Gould Delta 9500A Oscilloscope Manual, other info

[andrejr]

Hi people,

Does anyone have a user manual, service manual, brochure, anything on Gould Delta 9500A? I'm mostly looking for a user manual, don't really need the other stuff, but it's nice to have. Any info is appreciated, it's a pretty rare scope. I've searched the net extensively, and the only thing I found is the manual for Classic 9000 series, which is similar, but really not the same (worse triggering, fewer options).

I scored a pretty decent Gould Delta 9500A scope for 150€ on Ebay (non-working). Really impressive spec: 500Mhz, 2GSPS, FFT, Hard drive, RS232 with usable commands, nice interface, pretty TFT screen. It was easy enough to fix: the 3.6V RAM backup battery was almost dead, but not quite, which corrupted the memory and the scope wouldn't boot. Holding the "Hold All" button on the scope while turning it on, then releasing and re-pressing it when it beeps, clears the memory and puts the scope into calibration mode. After calibration, it works OK (though with intermittent noise on CH1 which I have to examine; the heatsink on one of the CH1 chips fell off, I'm waiting for thermal adhesive to put it back on).

I had to glue together (reinforced with a metal splint) one of these "paddle" buttons, and one regular button was broken, so I 3D printed it. The files are here, in the replacement parts topic.

I plan to dump the 4 EPROMs on the board and upload them for anyone interested, when I get my programmer in the mail, and also dd the HDD into an image you can use (though I think that the HDD is just for saving traces; not sure, I don't hear it seeking). That should be helpful to anyone trying to fix one.

I've attached a pic if anyone is interested. Personally, I love the industrial design, shame it yellowed (and I don't care enough to retrobrite it).

[andrejr]

I bought the user manual for 75€. It's the original PDF, not a scan, so perfect quality.

This is 50€ more than what I wanted to pay. I'm reselling it for 25€, and when 2 people buy it, I'll put it up online for free on all the usual websites (BAMA, ElectroTanya, etc.).

[andrejr]

As promised, I'm posting the dumps for all the EPROMs on board + a dd image of the hard drive. The software version printed on the EPROMs is v2.10, the checksums are included at the ends of filenames. The chips (U505 - U508) are M27C4001 by ST.

I've also uploaded the dumps to MEGA in case something happens to this forum's attachments.

The scope works well, except for some artifacts on CH1 after a few minutes (probably when it warms up). I'll post another topic about that.

[andrejr]

I'm uploading some more manuals I found (the most useful one being the programming manual, which allows you to script the operation of the scope by sending it commands over RS-232 or GPIB). There's also a floppy dump of some programs I haven't tested yet. I found these files on mikrocontroller.net

Here they are: https://mega.nz/folder/iQEEDK5A#kb1AfFCuRR5VxNy-Nqe9Tw

[alm]

If they are not already there, consider also uploading the data to one or more of these sites to make them easier to find:
KO4BB
xDevs
BAMA

[Tomek_mal]

Hello, I also bought not working Gould delta 9500a. Person who sold me this scope said that battery was replaced and some traces damaged by leaking battery were fixed. Scope didnt react on power button but replacing dryed caps did the job. Now after pressing power button screen gest light up and thast it. Scope does not boot. EPROM's are ok, checksums are correct. There is one trasciever heating immediately to 115 celsius without any short to gnd or vcc. Replacing it has no effect. I checked all voltages etc. and there are no other strange things except that trasciever. Any ideas what to do next?

[andrejr]

Now after pressing power button screen gest light up and thast it. Scope does not boot. EPROM's are ok, checksums are correct. There is one trasciever heating immediately to 115 celsius without any short to gnd or vcc. Replacing it has no effect. I checked all voltages etc. and there are no other strange things except that trasciever. Any ideas what to do next?

Have you tried the following:

Holding the "Hold All" button on the scope while turning it on, then releasing and re-pressing it when it beeps, clears the memory and puts the scope into calibration mode.

Btw, which transciever?

[Tomek_mal]

Yes, I tried it right after I read your post. After turing on just one led (trigger) lights up on maybe half a second and nothing more. When I hold this button on starting scope nothing happens.


Transciever U519, its between MC68340FT25E and NEC processor.

[andrejr]

Well, this component doesn't get very hot on my scope. I don't have a thermometer (except a multimeter thermal probe, which I can't find), it's lukewarm to the touch.

[Tomek_mal]

Could you check for me voltages on power supply connector? I am not sure about two voltages. Maybe the problem is basic.
Looks like only the logic part of scope has a problem.