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Is Lecroy WaveSurfer 64Xs upgradable??

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nathankwan:
Hi all, I came across this used wavesurfer 64Xs and found it very strange, It's got "64Xs 600MHz 2.5GS/s" written on the bezel of the screen, but in the status menu it shows the model is "WS104MXs". The seller is selling this scope at around $1000.

I got confused since I took a glance at the official datasheet and didn't find anywhere mentioning the bandwidth and sample rate is upgradable, I am beginning to think whether this scope is hacked, or (at least) the front panel is replaced.

I read another thread on eevblog and a dude said all these years he didn't saw a single lecroy that has its bandwidth upgraded, which brought me thinking maybe the scope isn't what it looks to be.

Can anyone share some opinions? Thanks!

coromonadalix:
simply put  i would not touch it 

to check the real bandwith, you need other equipement .... 

it could be hacked and real too but nothing is out in the field ??  and you need the probes  for the hacked BW  not the originals,  wich is more $$$

there is a few threads here, but nothing about SV manuals or hacks as far as i know

EDIT  from a lower response thread   there is a python script ...

alm:

--- Quote from: coromonadalix on October 23, 2023, 07:14:15 am ---to check the real bandwith, you need other equipement .... 

--- End quote ---
Something like this?


--- Quote from: coromonadalix on October 23, 2023, 07:14:15 am ---it could be hacked and real too but nothing is out in the field ??  and you need the probes  for the hacked BW  not the originals,  wich is more $$$

--- End quote ---
I haven't heard about hacking these either. At least on earlier scopes, the model number could be changed but the bandwidth was limited by hardware. So it's possible it's actually a 600 MHz scope. Earlier scopes like the WavePro 7000 had very fragile front panels where having them replaced would make sense. Not sure about this series. $1000 is cheap for this scope, I think. Possibly suspiciously so. I'd seriously consider it if it were local and I could test it with some signals, or maybe if it was advertised as fully working on eBay and return shipping would be affordable.

You absolutely don't need probes because of the increased bandwidth. For staters, good luck finding a 1 GHz passive probe high-impedance probe. A 100 MHz or 500 MHz passive probe will work just fine with it (as well as passive probes work at higher frequencies). Same with active probes. A 15 MHz high-voltage differential probe or a 500 MHz low voltage differential probe will work fine on a 1 GHz scope. It's just that if you want to use the full bandwidth you need more expensive probes, or a direct 50 Ohm connection. But there's very little downside about having a scope with a wider bandwidth than necessary other than the higher price. Maybe more noise, but bandwith limit can take care of that.

lollokara:
Hi i do have the exact model you are referring to, opened it many times for repasting/changing the damn hard drive that gets busted in a 80C internal temp instrument. My acquisition board clearly states the frequency and sampling speed (like written on the board not via software) so what I’m saying is that this instrument do not offer “bandwidth” upgrades like rigol or others but just decoding packs or other. My advice is to stay away, probably but this is just a speculation at this point, someone replaced the acquisition board inside with another model probably faulty. Problem is that the cal data is scope dependant and stored in the CPU board. A front end board with a different acquisition board can cause issues in the cal data.

Too foggy for 1000 bucks…

nathankwan:
Thanks for all the replies!

I contacted the seller, and as he implied(not admitted explicitly though, but I really suspect it), they somehow got the internal maintainance software tool for lecroy, that allows them to modify software options freely on their will. My guess is that since some models of lecroy scopes are manufactured in China, it could be possible that they are using some sort of leaked factory production tool that can do the job.

Based on this guess, I believe they just blindly tackled with models and software options, it's still a 600MHz scope with 2.5GS/s sampling on each channel, since that is determined by hardware. But that wouldn't explain why it shows 5GS/s sampling (in the timebase window on the right bottom corner) when all 4 channels are on. According to the datasheet it's not possible for any of the Xs series scopes, but only the true 104MXs.

I was thinking that all the displayed parameters, like models, add-ons, can be tricked by the tools the seller used, but the actual sample rate too?

Anyway I won't touch this. I thought $1000 is pretty good for a 64Xs(the seller promises a full return-and-refund if the scope isn't working as he claimed to be), but knowing they are capable to do all these blind hackings really holds me back.

Thanks again for all the opinions.

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