logic analyzer/mainframe bundle. worth it?

[coldfiremc]

Hi.
someone is offering me a pair of logic analyzers. One is the classical tek 3001GPX and the other is an HP 16500A. both come with cables, probes and 2 modules per mainframe. Is selling this "as is" but claims that both machines pass cal and boot tests. the price is near 400USD for both.worth it? are this good buys, or just over-elaborated pieces of junk? the only thing that I'm quite worried is Screens. Those old picture tube computer screens tend to be in pretty bad condition, or if isn't the screen is the flyback, or horizontal circuit, or both. are my fears justified?
Thanks

[nctnico]

I would leave the 3001GPX. There is very little information on it and it is very old. For $400 you should be able to pick up a much newer Agilent logic analyser mainframe.

[coldfiremc]

thanks for that fast answer.
Seems to be a good reason. I have the images for that disks stored somewhere, but manuals or something are pretty hard to find.
Another thing: That price is with shipping. I'm from faaaaaar faaar away in south america, so shippings are terrible.

what models of "modern" tek or agilent analyzers are good?. i'm, going to measure things inside ISA bus and some "not so fast" cpld's/fpga

[p9k]

$400 is spendy for a 16550A. It might be an ok deal for a 16500C or 167xx if it's loaded with cards and has all the pods and works.   But that series is excellent for wide parallel buses like ISA so you're on the right track.

[nctnico]

A Tektronix TLA715 (or newer) is also a good option.

[coldfiremc]

I was looking a tek TLA 711 it's not 715, it's good too?. Obiously OS is old and harddisks are worn off, but nothing that a good ide2CF adaptor can't handle

[Stray Electron]

$400 is spendy for a 16550A.

    It certainly is in this country but probably not where the OP lives.  And shipping is going to cost a bundle so if that's included then it's probably a heck of a deal!  FWIW I don't think you could even give away a 16550A in this country any more.

It might be an ok deal for a 16500C or 167xx if it's loaded with cards and has all the pods and works.   But that series is excellent for wide parallel buses like ISA so you're on the right track.

   Agreed. If it had the cards that the OP needs then it should good.  The nice thing about the 16500 is that there's lot of different cards available for it.  The bad thing is that most of them boot from a floppy disk so the wait can be a PITA and the things are huge and heavy.  OTOH since it's an HP, they last a long time, there are lots of them out there and manuals are readily available.

   Warning to OP, don't buy any logic analyzer that doesn't come with the cables and the grabbers. Those things will cost more than a complete LA.

   The CRT/screen may have some burn on it but in general the screens in the HP stuff last just about forever.  But I would be worried about shipping one since they don't like rough treatment.  There are plenty of repair threads on this forum where people have repaired all kinds of CRT screens in HP gear.

[coldfiremc]

$400 is spendy for a 16550A.

    It certainly is in this country but probably not where the OP lives.  And shipping is going to cost a bundle so if that's included then it's probably a heck of a deal!  FWIW I don't think you could even give away a 16550A in this country any more.

It might be an ok deal for a 16500C or 167xx if it's loaded with cards and has all the pods and works.   But that series is excellent for wide parallel buses like ISA so you're on the right track.

   Agreed. If it had the cards that the OP needs then it should good.  The nice thing about the 16500 is that there's lot of different cards available for it.  The bad thing is that most of them boot from a floppy disk so the wait can be a PITA and the things are huge and heavy.  OTOH since it's an HP, they last a long time, there are lots of them out there and manuals are readily available.

   Warning to OP, don't buy any logic analyzer that doesn't come with the cables and the grabbers. Those things will cost more than a complete LA.

   The CRT/screen may have some burn on it but in general the screens in the HP stuff last just about forever.  But I would be worried about shipping one since they don't like rough treatment.  There are plenty of repair threads on this forum where people have repaired all kinds of CRT screens in HP gear.

