Hp 16500A logic analyzer info

[PaulAm]

The 16505a is based on HP/UX.  You should be able to log in and just make a disk copy using standard Unix utilities.  That would save all of your option keys as well.

[mopar5150]

The 16505a is based on HP/UX.  You should be able to log in and just make a disk copy using standard Unix utilities.  That would save all of your option keys as well.

  I am not sure enough of my Unix skills to attempt this just yet. If my software search fails I will give it a shot.

[texaspyro]

There is a liitle mis-information out there on what hard drives the 16500B and 16500C can work with.  The only hard drives that seem to work are Quantum Fireball drives with 2 GB or less capacity... and those drives are now reaching their senile years.  During the drive init sequence,  the 16500 software issues some commands that most drives do not handle.

The same goes for trying to use Compact Flash cards in an IDE adapter with it.  Very few brands of cards will work. Some will format but cause errors when reading/writing.  Others won't be recognized.  Some makers used different controller chips in their identically marked cards,  only one of which works with the 16500.

I have found some INDUSTRIAL GRADE cards that work very well and can supply them in a CF adapter formatted and loaded with the 16500B or 16500C software and symbol utilities.  Cost is $40 shipped (ouch,  but I had to pay good money for them and only half had a controller chip that worked with the 16500's).  Send me a measge if interested.

[zombielinux]

Sorry about the necrobump.

Does anyone have a definitive list of CF Cards and adapters that will work with this? I've poked around on other sites and seen no such list.

If you've got it working, can you provide some info about what you're using?

[texaspyro]

Unfortunately not.  You have to try different cards.  Even identical card models from the same maker seem to use different controllers chips in them.  Some work, some don't.  It took me a long time to find one that worked.  I bought all that the guy had, and less than half worked with the HP.  Some guy put a protocol analyzer on his HP16500 and figured out that it sends some undocumented IDE command to the card.

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

Just acquired a 16500A with 2 x 531's, 1x 530, and v 00.00 firmware all in good working order with probes.
My question is, is this a viable system today if one has a modern Rigol scope?
Secondly, if I flog it, what is it worth now, being of this vintage?
And thirdly, is there a floppy to SD Card converter / conversion that is available now?
Any input is good.

[texaspyro]

And thirdly, is there a floppy to SD Card converter / conversion that is available now?
Any input is good.

The floppy drives in all the 16500 analyzers are customized for HP.   A standard emulator is unlikely to work.

Also note that on the 16500A, the rear floppy drive is rather susceptible to having the grease on the head position lead screw drying out and jamming the thing.

[Retep]

Just acquired a 16500A with 2 x 531's, 1x 530, and v 00.00 firmware all in good working order with probes.
My question is, is this a viable system today if one has a modern Rigol scope?
Secondly, if I flog it, what is it worth now, being of this vintage?

It's a bit difficult to compare a logic analyzer with a scope, unless you meant one of the MSO types.

Anyway, about 20 years ago I used one of these at work. What I remember of it is that it had a very small amount of memory, which meant one had to be quite creative with defining triggers to capture the trace of interest. The user interface consisting of just a touchscreen and the single knob, while kinda cool back in the day, was frankly a bit of a pain to work with. Nowadays you can get logic analyzers with deep memories that don't take up much space relatively cheaply, so unless someone has a very specific reason to want one of these, I don't think it's worth much.

[gslick]

Just acquired a 16500A with 2 x 531's, 1x 530, and v 00.00 firmware all in good working order with probes.
My question is, is this a viable system today if one has a modern Rigol scope?
Secondly, if I flog it, what is it worth now, being of this vintage?
Any input is good.

A 16530A / 16531A setup only has a 4K record length per channel, only has a 6-bit resolution, and only has a 100MHz bandwidth. If it's the only scope you have it's better than not having any scope at all. If you already have a modern Rigol scope there wouldn't be any contest at all about which one is more useful.

As far as the value of a working 16500A + 16530A + (2x) 16531A if you are thinking about trying to sell it, the cost of shipping the system might be close to the total value of the system so your best bet would be to try to find someone local that might be interested. Or sell it as individual parts which are smaller, lighter, and less expensive to ship.

[gslick]

It is perfectly possible to re-image a 16505 with nothing but the install floppies. i have done it multiple times. plop in new drive, launch the system manager from rom (the system manager is actually a full fledged hp-ux core system. these machines have the operating system in rom), format the disk and then load the system and apps. powercycle and hpux will now boot from harddisk.

While this 5 year old thread is being revived, this comment caught my attention. Just to be clear, have you gone through the process yourself of swapping a completely blank hard drive into a 16505A and installing the HP-UX OS and logic analyzer software from scratch? I know with the 16700-series that is trivial to do with the "re-ignite" CDs. I have copies of the re-ignite CDs for the 16700-series (and also the 16600-series) and have done that several times myself.

