Front panel & Browser ethernet control of old Tektronix TDS3034B oscilloscope - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: Konkedout
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2023, 02:39:51 am
content: 1) I have an old Tektronix TDS3034B oscilloscope. It has one big problem. Some of the front panel controls (timebase most notably) are effectively unusable. As you turn the knob you cannot get it much faster than maybe 100 mSec/div before it reverts to 10 seconds/division. The oscilloscope has lived a difficult life with temperature and humidity swings in my attic lab. This may have contributed to the problem.My present lab computer is a 2014 vintage laptop running Windows 10.2) Originally, the oscilloscope had 3 means of controlling it: The front panel controls, a GUI interface accessible thru one page via a web browser, or sending it text files thru web browser. I connect my laptop to the oscilloscope through an ethernet "crossover" cable.3) Even the second method has not worked for years. More recently that page gets me to a Tektronix website page but does not allow me to control the oscilloscope. For years I have been using the third method; sending text files via the browser. This is clumsy but it works.4) With recent changes in Windows, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome browser, I had no browser connection at all to the oscilloscope. I could neither send text files to control it, nor download images of the oscilloscope display. A week or two ago, as an experiment I installed an old version of Firefox browser; version 42. That works! Now with that, I am again able to control it with text files and......I think I can again download images of the oscilloscope face. So the oscilloscope is now usable again.Does anyone know of a way to fix the front panel controls? I suspect that this is a common problem, although I also suspect that my unit is worse than most in this regard.Does anyone know how to get the browser GUI control interface working? If I do not get the front panel controls working, this should be better than sending text files.This oscilloscope has a floppy drive. I am not sure whether that is working, or whether I am able to write to a floppy from a computer. I would have to do some experiments.Thanks for any thoughts or ideas...

author: m k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2023, 02:42:19 pm
content: Front panel contact cleaning seems to be the first thing.Explain more about the eScope.You put an address in and the scope responds, then what?It's possible that front panel is somehow involved.Maybe the scope is in some sort of a view only mode.It's also possible that you need some other oldies also.Maybe your current gear can't do some old method communication.

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2023, 03:54:38 pm
content: It wouldn't surprise me if the scope is using ancient technology like Java applets that's no longer supported by modern browsers.You could run an older OS and browser version in a virtual machine, or see if there's Windows software available from tek.com that can control the scope.

author: Konkedout
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2023, 05:01:09 am
content: Thank you very much for attempting to help.I have not used this forum much, and I have difficulty to figure out how to use it. I have attached a .zip with a bunch of web page screen images. I cannot see your post as I respond. I just now see "notify me of replies" and I wish that were a simple default default.....I did not get any notification of your response, and nothing at the EEVBlog forum home page tells me that I have anything new.Basically it just looks like a web page as you can see in several of the images in the .zip file. Chrome give me a blank one which it claims is dangerous, while the old Firefox at least gives me some of the pages with normal content. But the page titled "control" has no content regardless of browser.The "data" tab allows me to send a "*.set" text file to the oscilloscope, and that is now my only effective means for controlling timebase and a few other variables.I realize that the "Control" tab lists some URL's but if I try to go to those in Chrome, I just get a Google search. Maybe that is my problem? You can see that URL in the image of the Control tab.I have two or three responses to my original post, and I do not know whether the other responders can also see my response to yours.

author: Konkedout
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2023, 05:12:37 am
content: Can you see my response to the other responder with the .zip file? I will say that I have heard of Java, but if I have to do programming I might as well ask an interior decorator to do electrical hardware engineering which is what I do.Sometimes asking questions of other is an effective way of getting ideas. You may notice that one of the images in the .zip is a Configure tab listing a few URLs. I have no understanding how those URLs relate to my connectivity to the oscilloscope. But if my ability to use that Control tab somehow relies upon valid information from Tektronix at that URL, and that URL has gone blank, then I guess that is some sort of shallow explanation for loss of that Control Tab. (??)As for opening up the unit to clean it. I guess that might work. Not so long ago I was amazed that electronic spray cleaner fixed the contact bounce problem with my ancient trackball. But I am reluctant to open up the unit until that seems to be a last resort.

author: m k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2023, 05:10:32 pm
content: Seems that TekVISA is the easiest path forward.(Virtual Instrument Software Architecture)https://www.tek.com/en/support/software/driver/tekvisa-connectivity-software-v411

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2023, 07:45:14 pm
content: TekVISA is the low level driver that allows other software to communicate with the scope, but I was thinking more about something likeTektronix OpenChoice. But obviously getting the front panel working would be the preferred solution.

author: Konkedout
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2023, 10:00:58 pm
content: Thank you allI installed "OpenChoice_TekVisa_Deployment_Package_066093811.exe" but this seems to have issues and I am unable to launch it. I have attached an image showing what I installed, but there seem to be some missing pieces. First I cannot find a shortcut for the "____ manager" mentioned in the first instruction video. I found the manager in program files, but when I try to launch that, Windows asks me for the path for "___IVI____".I have been an EE since 1974, and I am still surprised how often the act of explaining a problem brings up new ideas for solutions. In this case I found that the Tektronix web page listed at the (see "control tab.png) did not work but it somehow lead me to the right one, and I was able to edit that URL so that the control function now works....but....It seems like it might require half an hour for me to change from 1 sec/division to 100 uSec/division. It seemsveryslow and clumsy.Cleaning the front panel switches does seem like a distinct possibility. An former colleague used to have an electronics repair shop in Iraq. I was skeptical of his suggestion to apply contact cleaner to my trackball switches to solve a problem with contact bounce, but that worked. So skeptical as I am of the idea to fix this with contact cleaner, I guess I ought to try it. I am just reluctant to do so because I now have an oscilloscope which is functional by sending it text files. I do not know what parts might "go flying" if I open it up. Although in theory a Tek oscilloscope ought to be built better than that. So I need to get up the nerve to open up the unit.Thanks again.

author: SMdude
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2023, 12:22:07 am
content: Quote from: Konkedout on July 08, 2023, 10:00:58 pmThankfully, they don't build these scopes to explode upon disassembly! Contact cleaner(make sure it is not volatile to the plastics) should work. If you wanted to get really tricky you can remove the encoders and then properly clean the contacts with a red rubber to roughen the shiny surface where the contacts run.Why would you want to send text files when you could just turn a knob? For a couple of hours effort to repair the controls, it will be time well spent. And I believe that other more common replacement encoders can be fitted as well if really needed.

author: m k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2023, 04:00:28 pm
content: Quote from: Konkedout on July 08, 2023, 10:00:58 pmMaybe some front panel buttons are constantly pressed.