Upcoming Rigol DSG815/830

[Houseman]

Finally got an old 256MB usb stick digest by instrument.
Prepared disk with sector 3 etc.etc.
Wanna laugh?
Sending Factory mode command (without asking the response a NAG Screen appears on DSG telling:
"Command is protected"
Running the command without the key:
"USB disk not present"
A step forward but now..
 


OK got it.
the USB was recognized but size was 0.00
Reformatting it to FAT32 again, nag screen disappeared. 

[chicken]

Sending Factory mode command (without asking the response a NAG Screen appears on DSG telling:
"Command is protected"
Running the command without the key:
"USB disk not present"
A step forward but now..
 


OK got it.
the USB was recognized but size was 0.00
Reformatting it to FAT32 again, nag screen disappeared. 

So did you manage entering factory mode?

I wondered whether they changed the passphrase with the new FW version. But I just upgraded my DSG815 to 01.07 and the magic USB key still works.

Attached the Python scripts I use to enter and exit factory mode. You will have to edit the IP address.

[kj7e]

Thanks for the great work all.

Update, my initial sweeps show good leveled output up though 2.35GHz, but seems to loose some calibration from there up to 3.6GHz.  I suspect they dont bother with full calibrations beyond the models specified freq range.

[kj7e]

Do you know by far if a normal USB key inserted will be shown in the System menu automatically?

I get the E: drive and a small USB icon with the USB stick plugged in. I use a cheap Chinese uSD card adapter with an ancient uSD card, but it also should work with regular USB sticks.

One last question: what kind of protocol/program did you use by sending commands to the DSG? Netcat? Ultra Sigma? thank You again

I used Python with the vxi11 library for my experimentation. Looking at the code, I have just used the write(":PRIV:SOFT:MODE 0,FACTORYMODEENTRANCE") to set user mode, without expecting/reading a response. Then ask(":PRIV:SOFT:MODE?") to verify if it worked.

Rigol officially claims that the OXCO module has to be inserted at factory by them even after  since after plugging the expansion in all RF gen needs to be whole recalibrated again...

Dooh! 

Its not that the entire unit needs calibration, its just the OCXO will need to be calibrated once its in the unit, otherwise it will be very stably off frequency.

[chicken]

Rigol officially claims that the OXCO module has to be inserted at factory by them even after  since after plugging the expansion in all RF gen needs to be whole recalibrated again...

Dooh! 

Its not that the entire unit needs calibration, its just the OCXO will need to be calibrated once its in the unit, otherwise it will be very stably off frequency.

Hmm, I guess the 6.5V observed on the VCC pin will then be adjusted by the DSG to tune the OCXO.

From the datasheet of the OCXO used on the option for the DSG3000:
https://www.dptel.com/Products/ProductLevel4/2899

(highlighted 5 is the option based on part-number O22B-G445)

Not sure how to interpret that table. +/- 2.5V from nominal 5V supply voltage?

[kj7e]

I suspect pins 5/7 are VCC for the oven and clock operation,  pin 8 I suspect is voltage error correction from a DAC output to net the OCXO calibration.

[chicken]

I suspect pins 5/7 are VCC for the oven and clock operation,  pin 8 I suspect is voltage error correction from a DAC output to net the OCXO calibration.

Pins 5/7 and 8 on the edge connector are joined by the three vias. Also, based on the datasheet, I don't think the OCXO that Rigol uses has a separate pin for the control voltage.

If I were to build my own option, I'd probably go with a different OCXO that has a dedicated pin for the control voltage, and then use a voltage divider from VCC with a multi-turn trimpot to adjust the control voltage.

[kj7e]

Extended output sweep from the DGS821, 1.000 - 3.200 GHz, the cal is good up through the stock 2.1 GHz range (up to 2.35 GHz), but falls off in the newly liberated extended range.   Note, I calibrated out the cable with another known flat generator.

[kj7e]

Rigol officially claims that the OXCO module has to be inserted at factory by them even after  since after plugging the expansion in all RF gen needs to be whole recalibrated again...

Dooh! 

Its not that the entire unit needs calibration, its just the OCXO will need to be calibrated once its in the unit, otherwise it will be very stably off frequency.

Hmm, I guess the 6.5V observed on the VCC pin will then be adjusted by the DSG to tune the OCXO.

From the datasheet of the OCXO used on the option for the DSG3000:
https://www.dptel.com/Products/ProductLevel4/2899

(highlighted 5 is the option based on part-number O22B-G445)

Not sure how to interpret that table. +/- 2.5V from nominal 5V supply voltage?

I was finally able to view the page from home (work blocked it).  The chart is referring to the ordering part number code for the Voltage Control Characteristics or how much error correction range there is.   The thing that's throwing me, they dont show a VEC pin?  They show in table 2 you can specify 3.3, 5 or 12v VCC and that's pin 5, ground on pin 2, output on pin 1, so either pin 3 or 4 should be VEC. 

[GarbageCan]

I have a DSG815 and my life would be a lot easier if I had just 150MHz more bandwidth. It looks like people have done some impressive work in this thread, and I'm hoping to try and make my signal generator look a bit more like a DSG836.

This is a bit outside my realm, so apologies if this seems obvious. But is the procedure essentially:
1) Follow Reply #49 instructions on how to use a USB to enter factory mode
2) From Reply #50 use the linked license generator with option AAAB and the private key found (in reply #61 or if you break with the public key) along with your own serial number.
3) Insert this generated key using the SCPI command :SYSTem:LKEY

Is that all? I wasn't sure if the riglol option of AAAB/AAAC unlock the 3.6GHz or if that is some separate SCPI command. Just trying to wrap my head around what's necessary before I dive into it. Thanks!

[GarbageCan]

Okay so I used HxD on my flash drive and was able to have success entering factory mode. The AAAB / AAAC options with riglol as said before unlock the PUM and PUG options which don't affect the maximum frequency. I tried editing the model number with :PRIVate:FACTory:MODEL to change it to DSG836 and I do see the HW Info updated. But this did not unlock the 3.6GHz. I'm reading through the scpi.xls function list that Chicken shared but I am no seeing any factory parameters for maximum frequency. Can anyone point me in the right direction of what type of license of SCPI command to use to actually bump up the maximum frequency from 1.5GHz?

[chicken]

Caveat: I never tried myself to change the model number.

While the post way back says DSG836, I think the model number should be DSG830. At least that's the model that Rigol sells.

[chicken]

ok, just checked on the Rigol website and there are other models including DSG836... maybe also depends on the firmware version. When I dug into my firmware, I seem to remember only seeing DSG815 and DSG830.

[GarbageCan]

Caveat: I never tried myself to change the model number.

While the post way back says DSG836, I think the model number should be DSG830. At least that's the model that Rigol sells.

Whoops, got too fixated on other people's 3.6GHz range. Thanks for the help chicken, setting it to DSG830 did the trick. Once it had power cycled it started at 3GHz. I just tested it with a spectrum analyzer and it looks good where I need it. Thank you so much for your help!!