Siglent SSA3000X and SSA3000X-Plus Spectrum Analyzers

[noreply]

Thank You to everyone involved in the last 48 hours of SSA to SVA FW crossflasing experimentation 

Its amazing what you can learn in 48 hours 

Special thanks to tv84 for his helping hand in helping us to 'get up' when we fall along the path (best analogy I could think of this late at night) 

Now its time to check out the fully loaded SVA to see if she lives up to her potential 

[noreply]

Been fiddling to 'fix' Model Designator ...

- to reflect SVA1032X (despite being a SSA3021X Plus with crossflass FW from SVA1032X)

[Elasia]

Thank You to everyone involved in the last 48 hours of SSA to SVA FW crossflasing experimentation 

Its amazing what you can learn in 48 hours 

Special thanks to tv84 for his helping hand in helping us to 'get up' when we fall along the path (best analogy I could think of this late at night) 

Now its time to check out the fully loaded SVA to see if she lives up to her potential 

Clearly more work to be done by tv84 and I.. pro mode has exposed more options on your main menu!

Also as far as your name hack... thats not the important one.. ;p  It does still think of itself as an SSA at the kernel level, the true conversion will most likely take tv84/myself getting a hold of a copy of the SVA base software that we can dissect as what siglent posts truly are just patches.. not the entire OS

usbtmc_para = insmod /usr/bin/siglent/drivers/g_usbtmc.ko idVendor=0xf4ec idProduct=0x1305 iManufacturer=Siglent iProduct=SSA3032XPlus iSerialNum=SSABBBBBCCCDDD

[noreply]

Thank You to everyone involved in the last 48 hours of SSA to SVA FW crossflasing experimentation 

Its amazing what you can learn in 48 hours 

Special thanks to tv84 for his helping hand in helping us to 'get up' when we fall along the path (best analogy I could think of this late at night) 

Now its time to check out the fully loaded SVA to see if she lives up to her potential 

Clearly more work to be done by tv84 and I.. pro mode has exposed more options on your main menu!

Also as far as your name hack... thats not the important one.. ;p  It does still think of itself as an SSA at the kernel level, the true conversion will most likely take tv84/myself getting a hold of a copy of the SVA base software that we can dissect as what siglent posts truly are just patches.. not the entire OS

usbtmc_para = insmod /usr/bin/siglent/drivers/g_usbtmc.ko idVendor=0xf4ec idProduct=0x1305 iManufacturer=Siglent iProduct=SSA3032XPlus iSerialNum=SSABBBBBCCCDDD

Interesting 

Yeah, the name hack is nothing

- change in NSP_trends_config_info
- I think you are correct it simply modifies some internal tag but nothing in the base software, as there are other snags which revert to the SSA

The serial number is also a problem

- easy way is to use the SCPI :SRLN <serial_num> command.
- This works , but it will wipe your license settings.

Not sure if there is a proper license number 'fix' which does not screw with the system??
 - not a fan of doing temp paches which are prone to failure

These two things are certainly challenging - short of patching hex files (not recommended) would be great to have a nice solution that does not get wiped with FW updates.

[noreply]

BTW

Has anyone got their WEB Server interface working??

Not sure what I'm doing wrong - but having problems in connecting 

EDIT: Its OK - my network cable was loose - the plastic clip which secures the cable into the socket snapped-off and cable was loose.

Should have noticed this on the SVA screen - there is a blue symbol in top RH corner - indicating an active connection, was too busy trying to figure out what's wrong rather than checking cable or looking at screen - I guess too much fiddling for one day 

[Elasia]

Thank You to everyone involved in the last 48 hours of SSA to SVA FW crossflasing experimentation 

Its amazing what you can learn in 48 hours 

Special thanks to tv84 for his helping hand in helping us to 'get up' when we fall along the path (best analogy I could think of this late at night) 

Now its time to check out the fully loaded SVA to see if she lives up to her potential 

Clearly more work to be done by tv84 and I.. pro mode has exposed more options on your main menu!

