Tektronix TDS210 teardown and BNC replacement

[Specmaster]

That's another reason why I like analogue scopes, they tend to have the BNC's mounted directly on the metal face plate and connected to the PCB via the 1M resistor so they are far more robust and will stand upto these gorillas, even sound engineers would struggle to knacker one up. 

[bd139]

You’d be surprised what they can fuck up. Flight cases don’t exist to protect the gear from baggage handlers and loaders

Edit: I had a Korg TR rack in once which someone had jammed pencils in and snapped them off in the 1/4” jack when they were stoned.

[tautech]

That's another reason why I like analogue scopes, they tend to have the BNC's mounted directly on the metal face plate and connected to the PCB via the 1M resistor so they are far more robust and will stand upto these gorillas, even sound engineers would struggle to knacker one up. 

A modern DSO with a metal chassis is little different, the BNC has both a securing nut and grounding studs into the PCB.

[TERRA Operative]

Nice work. I'll file that BNC part number away for future reference.
I was lucky that my BNC's weren't snapped, a resolder had them nice and firm again.

I also replaced the caps in the PSU as they are known for going bad, and I replaced the CCFL tube in the display which helped improve screen brightness.

[Muttley Snickers]

I have a later TDS-1002 model which has hardly been used really with less than 100 boot cycles and the BNC connectors are still in excellent shape. I wondered on these vulnerable models whether the addition of a slim O'ring or small rubber band placed over the BNC and between the case might assist in giving the connectors and PCB some addition support.

[tautech]

I just looked back to when I had one of these that I repaired and flogged off....2011 ! 
I already had a TDS2012B and the TDS210 was antiquated by comparison so it had to go but if IIRC I got good $ for it with a new pair of P6100 probes and all manuals on CD as part of the package.
I can thank it for confirming how popular and desirable DSO's where to become so in some way it's helped me down this path of now providing gear for others.
Gawd, the memories. 

I have a later TDS-1002 model which has hardly been used really with less than 100 boot cycles and the BNC connectors are still in excellent shape. I wondered on these vulnerable models whether the addition of a slim O'ring or small rubber band placed over the BNC and between the case might assist in giving the connectors and PCB some addition support.

IIRC Tek had woken up to mounting BNC's more rigidly and they had 4 pole BNC mounts that weren't as susceptible to breaking like in the 210 and 220.

I had one too with thousands of hours on it, pages of error logs and a dead LCD HV backlight inverter. Crook MLCC cap in the RC on the primary side push-pull switcher which was an easy fix and that went down the road too. 

[bd139]

I’m glad to hear thousands of hours. Mine has done 300 and 100 power cycles if I remember correctly

[tautech]

I’m glad to hear thousands of hours. Mine has done 300 and 100 power cycles if I remember correctly

That was for the one like Muttley's, a TDS1002.
Funny that an EE had owned it from new and knew it was a failed backlight and couldn't be bothered about fixing it. 
He was a good friend and knew I fiddled with scopes so just gave it to me as he'd already got a new TDS2104C to replace it. After I fixed it, added some probes and the cursory manuals on CD it was a $500 gift as far as I was concerned. 
Little windfalls like that sure spur you on. 

[bd139]

Most people don’t care enough to fix it. Same as where I work. I sift a lot of PCs out of the skip, most of them from a company in the same building

I’ve made a lot of money out of stuff that was really easy to fix that no one bothered with. I should really hit some more hamfests

[tautech]

Most people don’t care enough to fix it. Same as where I work. I sift a lot of PCs out of the skip

I’ve made a lot of money out of stuff that was really easy to fix that no one bothered with. I should really hit some more hamfests

I think he was just waiting for it to give trouble so he had a valid excuse to upgrade to a 4ch DSO.

Thinking back....these 2 Tek DSO's I had that passed on through, I would've most likely checked the PSU rails for ripple so they met SM spec and as they both did I didn't touch them however it's a few years later now and I'd be looking harder at caps in old gear these days. You should too if you think you'll hang onto it.

[pa3hfu]

Hi!
Of my TDS210 one little knob (trigger) is broken.
Anybody where I can get one?  TNX!!
Mathew

[Specmaster]

Hi!
Of my TDS210 one little knob (trigger) is broken.
Anybody where I can get one?  TNX!!
Mathew

You often find loads of Tek spares on Ebay and the other thing you ought to do is to google and see if there is a dedicated Tektronix user group and if there is, join it and then ask in that group, they usually have loads of parts floating around between the members.

[bd139]

Hi!
Of my TDS210 one little knob (trigger) is broken.
Anybody where I can get one?  TNX!!
Mathew

Part number is 366-0772-00.

Best bet is look for that part on google and eBay. Qservice don’t have any left and Sphere don’t either who are my usual sources.