well, i will tell you them complete story. Are not mine but. i have free access to a pair of analyzers. One, a legendary 1650A(resembles an apple Lisa) and the Other, a 3001MPX. The soute can't find the probes yet, and I don't have permission to poke in the store. Also, the HP has a deadly fault: when testing it, suddenly the fly-back collapsed, and screen started to blink and sound terrible. I can't find that goddamn flyback anywhere, nor any screen/card kit for that model. The Other is good, but has an annoying floppy drive problem, sometimes doesn't even start. So, kind of frustrated, thumped the table and decided to buy probes, but then thought:"well, this probes are mine, but the instruments not, so any fix or acquisition I made, if I later go, I will be with a pile of expensive and useless trash, and without any useful instrument", so I decided to buy a complete one. If i only see the price, aren't expensive at all, but shipping varies from 300USD to 5000 USD, so In some cases, the unit costs 300-400USD (excelent price for me), but shipping costs 1000 USD, so isn't a good deal. Also, fast shippings are useless here, customs checks are exhaustive and take months is the worst case (Fortunately there's no taxes for this kind of manufactures here), but most of time, most sellers don't want to wait 6 months for feedback, so they are reluctant to send them by ship or something longer but cheaper.

[gslick]

$400 is spendy for a 16550A.

    It certainly is in this country but probably not where the OP lives.  And shipping is going to cost a bundle so if that's included then it's probably a heck of a deal!  FWIW I don't think you could even give away a 16550A in this country any more.

A 16550A is a 102-channel / 6 POD, 100MHz state / 500MHz timing logic analyzer module. The sample depth is only 4K samples per channel, or 8K samples per channel in half channel mode.

The mainframes are the 16500A which is floppy only, and the 16500B and 16500C which have hard drives for booting and storing configuration and data files.

A good thing about a 16550A module is that it is compatible with 16500A, 16500B, and 16500C and also 16700A, 16700B, 16702A and 16702B mainframes. If you started with a 16500A mainframe you could move a 16550A module to a newer mainframe later. A 16500A mainframe is not compatible with 16555A 1M sample per channel modules. Basically the only good thing about a 16550A module is it's the module you probably want if the only mainframe you have is a 16500A mainframe. In most cases there is probably a huge difference in usability between a 4K sample 16550A module and a 1M 16555A module.

In my opinion for whatever it is worth the best uses of a 16500A mainframe or a 16550A module are as spare parts for newer mainframes and modules. I would want at least a 16500B or newer mainframe.

As far as giving away 16550A modules, I wonder about that myself. I have several and figure it might not be worth the effort to try to sell them on eBay. I could probably get more by removing the POD pair cables from the modules and selling those separately.

If you were looking at shipping something to Chile, an HP/Agilent 16500-series or 16700-series would be very expensive due to the size and weight. An HP/Agilent 1660-series or 1670-series is slightly smaller and lighter, but would still be expensive to ship there.

For Tektronix, I wouldn't want to ship a TLA711 mainframe. Those are even bigger and heavier than an HP 16500-series mainframe, but if you can find an affordable one local to you that you don't have to ship that might be an good option. It would be better to upgrade to a TLA721 controller.

[james_s]

I wouldn't worry about the CRTs, if the picture looks ok suggesting the tube is not too tired it will probably last a lifetime in hobbyist service.

$400 sounds a bit steep though, I mean what do you need two of them for? I use my HP logic analyzer occasionally but it's not something I use often enough to keep on the bench.

[gslick]

$400 sounds a bit steep though, I mean what do you need two of them for? I use my HP logic analyzer occasionally but it's not something I use often enough to keep on the bench.

$400 is very steep in the US. For that much these days you could get a loaded 16900A, or for around $100 a 1670-series, 16500-series, or 16700-series including shipping.

But for the original poster in Chile, the local options might be very few and shipping from elsewhere very expensive. If $400 includes shipping from somewhere else it might not get too much less than that for a traditional old school style logic analyzer system.

[Stray Electron]

  " I can't find that goddamn flyback anywhere".

   I'll bet you ten to one that if you get the PN from the service manual that you'll find that the same flyback is used in numerous other HP units.  I replaced the flyback in an HP 8754A Network Analyzer a couple of years ago with the identical part taken from one of the old plug in Polar/Rectangular displays for an HP 8510.

   But I have to agree with you, don't invest in any parts or accessories for that LA down there until they give it or sell it to you. If you pick it up, I'm sure that there are people here on the list that can help you with parts.   I just looked and I have an extra HP 16550A 100MHz State/ 500 MHz Timing acquisition board laying here with the cables and I know where there's a complete HP 16550C that hadn't been touched in years. I think I have a compete HP 16550A or B in my junk room.  IIRC the display is fine but occasionally the main PS won't start

   A local TE dealer in this area had an untested late model HP 1670 something for sale recently on E-bay for something like $35.  It had a couple of broken knobs on it but it looked complete and I'd be willing to wager money that it still worked.  I thought about buying it just for some of the hardware but decided that I really didn't need it.

