HP 1670G logic analyzer probe cables repair / compatibility

[and.pas]

Hello,
I own a working HP 1670G logic analyzer.
The problem is that random bits of the cables are faulty, I checked with a multimeter and found open-circuit on these bits.
Moving up and down the cable near the connector on one side or the other, some time faulty bits work again,
thus thin wires of specific bits are interrupted inside the connectors.
I tried to open both connectors, finding a block of resin (epoxy I think) covering a small PCB with wires and connector soldered to.
I'm trying to remove the resin with a sharp tool, but it's hard and I'm afraid I could damage the connector.

Anybody successfully repaired these cables?
Any advice about removing the resin?

What kind of connector is the 50pin on the back of the logic analyzer?

As I needed a working cable set, I bought one, but when it arrived I discovered that the connector on the back side has 60pin,
while on original cables it has only 50pins...
What series of logic analyzer does it belong to? Maybe a 50pin to 60pin adapter exists?

Thanks
Andrea

[gslick]

The 16550A, 16554A, 16555A/D, 16556A/D, 16557D, and 16710-12A modules, and the 1660 and 1670 series analyzers all use compatible pod cables, although there are three different types of the cables.

The 16550A and some of the early 1660 and 1670 series analyzers have bare woven cables.

The 16554A, 16555A/D, 16556A/D and some of the 1660 and 1670 series analyzers have a shield wrap layer around the cables.

The 16557D and 16710-12A modules and some of the late 1660 and 1670 series analyzers are back to bare woven cables without a shield layer wrap, but they are thicker and more flexible than the 16550A cables. A 1670G should have the newer style thicker and more flexible woven cables, which are the nicest of the three types. The earlier two types hold their shapes more after being folded for storage and can end up with kinks along the cables.


The 16715-19A, 16740-42A, 16750-52A, 16750-52B, and 16910-11A modules, and the 1680 and 1690 series analyzers use a newer type of pod cable. They still have the original 40-pin connector at the pod end, but at the analyzer end they have the 60-pin connector. The cables are light grey, except for the two outer wires on each side which are dark grey. The cable wires are straight, not woven.  It sounds like this is the type of cable you bought.

If you were in the US your best option might be to buy a cheap 16550A module for the three cables it comes with, and scrap the module, or have the seller ship only the cables. A 16550A module doesn't have much value now. In Europe these parts are probably more difficult to obtain. I have several 16550A modules that I don't really need. I don't know how expensive it would be to ship just the cables to Italy.

Later when I have some time I'll take some photos of the different cable types to post and show the differences.

[MarkL]

It's not nearly as descriptive as gslick's posting, but attached is a table of the analyzer/module and the original cable part numbers that went with them.

Page extracted from:

  http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5968-4632E.pdf

[gslick]

It's not nearly as descriptive as gslick's posting, but attached is a table of the analyzer/module and the original cable part numbers that went with them.

Page extracted from:

http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5968-4632E.pdf

Table 6. Logic analyzer cables, I don't remember seeing that table previously. That would have saved me some time. I just went through the service manual PDFs that I have and manually extracted basically the same information.

As far as I know the 01660-61605, 16550-61601, and 16550-61605 cables are visually identical, and what I described as the first type.

The 16555-61606 cables are what I described as the second type.

And the 16557-61601 and 16710-61603 cables are visually identical, and what I described as the third type. Maybe HP vs. Agilent part numbers?

All of the 01660-61605, 16550-61601, 16550-61605, 16555-61606, 16557-61601, 16710-61603 cables are functionally interchangeable.

01660-97002 1660A/1660AS Series Service Guide
First edition, August 1993
16550-61601 Probe cable (HP 1660A, HP 1660AS)

01660-97026 1660C/CS/CP Series Service Guide
First edition, November 1997
16550-61605 Probe cable (HP 1660C/CS/CP)

01660-97030 1660E/ES/EP Series Service Guide
First edition, November 1998
16550-61605 Probe cable (HP 1661E/ES/EP)

01670-97006 1670D Series Service Guide
First edition, October 1996
01660-61605 Probe cable (HP 1670D)
16555-61606 Probe cable, shielded (HP 1670D, opt 030)

01670-97015 1670G Series Service Guide
First edition, January 2000
16710-61603 Probe Cable (Agilent 1670G)

16550-90901 16550A Service Guide
First edition, April 1992
16550-61601 Cable Assembly-Logic Analyzer

16554-97000 16554A Service Guide
First edition, November 1994
16555-61606 Cable Assembly-Logic Analyzer

16555-97012 16555A Service Guide
First edition, October 1996
16555-61606 Cable Assembly-Logic Analyzer

16556-97005 16556A/D Service Guide
First edition, October 1996
16555-61606 Cable Assembly-Logic Analyzer

16557-97006 16557D Service Guide
January 2000
16557-61601 Cable Assembly-Logic Analyzer

16557-97008 16557D Service Guide
Second edition, October 2000
16710-61603 Cable Assembly-Logic Analyzer

16600-97010 16600A Series Service Guide
February 2000
01660-61605 Probe Cable (16600A)

16710-97002 16710/11/12A Service Guide
Third Edition, October 2000
16710-61603 Probe Cable

[MarkL]

The Keysight Part Finder lists the 16557-61601 as being replaced by the 16710-61603, but no mention as to the reason.

A photo of the 16710-61603 was on the parts page, attached below.

Looking at a few photos on ebay, it looks like the difference between the 16557-61601 and the 16710-61603 is that the shell that plugs into the card is metalized on the outside (or is metal) on the 16710-61603.

Interestingly, there's this nugget in the "HP E2460ES Oscilloscope Upgrade Kit for HP 1660-Series Logic Analyzers":

TO MEET RFI LIMITS

To meet the CISPR 11 Class A radio frequency interference (RFI) limits, replace the cable(s) shipped with the logic analyzer with the new cable(s) (part number 16557-61601).

Full doc at:

  http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/E2460-92007.pdf

My guess is that they had an ongoing battle with EMI on these cables and kept changing the design.

[gslick]

The Keysight Part Finder lists the 16557-61601 as being replaced by the 16710-61603, but no mention as to the reason.

A photo of the 16710-61603 was on the parts page, attached below.

Ha, you beat me to it. I was too lazy to take photos of my own cables yet and was going to post the same photo from the Keysight Parts Finder page.

That's a low quality photo so I should still take some better quality photos myself to post.