TDS310 schematic

[xchip]

Hi,

I recently bought a TDS310 oscilloscope, I'd like to hack the firmware and also add a serial port to it.

Does anyone have the schematics?

Cheers!
xchip

[dfmischler]

The service manual for that scope does not have any schematics in it.  I'm sure they exist somewhere, but Tektronix did not support field maintenance of that scope to the component level.

IIRC, there was a communications card you could plug into that scope.  The "option 14" gave you GPIB, RS232, and perhaps a Centronics parallel interface.  The module was also apparently referred to as TD3F14A.

[xchip]

Yeah I saw the option 14 thing, but I would like to build my own and emulate it using an Arduino.

I wonder if I could dump the firmware using a JTAG... Does anyone want to join this venture? :-)

Cheers!

[edavid]

The closest you can get is the "TDS340A, TDS360, & TDS380 Technical Reference", 070-9436-04.  It does have schematics, but not for your exact model.  PDF is available from tek.com and several other places.

[alex.forencich]

I wonder if I could dump the firmware using a JTAG...

An EPROM programmer would be more likely for an instrument of that era as they generally have a set of firmware EPROMs instead of on-board flash. 

[nctnico]

The rear of a TDS310 look suspiciously similar to standard PC slots. Maybe adding a standard PC serial interface (ISA slot) does the trick to add a serial port. Forget about emulating with an Arduino. You need a memory bus interface and even the good old ISA works at 8MHz.

[xchip]

The closest you can get is the "TDS340A, TDS360, & TDS380 Technical Reference", 070-9436-04.  It does have schematics, but not for your exact model.  PDF is available from tek.com and several other places.

Excellent!!!, this was of great help, it shows the oscilloscope is using an MC68331 processor running at 15.15Mhz.

Some thoughts after looking at the pdf:
- The flash memory for the firmware is 256Kb x 3 = 768Kb... That's a lot!!
- The option board comes with a 256k EPROM... Isn't too much?
- Another way to hack the oscilloscope is to tap onto the timebase module.
- At some point is says "Increase the frequency of the generator output to 100 MHz (TDS 340),200 MHz (TDS 360), or 400 MHz (TDS 380)."
    - Sice this schematic is valid for all 3 oscillsocipes, does that mean that the TDS340, the TDS360 and 380 use them all the same hardware? Then with a SW hack you could convert a 100 Mhz into a 400Mhz right?

Cheers