   My first LA was a HP 1601L that plugged into a HP 180 scope mainframe.  IIRC it displayed all of 16 bits by 16 bit depth!  I used it about 10 years ago after replacing the 5V regulator in it and I'm pretty sure that I still have that thing sitting out in my back room.

[coldfiremc]

I have the impression that you misunderstood the offer. Are both LA's, with probes and cables for 400USD including shipping. Shipping is by Ship, not Air.
Locally this machines aren't even known. People just understand electronics in terms of PLC, oscilloscopes and Arduinoes. Goods like this are pretty scarce, so the probability of find one, is really low. Most electronic engineers even ignore the existence of those instrument mainframes.

[james_s]

Yeah the location does make it difficult to estimate, shipping such a bulky heavy instrument could cost a fortune. You are lucky to have surface shipping even available still, USPS dropped that years ago and now only offers expensive air freight which gets more expensive all the time.

[abraxa]

Those machines are pretty old and I can't imagine that they'd be fun to operate, compared to modern UIs. I wonder if those $400 would be better spent on a USB-based LA like a Hantek 4032L, Zeroplus Logic Cube or Intronix Logicport. Certainly, that would save on shipping as well.

[alm]

I have the impression that you misunderstood the offer. Are both LA's, with probes and cables for 400USD including shipping. Shipping is by Ship, not Air.

The HP 16550A is a plugin card that works with various 16500x and 1670x series mainframes. It is not a complete LA on its own. There are probably a couple of dozen different plugin cards for those mainframes, with different channel counts, speeds and memory depths.

Those machines are pretty old and I can't imagine that they'd be fun to operate, compared to modern UIs. I wonder if those $400 would be better spent on a USB-based LA like a Hantek 4032L, Zeroplus Logic Cube or Intronix Logicport. Certainly, that would save on shipping as well.

Depends on the channel count you need. With parallel buses and external memory interfaces, the required number of channels can grow fast. The old boat-anchors are a relatively cheap way to get dozens of channels. Support for old buses and CPUs (e.g. inverse assembler) might also be better for contemporary logic analyzers if you can find them (I believe the ones for the HP 16500 series are available for download). Obviously no contest if you want to monitor the I2C bus on an Arduino.

[nctnico]

I was looking a tek TLA 711 it's not 715, it's good too?. Obiously OS is old and harddisks are worn off, but nothing that a good ide2CF adaptor can't handle

A TLA711 is pretty old and huge and noisy. Shipping will be insanely expensive if it needs to come from abroad. I'd aim for a TLA715. These can be bought relatively cheap and the same goes for acquisition modules and probes. The main advantage over the HP/Agilent logic analysers is that you can use the latest software from a Windows PC to control them remotely and the timestamped acquisition mode doesn't cut the memory depth in half.

[coldfiremc]

Well I'm asking for another options for shipping, with the following LA/Mainframes

Tla 704
Tla 711
16500C
16702B

the guy of the first post still holds it's offer. The HP analizer is a 16500A. Was a typo.

[gslick]

The main advantage over the HP/Agilent logic analysers is that you can use the latest software from a Windows PC to control them remotely and the timestamped acquisition mode doesn't cut the memory depth in half.

It is true that if you use all of the POD pairs of an an HP/Agilent logic analyzer module set the acquisition memory depth is cut in half if the count time or states feature is enabled while in state acquisition mode.

For example with a single 16555A module there are two POD pairs, POD 1 and 2 is one pair, and POD 3 and 4 is another pair, for a total of 64 data channels and 4 clock channels. If you use both POD pairs because you need more than 2 clocks, or more than 32 data channels, or more than 16 data channels while some are demultiplexed, then the choices are either 1M sample depth with count time or states disabled, or 512K sample depth with count time or states enabled.

One solution if you need the full memory depth with all of the POD pairs in use with count time or states enabled is to add another identical module as a master / expander set. Not ideal that it works that way, but probably not a huge deal breaker in practice, except for the 1670-series where you can't just add another acquisition module. The 16500-series and the 16700-series work the same way regarding the maximum sample depth vs. the count time or states trade-off when all POD pairs are in use.

