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Old 02-08-2011, 09:32 AM
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zenithfan1 zenithfan1 is offline
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What signal generator (sweep generator) should I look for?

I would like to buy a nice signal generator and frequency counter so I can properly align tvs and stereo receivers that need it. What should I look for that works well without spending tons of money. Thanks!!
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Last edited by zenithfan1; 02-08-2011 at 01:36 PM.
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Old 02-08-2011, 12:11 PM
bob91343 bob91343 is offline
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The last thing you need is a counter. The signal generator for stereo won't work for TV so you will need separate units, in general. For stereo, a low distortion audio oscillator and an FM/AM signal generator will do. For TV you would need a sweep generator and/or an RF generator with video capability.

All this depends on whether you are working on vintage stuff or modern stuff. Modern stuff is all but unrepairable; you generally buy an entire circuit board rather than align anything.
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Old 02-08-2011, 01:33 PM
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Thanks for the help so far, the newest stuff I'll be working on will probably be late 70's stuff so no new crap lol. The reason I wanted a counter is because when I was at Doug's house a while back he showed me that the dial on the generator isn't always correct, especially on the older ones that may have drifted a little. I just want to be sure that the signal I'm injecting is the one I want to inject. The counters seem pretty cheap so I'm not worried about that, I just don't want to spend money on a generator that is crap or won't do what I need. I just got a PM about the EICO 369, does anyone have anything to say about it being a good one? Thanks again for the replies.
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My TV page and YouTube channel
Kyocera R-661, Yamaha RX-V2200
National Panasonic SA-5800
Sansui 1000a, 1000, SAX-200, 5050, 9090DB, 881, SR-636, SC-3000, AT-20
Pioneer SX-939, ER-420, SM-B201
Motorola SK77W-2Z tube console
McIntosh MC2205, C26
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Old 02-08-2011, 01:43 PM
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zenithfan1 zenithfan1 is offline
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I was just shopping around and found these: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Sencore-...f#ht_500wt_940
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_1160wt_925
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...T#ht_500wt_940
And here is the one I was just told about: http://cgi.ebay.com/EICO-369-TV-FM-S...#ht_1602wt_925

Any thoughts??
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My TV page and YouTube channel
Kyocera R-661, Yamaha RX-V2200
National Panasonic SA-5800
Sansui 1000a, 1000, SAX-200, 5050, 9090DB, 881, SR-636, SC-3000, AT-20
Pioneer SX-939, ER-420, SM-B201
Motorola SK77W-2Z tube console
McIntosh MC2205, C26
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Old 02-08-2011, 05:16 PM
bob91343 bob91343 is offline
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I'd stay away from Sencore. Can't help much on TV stuff, as I never work on (or watch) television. Basically though, the EICO is good stuff for being from a kit, but still that's all it is, very low end.

The counter thing, well you can check calibration on an audio generator from the power line with an oscilloscope. I assume you have one.
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Old 02-08-2011, 05:27 PM
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I have a 369 and it works well. Make sure you get the cables with it. My only complaint is that there's no marker output which makes it a little inconvenient to calibrate with a frequency counter.
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Old 02-18-2011, 08:27 PM
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I can vouch for Sencore - I have an SG165 for AM/FM alignment and access to my dad's VA62 and SC61, both of which are spot on. The SG165 does require me to use a counter to verify settings.

RCA's test equipment for color sets used to be the cat's meow - rock solid, but only if left on 24/7. When CB's were popular, our tech could pick up the color burst freq from the RCA color alignment gen with only a short antenna on his freq counter.

I can count on two fingers the times I've had to align a color set. Both were out of alignment only because their owners had played with the IF cans. I have an SAE FM tuner I still can't get to tune a stereo signal at max signal strength. But it's fun to play with...

Cheers,
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