Products > Test Equipment
I noticed nvram replacements for the TDS784D on ebay
james_s:
You're either being extremely pedantic or you are confused. Explain to me what difference it makes if one of the parts he's using to make these is still manufactured or not because I don't grasp it? I also don't see where he says the parts he makes them with are currently available, obviously the potted blocks from Dallas are obsolete because they are no longer made and they have non-replaceable internal batteries so they will all become stale and die. His parts are obviously not obsolete because he's still manufacturing them. One of the ICs he uses to make them is no longer made but so what? He still has them and is still manufacturing his part, his devices that he is selling have no internal battery and are still being produced by him, so they are not obsolete. It is irrelevant whether the components they use are still produced or not provided he has sufficient stock to supply the demand.
Calling it a lie is frankly absurd. The issue here is your reading comprehension. I just went and looked and it says "This part is not obsolete with no replacement like the original." That means the part (this assembly he is selling) is currently manufactured and available, you can buy one right now and you will get a brand new assembly. This is in contrast to the DS1486 which is no longer produced and no longer sold, you cannot go and buy a brand new one anywhere, they are obsolete. None of this means that he has to use all currently produced parts to build it or that he must be able to supply these in infinite numbers for an infinite period of time, that would be ridiculous. No product can be delivered indefinitely, even if I design something now with all cutting edge parts, eventually some of those parts will go out of production. As long as I have sufficient stock I can continue to sell newly built products and supported, my products would not be obsolete.
ArcticGeek:
The other thing I would add is the seller's design is sound and works well, and his claim that is a 100% compatible replacement is true. Although he may charge $70 for it, it's a decent design none the less. I have no idea where he got his stock of DS1384 parts. For all I know he worked for a company that bought a bunch of them and had some left over, but who knows. My concern would be that if he bought these parts from Ebay or Alibaba the parts might be fake/faulty and fail over time. Since these parts don't have an internal battery the shelf life concern is removed though so maybe that isn't a huge concern.
I have a number of the TDS6XX/7XX scopes, and the DS1486 that is inside them is a concern of mine. I must confess I've purchased several (maybe 10?) of the DS1486 parts on Ebay from various vendors on Ebay. Some work, most don't. Most are probably either rejects or fake parts that are relabeled. Even those that work are very questionable in my view. I probably could have requested a refund from Ebay for these parts, but for a few dollars it's hardly worth my time and hassle.
The DS1486 is fairly important in the TDS6xx/7xx scopes because it holds not only the time but also the SPC constants. When the battery dies in the part you'll likely have to rerun SPC every time you power on the scope. You will also likely get an error on startup. That's a pain in the you-know-what. A worse scenario is if the part fails such that the SRAM can't be read/written at all the scope will not boot. A quick solution would be to simply replace the DS1486 with a DS1245 128K SRAM in the same package; that will keep the SPC constants alive but the date/time will still be set the same as the last time you set it on the scope. That might be okay but I really kind of like have the date/time stamp on any waveforms I save or plot. But that's just me, and others might find that okay. So that's why I've started this project to design my own to replace the part - now all I need is the time to do it!
radioguy123:
Keep us informed on your progress Articgeek. Do you plan on using the DS1384 ? I hope you share your ideas.
Labrat101:
the batteries are quite easy to replace . They can be rimaled out the battery can normally felt by a slight bulge in the top surface of the chip. or a small magnet will locate it as it is 3.3 lithium battery . with a little care, i takes about half an hour
the battery top lead cut and then pried up to get the bottom lead . solder 2 wires to a new battery .
I have replaced 2 of these batteries on my 20 year old scope . :phew:
Labrat101:
--- Quote from: radioguy123 on November 19, 2019, 07:33:57 pm ---You can tell there is a chip on the bottom. But you can't see what it is. Probably the ram.
Then there is probably something else under the battery.
It would be nice to be able to roll our own.
--- End quote ---
The whole top half of the chip only contains the battery and the Xtal which sits the opposite side to the battery.
The ram is about 1mm under the bottom of the battery . about center chip . on some models the top is clipped and
can be removed removed basically the top 1/4 inch approx is just plastic shell holder.
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