As far as I know on the 16900-series the count time or states feature cannot be turned off and the only options there are to leave at least one POD pair unassigned, or the maximum sample depth is cut in half. But on the other hand the 16900-series run Windows XP, or Windows 7 on newer versions, and can be remotely controlled by another Windows system, which can potentially be much faster and more responsive.

[coldfiremc]

Probes for TLA type units are still sold? Much of them come without probes

[nctnico]

Probes for TLA type units are still sold? Much of them come without probes

Yes, the probes are sold for low prices on Ebay.

[PaulAm]

I know you have limited choices, but

Avoid the 16500a; you can't give them away in the US.  Shipping those boxes is expensive and they are floppy based.  The 16500b with the network option or a 16500c is a better choice.   The network connectivity makes them much more useful.   A much better choice would be one of the 16700 series

I almost got rid of a 16500b the other month but the guy found a 16700 instead. 

[precaud]

In my opinion for whatever it is worth the best uses of a 16500A mainframe or a 16550A module are as spare parts for newer mainframes and modules.

Agreed. That's what I do with 'em.

[james_s]

Floppy based as in they run entirely off a floppy? Or do you just mean they use a floppy to transfer files? I have a 1660C that has a floppy but I rarely use that, normally I just work off the internal hard drive. It's a boat anchor for sure but there are times when I'm working on vintage arcade hardware that being able to capture a zillion channels is handy.

[TK]

Floppy based as in they run entirely off a floppy? Or do you just mean they use a floppy to transfer files? I have a 1660C that has a floppy but I rarely use that, normally I just work off the internal hard drive. It's a boat anchor for sure but there are times when I'm working on vintage arcade hardware that being able to capture a zillion channels is handy.

The 16500A loads the OS from the floppy.  It does not have a Hard Drive.

[gslick]

Avoid the 16500a; you can't give them away in the US.  Shipping those boxes is expensive and they are floppy based.  The 16500b with the network option or a 16500c is a better choice.   The network connectivity makes them much more useful.   A much better choice would be one of the 16700 series

Good summary. The LIF-format floppy only 16500A is very limiting. No network connectivity makes getting data out of one difficult, and they don't support the 1M sample depth 16555A analyzer modules. I would avoid the 1660A as well as those also do not have network connectivity and only 4K sample depth. The later 1660-series and the 1670-series do have network connectivity, and deeper sample depths on the 1670-series.

There isn't too much practical difference between a 16500B and a 16500C if the 16500B has the optional network interface board. The main usability difference is that the 16500B still has HP-HIL ports for an optional keyboard and mouse while the 16500C moved to standard PS/2 ports.

With the network interface you can use FTP to copy saved data files from the analyzer to another system for post processing, you can easily capture screen shots just by copying one of the screen files, and you can edit a command script program to a text file and FTP copy that to the analyzer instead of using a GPIB or serial port interface for remote control.

These days a 16700-series would be the better option than a 16500-series. After taking shipping into account there probably isn't much cost difference between the two. A 16500-series will boot and be ready to use a lot faster, but once a 16700-series has finally finished booting and is ready to use it should be a lot quicker. I couple of days ago I was using a 1670E to capture a few 256K sample deep traces. It must have taken more than 10 minutes each to print list views of those traces to disk so that I could copy them to a PC for further analysis, feels painfully slow. I didn't check how long that would take to do the same on a 16700, I assume it would be significantly faster.

[james_s]

Floppy based as in they run entirely off a floppy? Or do you just mean they use a floppy to transfer files? I have a 1660C that has a floppy but I rarely use that, normally I just work off the internal hard drive. It's a boat anchor for sure but there are times when I'm working on vintage arcade hardware that being able to capture a zillion channels is handy.

The 16500A loads the OS from the floppy.  It does not have a Hard Drive.

That's weird, I wonder why they did that? Seems like a step backwards when the older(?) 1660C has a hard drive built in.

[TK]

Floppy based as in they run entirely off a floppy? Or do you just mean they use a floppy to transfer files? I have a 1660C that has a floppy but I rarely use that, normally I just work off the internal hard drive. It's a boat anchor for sure but there are times when I'm working on vintage arcade hardware that being able to capture a zillion channels is handy.

The 16500A loads the OS from the floppy.  It does not have a Hard Drive.

That's weird, I wonder why they did that? Seems like a step backwards when the older(?) 1660C has a hard drive built in.

The last updated documentation for 16500A is from around 1988... 1997 for 1660C.  I think the 16500A is much older...

