Tektronix 2630 FFT analyzer display problem 1

[deltaq]

I have been trying to get this old analyzer (1990) to operate with one of my laptops. I was not successful with the Win98 model but I did get the software to work using a Win95 operating system. One remaining problem seems to be with the updating of the waveforms in either instantaneous or average settings. I remember these units used to update continuously and allowed the presentation of time histories ( like an oscilloscope) and real-time fourier transforms. I've tried all sorts of adjustments to the computer com 1 port using the Windoows setting features. I also tried setting a variety of baud rates using the tomon program in the analyzer software. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I am doing wrong?

 

[klaxon]

Hi Deltaq,

I am working on one of these, too. Did you get any responses. Would you care to share observations on the unit?

I have a 2622 and a 2642. Neither communicate with the software I have. I found a man who is going to send me the software manuals, so in a week or so, I should be able to shed some light on some aspects of the unit.

I have peered inside both and can tell a fair amount about the unit(s), but lack any documentation other than what I can glean from the programs.

Have you used the unit much before?

Forrest
fm at chestnuttech.com

 

[deltaq]

Hi Klaxon,
Thanks for your reply. I have had a great deal of operational experience with the Tektronix 2630 four-channel analyzer over a decade ago. I used them as stand-alone instruments to generate transfer functions and as long term data acquisition tools to record info in the time domain. I originally used a 386 series laptop running DOS with a math-coprocessor and the program ran well. It originally presented real-time time and frquency domain data with no loss of screen image. That made it very useful for time domain measurements of intermittant occurances. The original 386 laptop stayed with my employer when I left and I was able to pick this unit up from a supplier.

I have both the 2.24 and 2.26 version of the software and they both perfom the same. The system samples and presents the data inconsistantly. It should be continously sampling and presenting data when it is in the "no trigger" mode. I have opened it up and disconnected and reconnected all of the card connectors to no avail. I suspect the improper operation is due to operating in the DOS window of the Windows operating system. It will not work at all on my Win 98 laptop. I have not tried my Win XP desktop. I have not tried to create a DOS operating system on one of the laptops to see if it performs better.

The data I currently get is accurate with respect to frequency (I used my piano to check) and it is accurate in amplitude using my radio shack sound level meter.

This is a high quality, high performance FFT analyzer and I would appreciate any guidance to get it to work correctly.

Thanks

 

[klaxon]

Hey Deltaq....

Great! I found a co-conspirator.

I bought my units 'status unknown' and am still having trouble establishing basic communications, but I am committed to gathering an entire documentation set and making the units work.

I have DOS, win95, win 98, win2k and XP boxes that I can use to determine how the units work on different OS's, and will report on this if you can help me wiht the basics of getting comm established.

My primary problem seems to be the cable wiring and the batch files needed to send code to the units. Any input?

Thanks for replying....

Forrest

 

[deltaq]

Hi Forrest,
While loading the software into the host computer, a choice has to be made regarding which serial port the system will connect to, (COM 1 or COM 2). The software then creates a directory called IP and another called TPAC on the C drive. You must hook up the analyzer to the computer with the correct cable. The cable wiring, as I interpreted using my DMM is as follows: the 2630 male #3 and #4 are connected to the PC female #5, the 2630 male #5 is connected to the PC female #3 and the 2630 male #6 is connected to the PC #2. At that point I switch from Windows to DOS and initiate the loading by selecting c:\IP and entering IP. This starts a batch file which loads software into the analyzer. If at this point you get an error message "Analyzer boot not responding -- retry of reset", your com port connection or cable is not correct. When that has happened, I would reload the software and choose another com port. When I was using the Win 98 laptop, the software would give a fleeting comment "waiting" then drop out. It was so fleeting that I had to video tape the screen and then play it back slowly to read what was said. I reloaded the software on the Win 95 laptop and that's where I am today. I've experimented with the FIFO buffer settings, baud rate settings and video settings, all with no real improvement. I yet have to connect the system to my Win XP desktop to see if the DOS supplied in that operating system is any different. I hope this helps and I hope we can achieve some sort of success.
Frank @ Delta Q

 

[klaxon]

Hi deltaq,

Thanks for the cable wiring. How odd that Tek did not use a standard serial pinout. I am rather amazed, but your wiring explains the symptoms I saw perfectly. I thought it was a handshaking problem, but it is simply a wiring problem. I'll be on the air in a half hour with it and I very much appreciate it.

I have a number of platforms which I will try and we will figure out what is going on with your software.

An experience migrating an application I wrote to work with Procomm software was that the serial port updates became sort of choppy. Win 95 handled the ports differently than DOS, but I have since resolved using the serial ports with Windows and I am anxious to see if I can duplicate your symptoms. The company I am working with now has a lot of internal expertise on windows and serial port issues, so I feel confident that if I can't help on it, I can find someone who can.

Thanks again for the wiring diagram.

Incidentally, do you have any dox at all on your system? I am soon to receive software dox and would love to locate some info on the hardware. I am certainly happy to share what I have collected once I receive it.

Forrest

 

[deltaq]

Hi Forrest,
Wow, that was a quick response. Glad to help. As for dox (a new term for me, we called them "docs"), I have an instrument program tutorial and users's guide. I don't have anything that pertains to the hardware other than the cable pin-outs list that I sent you.
Frank

 

[klaxon]

Frank, I am at work today and on my computer, so when I get a notification that there has been a response, I just jump right on it.

Good to know that there is some original documentation floating around out there. I'll let you know what I get when I receive it. I found a fellow in a vib lab that had a 2642 whihc he scrapped, but kept some documentation, and he is sending it to me. I should have it next week mid to late week. If it's something you can use, I'll happily make a copy. It sounds like you are set on software.

