Protrack Prober II

[JFFoster3]

The company I work for, PUI of Dayton, OH, has two Huntron systems with Prober II units.  I have inherited both units, including their problems.  The video system of one unit is dying a slow death.  I have completely disassembled the camera system and cleaned everything (which improved video noticeably), but it is only a matter of time for it.
The problem has been narrowed down to the CCD Image Sensor, Texas Instrument part # TC211. This part has been obsolete for many years and no replacement seems to be available. I know the video cards, etc, are no longer available from Huntron.  Has anyone figured out a way to replace the camera and tie it into the system?
Thank You in advance for any help.

P.S. - I originally started working with Huntron while in the Navy and attended school for it in 1982 while stationed in Norfolk.  I built an octopus (poor mans huntron) and have kept it with me ever since. It is still working.

[admin]

Welcome to the Huntron Support Forum.
There are two options possible.
The first is to get the current system working. The old black/white camera systems were pretty sensitive to the card adjustments. You had to get it right to get a reasonable camera image. Here are some instructions on adjusting the old Electrim card:

- For Electrim black and white camera systems: With the PC cover off and power ON, measure the voltage at TP1 on the camera card (located at the top rear corner of the card -- use the PC chassis as ground). Adjust R8 (Gain) until the voltage reads 1.9VDC. Start the Huntron software and bring up a window that has a camera image (such as camera offset). Put the image to LIVE mode. Adjust the Intensity knob to minimum. Mount a dark colored board in the Prober. Position the camera over a visible object such as the white text on the camera offset board. Now adjust R9 (Bias) slowly (counter-clockwise to start) while watching the image on the PC monitor. You should be able to get an image. Adjust it so the image looks good with the Intensity set to a middle position.
--
If the old system refuses to cooperate then you could consider changing to a color camera similar to what was done with the Prober IIc. That system used an analog camera connected to a Sensoray 611 frame grabber card in the PC. The camera type/model is not that important but you would have to use the Sensoray card since it is supported by the software. The camera would need to be mounted fairly close to the position shown in the images on the Access Probers web page:
http://www.huntron.com/products/access.htm
The biggest issues to changing to the color camera would be wiring the video and power to the camera on the head. On the Prober IIc there were BNC (video) and power cables. You would also need to get the camera securely mounted in the correct position on the Z axis head. It would probably be a pretty big job and possibly not worth the effort.