[james_s]

Oh, I had no idea, the 16500A looks much more modern, has a color screen, touchscreen, the 1660C in comparison has a monochrome CRT without touch.

The monitor in the 16500A looks quite nice really, Trinitron? One of those could be handy for retro computer and game projects.

[TK]

Yes, the 16500A has a trinitron CRT display and the touch screen is based on IR transmitter/receiver bars located in the front panel.  The CPU board is 68000 (DIP package!) and has lots of gold shiny ICs.  As other member said, the floppy only reads/writes LIF format and you need an old DOS PC to access this format.

[gslick]

Oh, I had no idea, the 16500A looks much more modern, has a color screen, touchscreen, the 1660C in comparison has a monochrome CRT without touch.

The monitor in the 16500A looks quite nice really, Trinitron? One of those could be handy for retro computer and game projects.

Think of a 1660A as a portable version of a 16500A mainframe with a 16550A analyzer module (or with and extra POD pair on the 16550A module). The specs are pretty much the same. The 1660A trades the color CRT of the 16500A for a monochrome CRT in a smaller and lighter package. The 16500A has two floppy drives as it needs to boot from one (typically the one in the back) leaving the other floppy drive free for user configuration and data files, while the 1660A boots from flash ROM and only has one floppy drive.

In a similar way the newer 1660C is a portable version of the newer 16500C mainframe with a 16550A analyzer module. Both are upgraded over the A models with hard drives, network interfaces, and PS/2 keyboard and mouse instead of HP-HIL.

The 1670-series are somewhat portable versions of a 16500C mainframe with two 16555A modules installed, or lower capability 16555A modules installed (less memory except the 030 option 1670D, or the 1670E, slower state speed on the 1670A). There were also 1670G options that added the equivalent of either a 16532A scope module or a 16522A pattern generator module.

The final 1660E and 1670E and 1670G models upgraded the monochrome CRT to a color LCD when they got to the point of being able to fit those in and maintain the same overall size and weight (or lighter). Still no touch screen.

The 16500A CPU boards used a 68000 CPU with either 1MB, 2.5MB, or 4MB of system memory. Not all modules are supported with the earlier lower memory CPU boards. The 16500B and 16500C CPU boards updated to a 68030 CPU and SIMM memory slots. Except for the 1660A series, the 1660 and 1670 series CPU boards must be similar in architecture to the 16500C CPU boards with different layouts, and without the SCSI interface for the 16505A.

[coldfiremc]

The problem with those is data access. Or it's a floppy, RS-232 or GPIB. Currently I have those three, but my USB floppy is about to get without support (also doesn't support direct motor and head access). RS-232 is pretty but slow, and this is just possible with a Rig. with a laptop, those shitty adapters are even slower., and GPIB is unjustifiedly expensive.

What about a TLA 720 or 715 mainframes? use the same probes?

[gslick]

The problem with those is data access. Or it's a floppy, RS-232 or GPIB. Currently I have those three, but my USB floppy is about to get without support (also doesn't support direct motor and head access). RS-232 is pretty but slow, and this is just possible with a Rig. with a laptop, those shitty adapters are even slower., and GPIB is unjustifiedly expensive.

Not sure what data access problem you mean. On the HP / Agilent side if you got a 16500C or 16700 series mainframe it would have built in network access available to another system to any data acquired by the analyzer. Some 16500B mainframes also have the network option.

On the Tektronix side a TLA720 or TLA715 doesn't have network access built in, but it can be added with a PCMCIA or CardBus network card.

What about a TLA 720 or 715 mainframes? use the same probes?

Same probes as what? The HP / Agilent and the Tektronix analyzer use completely different cables and probes. For the Tektronix analyzers it depends on what modules are installed in the mainframe. For example a 4M sample TLA7N4 module or 16M sample TLA7P4 module would use either one P6417 or one P6418 cable for each set of 16 channels if you want individual breakout connections. Those cables look to be around the $25-$30 range on eBay in the US currently. The TLA7AA4 and newer modules use different cables. If you want individual breakout connections the P6810 cables for those are crazy expensive.

I have some TLA7P4 modules and P6417 and P6418 cables but none of the newer style modules because I haven't wanted to deal with the cable issue there.

[coldfiremc]

 is  A just calibrated TLA 714 with one 134chan module at 346USD with shipping, a good deal?

[james_s]

Who can say? How much of that is shipping?