Also as far as your name hack... thats not the important one.. ;p  It does still think of itself as an SSA at the kernel level, the true conversion will most likely take tv84/myself getting a hold of a copy of the SVA base software that we can dissect as what siglent posts truly are just patches.. not the entire OS

usbtmc_para = insmod /usr/bin/siglent/drivers/g_usbtmc.ko idVendor=0xf4ec idProduct=0x1305 iManufacturer=Siglent iProduct=SSA3032XPlus iSerialNum=SSABBBBBCCCDDD

Interesting 

Yeah, the name hack is nothing

- change in NSP_trends_config_info
- I think you are correct it simply modifies some internal tag but nothing in the base software, as there are other snags which revert to the SSA

The serial number is also a problem

- easy way is to use the SCPI :SRLN <serial_num> command.
- This works , but it will wipe your license settings.

Not sure if there is a proper license number 'fix' which does not screw with the system??
 - not a fan of doing temp paches which are prone to failure

These two things are certainly challenging - short of patching hex files (not recommended) would be great to have a nice solution that does not get wiped with FW updates.

There is

Thanks for the tip with SCPI wiping out the license file... interesting option for something I am investigating now and it appears the license file low level itself is key to unlocking more features than just changing the program and typing the keys in

[Elasia]

BTW

Has anyone got their WEB Server interface working??

Not sure what I'm doing wrong - but having problems in connecting 

EDIT: Its OK - my network cable was loose - the plastic clip which secures the cable into the socket snapped-off and cable was loose.

Should have noticed this on the SVA screen - there is a blue symbol in top RH corner - indicating an active connection, was too busy trying to figure out what's wrong rather than checking cable or looking at screen - I guess too much fiddling for one day 

LOL yeah i was about to say.. i just checked mine and looked ok

[noreply]

Thank You to everyone involved in the last 48 hours of SSA to SVA FW crossflasing experimentation 

Its amazing what you can learn in 48 hours 

Special thanks to tv84 for his helping hand in helping us to 'get up' when we fall along the path (best analogy I could think of this late at night) 

Now its time to check out the fully loaded SVA to see if she lives up to her potential 

Clearly more work to be done by tv84 and I.. pro mode has exposed more options on your main menu!

Also as far as your name hack... thats not the important one.. ;p  It does still think of itself as an SSA at the kernel level, the true conversion will most likely take tv84/myself getting a hold of a copy of the SVA base software that we can dissect as what siglent posts truly are just patches.. not the entire OS

usbtmc_para = insmod /usr/bin/siglent/drivers/g_usbtmc.ko idVendor=0xf4ec idProduct=0x1305 iManufacturer=Siglent iProduct=SSA3032XPlus iSerialNum=SSABBBBBCCCDDD

Interesting 

Yeah, the name hack is nothing

- change in NSP_trends_config_info
- I think you are correct it simply modifies some internal tag but nothing in the base software, as there are other snags which revert to the SSA

The serial number is also a problem

- easy way is to use the SCPI :SRLN <serial_num> command.
- This works , but it will wipe your license settings.

Not sure if there is a proper license number 'fix' which does not screw with the system??
 - not a fan of doing temp paches which are prone to failure

These two things are certainly challenging - short of patching hex files (not recommended) would be great to have a nice solution that does not get wiped with FW updates.

There is

Thanks for the tip with SCPI wiping out the license file... interesting option for something I am investigating now and it appears the license file low level itself is key to unlocking more features than just changing the program and typing the keys in

That's interesting that there is a license 'fix' - looks like more fiddling for tomorrow (I mean today) - past my bedtime already 

[tv84]

Both WDMA and RTA40 are for SSA3000X-R. So no use here and the software must be similar.

When you ativate pro_mode you see all options available in the soft even though they may not work in your specific model.

[noreply]

For those of us who have SVA functionality and would like to use the VNA option, you will need to perform a calibration.

You would also know that there are various calibration kits available – including Siglent

The cost of these kits can range from a modest $20 to even $1000

So how do you proceed?

Is the $20 kit total rubbish – you know the old saying – ‘you get what you pay for’

OR

Because you just paid $1000 for a calibration kit – it MUST be good – right?

Perhaps not after all.

Anyway, unless you know what you are doing and the ‘science’ of a good and bad calibration kit – then you are at the mercy of ‘pot luck’
 
To help with the above, as I was investigating this dilemma myself, I came across an excellent (at least for me) video – where someone put in an enormous amount of time researching and making his own calibration kits and comparing to industry kits.

