Fascinating read! Yes, it sounds like he's gotten deep into the UPV and has figured out how some of it works. Thanks for sharing the link!
My feeling is that he's pretty much cracked catering for most failures involving the CPU and PSU side. The question is, how well would he (or anyone else outside of R+S) be able to handle a fault on something such as the B1. I have taken a cursory glance at the B1 and it doesn't look like the friendliest thing to trouble-shoot (i.e. it has shielding on top of shielding).
NB - I sent you a PM, Mark.
Cheers,
NB - I sent you a PM, Mark.
Cheers,
It's challenging to be bottom feeders of the high end test gear market, ain't it? 🙂
Like it or not, we're probably going to have to learn how to do SMD parts replacement to keep these instruments going. Things like EPROMs and proprietary ROM code are likely going to be inaccessible though.
I would love to see the innards of a B1. I had one in my possession, but calibration seals prevented me from looking.
Like it or not, we're probably going to have to learn how to do SMD parts replacement to keep these instruments going. Things like EPROMs and proprietary ROM code are likely going to be inaccessible though.
I would love to see the innards of a B1. I had one in my possession, but calibration seals prevented me from looking.
Just took delivery of the UPV...
Couple questions for those familiar with navigating the menus:
Aren't the navigation keys supposed to allow you to change focus of the screens? There are four rockers, Screen, Window, Scan and Page. But pressing them doesn't do anything. The focus always remains on the Analyzer Config window.
Also loading setups: I press the Load button and a load dialog pops up. How do I get the cursor into the upper field so I can select a folder to load from? Again, none of the buttons let the focus move to another part of the load dialog.
Couple questions for those familiar with navigating the menus:
Aren't the navigation keys supposed to allow you to change focus of the screens? There are four rockers, Screen, Window, Scan and Page. But pressing them doesn't do anything. The focus always remains on the Analyzer Config window.
Also loading setups: I press the Load button and a load dialog pops up. How do I get the cursor into the upper field so I can select a folder to load from? Again, none of the buttons let the focus move to another part of the load dialog.
I finally got navigated (after 20 minutes of pressing multiple times with increasing amounts of pressure, to discover that 1 in 20 times, the button causes something to happen) to the Setup Examples folder and tried to open one of the setup folders, starting with AA, only to be greeted with a warning that says: "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable."
I can't load any test setups.
I stepped away to write the above and came back and the instrument is completely frozen. Displays stopped updating and none of the buttons produce a response.
I can't load any test setups.
I stepped away to write the above and came back and the instrument is completely frozen. Displays stopped updating and none of the buttons produce a response.
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Aaarghh... i was going to write that the interface is a little clunky. You will find that some menus overlap, obscuring fields in underlying layers - resulting in you having to resize windows or hit the soft keys a few times.
It took me quite a while to get the hang of my UPV. It's not intuitive. Once you do get to grips with it, I find it faster to work with than our DScope - and waaay faster than the cumbersome SYS-2722.
It took me quite a while to get the hang of my UPV. It's not intuitive. Once you do get to grips with it, I find it faster to work with than our DScope - and waaay faster than the cumbersome SYS-2722.
I'm not having overlapping windows. It's just the the screen, window, scan and page keys don't seem to work. At least not reliably. If I press really hard and many times, it will sometimes move the focus within the window.
The Winbar button does nothing at all, or appears to do the same thing as the MENU key, which is highlight the top menu (equivalent of the ALT key in Windows on a PC).
In a setup where the analyzer is set to GEN1 or GEN2, is it normal to read 8mV of DC offset?
There are other issues, such as the drawer on the DVD drive doesn't open when the eject button is pressed.
I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around this thing, but the intermittency of the buttons requiring a dozen or so presses before it responds is making navigation really difficult. I don't think this is normal, which is why I asked.
The Winbar button does nothing at all, or appears to do the same thing as the MENU key, which is highlight the top menu (equivalent of the ALT key in Windows on a PC).
In a setup where the analyzer is set to GEN1 or GEN2, is it normal to read 8mV of DC offset?
There are other issues, such as the drawer on the DVD drive doesn't open when the eject button is pressed.
I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around this thing, but the intermittency of the buttons requiring a dozen or so presses before it responds is making navigation really difficult. I don't think this is normal, which is why I asked.
When I am at the shop tomorrow I will look at offset on ours.
Sometimes you do need to press a button more than once for a response. But no more than 2 or 3 times. Mine has always been like that.
Sometimes you do need to press a button more than once for a response. But no more than 2 or 3 times. Mine has always been like that.
Also, is the Level Mon Config menu greyed out on your unit? I cannot set the units of measure because all fields in this menu are inactive and un editable.
Can the UPV read UPL setups? The file extension is the same, but I'm not sure about the format of the data.