Calibrated? What is there to calibrate on a logic analyzer?

[helius]

Most logic analyzers I am familiar with have self-calibration only. You click the button and wait, and the unit reports if it succeeded or failed. You can do this every session if you feel like it.

[TK]

is  A just calibrated TLA 714 with one 134chan module at 346USD with shipping, a good deal?

It all depends on what you are you going to do with the logic analyzer.  The old ones are not good with serial protocol decoding, so if you work a lot with modern microcontrollers, then it is a much better deal just to buy a cheap USB logic analyzer.  I like using my HP 1670D / 16702B with vintage 8-bit computers because they have lots of channels, which is expensive in modern logic analyzers.

[coldfiremc]

is  A just calibrated TLA 714 with one 134chan module at 346USD with shipping, a good deal?

It all depends on what you are you going to do with the logic analyzer.  The old ones are not good with serial protocol decoding, so if you work a lot with modern microcontrollers, then it is a much better deal just to buy a cheap USB logic analyzer.  I like using my HP 1670D / 16702B with vintage 8-bit computers because they have lots of channels, which is expensive in modern logic analyzers.

Is for parallel buses. at this moment ISA, but if is possible to use for PCI, even better.

[TK]

I never used Tektronix Logic Analyzers.  It is difficult to find youtube videos and see how responsive the controls are or the zooming and scrolling operations.  On newer devices you will find these operations to be faster, but it also depends on how much information you capture and zoom in after.  I think HP / Agilent analyzers are "easier" to setup than Tek (that is what Agilent claims...) and I tried many HP / Agilent units and they are fairly easy to use.  I like the HP / Agilent UI.

HP / Agilent 16702B is HP-UX based, earlier models are custom OS, later ones are windows based, the same as the Tek TLA7XX.

I think the TLA714 shipped to Chile for around $400 is a good deal

[gslick]

is  A just calibrated TLA 714 with one 134chan module at 346USD with shipping, a good deal?

That is less than it would cost to ship any traditional style HP / Agilent or Tektronix portable or mainframe logic analyzer to Chile from the US so for your location and your needs that is probably an OK deal if that is within the price range that is comfortable for you.

What analyzer module is included in the TLA714? Of course deeper sample depth is always better to have when you need it.

TLA7L4 - 128K sample depth / channel
TLA7M4 - 512k sample depth / channel
TLA7N4 - 4M sample depth / channel
TLA7P4 - 16M sample depth / channel
TLA7Q4 - 64M sample depth / channel

The L, M, and N models seem to be the most commonly available ones. The P models are sometimes available for not too much more than the L, M, and N models. The Q models seem uncommon and very expensive.

[gslick]

Is for parallel buses. at this moment ISA, but if is possible to use for PCI, even better.

A TLA714 with a 134-channel analyzer module should be well suited for ISA and PCI bus analysis.

In the past in my real job years ago I used an HP 16500B mainframe with 16555A analyzer modules for PCI bus analysis. That was fully capable of performing the tasks I needed to debug the issues I was investigating. It was made slightly easier by using a PCI bus probe card which was designed specifically to break out into HP logic analyzer POD connections and included PCI bus transaction symbolic analysis software that ran on the analyzer. A Tektronix analyzer would have similar capabilities and should work equally well.

Someone probably made similar PCI bus probe cards specific for Tektronix analyzers. I haven't seen any of them myself. I do have an ISA bus probe card that is specific for Tektronix analyzers and it includes ISA bus transaction symbolic analysis software that runs on the analyzer. I have never gotten around to putting that into an ISA bus system and taking a look at it. I should do that sometime.

I have a Nexus Technology NEX-ISA bus probe card that looks similar to this card, except it is ISA, not EISA:
http://www.nexustechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/EISA_F.jpg

Looks like they also made a PCI bus probe card as well, plus other flavors:
http://www.nexustechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PCI32_F.jpg
http://www.nexustechnology.com/products/legacy/parallel/

[nctnico]

If you cut the slot part off a PCI card then it is easy to make your own probe and creating a set of symbols to list the bus transaction also isn't that much work.

[coldfiremc]

https://www.ebay.com/usr/surplus_disposals?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

well this is the guy of the 3001gpx and 16500A. The guy really needs to sell the stuff. so if someone needs it, just ask.