The results are worthy of your attention – especially if you intend to use your new VNA functionality of the SVA

Here is the link (if you have not already come across this video)  to the video;-



Enjoy


PS: Not sure if 'hyperlinks' (to youtube specifically) are allowed on eevblog? If not my sincere apologies - moderators please feel free to remove.

[Elasia]

Wow nice find noreply.. i've been looking for such content, im using a 20 dollar chinese knock off for now

[noreply]

Yeah, when I first found this - I was very impressed at the level of work he did - even all the SimSmith stuff - excellent information, not to mention the fantastic insight into getting 'linear rf response' in SMD resistors - 2 x 100 in parallel better response than 1 x 50 - however does not scale beyond the 2 - very interesting stuff.

I guess once the SVA's VNA option is calibrated - we can then investigate how to 'home' the calibrations for the instrument to ensure the measurements we make ourselves thereafter are accurate 

- not sure if the above statement made sense - I just wanted to use the 'bootstrap' effect - get going first - then use device to improve

[tubularnut]

Have just completed my crossflash successfully, only extra step was to make the filesystem writable.

Do we know why some of the licenses disappear (particularly Refl) or is it not an issue?

Before:


After:

[Elasia]

Have just completed my crossflash successfully, only extra step was to make the filesystem writable.

Do we know why some of the licenses disappear (particularly Refl) or is it not an issue?

Before:
(Attachment Link)

After:
(Attachment Link)

Shouldnt be an issue, from my investigations the program will use only the licenses that the hardware AND program can use

This stemming from that ALL can license everything but only adds into the license files the correct options for the given hardware and program executable

This is why you can see the real time options in pro mode for the VNA program even though the hardware cant handle that.. i did try and it put out bus errors that it could not contact the needed components.

But once you license the unit it will return only the ones it should have and the realtime options drop off completely.. not even being a disabled option

[tubularnut]

Shouldnt be an issue, from my investigations the program will use only the licenses that the hardware AND program can use

This stemming from that ALL can license everything but only adds into the license files the correct options for the given hardware and program executable

This is why you can see the real time options in pro mode for the VNA program even though the hardware cant handle that.. i did try and it put out bus errors that it could not contact the needed components.

But once you license the unit it will return only the ones it should have and the realtime options drop off completely.. not even being a disabled option

Ok, thank you 

Of course I suppose that Refl from the SSA is now redundant as you have a VNA that supersedes it.

[noreply]

Have just completed my crossflash successfully, only extra step was to make the filesystem writable.

Do we know why some of the licenses disappear (particularly Refl) or is it not an issue?

Before:
(Attachment Link)

After:
(Attachment Link)

Any chance of 'seeing' your Mode options screenshot??

Am in the process of some detective work - and any information on this subject is very welcome 

[tubularnut]

Any chance of 'seeing' your Mode options screenshot??

Am in the process of some detective work - and any information on this subject is very welcome 

Certainly

[Elasia]

Yeah, when I first found this - I was very impressed at the level of work he did - even all the SimSmith stuff - excellent information, not to mention the fantastic insight into getting 'linear rf response' in SMD resistors - 2 x 100 in parallel better response than 1 x 50 - however does not scale beyond the 2 - very interesting stuff.

I guess once the SVA's VNA option is calibrated - we can then investigate how to 'home' the calibrations for the instrument to ensure the measurements we make ourselves thereafter are accurate 

- not sure if the above statement made sense - I just wanted to use the 'bootstrap' effect - get going first - then use device to improve

Yeah thats why i got the knock offs.. easy to get going and close enough. If i do anything real with it though i'll most likely get the siglent sma kit since it is made to expect them and their N kit already and not fool about making my own.. 300 isnt that bad really

[Elasia]

Shouldnt be an issue, from my investigations the program will use only the licenses that the hardware AND program can use

This stemming from that ALL can license everything but only adds into the license files the correct options for the given hardware and program executable

This is why you can see the real time options in pro mode for the VNA program even though the hardware cant handle that.. i did try and it put out bus errors that it could not contact the needed components.