For the 16505A I have never been able to find a copy of a re-ignite CD and wasn't sure if they were ever actually available. If you, or anyone else, has a re-ignite CD for a 16505A to install the software from scratch on a blank hard drive I would be very interested in getting a copy of that. Or maybe it could be installed from floppy disks, although that seems like it would take quite a large number of floppy disks for that.

[ray.russell57@outlook.com]

Hello all.  I realize that this thread is five years old.  However, if you guys are still on this link maybe you can help me.  I have an HP 16500B.  The power supply board has crapped out, specifically the +3.5v rail.  I have pulled the card out and removed it from its plate and am beginning the P A I N F U L task of working upstream from the output pin on the board.

What I could really use is a schematic.  Has anyone ever seen one?  I spoke (via email) to Keysight who was spun off from Agilent who was of course spun off from HP.  The person I spoke to was familiar with the unit and actually still has a training cert on it.  However, he came up blank on the schematic.

Any ideas???

Thanks,
Ray Russell
Houston, TX

[HarryDoPECC]

Just did a successful HDD to CF conversion.  Used Syba brand CD-IDE card and newly-purchased Verbatim branded 1GB CF.  No problems, now it boots quickly and runs well.  1gig is overkill and it's a bit slow to list the disk but this was the smallest I could readily buy.  CF firmware seems to be critical, I tried Sandisk 64M and 128M - both formatted but failed on file ops.  I have never seen anyone succeed with Sandisk.  Two Nikon branded CFs, same fail.  But new Verbatim works.

I had previously replaced the FDD with a Lotharek SD-FDD unit, that works well and my 16500C is now free of all spinning disks!

[HarryDoPECC]

Final upgrade to the 16500C - removed the 4MB RAM stick and replaced with 2x 16M sticks. 
Machine now reports 32MB of RAM, runs happy and fast. 
There is a note in the 16500B doc that RAM is limited to 32MB, dunno if 2x 32M may work.  64M almost certainly the limit.

[TerraHertz]

Again reanimating an old old thread.
I know the 16500A is considered klunky, but someone might want one if it was cheap enough?
So, is this cheap enough?
ebay 143453648369
KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES 16500A / 16500A (USED) 
US $25.00 plus $9.90 shipping in USA.
I'd buy it just for disassembly fun, if I wouldn't have to pay real freight cost from USA to Oz on top.

I'd been buying some other stuff from these guys, and saw this. Apparently they are having a sale, and that $9.90 shipping is not a typo.
I'd thought it must be an error, surely. But no!
I bought a quite large, heavy HP 9000 computer system from them, for $43 plus $9.90 shipping. Queried the postage, since I did actually want the machine. They made no comment and have shipped it! Tracking says it is in transit. I have no idea why the seller is doing that.  I'm half expecting to get just an envelope with a photo of the item, or an empty case. (I'd claim a refund.)

They are very poor at describing items, and their single tiny photos are near useless. High turnover? Poor management?  It's like a lucky dip.
However that exact same HP 9000 system was also listed by their sister company plccenter, for US $215.00 with 2 year warranty. And that item ended when I bought the radwelloverstock item, so they are the same unit.

It's weird how they just randomly interchange KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES for HEWLETT PACKARD on some items. I don't think they really understand.

[Stray Electron]

   I couldn't find that auction number on E-bay. I tried the title too and I don't see anything listed for $25.00 or anything that has $9.90 shipping.

  Oh wait. I found it. It's sold already. The $25.00 must have been a buy it now price!!

[TerraHertz]

  Oh wait. I found it. It's sold already. The $25.00 must have been a buy it now price!!

It was! I should also have mentioned it came with the boot floppies. This link still works:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/KEYSIGHT-TECHNOLOGIES-16500A-16500A-USED-/143453648369?nma=true&si=SNfZOaRK3xs2KPpg10vb2%252FGtRo8%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

That was soooo tempting. Given that I just like collecting old LAs, mostly for historical interest. But really... boatanchor. Costing hundreds for post to Aus.

What I'm kicking myself over is last week passing up a HP 3245A Universal Source (dual channel) that I could have bought for about US $600. It was listed as showing a "92:BUS ERROR", ie not working. But my copy of the service manual has a handwritten note mentioning that specific fault - that it's just a blown fuse. Darn it. I was hoping the seller would go lower, I put it off, someone else grabbed it.

[cruff]

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES 16500A / 16500A (USED) 
US $25.00 plus $9.90 shipping in USA.

Wow, there's almost no way that proper shipping of something that heavy and large can be done for that price. I'd hate to see what condition it was in when it arrived.

[klunkerbus]

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES 16500A / 16500A (USED) 
US $25.00 plus $9.90 shipping in USA.

Wow, there's almost no way that proper shipping of something that heavy and large can be done for that price. I'd hate to see what condition it was in when it arrived.

But read the fine print in the listing:  "**Combined freight charge will be calculated by seller. Items that must go by LTL Freight Carrier due to size or weight restrictions, buyer will be contacted to pay additional freight."

