Tom Verbeure Gets a Classic HP/Agilent Logic Analyzer Talking X to a Modern Linux Desktop
Hardware engineer Tom Verbeure has given a classic HP/Agilent logic analyzer a new lease on life — by figuring out how to get a modern Linux desktop to talk to its vintage X Window System installation for remote operation and display.
"Produced sometime early 2000, it’s new enough to have an Agilent sticker," Verbeure writes of the HP 1670G, picked up at the Silicon Valley Electronics Flea Market. "Unlike most other HP logic analyzers, a 1670G doesn’t have expansion cards: what you see is what you get, but 136 channels that can be sampled at 500MHz is plenty, and my machine has the 2 channel oscilloscope option. A bandwidth of 500MHz and 2GSa/s sampling rate are very nice specs."
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This isn't the first time Verbeure has played with the inner workings of a vintage HP logic analyzer. Back in October last year he took apart an HP 16500A, figuring out a way to drive its compact 10" cathode-ray tube (CRT) display from external devices — with a little help from a local library's microfiche reader to get a look at the part's schematics.