But once you license the unit it will return only the ones it should have and the realtime options drop off completely.. not even being a disabled option

Ok, thank you 

Of course I suppose that Refl from the SSA is now redundant as you have a VNA that supersedes it.

This is my assumption as well

[noreply]

Have just completed my crossflash successfully, only extra step was to make the filesystem writable.

Do we know why some of the licenses disappear (particularly Refl) or is it not an issue?

Before:
(Attachment Link)

After:
(Attachment Link)

Shouldnt be an issue, from my investigations the program will use only the licenses that the hardware AND program can use

This stemming from that ALL can license everything but only adds into the license files the correct options for the given hardware and program executable

This is why you can see the real time options in pro mode for the VNA program even though the hardware cant handle that.. i did try and it put out bus errors that it could not contact the needed components.

But once you license the unit it will return only the ones it should have and the realtime options drop off completely.. not even being a disabled option

Can you confirm that 'EMI Measurement' is a valid license option for the SVA?

If it is, why is it then that it is no longer visible in the Mode Options menu?? (see screenshot from tubularnut)

(I suspect we might be indirectly involved at solving same problem    )

[Sighound36]

The SDR sma kit is more than fair for money.

I have  a few different kits, from a cheapy £30 Chinese pile of pooh to an expensive (used purchase), R&S®ZCAN Network Analyzer Calibration Kits Economy  version LOL, an old Agilent kit which was around £350 from Stuarts of Reading a few years ago plus I made one.

For sensible measurements the SDR version is pretty good, the cheapy one is just that fit for a interesting times chasing your tale over non existent issues caused by false readings.
The Agilent gets very close to the R&S in a few areas. The home brew version was infinitely better the cheapy version. The home brew was N type.

Bottom line is does you meas need to be ultra accurate or a decent approximation. In general I would look at obtaining the best kit for what you wish to outlay.

[tubularnut]

Can you confirm that 'EMI Measurement' is a valid license option for the SVA?

If it is, why is it then that it is no longer visible in the Mode Options menu?? (see screenshot from tubularnut)

(I suspect we might be indirectly involved at solving same problem    )

It shows as an option to buy:

[Elasia]

There are in fact TWO forms of EMI

One is a basic EMI that is limited to you having to use it in scanner mode over your given range

the other is REAL TIME EMI and is the 6th option in the mode list for a real time SA

That is what you are seeing

[tautech]

There are in fact TWO forms of EMI

One is a basic EMI that is limited to you having to use it in scanner mode over your given range

the other is REAL TIME EMI and is the 6th option in the mode list for a real time SA

That is what you are seeing

Correct.
It seems has been polished and added into the Mode menu for RTSA whereas for SSA and SVA it is a Trace Filter mode.



Latest RTSA have EMI in the Mode Menu with a different GUI layout.

[noreply]

There are in fact TWO forms of EMI

One is a basic EMI that is limited to you having to use it in scanner mode over your given range

the other is REAL TIME EMI and is the 6th option in the mode list for a real time SA

That is what you are seeing

Interesting ...

So there is a real-time SSA (as advertised by Siglent - currently the 7.5GHz device)
There is about to be released (if not already) SVA that has 7.5GHz capability - I presume it has same HW as the SSA , a justifiable guess.

So the option 'for sale' for the non-real-time SVA (what we end up having via the crossflash of a SSA3000X Plus device) is the basic EMI you are referring to??

If so, this would make sense, since the 'proper' licensing will not enable the real-time SVA options in the Mode menu.

BUT

If this is true - and no reason why - then how and where is the 'for sale' option that is enabled on the non-real-time SVA evoked or deployed / used ??

Sorry if this is an obvious mode in the SVA operation - I simply did not have time to enjoy the SVA and start fiddling with its numerous functions.

Natural instinct - is to expect a special menu 'option' if you are parting with $500+, or at least be able to see what you 'bought' visually, and not just having the ability to connect to some internal analysis signals / data?

Would be nice to get to the bottom of this dilemma

Perhaps expectations are clouding the 'electronic function' which is there in front of our eyes - we (more likely I) simply can’t see it yet 

EDIT: OOPS .. we cross posted - yeah can see the EMI within the submenu - intereting to see if the EMI license is disabled - what happens to the resultant menu??