Tektronix WCA280A WinXP image plus advice welcome

[ProfTesla]

Hi all,

I decided to take a plunge recently with an ebay gamble, and won a Tektronix WCA280, the price was fair but with a caveat, the operating system is incomplete and the device functionally untested, the Tektronix Software is essentially missing and its running Win98.
I am on the far side of the world, so I don't have the unit with me just yet, but I'm positive someone must have the operating system image for Win98 or WinXP for this unit. Its probably on a mini-IDE drive that I'd like to upgrade to something solid state using CF to IDE perhaps.

My hope is to just have a functional spectrum analyzer at the end of the day, calibration be damned  , and eventually figure something out to get it back to tip top shape.

From what I've read, this is quite a beast of a machine with a Pentium 3 in it  , though I don't need to use it as a communications analyzer, I would have great use of it if it just worked as a nice real time spectrum analyzer.
If there are any tips or pit-falls to avoid, I'd be much obliged to learn them.

Thank you.

[coromonadalix]

https://www.tek.com/en/support/software/application/rsa3000b-and-rsa3000a-series-firmware-v420009

https://www.tek.com/en/support/software/firmware/wca-rsa-maintenance-release-4

free registration required ....    WCA200A series ??

[ProfTesla]

Hi, thanks for checking in.

I have been there, these are not actual firmwares/OS-images, they are small updates just 41Mb big.
I contacted Tektronix support and they are very reluctant to send out complete operating system images, insisting instead I ship the entire unit to a specific facility in the USA, its not an option in the least.
Its also a bit on the silly side I reckon, Win98/XP era tech ought not be guarded so vehemently, not least, because they are only harming customers who wish to restore such equipment to working order.

I was inspired by the resolution at https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/unbrick-tektronix-rsa3308-rsa3303-wca280/ to give this a go.

@NikiG is perhaps still on the forums, as he appeared to have an image to share then.

[ProfTesla]

Small bump, still hopeful someone has a drive image of this device.

[Nx-1997]

Multiple WCA280A were sold on eBay where the listing said the SA Software was deleted lol.

Backup of my Tektronix WCA230A HDD, may or may not help you.
https://mega.nz/folder/Njx0UDrB#7q1w3VegHRMu0qDBKm5tIg

[ProfTesla]

Awesome, thank you very much  The more tools I have the better.
I'm still waiting for the thing to get shipped, really breaking the bank account, I did not realise it weighs something like 20kg, but as the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I wonder if there is a bit of a scam going on, where they are sold as broken software, but its actually broken hardware. At the least, I figured, since its rated for DC, its not DC damage.

I suppose there's a really good chance this image works, probably main thing I'm hoping for is that the "calibration" partition is still intact on the built in drive and I do a bit of magic combining them.
Thank you again