How Relevant Old Tektronix TLA7*** Logic Analyzer Today?

[Mechatrommer]

thanks TiN for clarifying i dont see how you could possibly look at 2.5GHz FSB or 1GHz DDR3 on the i7, but reading back you earlier post, you indicated there is extension to the device. this is going to be hell or learning and catching up with the device and the app. i maybe trying to open a big can of worm for myself here. this is going to be read book, and look/tweak at the probe, loop 100x. and then read help file and apply software, loop 100x again. i will start from basic, getting basic P6860 probe is the first step here. your probe seems too advanced only for people who know what they are doing. i think i will start with my 100MSps FPGA DDS 3x25 for learning.

[Mechatrommer]

Tektronix TLA714 Logic Analyzer Touchscreen Upgrade

[0culus]

Mechatrommer: would that retrofit work in a TLA 715? I recently acquired one in very nice shape.

[Mechatrommer]

i highly believe so, so long the touch screen size is equal to lcd monitor size, 10.4" in my case, i dont own 715 but from the look they are same screen size as 714. because this work is just like plugging in a USB mouse into it. except the mouse you'll need to stick on the wall or something somewhere ie the monitor to be wise. we will have less one USB port though from this mod. disabling the touchscreen is as simple as unplugging the USB cable (recovering the USB port) on the side. another benefit of this, the touchscreen glass will cover and protect the fragile tft/lcd screen from hard poking, so one work for few benefits, btw i bought the touchscreen from ebay china, there are many variants, 4 wires 5 wires etc (mine is 5 wires but i prefer 4 since its compatible with my lecroy dso touch, but i got 5 due to some other reason), just make sure they have that touch to USB driver board comes along. ymmv.

you can see people modding their touch screen in upgrading-mainboard-in-lecroy-dda-3000-(aka-wavepro-7300a) thread, this is what happened if you got touch screen different size with monitor (youtube linked by members from the same thread), fwiw...

[0culus]

Nice! I'm waiting on some more probe parts before I can really use the unit, but just poking around the interface is a bit annoying to use without a mouse and keyboard attached. The trackball is fine but the left/right click buttons are awkward.

[Mechatrommer]

yes i dont think the front panel mouse pad / track ball is meant nor effective for primary working interface, proper mouse is, but imho, touch screen should give better alternative at quickly navigating windows space, but button functions such as double click and right click, i will still rely on front panel pad, as double click is unreliable on the touch screen, and right click is totally unavailable.

[Mechatrommer]

i screwed up the touch screen. the glass is broken, i guess i over tightened the lcd mounting screws while installing them. so when i moved the unit from/to storage, the assembly flexed and the glass cracked into pieces, i tried to recover the touch panel by peeling off the glass but... the resistive traces are embedded and glued to the glass, the glass is actually a part of the circuit, so its toasted there goes $40 down the drain got to make new order but the seller is away for 2 weeks now CNY next time i think i should add spacers to give some air gap between glass to chassis.

btw, the TLA7E1 arrived, updated the FW from ver 1.0.0 to ver 3.1.1, TLA App 5.1 recognised it, startup tests all good, but when the App tried to load the waveform windows, it crashed. it happened for many times, but once it got through i managed to play some dso signal in the App, but now it crashed again... unstable. i read in the other thread, we need to downgrade to ver 4.4, but i'm not giving up yet until i give up...

[Mechatrommer]

i have to make fresh install to make TLA App 5.1 works correctly with TLA7E1. i guess there are some configuration setup going on during installation to configure the SW correctly with installed modules. short conclusion about TLA7E1 DSO module.. if you expect 100K waveforms per second, get a proper DSO, not this 7E1, this TLA7E1 may disappoint you (1 frame / 3 seconds update rate). i think it will be useful to work with TLA7AA4 LA module, synchronized or aligned triggering? etc, much like MSO functionality, but at abysmal one frame for 3 seconds update rate. this imho can be used for basic diagnostic repeatable error. for illusive intermittent bug, this is really not the tool to catch. but for me, its nice to have, it can show some signal that my DS1054Z cant, such as 100+ MHz "square" wave, and sub GHz signal (see attached).

there are some GUI bugs in TLA App 5.1 (2nd attachment shows TLA7E1 trigger configuration, but some options are clipped on the right i cannot reach them), i'm trying to install ver 4.4 to see if the bug is not there. but it cannot run it requires PCI-VXI Bridge Driver, does anybody have this driver? TiN? any pointer? i searched in the net and TiN's xdevs archive, no success. i tried to install dotnetfx 2.0, but the ver5.1 bug is still there. any help will be appreciated.

i'm learning TLA App along the way. i still cant play with logic module TLA7AA4 since i havent make probe head and circuit test setup for it and i still have much other things to do. currently trying to setup OS and get them right on 3 high end (was) instruments and waiting for parts, including this TLA714. fwiw..

[Mechatrommer]

just to put it into perspective. dont mourn just yet, i'm still learning how to unleash the real potential of this baby...

[TiN]

Beware input impedance and rating on the DSO module. It is not like your usual scope.
Using unit remotely over LAN probably will be little faster than 0.3 fps, as Java app takes quite a bit of power to redraw it's crap and onboard Pentium 266 is bit too old for that in 2019. 

Bridge driver for Win2000 is here.

[Mechatrommer]

Beware input impedance and rating on the DSO module. It is not like your usual scope.

the label says 1Mohm 12pF 300Vmax, 50 ohm input 5Vrms 25Vpk. yes i will keep the input low to avoid "poofing" that not so cheap module, i'm playing with 5V RF circuit there. in DSO module setup window, we can select between 50W and 1MW input, funny "W" unit not sure from where its historical origin  i guess it means 50 ohm or 1M ohm input impedance. if i choose 50W, there will be relay click in the module i guess activating 50 ohm impedance. i'm now have 3 unit of DSO acq capable, each one with their very special purpose, when i play with high voltage low freq circuit, my Rigol DS1054Z will be on the front line.

Using unit remotely over LAN probably will be little faster than 0.3 fps, as Java app takes quite a bit of power to redraw it's crap and onboard Pentium 266 is bit too old for that in 2019. 

i will try to live with 266MHz first because i prefer standaloneness if possible. i've made cleanest install possible and i think that is the fastest it can go. i try to install touch screen for better control (still waiting the new order after previous mishap), ordered PS2 mouse and keyboard , and lastly i will make LA probe head to be connected to test circuit for MSO capability evaluation, when everything's ok i think i'll make heavy duty cart for my 3 boat anchors (TLA714 is one of them) and then ready for operation. if still not satisfy, i'll go LAN way as per your adviced. thanks for your advice TiN and providing LAN card with the LA

Bridge driver for Win2000 is here.

i think thats not it. its only pci to tla board driver. its already installed in the new WinXP, but TLA4.4 still requests for so called PCI-VXI Bridge Driver, which i'm unable to find in the original (your) W2000 install w TLA5.1. TLA5.1 doesnt require the PCI-VXI driver to work.