I built one, battery powered only(two 9V) and used it on transistor radios. It served me well. Would loved to have been able to afford Sencore equipment at the time but couldn’t. The Heathkit stuff worked just fine and I always enjoyed building the equipment I used.
I built the whole 5280 series and an IO-4105 scope in the early 1980s as my first set of test gear. Worked all summer to earn enough money to buy the kits, and built them up over about a month. Not the greatest stuff, but more than adequate for a beginner. Served me very well until I learned enough electronics to graduate to second hand HP and Tektronix type gear from local fleamarkets and hamfests. My audio generator definitely had the topside shield. I remember the difficulty in getting the frequency trimmed properly so that the calibration was close on the higher ranges. Installing or removing the shield would cause the frequency to vary considerably. I did modify all 5 instruments by installing LEDs for power on indicators.
I bought it in France in 1979! Yes, there is an upper shield. The oscillator is of Wien bridge type with JFET, very classic and very efficient. I have the original manual, but in French...
bought mine back in the 70s with the RCL bridge and multimeter. my audio generator has the sheild. however tried dozen of times over the years could never get the audio generator calibrated. only componet not replaced was the ganged tuning cap. also had trouble with the RCL bridge. the only two that worked where the Multimeter and the transistor tester.
It could be used for genereating a signal for testing the audio amplifier sections of a stereo receiver, but for the rest of the circuitry you need a different piece of equipment. See my video on the Heathkit IG-37, for example.
I still use my heathkit ig 5282 generator. Yes, the circuit is enclosed in a metal can. I bought it in 1978 or 1979 when I was in trade school. I power it using an external home made power supply I made using an LM317 and an LM337 for the +/- 9 volt supply. I have the old manual too. I just finished performing a test to see what the output impedance is. I get about 2.1 kilo ohms. What do you get?
In a quick check I got around 1330 ohms (I attached a resistance substitution box and adjusted it until I got half the open circuit voltage). It may vary with frequency or range.
series no 03905 i have the upper shield on this one.. same as below shield. just taller to fit .. maybe can track down time end of shield with S#'s. also have the orig manual. even with the parts req cards
Common applications would include aligning and testing radio receivers, audio amplifiers, public address systems, etc. Square waves can be used for digital logic circuits as a clock or test signal.
@@jefftranterThanks! I'm just getting started in the wonderful world of vintage tube gear, and now that I finally have a square wave generator, I have no clue what to do with it. :)
@@fullwaverecked I am an Old tube guy: Signal generators are used to inject a signal into a circuit for trouble-shooting or alignment/adjustment. You also need an oscilloscope the view the signal as it moves thru the circuitry. I still do a LOT of audio frequency work- I find square waves very useful when I'm searching for unwanted electronic distortion. It's easy to compare a known, clean, square wave input signal against the output signal of any amplifier stage. With careful observation of the oscilloscope display, I can usually spot the component causing the problem. I suggest you get copies of the RCA RECEIVING TUBE manuals. They are downloadable, for FREE! HUGE amounts of information, basic schematics, vacuum tube specifications, and design ideas. RCA usually updated them every 10 years. COLLECT THEM ALL all for your own archives. Watch out for the HIGH VOLTAGES!!
@@charlesgplott5133 Thanks Charles! I'm an old dog, but new to vintage tube gear. So for the last two years I've been on "Vintage Safari", on the cheap. I figured the best way to learn is going through the old test gear, then use the test gear to fix amplifiers. This is a thrilling hobby, and thanks for the advice!
@@jefftranter Can they be used to find out why a channel is out on a receiver or trace it to find out what caused the lack of output on a channel? Thank you Thank you
Hi Jeff! Thanks for the great video. I am trying to repair a badly treated 5282 I recently picked up at a hamfest for $3. I suspect it has several blown transistors from somebody installing a 13.8V power supply :( Two quick comments. First, my unit does have the upper shield (its S/N 00738). I can see your chassis has the holes for it. Also, my unit has tantalum caps as C4, C5, and C6. Your unit appears to have electrolytics in these positions. C3 and C7 electrolytics on your board appear to be the same as mine. Tantalums at C4, C5, and C6 are specified in the manual, which you can download from mods.dk.
Mine does have the upper shield. I purchased and built it sometime around 1983 or 1984. Here is the link to a video I did on it some time last year. ua-cam.com/video/PLkP7jikVl4/v-deo.html
good find my father used to build heathkit kits, i miss those days.
I built one, battery powered only(two 9V) and used it on transistor radios. It served me well. Would loved to have been able to afford Sencore equipment at the time but couldn’t. The Heathkit stuff worked just fine and I always enjoyed building the equipment I used.
