Newly acquired TDS5054B-NV-AV tips and advice wanted - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: HalFoster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 03:06:23 pm
content: All:I just got this one in and all seems well. Best guess (original Tek cal date) puts the estimated vintage at around late 2006. Only issue that I can see is that the PCB seems to be slightly loose behind the top-right buttons - everything functions, but wiggles a bit. Other than that, all channels work and the self test and calibration routines pass.So, what issues typically arise in these? I think the CMOS battery needs to be changed and I'll be inside to tighten the screws on the front board - is there any preventative maintenance or things to check while it is open? What about the availability of software upgrades?In short, after a *long* string of bad luck (except, thankfully, for a couple of 2465B's and my LT344) I have what begun what I hope will be a happy long term new relationship with my main digital scope. (Which means a working perfectly LT344 with all options is available. Cough, cough.)Also, what are the "NV" and "AV" in the name? I'm (pretty sure) that I've seen seen scopes with just the "TDS5054B" but I can't find anything in the manuals to tie the additional labels in with options.Anyway, all help, tips and advice will be greatly appreciated.TIA,Hal

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 03:11:11 pm
content: If the CMOS battery goes, it will "forget" to display on the internal display and only put video on the VGA connector. Something to be aware of when the time comes (or if you replace it).

author: HalFoster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 07:10:32 pm
content: Thanks... that would have been mildly bothersome.Hal

author: analogRF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2020, 07:24:59 pm
content: i believe -NV stands for Navy. I think these models had half the record length of the regular models, among other possible differences which I am not aware of

author: daveyk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2020, 11:50:13 pm
content: I just bought two of those and will hopefully have them this upcoming week. I am used to the TDS3054 and TDS3032 scopes. I doubt a half record length is that important to me. I understand there is ways to hack/upgrade them?Software/control wise, the command language looks the same as the TDS3000 series. I just think that since these run on Windows 2000 that they are ultra-cool. I would guess there is an OS upgrade to maybe Windows 7, or at least XP, if tektronix has the scope software available. The B series have SATA jacks on their mother board, so the hard drive should be able to be upgraded to SSD Sata drives. I would think a direct image install from the IDE drive would work, if it is not possible to update the OS.I need to find someone with experience on these scopes 8-).Dave

author: HalFoster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2020, 12:12:05 am
content: Just tore mine down and replace a leaking cap... near the SATA connectors so hopefully that will help later. I have a SATA drive as well as a couple sticks of double sided 1G memory that should be supported by the MB. Will probably try out a Pentium 4 replacement as well. Having Win 2K not only installed but easily accessible should be very nice - especially since the scope has a separate output for the desktop that I can use to feed a KVM monitor in my equipment rack. I really think that it will be extremely useful - and it's sure hard to beat the bang for the buck; around 550 plus what little the add-ons cost.Hal

author: Ordinaryman1971
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2020, 07:06:28 pm
content: Is there a way to restore the display on the internal LCD if it "forgets" it? Is there a way to avoid it, like hack the battery with some external one so it would ... keep on going?

author: HalFoster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2020, 07:36:16 pm
content: For what it's worth... I just replaced the MB battery, a standard CR2032, and no issues - it just booted. The only difference is that the clock stayed accurateThe MB in mine is a Intel D865GLC - not sure if there are other versions or not, but the manual to that one is readily available. From what I remember, the LCD display is the primary one - but even if not, there is a VGA output as well and I would think that one or the other would be active even if the CMOS had issues.Hal

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 08:33:34 am
content: Quote from: HalFoster on April 16, 2020, 07:36:16 pmMay just be another bios version (that defaults to the correct display). And yes, it the bios gets it wrong it goes to the VGA output

author: Joebeazelman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 04:25:05 am
content: Hmmm. I also just came across a TDS5054, but mine is in complete disarray. The LCD is busted and will need to be replaced. And the backside aluminum panel sustained a blow leaving a punched squarish hole and a sharp break the mobo. I suspect it might have either been pinched in the claw of a misbehaved robot, or was rescued before the claw released it into the recycler's grinders. It miraculously powers up, but nothing intelligible displayed.I figured if I'm going to replace the LCD, I might as well upgrade it. It makes no sense replacing it with a ridiculously overpriced, inferior quality and no longer manufactured original lCD. The scope is quite roomy internally so I'm considering adding a state of the art 10.4" display. Oddly enough, the LCD uses parallel RGB 6-bit interface with a CCFL backlight. My only concern is that the LCD might be shared and driving separately by the oscilloscope PPC board.Does anyone see an issue with using a panel with VGA and driving it internally from the built in VGA or even better HDMI or eDP from the inevitable motherboard replacement?

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 06:29:41 am
content: if they are like the 7k series, if you ever loose the internal lcd screen, you have to use tools like kill cmos, to force the bios to open and select the right parametersBut it was tricky for the parameters / size / color depth ... i made a mistake, and the ldc screen was not usable, had to reset / clear the bios againI think the tek scope SW need some parameters to work properly, if you go outside them, you have problemson a 7254b at our job, i simply found the original intel (not tek crippled bios) motherboard bios and adjusted things like i wanted, and done a backup of all the tek related hdd foldersthe pcb was pimped to the maximum ram /cpu etc ... it can have .... runs on xp sp3, with a good crap "xp componenent removal" cleanup loll