I am going to make a project out of finding a maintenance manual if I have to contact every mechanical lab in the Northeast. Eventually, I shall find one.

Meantime, I have stomped around in side the two I have an can tell a fair amout by what is inside them. Fortunately, armed with a working unit, a faulty one will be easy to fix. The boards are all the same, though the 2642 motherboard I have differs from the 2630 a fair amount. Still, same core chips. Mostly National Instruments NS32032 processor, an early competitor to Motorola 68000 chips. The rest is just various LSI and small scale TTL/MOS stuff. Nothing I would want to manually extract a schematic on, but pretty understandable.

Do you know of anyone else who uses/used/owns/owned on of these or one of the similar models?

I am in Vermont. Where are you located?

Forrest

 

[deltaq]

Hi Forrest,

I live in Ohio but used to work in Michigan where I used the 2630. I spent over thirty years working in the noise and vibration field in the auto industry and have used a wide variety of FFT analyzers. I had a couple of projects using outside software vendors incorporating the 2630 into other test stands.

I am not a software nor hardware engineer but an ME who uses the equipment. At the time, I was the only one in my company using these analyzers because of their integratability. In fact, I had to research the analyzer industry to find a model that would do what I needed. This it did very well.

I hope you make progress with your units.

Frank

 

[klaxon]

I'm working on making a cable, then headed home to try out both units. This is the most progress I have made in week, thanks to you, and I'll let you know what I find.

The 2642 unit I have has a burned resistor in one of the inputs. I suspect some damage throughout the unit, as it is totally unresponsive. The other one sends out a sign-on message, and I am sure I can make it work tonight.

More later..

Just curious... this thing was really useful in a vib lab? Moreso than other units? What do people use now?

 

[klaxon]

Frank,

I came home and the cable did the trick. Both units communicate, oddly enough, and both accepted the microcoded downloads.

I was able to get a display on both, and I think it was appropriate, at least I could see the unit reacting to changes in freq and amplitude, so I am on my way.

The units did not do constant updates... they were very sluggish. I plodded around in the software and did not get enough positive response to keep my interest high tonight. WHen the software manuals arrive, I'll give both a thorough whorl and see what I've got.

Since I have never seen the units work as they are supposed to, I am not in a position to say if they are working well or not. That's why I am going to wait on the software documents to arrive first before spending too much more time on them tonight.

Would you be willing to send me any info / reports / notes / sketches / concepts of applications you did on this thing? I'm planning on playing around with distortion analysis in audio with them, but I am awfully curious how YOU actually put them to use and why they were so cool for what you did. I'd pay copying and postage, and would be tickled to death just to hear the what/how/why of your work in ME-land. Email is great, too.

Thanks again for getting me to this point. I'll be sure to send along more info on the various OS's and how they work.

 

[klaxon]

Frank,

I did some more work last night, not on the analyzers, but on the operating systems.

We should be easily able to set up your computer to do a dual boot, with one partition using MSDOS 6.22.

I downloaded it for free, and went looking for easy-to-use multi-boot managers, which I found several. Tonight, I will set up the units to operate under DOS, and if they run a lot better, then I'll put together a recipe for modifying your machine to do the same thing. My estimate of time requirement to do this... an hour and maybe $30 if you use a boot manager that's shareware (recommended).

Sound good?

Forrest

 

[deltaq]

Bravo Forrest, that would be a terrific and useful accomplishment. Thank you for your efforts.
Frank

 

[klaxon]

Frank,

I hosed around with the units some more. I discovered why my installations were not working. I was sent disk images of 2.26 software which I burned to CD. I made installation floppies from the CD. When I did, the 'write protect' attribute was carried over from the CD, which is read-only and this attribute impacted the ability of several of the installation features to work. I had to write-enable all files on all floppies using the ATTRIB command in a DOS window.

Now, I have it all on a PC which has both a WIN98 partition and a WIN2000 partition. I can run the software from the win98 partition. It appears sluggish, but as I said, I have never seen it work at all, so I have no sense of how fast it updates.

I have been initially looking at the 2630 I have. Input provided by an HP audio oscillator. It appears distorted on the time axis display, and I know that the osc is not distorted. This unit has some problems. (The FFT shows the effect of the distortion, though, indicating that the FFT part is working.)

The update rates I am getting are about once per 2 seconds, using a single input channel and 1024 point FFT. Baud rate set at 9600.

The manuals should be here today or tomorrow, and at that point, I'll have more info on setup and I can give a summary of performance so we can compare apples to apples.

 

[klaxon]

Frank,

I received the manuals today. I got a 2600 Series Application Library Instrument Tutorial (070-8372-01) and a 2600 Series Techniques for Signal and Systems Analysis (070-8741-01). Both are in excellent condition.

I am researching multi-booting with the intent of making the 'recipe' of which I spoke in an earlier post. It is a little more involved than I thought, and I need to get good and familiar with the concept, tools, and method before I send you instructions, assuming that DOS will fix your display issues. As I mentioned earlier, the 2622 I have seems to work OK, and the update rates vary with the sample window size.

If you have any Tek documents on the 2642, may I ask you what they are but title and number as above? Just curious.

More later.

Forrest

 

[klaxon]

Frank,

The OS does not seem to make a difference. I ran the unit(s) last night with DOS7.1 and they run pretty much like they do under WIN98 and WIN2K, so your system must be suffering something else.

Cool machines. I can't wait to get them both fully functional.

Forrest