This is my Anritsu MG3700A once in a lifetime flea market find. In perfect shape, worked great until 1 hour ago.
I managed to destroy it (but it might be fixable?)
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The MG3700A has a sled for a PATA/IDE spinning disk harddrive that contains 20GB of pre-made protocol waveforms: GPS, DVB, you name it. The unit works without this drive: you can still load waveform via Ethernet or CompactFlash card.
Either way, it’s better to replace with an SSD.
The SSD arrived this afternoon. I swapped the drives in the sled and… it doesn’t slide all the way in. There must be a slight connector offset.
No problem: I just slide the new drive in without sled!
PATA receiving connectors have a missing hole that prevents misconnecting, but because of the sled, the inside connector of the MG3700A does not.
So I misaligned it and short-circuited the CPU board. When I plug in the power cord, the fan comes up and that’s it. Unit is dead.
The MG3700A mechanical assembly is a marvel of engineering. It didn’t take long to slide out the CPU board. And wouldn’t you know it: one of the 2 SMD fuses is open. It’s the same fuse as in a The Signal Path MG3700 repair video.
So there is hope!
I’ll be at Anchor Electronics tomorrow for a replacement fuse…
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Anchor Electronics to the rescue. This evening will be one of happiness or tears. 🤞
