22 Jan
2012
22 Jan
'12
3:15 p.m.
On 22/01/12 00:41, Dave McGuire wrote:
Hey folks. I have a short-term need for an HP signature analyzer. I
don't need one of these very often, so I'm not really keen on buying
one. (I know...those here who have seen my lab may be astonished to
learn that there's a piece of test equipment that I do not have...but
this particular one is rather boring, and not one of HP's better ideas)
You could DIY one from a couple of shift registers, an LS86 XOR gate, a
PROM or two and an LED display... There's an article covering the
technical minutiae in the HP Journal archives.
There's literally nothing to it except a CRC generator mated to a hex
display with a custom character table (if memory serves: 0-9ACFHPU
instead of 0-9A-F) to dissuade attempts to figure out "this code means
this error" troubleshooting. I think the best way to think of it is as a
digital version of an analog signal tracer... (although perhaps a pulser
and a logic probe would be a better analogue for that?)
Other than that, Stewart of Reading have been trying to shift a HP
signature analyser for several years, but given that they're in the UK
and as I recall you're in the USA, that might not be the best option.
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/