AFG5101

Tektronix AFG5101
programmable arbitrary/function generator Tektronix AFG5101 Produced from 1988 to 1991 Manuals Tektronix AFG5501 and AFG5101 Instruction Manual Tektronix AFG5101 and AFG5501 service manual Wavewriter Software Manual 070-8401-08 (All manuals in PDF format unless noted otherwise)

Manuals – Specifications – Links – Pictures

The Tektronix AFG5101 is a programmable arbitrary/function generator plug-in for the TM5000 system.

The plug-in is three compartments wide.

The AFG5501 is the same device in a mainframe of its own.

Key Specifications

Frequency range	Sine, 0.012 Hz to 12 MHz; Arbitrary, Square, Ramp, Triangle, 0.001 Hz to 10 kHz
Duty cycle	7% to 93%
Output	10 mV_p-p to 9.90 V_p-p (50 Ω), max. 19.98 V_p-p unloaded
Amplitude flatness	±3 dB over full frequency range, ±0.5 dB from 0.012 Hz to 120 kHz
Distortion	≤ 0.6% (≤ 1% for full temperature range) from 121 Hz to 120 kHz
Sweep	linear, logarithmic or arbitrary sweep

Software

Firmware

AFG5101 v1.2 Firmware 050-1201 (A1U105) (ZIP)
AFG5101 v1.3 Firmware 050-1201 (A1U105) (ZIP)
AFG5101 v1.4 Firmware 050-1201 (A1U105) (ZIP)

Options

Option 02: Frequency locked synthesizer for enhanced frequency stability

Internals

The backplane connectors use in this unit are DIN41612, or Eurocard connectors. The required extender cables can be easily made up using these connectors with ribbon cable to allow for adjustment and calibration.

Repairs

The front display uses a blue electroluminescent panel for backlighting, which is usually almost completely faded and dim by now, and the LCD contrast is usually quite poor too.
A standard cheap 5-volt Hitachi chipset compatible LCD module with 'parallel' interface can be used as a direct drop-in replacement with the removal of the EL inverter from the rear of the front panel PCB, and the LED backlight to be wired to the supply side of the now-removed EL inverter. Top pad is +ve (to anode). bottom pad is -ve (to cathode).
The new LCD may be 2mm thicker than the original LCD, this can be adjusted for by replacing the original 8mm tall brass standoffs with 6mm tall replacement standoffs.
If the contrast is too dark on the new LCD, the contrast pin (third from the left) on the header connector from the front panel PCB to the LCD PCB can be removed entirely, and the connection made with a 3.6 kΩ resistor around the edge of the PCB's. This (or a similar value) should bring the contrast back to center scale.
To adjust the contrast and turn the backlight on and off, press <SPCL>, then <2> <2> <0> followed by <ENTER>. The contrast can be adjusted using the up and down arrow keys and the backlight turned on and off using the <ENTER> key.

The RAM backup battery is another common point of failure, this was originally a Renata 125-1 3-volt primary cell in a potted enclosure with two diodes. A replacement can be replicated using a CR2032 cell and two 1N4148 diodes as used in the original part. See images below for the schematic of the original Renata part.

Pictures

AFG5101 in Mainframe as AFG5501
AFG5101 with DM5120 in TM5006A mainframe
AFG5101 Front
AFG5101 Rear
AFG5101 Right Side Internal
A1 CPU Circuit Board
A2 ARB Circuit Board
A3 Analog Circuit Board
A4 Output Circuit Board
Schematic of Renata 125-1 RAM backup battery