RE: Logic Analyzer

On Tue, 23 Feb 1999, Clay Cowgill wrote:

> > FLUKE 9005A, 9010A
> >
> Not really a logic analyzer, and not really an ICE. But... Really handy
> to have for a trouble-shooter. The 9010 is the one to get if possible
> (the 9005 doesn't have the programmablility that the 9010 does.)

Isnt there a 9020 too? it doesn't have the tape drive or the programming
keys but it comes standard with the rs-232 port so you can load programs
from a 9010.. ok so its useless :>

9010s have been going pretty cheap too.. they show up on eBay in the $100
every once in a while.. a 9100 is a hell of a lot more powerful than the
9010 because it can store its programs on a hard drive, and provide a
couple hundred channels of feedback/stimulus through 4 I/O pods. You
can write GFI (guided fault isolation) programs that can guide you through
anything that could be wrong with a space duel board, by reading
signatures or states through the probe or through various DIP clip
adapters. All you need is a known good board for a reference to write the
program, the 9100 stores them on the drive and compares it to the unit
under test when you execute the program.. Makes testing a breeze..

the 9010 can do the same thing but it only has a probe. of course the main
reason for owning a 9010 or 9100 is its ability for testing bus-related
stuff.. and its probably a lot more user friendly than a CAT box ever was.

Of course the downside of these things is you can never find everything
you'll want to use with them. probes are a rarity to be found with a 9010
unless you paid big bucks from a retailer.. pods are just as bad. the 9100
is worse becuse to program it you need the pogrammers station monitor and
keyboard which is not likely to be included if you find one. I'm pretty
sure you can use an IBM CGA monitor though. The genuine Fluke monitor is
just mono green and any ASCII keyboard could probably be used but the
numeric keypad is all rekeyed. I could take a pic of my keyboard so people
who dont have one could know what the keys do..

And of course to do the cool stuff with GFI you need the I/O pods with
the DIP clip/flying lead adapters which I've NEVER seen for sale.
There is also a card edge adapter which would be another cool find
since you could map it to the I/O pods for hitting the inputs so swapping
out boards for testing would be even quicker. Getting manuals is yet
another downside. somehow I found a complete 9100 system
and it came with manuals so I'll scan them in sometime soon because nobody
seems to have them and I guess a set from fluke is in the $1k range!

> I wouldn't mess with any HP stuff less than a 1630 or 1650. (Little too
> old and under-featured, IMHO) Once you're at the 1630's they're nice
> though-- largely a matter of personal preference. If you start on HP's,
> you like HP's. If you start with Tek, you like Tek. ;-)

I just picked up a Tek 1241 and just playing around with it last night I
found probably thhe most useful feature for skimming around is the knob :>
I dont think the HP1630 series has a knob.. I think the 1650s do but they
are pretty damn expensive when the 1630 is all you'd probably need. I've
never used an HP one so I'll shut up.
 
> > TEK 1230, 1240, 1241, LA501
> The 1241 is basically a 1240 with a color display. (Well, kinda color.
> It's "RG" -- no "B".)

there are a couple other features the 1241 has over the 1240, mainly just
the fact that is can expand the timing diagram to fit the entire vertical
screen height and that fact that its color, but thats about it. the screen
on that thing is cool! I've never seen anything like that before.. its
called a LCCS, Liquid Crystal Color Shutter display. it uses a mono green
CRT with an LCD panel over it and a touchscreen over that. It can make 3
colors, R G and Y and somehow it makes the screen look red and yellow even
though it looks like the LCD is half an inch away.. there is some kind of
wierd polarizing trick going on there..

> You can configure them with different capture
> cards-- the most common configuration is probably a single 9-channel and
> an 18 channel card.

Kinda like the flukes, this is where the Teks can get expensive.. if you
dont find one with the modules you want they are EXPENSIVE to buy them
seperatly. I looked around last night and just about everything I found as
far as the cards go was $450 and up for one 18 channel card with both
pods. the 9-channel cards are usually MORE because they can do 100MHz. The
18-channel ones can do 50MHz. you can have up to 4 acquisition cards
installed. The cards dont seem to be hard to find but you certainly pay
for NOT buying a tek with the cards and pods. the mnemonics packs are
impossible to get.. I only found one at $100 for 68020. I
guess you can program your own in though if you have a RAM
pack? I'm not too sure on that one.. The RAM packs seem to be not all that
elusive, but at least $100 each..

I'd say other than local surplus places (if they are cheap!) the best
place to buy is probably eBay? 1240s seem to go in the under $400 range
fully loaded which is probably the best way to go. There was a 1241 on
there this week that didn't meet a reserve at $800 and it had NO pods..
thats scary. HP 1630s seem to go in the $500 range and 1650s in the $1k
range.

Id say go with a Tek because Clay has one :>
I'll be first in line for a mnemonics multicart..

Jeff
Received on Thu Feb 25 01:56:17 1999