[gslick]

I went looking for the Nexus Technology NEX-ISA bus probe card that I have and found that I also have some NEX-PCI32EXHD and NEX-PCI64EXHD cards that I completely forgot about. 

https://www.nexustechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PCI32EXHD-DS-XXX.pdf
https://www.nexustechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PCI64EXHD-DS-XXX.pdf

Those use Mictor connector cables such as the P6434 to connect to the analyzer module.

I have the analysis software floppies that came with those PCI bus probe cards. I assume that analysis software would also work with a logic analyzer connected to a generic PCI bus extender card if the same channel connections were made since there is no active logic between the bus and the probe connections on the NEX-PCI probe cards.

[coldfiremc]

Is for parallel buses. at this moment ISA, but if is possible to use for PCI, even better.

A TLA714 with a 134-channel analyzer module should be well suited for ISA and PCI bus analysis.

In the past in my real job years ago I used an HP 16500B mainframe with 16555A analyzer modules for PCI bus analysis. That was fully capable of performing the tasks I needed to debug the issues I was investigating. It was made slightly easier by using a PCI bus probe card which was designed specifically to break out into HP logic analyzer POD connections and included PCI bus transaction symbolic analysis software that ran on the analyzer. A Tektronix analyzer would have similar capabilities and should work equally well.

Someone probably made similar PCI bus probe cards specific for Tektronix analyzers. I haven't seen any of them myself. I do have an ISA bus probe card that is specific for Tektronix analyzers and it includes ISA bus transaction symbolic analysis software that runs on the analyzer. I have never gotten around to putting that into an ISA bus system and taking a look at it. I should do that sometime.

I have a Nexus Technology NEX-ISA bus probe card that looks similar to this card, except it is ISA, not EISA:
http://www.nexustechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/EISA_F.jpg

Looks like they also made a PCI bus probe card as well, plus other flavors:
http://www.nexustechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PCI32_F.jpg
http://www.nexustechnology.com/products/legacy/parallel/

Absolutely added to my buy list. And thanks. For ISA, I have an old Global Specialities ISA breadboard card, and has metal pins to get ISA signals. I planned to use that to sniff ISA, but i was quite worried for pci.
Now i'm squeezing my wallet to get the TLA 714  .
 One more question:
How are the oscilloscope modules for those mainframes? are real benchtop-like oscilloscopes, or are just repetitive signal samplers and loggers?

[RomDump]

How are the oscilloscope modules for those mainframes? are real benchtop-like oscilloscopes, or are just repetitive signal samplers and loggers?

Frio asked a similar question and I advise them to ask someone who has the module. He never posted the result.

To my knowledge the module does not behave like a typical Oscilloscope. I can't remember where I read this, (I think it was on the old Tektronix Support Forum but I can't find the message).

[nctnico]

I've looked into the oscilloscope modules myself but to me it is clear they are nowhere near a regular oscilloscope. More like acquisition units to capture a (short) amount of analogue signal which goes into an ADC (for example).

[gslick]

Someone asked me offline about manuals for the Nexus Technology ISA and PCI bus probe boards. I couldn't easily find direct links to manuals for the NEX-ISA, NEX-PCI32EXHD, and NEX-PCI64EXHD bus probe boards on the current Nexus Technology website.

I found saved copies of these manuals on the Internet Archive:

https://web.archive.org/web/20070330003822/http://www.nexustechnology.com:80/lit/manuals/ISA-MN-XXX.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20070330003558/http://www.nexustechnology.com:80/lit/manuals/PCI32EXHD-MN-XXX.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20070330004723/http://www.nexustechnology.com:80/lit/manuals/PCI64EXHD-MN-XXX.pdf

[c32]

hello, if i have the cables, is it easy to make/get the little hook clips at the end for 16500c cards ?

[gslick]

hello, if i have the cables, is it easy to make/get the little hook clips at the end for 16500c cards ?

For an HP / Agilent logic analyzer if you have a breakout lead set with the 16 individual data channel wires + clock wire the grabbers should be the easy part to find. For example search for "mini grabber" in the "Business & Industrial" section on eBay.

[alm]

Yes, the hooks with 0.025" square pins should be easy to find. Searching for something like (tektronix,hp,agilent) (grabber,smg50) will usually give you some results of lots of 10 to 20 for a little over $1/each.

They are also often offered as complete set with the break-out leads. If you search for (hp,agilent) (01650-61608,pod), you will likely find complete sets of pods, leads and grabbers for well under $50.