Products > Test Equipment
Someone has hacked MDO4000C?
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darkstar49:

--- Quote from: analogRF on February 18, 2021, 03:24:45 pm ---i dont have a MDO4000/B/C but just out of curiosity, what can happen if you send the scope for calibration after unlocking the BW and options? either to Tek or to another reputable cal lab? it seems everybody is only stuck at this point step.

also what if you dont upgrade the BW and just unlock the options and send it for routine calibration? has anybody tried that?

if I understood correctly in these scopes the options are unlocked by license keys, so unlike for example keysight 3000 which requires patching the FW, what would be the problem of sending it for calibration?

--- End quote ---

The problem is this: the missing data is not linked to a calibration, but to what Tek calls an 'automated factory adjustment', which is the 'calibration' the instrument goes through once in its life, just before leaving the production lines.
This procedure is only known to Tek. LeCroy has exactly the same, named CalSoft, and no one else on Earth is able to do that 'factory adjustment'.
Those adjustment constants and curves are BW-specific, so there are 4 tables on the MDO4000C (200, 350, 500MHz, and 1GHz), but only the table for the 'original' BW is populated. Some models indeed require a h/w upgrade, but even those that don't, need the corresponding table to be filled to work properly (or at least to not display these error messages).

As for the options, while Tek may not have a view on all the options that are available as option modules, BW upgrades systematically require servicing at Tek (for the MDO4000C), so they will reset the scope to the bandwidth that is in their records, period. No doubt about this !

And it's exactly the same for BW upgrades that are 'user installable', like on the MDO3K. Those are sold per device, the key is generated on demand, so Tek knows exactly what BW has been paid for. This happens on a regular basis, and I know people who faced this, believing Tek wouldn't know... they got their '500MHz-pimped' MDO3014 back, calibrated... but at 100Mhz.   :-DD
analogRF:

--- Quote from: darkstar49 on February 18, 2021, 06:27:19 pm ---
The problem is this: the missing data is not linked to a calibration, but to what Tek calls an 'automated factory adjustment', which is the 'calibration' the instrument goes through once in its life, just before leaving the production lines.
This procedure is only known to Tek. LeCroy has exactly the same, named CalSoft, and no one else on Earth is able to do that 'factory adjustment'.
Those adjustment constants and curves are BW-specific, so there are 4 tables on the MDO4000C (200, 350, 500MHz, and 1GHz), but only the table for the 'original' BW is populated. Some models indeed require a h/w upgrade, but even those that don't, need the corresponding table to be filled to work properly (or at least to not display these error messages).

--- End quote ---

So what is different when you just send the unit for calibration to a Cal lab, either Tek or others? I mean, let's say you send it in for traceable calibration, and it will come back calibrated, what is the difference with that 'automated factory adjustment'? as far as I know calibration of all these modern scopes is automated anyways.



--- Quote from: darkstar49 on February 18, 2021, 06:27:19 pm ---As for the options, while Tek may not have a view on all the options that are available as option modules, BW upgrades systematically require servicing at Tek (for the MDO4000C), so they will reset the scope to the bandwidth that is in their records, period. No doubt about this !

--- End quote ---

Ah, ok, that makes sense. Good that at least they are not sending their lawyers instead of the scope  :-DD



--- Quote from: darkstar49 on February 18, 2021, 06:27:19 pm ---And it's exactly the same for BW upgrades that are 'user installable', like on the MDO3K. Those are sold per device, the key is generated on demand, so Tek knows exactly what BW has been paid for. This happens on a regular basis, and I know people who faced this, believing Tek wouldn't know... they got their '500MHz-pimped' MDO3014 back, calibrated... but at 100Mhz.   :-DD

--- End quote ---

Oh, that's good to know  :(
Again it's good that at least they send the scope back and not call the cops  :-DD

but still I am not sure about sending the scope to other calibration labs. I think there are plenty of them that have the ability to calibrate these MDO3K or MDO4K, no?

darkstar49:

--- Quote from: analogRF on February 18, 2021, 09:00:27 pm ---but still I am not sure about sending the scope to other calibration labs. I think there are plenty of them that have the ability to calibrate these MDO3K or MDO4K, no?

--- End quote ---

I contacted two labs (i.e. not related to Tek), and both answered negatively... I'm relatively sure for Tek, but 100% sure for LeCroy, their CalSoft calibration bench (the one that generates the files in the hidden d:\calibration directory) is NOT available to external labs... I'm not sure how the procedure looks like for external labs, but it's NOT the factory calibration. And as from the (few) information I got from Tek and these 2 labs, it's exactly the same for Tek.

Now, I don't say it's impossible, maybe it's just a matter of performing a (normal) calibration with the manufacturing mode enabled (although that sounds pretty trivial). Or maybe these labs (and myself) were wrong, I don't know...

As for the lawyers/cops... don't forget (in most countries at least, no clue for the US) that it's their problem to prove that you did the cheating (i.e. that it wasn't hacked before you bought it), which is far from granted... secondly, when you buy a scope from Ebay (as an example), you're NOT in a contractual relation with Tek, etc... so while Tek is not known to have much humor when it comes to their licences, the risk is fairly low for an 'amateur' (/hobbyist) to get in trouble...
analogRF:
does it make any difference if one uses e.g. BW2T54 instead of using 500MHz for bandwidth upgrade? I mean for MDO4000C.

I dont have the scope but since the upgrade has not worked as expected, i thought maybe using the other option might work differently

in the datasheet the official upgrade option that must be ordered is MDO4BW2T54-SA but I see there is no BW2T54-SA in the option.py script
salviador:
have anyone ever tried on the tek4 series, news about it?
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