[bitseeker]

You can also ask in this thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-new-test-equipment-repair-parts-hp-agilent-tektronix-fluke-etc/

[Gyro]

Coincidence! The foreground of the photo of the replaced chan1+2 connectors and old trigger connector looks identical to yours. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tektronix-TDS-210-mainboard-PCB-replacement-679-3546-01/173416381967?hash=item28606bfe0f%3Ag%3AIJcAAOSwc15bTi%7Ef&_sacat=0&_nkw=tds210&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xtds210.TRS0

[Specmaster]

Coincidence! The foreground of the photo of the replaced chan1+2 connectors and old trigger connector looks identical to yours. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tektronix-TDS-210-mainboard-PCB-replacement-679-3546-01/173416381967?hash=item28606bfe0f%3Ag%3AIJcAAOSwc15bTi%7Ef&_sacat=0&_nkw=tds210&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xtds210.TRS0

Yep, I saw that as well, it reinforces my point about just how little the Ext trigger jack is used, this shows what is likely to be the original BNC as is bd139's likely to be the original as well.

[bd139]

Yeah it says refurbished so they probably did what I did

£50 for a replacement brain isn’t bad money actually.

[mnementh]

It was pretty much exactly the same 2 years ago when I bought my wRigol.  If I'd been able to find one like yours, I might not have gotten the 1054Z; but I'd probably have replaced the EXT-TRIG BNC just to have the matching shiny. 

Yes I have to agree. Genuinely I wouldn't have bought the Rigol if I had this on the bench at the time as well. But I needed a digital scope right there right then and only had a Tek 465 available that worked.

Don't mention the trigger BNC. It is already annoying me in its incompleteness. I may just swap it out yet.

To steal tggzzz's signature, I'm having fun doing more with less these days so I wonder if I should lose the Rigol and live with this. It means at least £320 off the credit card after the FT-818 left some burn marks and I've got a genuine pre-Danaher made in America Tektronix digital scope in really good condition.  It has that indefinable quality about it. Quality as in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance quality.

I have ordered a couple of Wittig 100MHz probes for it from my usual probe dealer (wild-pc on eBay). These are really nice probes for the money: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162693385317 ... I'll grab some genuine Tek ones if I see any go past for a reasonable fee. Probes cost more than scopes these days

LOL... I knew it was niggling at you... just like it did me. While I generally agree with the "First, do no harm" Hippocratic Oath tack towards repair, one thing that I've learned the hard way is that it is very hard to clean a crusty BNC so it doesn't still FEEL crusty & crunchy. If I were in there for any reason, I'd seriously think about doing them all just to get that smooooove on. Since you're already replacing the two, I woulda never even thought twice and just done the third along with. I've done the strap-reinforcement trick a few times myself on other gear, though. "Crude, but effective." as Mr Spock would say.   

The Wittig probes are damn good value for the money; reasonably decent quality, cheap enough that you could afford to chuck 'em instead of fix them when you break them, and even the cheap 100MHz W201s will compensate down to match the oddball 13pF/15pF that Tek used on older stuff. A shame they went out of business a few years ago. Does your guy still have any W202s? They've been pretty scarce for a while now.

I know I have said this before but seriously Flukes??, yes I know that they are good meters but you also pay for that and if you look at some of Joe Smiths YT videos on multimeters, some of the Flukes just don't survive the tests that he puts them under but the Brymens do and they are less expensive but have more bells and whistles and are even more robust than the renowned Flukes  I'm beginning to notice that more and more of the YT electronic bloggers are putting Brymens on their benches and using them as their goto meter for most things.

Yes exactly this.  I am in the process of shifting my U1241C because I don't use it now other than for a current meter. I am considering filling the gap with an 87V just because I am a member of TEA however

As I said before, it's as much a matter of filling a Fluke-colored hole as it is needing a meter at this point; also, a need to gripe about it as I experience another bout of "The one that got away" syndrome, seeing several fixer-upper 189s that sold over the last couple months for $60-100. 

In all honesty, what I need more probably is a DE-5000...

I’ll try polishing it first

There are no electrolytics on that board. In fact there’s only about five tants as well. It’s incredibly minimalist. Literally nothing to go wrong.

Yep, polishing it first is the way to go, replacing it for no good reason other than to play with the Metcal is pointless,[emoji41]

Blasphemer. 

You’d be surprised what they can fuck up. Flight cases don’t exist to protect the gear from baggage handlers and loaders

Edit: I had a Korg TR rack in once which someone had jammed pencils in and snapped them off in the 1/4” jack when they were stoned.

Oh, good lord... I used to deal with that several times a week when I worked in the AV lab. Cassete consoles, phonographs, TV carts, everything had effing 1/4" phono jacks on them. We had these distribution blocks in every room; sixteen 1/4" phono jacks in every block. One or two per table. Those had no bottom to the jacks, and I'd find everything you can imagine rattling around in the bottom of them; sometime literally packed full so you couldn't get anything more in them.

Pencils, lollipop sticks, crayons, Pockys, peanuts, cigarette butts, gummies...

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

As I said before, it's as much a matter of filling a Fluke-colored hole as it is needing a meter at this point; also, a need to gripe about it as I experience another bout of "The one that got away" syndrome, seeing several fixer-upper 189s that sold over the last couple months for $60-100. 
mnem
 

Could always use a small tin of yellow paint on the red bumper 

[Gyro]

Yeah it says refurbished so they probably did what I did

£50 for a replacement brain isn’t bad money actually.

