Dolch Logic Instruments LA 16100 SL Logic Analyser - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: gogolerobot
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 23, 2018, 06:18:27 pm
content: Hi,I resently bought a Dolch Logic LA 16100 SL Logic Analyser from eBay and it comes with LM216 Logic Monitor.I wonder if someone has the manuals or knows some specs about it.thank you for the help.

author: MadTux
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2018, 07:23:47 pm
content: This one? Well someone bought it after all, I guess, the seller is happy now ;-Dhttps://www.ebay.de/itm/173424789673I'd say it's about as boat anchory as a logic analyzer can be, probably similar in specs to HP 1600A.50ns/div equals to 20MHz, probably some impressive 32samples/channel of memory (at least if every 0 on screen is equal to one sample).Interesting to see a retro-teardown and to salvage switches and antique parts but not much use nowadays (any semi-old HP or USB logic analyzer has more features now).

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2018, 08:29:11 pm
content: Yes, I used to have one of those about 20-30 years ago. Sorry to say that it was in the bargain section of second hand equipment shop (Steward of Reading) even then. I also had the 8 bit 10MHz version (equivalent of the bottom section), which had Y, Trig, and Z out to display on a scope. Unfortunately I never had any documentation for them.As MadTux said, I'm afraid they were obsolete long ago. You can get vastly greater features from a cheap ebay Saleae clone and Sigrok these days with the same 20MHz sample rate.The unit has two buffers that can be filled independently. Switch setting then allow you to display either in timing diagram, binary or Hex (I think) and compare the two buffers, highlighting differences. The BNC inputs were a pain, I had to make up a bunch of BNC to clip leads (long since re-used). The buffers were tiny though. I think the sample RAM chips were clamped with thermal compound to a bracket for heatsinking (or that might have been the 10MHz one).There are a lot of potentially useful parts in there though. The two units are screwed together through the thin sheet lid of the bottom unit and bottom of the top one. The data connections are via ribbon cable between connectors on the back. Beware though that there are thin ribbon cable mains wires linking the two units through a hole in the lid/base so you can't just separate them, be careful! There's a mains transformer in both units.To open the units, pull off the plastic trim pieces, front and back of the Aluminium side trims and slide out the inserts. Underneath, you will find small self tapping screws retaining the lids and bases. Beware of the thin mains wires as mentioned above. The CRT monitor is on its own chassis which can be taken out in one piece. There's a whole bunch of logic in there. I can't remember if there is a CPU in the top section, I don't think so. The bottom is certainly all hard logic.One thing that might still be useful is the front end and trigger section. The input threshold voltage is adjustable (up to +/- 10V I think - it's on the multi-turn pot), so each channel has a high speed analogue comparator before the trigger logic. The trigger selection is straightforward H/L/Don't care (X). All of the capture stuff is in the bottom section (I think it also has scope outputs). It wouldn't take much effort at all to turn the bottom section into a 16 bit logic comparator to trigger a scope on certain logic states. I thought about it but never got round to it.Please don't be too disheartened. You will have great fun figuring out and trying the various modes (everything is on switches!) and it is 'usable' for very simple stuff. Later, it's worth the price in parts.P.S. It would be fun to see some internal photos for old time's sake!

author: gogolerobot
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 26, 2018, 07:34:09 pm
content: Thanks for responding so fast.I will send some pictures when it arrives.