I built the whole 5280 series and an IO-4105 scope in the early 1980s as my first set of test gear. Worked all summer to earn enough money to buy the kits, and built them up over about a month. Not the greatest stuff, but more than adequate for a beginner. Served me very well until I learned enough electronics to graduate to second hand HP and Tektronix type gear from local fleamarkets and hamfests.
My audio generator definitely had the topside shield. I remember the difficulty in getting the frequency trimmed properly so that the calibration was close on the higher ranges. Installing or removing the shield would cause the frequency to vary considerably. I did modify all 5 instruments by installing LEDs for power on indicators.
I bought it in France in 1979! Yes, there is an upper shield. The oscillator is of Wien bridge type with JFET, very classic and very efficient. I have the original manual, but in French...
bought mine back in the 70s with the RCL bridge and multimeter. my audio generator has the sheild. however tried dozen of times over the years could never get the audio generator calibrated. only componet not replaced was the ganged tuning cap. also had trouble with the RCL bridge. the only two that worked where the Multimeter and the transistor tester.
I have the 5281 ALC bridge, the 5282 audio generator, and the IT-5283 signal tracer and also the IPA-5280 power supply.
How would you use this component to troubleshoot a stereo receiver? can it be used for that? does anyone know?Thank you.
It could be used for genereating a signal for testing the audio amplifier sections of a stereo receiver, but for the rest of the circuitry you need a different piece of equipment. See my video on the Heathkit IG-37, for example.
@@jefftranter those connector on the rear are a pain to remove I just left them connected in fear of breaking the plastic connectors.
I still use my heathkit ig 5282 generator. Yes, the circuit is enclosed in a metal can. I bought it in 1978 or 1979
when I was in trade school. I power it using an external home made power supply I made using an LM317 and
an LM337 for the +/- 9 volt supply. I have the old manual too. I just finished performing a test to see what the
output impedance is. I get about 2.1 kilo ohms. What do you get?
In a quick check I got around 1330 ohms (I attached a resistance substitution box and adjusted it until I got half the open circuit voltage). It may vary with frequency or range.
I picked up one of these today while scavenging about. I just opened it up and it does have the upper shield and is Series No. 03938
series no 03905 i have the upper shield on this one.. same as below shield. just taller to fit .. maybe can track down time end of shield with S#'s. also have the orig manual. even with the parts req cards
Neat, but what are they used for in the real world?
Common applications would include aligning and testing radio receivers, audio amplifiers, public address systems, etc. Square waves can be used for digital logic circuits as a clock or test signal.
@@jefftranterThanks! I'm just getting started in the wonderful world of vintage tube gear, and now that I finally have a square wave generator, I have no clue what to do with it. :)
@@fullwaverecked I am an Old tube guy: Signal generators are used to inject a signal into a circuit for trouble-shooting or alignment/adjustment. You also need an oscilloscope the view the signal as it moves thru the circuitry. I still do a LOT of audio frequency work- I find square waves very useful when I'm searching for unwanted electronic distortion. It's easy to compare a known, clean, square wave input signal against the output signal of any amplifier stage. With careful observation of the oscilloscope display, I can usually spot the component causing the problem. I suggest you get copies of the RCA RECEIVING TUBE manuals. They are downloadable, for FREE! HUGE amounts of information, basic schematics, vacuum tube specifications, and design ideas. RCA usually updated them every 10 years. COLLECT THEM ALL all for your own archives. Watch out for the HIGH VOLTAGES!!
@@charlesgplott5133 Thanks Charles! I'm an old dog, but new to vintage tube gear. So for the last two years I've been on "Vintage Safari", on the cheap. I figured the best way to learn is going through the old test gear, then use the test gear to fix amplifiers. This is a thrilling hobby, and thanks for the advice!
@@jefftranter Can they be used to find out why a channel is out on a receiver or trace it to find out what caused the lack of output on a channel?
Thank you
Thank you
I have the multi-meter.
Hi Jeff! Thanks for the great video. I am trying to repair a badly treated 5282 I recently picked up at a hamfest for $3. I suspect it has several blown transistors from somebody installing a 13.8V power supply :(
Two quick comments. First, my unit does have the upper shield (its S/N 00738). I can see your chassis has the holes for it.
Also, my unit has tantalum caps as C4, C5, and C6. Your unit appears to have electrolytics in these positions. C3 and C7 electrolytics on your board appear to be the same as mine. Tantalums at C4, C5, and C6 are specified in the manual, which you can download from mods.dk.
Mine does have the upper shield. I purchased and built it sometime around 1983 or 1984. Here is the link to a video I did on it some time last year.
ua-cam.com/video/PLkP7jikVl4/v-deo.html