF and sweep generators over the years, but never a decent function gen.

It was also another gamble purchase as the seller listed it as condition unknown. Probably why I was the only bidder.


I popped it open before powering it up and was surprised at all the 'stuff' in there. I thought it might be based on the good old XR2206 or ICL8038 single IC function generators, but it's all discrete op-amps and transistors.



Every looked OK so I powered it up. Unfortunately, the waveforms looked funky and distorted. Some modes weren't working right either. I figured it's repairable though so ordered the owner/service manual form Tucker Electronics.

When I received them, I saw just what an 'off the shelf' design this device is. All the parts are still readily available.

I dug into start troubleshooting and before too long found that the two socketed ICs weren't fully seated. I suspect those sockets may have been part of an old repair. Also the ICs in them had sort leads. Possibly PC board pulls.



I mushed them down good and fired it up again. Bingo! It's working perfectly

I'm amazed at the quality of the output. The frequency range is a ridiculous 0.0001 Hz(that's nearly 3 hours for one cycle!) to 5 MHz.
It can drive a 50 ohm load with coarse and fine attenuation.


But wait there's more! It's also a sweep generator. The top waveform is the ramp output you can feed to a scope's x-axis for doing visual alignments.


Finally, it has an crystal lock mode. That's what the daughter-board under the lid is for. What it does is lock the frequency at each tick mark on the dial. e.g. 10 kHz, 12 kHz, 14kHz,...
Which is neat, but it won't lock on any frequencies I really care about like the common IFs of 175 kHz, 455 kHz, 4.5 Mhz. Oh well.


There are several models in this series (180 - 185). If you come across one at a reasonable price, I suggest you take a chance on it.

[Kevin Kuehn]

Very nice. I love the quality test gear we made in this country during the 70's-80's. That looks like it might even stack well with your 1080?

[bandersen]

Yep. They were probably made about 30 years apart, but the cabinets are identical

[Findm-Keepm]

Bob,

Just don't ever place a direct short across the output - the output transistors are a complimentary pair, and the PNP type (a 2N5160) is expensive and getting harder to find. Agilent (formerly HP) still stocks them under their own part number, but at 45 bucks each. I've got several Wavetek generators - function, sweep, and even a rack mounted unit that outputs in microhertz - 10,000 second pulse widths are possible! It is all discrete, with differential amplifier pairs and funky precision resistors (13,440 ohms, and 33,210 ohms are but two wierd values).

I used to power up either a Wavetek 183 or 145 to impress folks - lissajous patterns on the scope, jamming AM, or driving a speaker directly - they can even light light bulbs - lots of gusto! Wavetek also simplified things by avoiding specialty part numbers - lots of common semiconductor parts!

PS - i've got several PDFs for Waveteks, and probably have the 183 too. My years as a calibration tech taught me to never pass up a service manual, paper, or PDF. There's a "Manual_Exchange" Yahoo! group that can save you some bucks if you need a manual - I've offered up a few to some in the group, but I've never needed - yet.

Cheers,

[bandersen]

Yikes! Thanks for the warning. I do have a copy of the user's manual which has instructions on it's use and calibration. It also has a schematic and parts list.
I think there's a 183 service manual too. If you happen to come across a copy, I'd be interested.

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by bandersen

Yikes! Thanks for the warning. I do have a copy of the user's manual which has instructions on it's use and calibration. It also has a schematic and parts list.
I think there's a 183 service manual too. If you happen to come across a copy, I'd be interested.

Wavetek only published a user manual for the 183 - you already have all that was published. They blended just about everything into one manual. For some instruments (microprocessor based) they also published a signature manual (digital bus states for various functions/setting) but for most of their analog stuff, just the one manual. I once had an 8' shelf full of Wavetek paper manuals, but I cashed out in the early 2000's when eBay manual sales were free of the PDF/CD manuals. Now, most are digitized, and I have a few preliminary paper manuals, and a paper manual for all but two of my primary test equipment items.

My eBay manual sales were a great time - got to meet some interesting people, and even sold an HP manual via eBay to a guy that lives a few doors down from us. One of my sales was to the VP of Disney's Imagineering Division at the time. It was almost like hob-nobbing with royalty!

One other Wavetek recommendation - stay away from their 3000 series Sig Gens - pure crap. They are modular, and hard to keep from developing gaps in output frequencies, probably due to PLL locking/unlocking. We (sadly) had them in the Navy, but pressed the HP 8640's into double duty to avoid having to use them. We'd tell the cal lab to do a lick-and-stick calibration, so to avoid having them waste their time repairing/calibrating them. Real pains, they are. Before Wavetek came out with their 25XX series sig gens, the going mantra was to avoid all the 4 digit model stuff - the three digit stuff was good stuff. I've got a 183 (sans knobs), a 184 ($5 at Goodwill bulk buy), and two broke 2002's (one just about gutted, and the other with a spray painted face (to "de-mil" it). I've also got a small stash of Wavetek pots, mostly PC mount duals, for what, I dunno.

Cheers,

[bandersen]

Thanks for the tip. I've been looking at 300X Waveteks and HP 8640s for a while. Both seem to go for big $$.
My goal is to someday have a reliable RF generator in the 20-50 MHz range where I can dial in a frequency with at least one decimal digit of precision without spending a fortune.
Very handy for aligning vintage TV IFs The Sencore VA62 comes close with it's 35-50 range.