Sign in
Search Sci.Electronics.Design
design by Keywords
8051 | Amplifier | AVR | CMOS | Converter | DAC | Diode | FPGA | GPS | I2C | IDE | Laser | LCD | MOSFET | Op-amp | Oscillator | Oscilloscope | PID | PLL | PSU | PWM | RFID | RS232 | RS485 | SMPS | Spice | Transformer | Transistor | TTL | USB | VCO
Ads
See Also
design | Laptop-based TDR meter
There are 15 messages in this thread.
You are currently looking at messages 0 to 10.
Laptop-based TDR meter - Joerg - 2008-06-09 14:31:00
Hello Folks, A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the "IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that to USB if the market is there. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Joel Koltner - 2008-06-09 14:56:00
"Joerg" <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message news:uGe3k.7327$m...@nlpi067.nbdc.sbc.com... > Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that to > USB if the market is there. Not bad... I wonder what the cost is? I'm about to lug a spectrum analyzer over to our annex... you're up for providing design advice on that USB-based version, right? :-)
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Joerg - 2008-06-09 15:10:00
Joel Koltner wrote: > "Joerg" <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message > news:uGe3k.7327$m...@nlpi067.nbdc.sbc.com... >> Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that to >> USB if the market is there. > > Not bad... I wonder what the cost is? > > I'm about to lug a spectrum analyzer over to our annex... you're up for > providing design advice on that USB-based version, right? :-) > I am not an expert on that but once I was surprised how easy that is if you use "take-and-bake" parts and firmware. Took a regular Cypress PSoC and their canned USB routines. IIRC the programming part required about 20 minutes. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Paul Hovnanian P.E. - 2008-06-09 15:40:00
Joerg wrote: > > Hello Folks, > > A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small > and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the > "IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: > > http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm > > Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that > to USB if the market is there. > > -- > Regards, Joerg > > http://www.analogconsultants.com/ > > "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. > Use another domain or send PM. I wonder about the output drive requirements for some applications given the PCMCIA card's power supply limitations. With a USB device, you could incorporate an (optional) external power supply. -- Paul Hovnanian mailto:P...@Hovnanian.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Joel Koltner - 2008-06-09 15:59:00
"Joerg" <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote in message news:aff3k.7341$m...@nlpi067.nbdc.sbc.com... > IIRC the programming part required about 20 minutes. I expect you'd spend more time on the Windows GUI than on the actual hardware design. :-)
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Joerg - 2008-06-09 16:01:00
Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote: > Joerg wrote: >> Hello Folks, >> >> A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small >> and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the >> "IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: >> >> http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm >> >> Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that >> to USB if the market is there. >> >> -- >> Regards, Joerg >> >> http://www.analogconsultants.com/ >> >> "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. >> Use another domain or send PM. > > I wonder about the output drive requirements for some applications given > the PCMCIA card's power supply limitations. With a USB device, you could > incorporate an (optional) external power supply. > One option would be to use a cap to store enough energy for "the mother of all pulses" :-) Given the quoted range they almost have to. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - John Larkin - 2008-06-09 16:11:00
On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:31:46 -0700, Joerg <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote: >Hello Folks, > >A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small >and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the >"IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: > >http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm > >Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that >to USB if the market is there. PCMCIA? How quaint. They avoid specifying time resolution, and the 6.4 Gs/s sample rate is fiction. The time step is 1 ns (typ?) but the actual measurement resolution is unknown. Looks OK for single-ended cables; way too slow for PC boards. Hyperlabs makes a fast USB TDR, but it's expensive. John
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Joerg - 2008-06-09 16:22:00
John Larkin wrote: > On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:31:46 -0700, Joerg > <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote: > >> Hello Folks, >> >> A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small >> and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the >> "IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: >> >> http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm >> >> Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that >> to USB if the market is there. > > PCMCIA? How quaint. > Surprisingly even my newest laptop still has one slot. > They avoid specifying time resolution, and the 6.4 Gs/s sample rate is > fiction. The time step is 1 ns (typ?) but the actual measurement > resolution is unknown. > It's probably the usual "equivalent time sampling" and they state one inch resolution. That won't be good enough for a circuit board but their market is cables. > Looks OK for single-ended cables; way too slow for PC boards. > > Hyperlabs makes a fast USB TDR, but it's expensive. > No idea what theirs costs either. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Spehro Pefhany - 2008-06-09 17:10:00
On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:22:33 -0700, Joerg <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote: >John Larkin wrote: >> On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:31:46 -0700, Joerg >> <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote: >> >>> Hello Folks, >>> >>> A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small >>> and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the >>> "IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: >>> >>> http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm >>> >>> Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that >>> to USB if the market is there. >> >> PCMCIA? How quaint. >> > >Surprisingly even my newest laptop still has one slot. You sure? Most have Express Card these days, IME, and they look almost the same from the outside. They're supposed to be able to transfer data much faster than PCMCIA/PC-card. > >> They avoid specifying time resolution, and the 6.4 Gs/s sample rate is >> fiction. The time step is 1 ns (typ?) but the actual measurement >> resolution is unknown. >> > >It's probably the usual "equivalent time sampling" and they state one >inch resolution. That won't be good enough for a circuit board but their >market is cables. > > >> Looks OK for single-ended cables; way too slow for PC boards. >> >> Hyperlabs makes a fast USB TDR, but it's expensive. >> > >No idea what theirs costs either. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany -- "it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" s...@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Re: Laptop-based TDR meter - Joerg - 2008-06-09 17:22:00
Spehro Pefhany wrote: > On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:22:33 -0700, Joerg > <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote: > >> John Larkin wrote: >>> On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:31:46 -0700, Joerg >>> <n...@removethispacbell.net> wrote: >>> >>>> Hello Folks, >>>> >>>> A while ago some of us were pondering a light-weight TDR that is small >>>> and can be hooked up to USB. Well, in the last issue of the >>>> "IEEE-Institute" one was presented and it's from this company: >>>> >>>> http://www.ecadusa.com/tdr3127.htm >>>> >>>> Ok, it's the old PCMCIA but it will be only a small step to swing that >>>> to USB if the market is there. >>> PCMCIA? How quaint. >>> >> Surprisingly even my newest laptop still has one slot. > > You sure? Most have Express Card these days, IME, and they look almost > the same from the outside. They're supposed to be able to transfer > data much faster than PCMCIA/PC-card. > Me sure :-) It's a Twinhead Durabook and I purposely selected that one because it's ruggedized and carries legacy ports such as RS232. Sez PCMCIA and PC-Card in the specs. Never used the PCMCIA slot so far but the RS232, a lot. [...] -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.