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

  That pesky fine print with the *

[gslick]

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES 16500A / 16500A (USED) 
US $25.00 plus $9.90 shipping in USA.

Wow, there's almost no way that proper shipping of something that heavy and large can be done for that price. I'd hate to see what condition it was in when it arrived.

But read the fine print in the listing:  "**Combined freight charge will be calculated by seller. Items that must go by LTL Freight Carrier due to size or weight restrictions, buyer will be contacted to pay additional freight."

This seller isn't a 1 or 2 person company. I doubt the people doing the packing and shipping work closely with the people doing the eBay listing. They probably just get notified to pack up and ship something to the given address, and it's not really their immediate concern how much the buyer paid for the item and the shipping.

I would expect the buyer of this 16500A in question to receive something packed well for its size and weight. I've bought a few items from this seller in the past. They weren't as large or heavy as a 16500A but they were professionally packed. (Although in one case I received something defective and got a full refund, and in another case I received an incorrect item as part of a shipment and got a full refund for that item).

A 16500A isn't large or heavy enough to warrant shipping by LTL freight. UPS or FedEx ground would be just fine if it was packed well.

But yeah, they would be losing money on this transaction if something didn't flag them to cancel it.

If someone on the list bought this 16500A they should update us on whether the sale went through and if they received the item OK.

[TerraHertz]

Yeah I get the impression it's a large outfit. Or rather TWO large outfits, with one handling sales of equipment surplus to the stock/storage space of the other.

Anyway, about the large system I bought:
HEWLETT PACKARD COMPUTER 9000 / 9000 (USED) SERVER DRIVE 250V 8A 280W MAX 50/60HZ
80% OFF, 7 DAY REVIEW, NO WARRANTY, COMBINE FREIGHT**
Condition: Used
Sold for:  US $43.00
Postage:   US $9.90 Standard Shipping
Item location:  Willingboro, New Jersey, United States
Seller: radwelloverstock (3797 )
ebay 133252956765

They shipped it, for that $9.90 price! From New Jersey to Los Angeles CA. It arrived at my reshipper (shipito.com) in LA just fine. In a big box manufactured with their company logo. Shipito doesn't send pics of the box internal packing (to my frequent irritation) but they do send pics of the box exterior and the item unpacked from the box. It appears to be undamaged. I've had it onshipped to me in Oz, and will get it in a few days.

The box weighs  47.85 lb.  Dimensions 25.00 " x 21.00 " x 17.00 "    Right across the USA for US $9.90 


The only explanation is that the company staff in different departments don't talk to each other. Somebody posts an ebay listing, with little idea of how big a thing is. Another person packs the item and passes it to shippers. Someone in accounts pays the shipping bill, without seeing the ebay shipping price paid.  Who knows? Or maybe they are angels incarnate, and just have a sense of humor about how they do good deeds.

The ONLY disappointing thing so far, is that it has no peripheral cards installed. Radwell's ebay pic showed only the machine front, not the back. I was half-hoping it might be fully loaded up like this one: ebay 222620505363 

But no...    Just the system board with 'human interfaces'.
What else is inside remains to be seen. A disk? The listing _says_ "DRIVE" but we'll see. If it doesn't, maybe I can get a partial refund on the system price - of $43, ha ha.
I'm interested in this HP 9000-300 machine because it's generally compatible with a HP 9000-226 that I'm restoring, see
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg2852634/#msg2852634

By now I have most of the manuals and an assortment of interface cards. Applicable to both.  Both are good as HP-IB control machines, due to HP BASIC having HP-IB integrated. Also the history is interesting.
A 'LAN' card exists, with an AUI interface. I wonder if it might be possible to get this to function on a Windows LAN?

[gslick]

Yeah I get the impression it's a large outfit. Or rather TWO large outfits, with one handling sales of equipment surplus to the stock/storage space of the other.

They shipped it, for that $9.90 price! From New Jersey to Los Angeles CA. It arrived at my reshipper (shipito.com) in LA just fine. In a big box manufactured with their company logo.

That seller has over 200K items listed currently, almost everything at the same $9.90 shipping in the US regardless of the size/weight of the item. My guess is that with that many items it is simply not worth their time to measure and weigh every item and calculate a reasonably accurate shipping cost, and they just came up with some average figure where they come out behind on some items and ahead on others. Even the smallest item has $9.90 shipping.

Too bad it is apparently also not worth their time to take decent photos.

[TerraHertz]

Yeah, it's very curious. I find it hard to believe the $9.90 is a profitable average shipping cost.
Another possibility may be, that they are in some situation where they are paid to take stuff away from some high volume source, and mainly just have to get rid of it all as best they can. If they had to pay e-waste fees that would be very expensive. So they sell on ebay. But they have to keep stuff moving out, so adjust factors like the start price, postage cost, picture quality etc, to some sweet spot where things move fast enough and they make some profit, or at least it costs them less than e-waste disposal. And their manpower effort/cost is also minimized.

Anyway, they are in general a great source for deals on vintage computing gear.