-=> Roy J. Tellason said to Greg Mayman
 -=> about "POWER SUPPLY" on 10-31-03  20:15.....

 RJT> Nope.  Unless I'm getting a spurious reading from them still being
 RJT> in-circuit. I didn't get anything suspiciously low,  though,  just
 RJT> normal transistor type readings...

Yeah, that sounds about right. Of course they could be breaking
down under voltage but that's not so easy to test.
 
 GM> Connect power, measure voltage across the big caps. Should be about
 GM> 300v total IIRC. Check for high frequency signal from the power
 GM> transistors to the transformer - caution: HIGH VOLTAGE.

 RJT> Somewhere I have an isolation transformer,  but having this board
 RJT> flopping around loose while powered up doesn't have much appeal to it.
 RJT> I've put off that step until I can come up with a comfortable way of
 RJT> dealing with this.  :-)

On thinking it over I realized there's not a lot to be gained by
checking the primary of the transformer for signal. If everything
is alright up to and including the transformer, you will see
signal on the secondary. OTOH if the transformer is faulty, then
you probably wouldn't see any signal on the primary anyway.

Yes, for powered up testing it really needs to be stabilized, but
in such a mounting that you can get to either side of the board
when you need to. Not the easiest thing to do.

 RJT> In the meantime,  if I can get some better lighting over here and
 RJT> maybe better magnification,  then I'll have another look at it,  and
 RJT> test some of the smaller passive components over on the primary side.

"Maggylamps" are wonderful things, a 6 inch magnifying glass with
a circular flourescent lamp mounted around the glass. I wish I
had one here.

Meanwhile I have to make do with a pantograph desk lamp and some
2x magnifying spectacles.

I have a pocket sized 10x magnifier somewhere, but it's never
handy when I need it...

 RJT>I can't read the color-codes on the bloody things any more... :-(

And the surface mount devices make it even worse. I had to
troubleshoot a board with those little b*ggers a while ago.
That's when that 10x magnifier was VE-E-E-E-RY handy!!!!

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
         vale Reginald Murray Williams, 1908-2003
    R.M.Williams - an Australian Icon in outback apparel.
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

From Greg Mayman, in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia
   "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E

... A job worth doing, is worth watching someone else do it!
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

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