Yes, not a bad price. I did wonder briefly if it would be worth getting it and hooking up a PSU and LCD, however with all the front panel controls it would soon get messy and not cost-effective.

BTW, you might want to check that yours has had the ground safety recall carried out... https://www.tek.com/service/safety/tds210-tds220. IIRC it was something to do with the mains ground connection running to the BNC shells via a thin PCB trace. I'm sure applying the the fix to bypass it is quite obvious.

[Specmaster]

Checked the serial number on mine against the list and it has been recalled and had the modification carried out, thanks for sharing the info on here. 

[bd139]

LOL... I knew it was niggling at you... just like it did me. While I generally agree with the "First, do no harm" Hippocratic Oath tack towards repair, one thing that I've learned the hard way is that it is very hard to clean a crusty BNC so it doesn't still FEEL crusty & crunchy. If I were in there for any reason, I'd seriously think about doing them all just to get that smooooove on. Since you're already replacing the two, I woulda never even thought twice and just done the third along with. I've done the strap-reinforcement trick a few times myself on other gear, though. "Crude, but effective." as Mr Spock would say.   

Definitely. I tried to clean the thing and it won't so another BNC is arriving today

The Wittig probes are damn good value for the money; reasonably decent quality, cheap enough that you could afford to chuck 'em instead of fix them when you break them, and even the cheap 100MHz W201s will compensate down to match the oddball 13pF/15pF that Tek used on older stuff. A shame they went out of business a few years ago. Does your guy still have any W202s? They've been pretty scarce for a while now.

Unfortunately only the W201's are available in any reasonable quantity now. We have one eBay seller here who will do them for £13 a pair which is nothing for decent probes. I am slightly worried he's going to run out at some point as I've been buying them for years. I should probably grab a few pairs. At that price you can walk away with 8 probes for the price of one Tek probe.

Oh, good lord... I used to deal with that several times a week when I worked in the AV lab. Cassete consoles, phonographs, TV carts, everything had effing 1/4" phono jacks on them. We had these distribution blocks in every room; sixteen 1/4" phono jacks in every block. One or two per table. Those had no bottom to the jacks, and I'd find everything you can imagine rattling around in the bottom of them; sometime literally packed full so you couldn't get anything more in them.

Pencils, lollipop sticks, crayons, Pockys, peanuts, cigarette butts, gummies...

Reminds me of this

BTW, you might want to check that yours has had the ground safety recall carried out... https://www.tek.com/service/safety/tds210-tds220. IIRC it was something to do with the mains ground connection running to the BNC shells via a thin PCB trace. I'm sure applying the the fix to bypass it is quite obvious.

Mine is a later revision than the recalled ones. It looks like they modified the design so the entire ground plane is much larger and stitched.

[GreyWoolfe]

Yep, polishing it first is the way to go, replacing it for no good reason other than to play with the Metcal is pointless,[emoji41]
[/quote]

But it's playing with his Metcal!!!!!  Go stand with your nose in the corner and think about what you said.

[mnementh]

Yep, polishing it first is the way to go, replacing it for no good reason other than to play with the Metcal is pointless,[emoji41]

But it's playing with his Metcal!!!!!  Go stand with your nose in the corner and think about what you said.

Exactly; the man is a blasphemer. 

Oh, good lord... I used to deal with that several times a week when I worked in the AV lab. Cassete consoles, phonographs, TV carts, everything had effing 1/4" phono jacks on them. We had these distribution blocks in every room; sixteen 1/4" phono jacks in every block. One or two per table. Those had no bottom to the jacks, and I'd find everything you can imagine rattling around in the bottom of them; sometime literally packed full so you couldn't get anything more in them.

Pencils, lollipop sticks, crayons, Pockys, peanuts, cigarette butts, gummies...

Reminds me of this

Oh jeez... when I was working in my buddy's boneyard as a kid, we did a motor swap on a Trans-Am for a guy with a supposedly known-good motor from the yard. Got it all installed, buttoned up, full of coolant; we were confident it would just start up & run as we transferred HEI ignition and carburetor from the original, which ran like a watch but had the usual Pontiac 400 rod knock. Tried for over an hour to get it to run, but it would just wheeze and huff. Had plenty of gas, hot spark, timing we even checked with a light.

Finally we gave up, figuring must be burnt valves (which was common as well in this early unleaded engine); so I started to tear it down to swap the heads over. When I lifted the intake off, it was JUST LIKE THAT VIDEO... a squirrel had gotten in there while the car was in the field and stored his hickory nuts for the winter in the intake.   

A few minutes with a shop-vac, some new intake gaskets and it was up & running; purred like a kitten until the fan clutch warmed up. Then it ROARED!   

We figured either one of the yard regulars had robbed it for the carb, or the owner had "made a deal widdaondderguy" that was more swappery than cash.


mnem
*off to claim a mystery package at the PO*

[Specmaster]

Hmm, something is going awry here I'm being credited with quotes that I never made, nobody ever credits me with anything useful, like money in the bank