>In a setup where the analyzer is set to GEN1 or GEN2, is it normal to read 8mV of >DC offset?
Can you say how you're measuring this offset? Are you looping the analyser to the generator and measuring it with an external DMM?
>Also, is the Level Mon Config menu greyed out on your unit? I cannot set the units >of measure because all fields in this menu are inactive and un editable.
Same here. I've never gotten my head around getting Lev Mon to work. There are many aspects to the UPV that I haven't put time into studying, as I get what I need from it professionally, so haven't been able to justify the time to delve deeper.
No idea re: UPL setups. Have never owned a UPL. You'd like to think it does, though. It would be mad to imagine they expect owners migrating upwards to have to reprogramme everything from scratch.
Can you say how you're measuring this offset? Are you looping the analyser to the generator and measuring it with an external DMM?
>Also, is the Level Mon Config menu greyed out on your unit? I cannot set the units >of measure because all fields in this menu are inactive and un editable.
Same here. I've never gotten my head around getting Lev Mon to work. There are many aspects to the UPV that I haven't put time into studying, as I get what I need from it professionally, so haven't been able to justify the time to delve deeper.
No idea re: UPL setups. Have never owned a UPL. You'd like to think it does, though. It would be mad to imagine they expect owners migrating upwards to have to reprogramme everything from scratch.
Yes, I'm measuring with the analyzer numeric menu setup to show DC in addition to RMS level and frequency.
Okay on the Lev Mon.. I'm not too concerned with it.
The UPL setups will not load. The instrument complains about corrupt files.
But additionally, the internal HDD folders cannot be opened under the "D:\UPV\Setup Examples\AA is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable."
Also, I'm going step by step through the UPV start guide and I just found out the Winbar button isn't working. It should change the softkey labels to a list of the open windows so you can toggle between them.
The Window button only toggles back and forth between two of the five windows on the screen. I suspect it should round robin to all of the windows if you keep pressing in one direction but it's 'stuck' going between two windows only.
Here's a major question:
Does your Quick Start Panel allow you to get to the Measurement Task dropdown with the front panel keys? I cannot get out of the Generator dropdown. No matter what key I press, it toggled the generator between analog and digital; the focus never shifts to the task list.
Okay on the Lev Mon.. I'm not too concerned with it.
The UPL setups will not load. The instrument complains about corrupt files.
But additionally, the internal HDD folders cannot be opened under the "D:\UPV\Setup Examples\AA is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable."
Also, I'm going step by step through the UPV start guide and I just found out the Winbar button isn't working. It should change the softkey labels to a list of the open windows so you can toggle between them.
The Window button only toggles back and forth between two of the five windows on the screen. I suspect it should round robin to all of the windows if you keep pressing in one direction but it's 'stuck' going between two windows only.
Here's a major question:
Does your Quick Start Panel allow you to get to the Measurement Task dropdown with the front panel keys? I cannot get out of the Generator dropdown. No matter what key I press, it toggled the generator between analog and digital; the focus never shifts to the task list.
Can you remove the internal drive and look at it with a regular PC? Perhaps the filesystem just needs fsck, maybe the drive is dying (smart attribs), etc.
If I break any tamper proof seals, it might give the seller excuse to dishonor any warranty.
From what I've been able to tell so far, the .VEQ files are missing, too.
Normally, you can select an equalization file. This instrument has none.
A Windows disk check fails on the D: partition where all of the UPL user files, examples and setups are stored.
The rotary encoder wheel won't increment or adjust the generator output. I can only change it by typing in values and hitting the enter button. I can't believe the UPV lost a capability that I've become dependent on with the UPL.
Where is the Wow & Flutter test on the UPV? The Quick Panel doesn't list one. I can't get into the Example setups folder due to corruption error.
From what I've been able to tell so far, the .VEQ files are missing, too.
Normally, you can select an equalization file. This instrument has none.
A Windows disk check fails on the D: partition where all of the UPL user files, examples and setups are stored.
The rotary encoder wheel won't increment or adjust the generator output. I can only change it by typing in values and hitting the enter button. I can't believe the UPV lost a capability that I've become dependent on with the UPL.
Where is the Wow & Flutter test on the UPV? The Quick Panel doesn't list one. I can't get into the Example setups folder due to corruption error.
It would appear that the brain transplant was not entirely successful in restoring the unit to be identical to a stock UPV.
You might be able to work around the front panel issues by using a mouse and you might be able to talk another UPV owner into copying the contents of the D: drive.
As to WOW & flutter, that is somewhat of a surprise but there is no occurrence of "wow" in the .pdf files of the UPV user manual, brochure, or spec sheet. So I guess if you need that, you're keeping the UPL!
You might be able to work around the front panel issues by using a mouse and you might be able to talk another UPV owner into copying the contents of the D: drive.
