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Tektronix 1230 Logic Analyzer

M

mdanh2002

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
268
Location
Singapore
Hi,

I got this Tektronix 1230 logic analyzer for a cheap price from a Singapore electronics equipment seller. It comes with no probes or manual, just the unit. After a month of searching, I managed to purchase the probes from eBay and now I am waiting for its arrival. However I am still looking for the manual for this unit and the PC software for remote control via RS232-C. I believe the PC software for this unit is called as S43R101 by Tektronix.

A Google search reveals very little useful information, apart from this advertisement http://www.mgoodguy.com/specs/TEK1230.pdf which contains some basic description on its features and part numbers, and another post on the Microchip forum http://www.microchip.com/forums/m81437.aspx from somebody who was looking for the same.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks.
 
Have you tried just connecting a terminal emulator to the serial port and check what you get?
 
I tried. The serial port on this device does not automatically transfer data unless a command to request data transfer is received. There is an option to set serial baudrate from the logic analyzer menu (maximum is 9600bps!) but that is all. Still looking for the manual to find out the correct command to send.
 
Tektronix made quite a few Oscilloscopes with serial control and GPIB. I assume serial was done as everyone had a serial port whereas GPIB cards were somewhat pricey and ones with modern compatibility can still be fairly expensive.
 
I use mine straight, no PC serial. This came with several P6443 and P6444 pods and a PM403 6502 pod. I wish I could find a PM402 Z80 pod. There's a small blog about this LA which I visit sometimes, but I misplaced the link - have to look for it again. This is a great little machine.
 
Hi Ragooman,

Hope you will share with me the link to the blog post about this device. I will also write an article on my blog about this little device once I have the time to fully play with it :)
 
mdanh2002 said:
Hi Ragooman,

Hope you will share with me the link to the blog post about this device. I will also write an article on my blog about this little device once I have the time to fully play with it :)
Click to expand...

At the moment, my google/gmail fu is acting fooey
I had thought it was in my bookmarks, or in one my email folders - but I'll keep looking
 
mdanh2002 said:
I tried. The serial port on this device does not automatically transfer data unless a command to request data transfer is received. There is an option to set serial baudrate from the logic analyzer menu (maximum is 9600bps!) but that is all. Still looking for the manual to find out the correct command to send.
Click to expand...

Do you get an error reply if you send an incorrect command? If so, just experiment.
 
tingo said:
Do you get an error reply if you send an incorrect command? If so, just experiment.
Click to expand...

Hi,

I did not get any replies. I think it is similar to the TDS 340 serial interface, where invalid commands are simply just ignored and there special commands that must be used to check for status of previously sent commands. Nevertheless, I will continue trying, for example by using the serial commands from the Tektronix 1240 Logic Analyzer - hope some of them are similar.
 
tingo said:
Good. Don't give up!
Click to expand...

Hi,

After some experimenting, I did not manage to get the serial port working but manage to get it output the screenshot and memory contents via the parallel port and develop a simple PIC24 project to capture the parallel port output and write to the SD card. This is needed as I do not have any of the Epson parallel printers supported by this device (I believe they are long dead). The graphics printout on the parallel port simply uses Epson escape codes which I can easily convert to a bitmap file on Windows. Memory printout are in text format, hence no conversion is required.

See details at my blog: http://minhdanh2002.blogspot.sg/2014/02/capturing-data-from-tektronix-1230.html

The same project can possibly be used with other test instruments that also print to the parallel port.
 
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