As to WOW & flutter, that is somewhat of a surprise but there is no occurrence of "wow" in the .pdf files of the UPV user manual, brochure, or spec sheet. So I guess if you need that, you're keeping the UPL!
I would think W&F measurements are just a software algorithm that runs on the hardware. But my UPL setups are not readable on the UPV. I have been seeing a sharp uptick in reel to reel deck restoration work, and W&F measurements are an important part of testing.
The motherboard on my UPL is failing (it no longer remembers its CMOS configuration despite new batteries) so I leave it powered on at all times now. If that unit craps out, the UPV would be my backup.
It seems that the unit does not function like a factory UPV as claimed: "the front panel now functions exactly as a UPV, running a script to remap keys in the background". I think he did a cursory test, but didn't account for all of the possible operating configurations and circumstances.
The motherboard on my UPL is failing (it no longer remembers its CMOS configuration despite new batteries) so I leave it powered on at all times now. If that unit craps out, the UPV would be my backup.
It seems that the unit does not function like a factory UPV as claimed: "the front panel now functions exactly as a UPV, running a script to remap keys in the background". I think he did a cursory test, but didn't account for all of the possible operating configurations and circumstances.
Has R&S given up on EPS format files? The Hard Copy function produces XPS files which won't load into Photoshop or QuarkXpress. There is another way to save screens, but it's in a bitmap of limited resolution and huge filesize.
UPL files are EPS or PCX and as EPS, have vector (unlimited) resolution and are only a few tens of kilobytes. The UPV 800x600 screen dumps are almost 2 megabytes and are fuzzy looking when printed out.
UPL files are EPS or PCX and as EPS, have vector (unlimited) resolution and are only a few tens of kilobytes. The UPV 800x600 screen dumps are almost 2 megabytes and are fuzzy looking when printed out.
On other instruments I have that run windows I get around the BMP file size by starting Paint, then "print" the screen to the clipboard, paste into Paint, and save as a.png file.
It's an extra step and doesn't solve the resolution issue but reults in a sensible file size.
Keep pointing out these UPV foibles - my UPL keeps looking better and better.
It's an extra step and doesn't solve the resolution issue but reults in a sensible file size.
Keep pointing out these UPV foibles - my UPL keeps looking better and better.
I have no problem in doing the 'ctrl printscreen' method - and it gets me pin-sharp screen-grabs.
We have Dscope, Sys-2722 and UPV. With all due respect, AAs are full of 'foibles'. A few friends have 555s - and guess what? It hasn't been plain sailing for them, either! Why do you think the 'B' version was released so soon after the 555? And even the B version has quirks - as I recently found out to my expense.
So...quirky though it is, in the pantheon of AAs, the UPV doesn't strike a bad balance. My friend has a 555B and still uses the UPV daily.
We have Dscope, Sys-2722 and UPV. With all due respect, AAs are full of 'foibles'. A few friends have 555s - and guess what? It hasn't been plain sailing for them, either! Why do you think the 'B' version was released so soon after the 555? And even the B version has quirks - as I recently found out to my expense.
So...quirky though it is, in the pantheon of AAs, the UPV doesn't strike a bad balance. My friend has a 555B and still uses the UPV daily.
I was rather surprised that I could not find a way to save as EPS on the UPV. Such a regression on a supposed 'next generation' instrument does not make sense to me.
The bitmap images lack the sharpness of the EPS graphics I'm used to. The text labels appear fuzzy. If I use the Hard Copy, I get a screen shot of whats on the screen in the same color format. There is much black area and that uses a lot of toner and ink to print out. The UPL's magenta/blue lines on white background use maybe 5% as much toner to print.
And where's the wow & flutter test? I can't believe this 'improved' instrument can't do some of the core tests that we rely upon almost daily.
The UI is a disaster, but I can't be sure if it's because some of the buttons don't work because the system's too busy to service the key remapping software that's running in a DOS window in the background, or if that's just the way it is. I can see needing a keyboard to build test setups, but loading and running a test should be doable with just the front panel, am I correct?
The bitmap images lack the sharpness of the EPS graphics I'm used to. The text labels appear fuzzy. If I use the Hard Copy, I get a screen shot of whats on the screen in the same color format. There is much black area and that uses a lot of toner and ink to print out. The UPL's magenta/blue lines on white background use maybe 5% as much toner to print.
And where's the wow & flutter test? I can't believe this 'improved' instrument can't do some of the core tests that we rely upon almost daily.
The UI is a disaster, but I can't be sure if it's because some of the buttons don't work because the system's too busy to service the key remapping software that's running in a DOS window in the background, or if that's just the way it is. I can see needing a keyboard to build test setups, but loading and running a test should be doable with just the front panel, am I correct?