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Tektronix 834 communications tester... what for?

Martin
 

Hi all,

not exactly a scope, but a Tektronix. :-)

I inherited two of these boxes, apparently working. Both have quick-user-guide inside the flap, but I'm unable to find a decent user manual, less a service manual. The guide alone does not help a lot.

What is it actually good for? It looks like an RE232 / serial tester, but it has only one port. Usually these testers have two connectors, one to each end of the serial connection so I can troubleshoot a given setting.
But here I do only have one port, so what can I test? Is it intended to simulate a communication partner?

cheers
Martin
Colin Herbert
 

Have you looked here http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/834 and is that your device?
Colin.

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of Martin
Sent: 24 October 2020 10:51
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: [TekScopes] Tektronix 834 communications tester... what for?

Hi all,

not exactly a scope, but a Tektronix. :-)

I inherited two of these boxes, apparently working. Both have quick-user-guide inside the flap, but I'm unable to find a decent user manual, less a service manual. The guide alone does not help a lot.

What is it actually good for? It looks like an RE232 / serial tester, but it has only one port. Usually these testers have two connectors, one to each end of the serial connection so I can troubleshoot a given setting.
But here I do only have one port, so what can I test? Is it intended to simulate a communication partner?

cheers
Martin
Martin
 

Thanks Colin.

Strange, I did a google search and usually come across these pages, but maybe I was too tired...

Now I have something to reade, and, YES, thats my device.

cheers
Martin
stevenhorii
 

The 834 is a serial communications tester. It is quite versatile - it can
act as DTE or DCE and can monitor data moving between DCE and DTE. It uses
a split (“T” in Tek terminology) cable to connect to the devices for this
purpose. You can program messages in it for testing equipment. I used one
in this manner - I would input a test message and use the 834 to send it to
a printer. This was useful in making sure the printer RS-232 port was
working properly. It has a number of other capabilities that I did not use
(EBCDIC as well as ASCII), but was very useful in trying to figure out
problems with an RS-232 interface.

As suggested, TekWiki has the complete manual for it.

If you work at all with RS-232 interface equipment, it is a very useful
tool.

On Sat, Oct 24, 2020 at 05:51 Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

Hi all,

not exactly a scope, but a Tektronix. :-)

I inherited two of these boxes, apparently working. Both have
quick-user-guide inside the flap, but I'm unable to find a decent user
manual, less a service manual. The guide alone does not help a lot.

What is it actually good for? It looks like an RE232 / serial tester, but
it has only one port. Usually these testers have two connectors, one to
each end of the serial connection so I can troubleshoot a given setting.
But here I do only have one port, so what can I test? Is it intended to
simulate a communication partner?

cheers
Martin
Dave Seiter
 

I had one of those years ago, but never used it.  In the end it took a few years on ebay to get rid of it.  They used the case for quite a few instruments.
-Dave

On Saturday, October 24, 2020, 02:51:18 AM PDT, Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

Hi all,

not exactly a scope, but a Tektronix. :-)

I inherited two of these boxes, apparently working. Both have quick-user-guide inside the flap, but I'm unable to find a decent user manual, less a service manual. The guide alone does not help a lot.

What is it actually good for? It looks like an RE232 / serial tester, but it has only one port.  Usually these testers have two connectors, one to each end of the serial connection so I can troubleshoot a given setting.
But here I do only have one port, so what can I test? Is it intended to simulate a communication partner?

cheers
Martin
-
 

"They used the case for quite a few instruments."

I have an 8080 CPU tester built by Tektronix that uses the same case.

IIRC the 834 can be used by itself as an RS-232 terminal but if you
want to use it in the middle of a two way rs-232 link to look at the data
then you need to use an external pod and those are frequently missing.
Tektronix also made pods for several other communications protocols such as
RS-449 that also work with the 834.

On Sat, Oct 24, 2020 at 12:05 PM Dave Seiter <d.seiter@att.net> wrote:

I had one of those years ago, but never used it. In the end it took a
few years on ebay to get rid of it. They used the case for quite a few
instruments.
-Dave
On Saturday, October 24, 2020, 02:51:18 AM PDT, Martin <
musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

Hi all,

not exactly a scope, but a Tektronix. :-)

I inherited two of these boxes, apparently working. Both have
quick-user-guide inside the flap, but I'm unable to find a decent user
manual, less a service manual. The guide alone does not help a lot.

What is it actually good for? It looks like an RE232 / serial tester, but
it has only one port. Usually these testers have two connectors, one to
each end of the serial connection so I can troubleshoot a given setting.
But here I do only have one port, so what can I test? Is it intended to
simulate a communication partner?

cheers
Martin
Martin
 

One of my 834s has a T-Cabe in the back, with a label "206771-1 8233" on the plugs. And it has the "834R05 extended instruction set ROM pack".

I have one or two things with serial connection still working... but I think I won't make much use of this tool either.
I will give them for free to anybode who is willing to pick them up in Stuttgart...

cheers
Martin
-
 

I really should pick up something like this since I have computer systems
(intel MDS-800, SWTPC, etc) that use an RS-232 terminal but all of the 834s
that I find locally are missing that T-cable. Thanks for the offer Martin
but I'm in the US so shipping would be prohibitive. There is one 834 at a
scrap electronics place locally that I could probably get it for very
little but it's missing the T-cable. Lately they've been letting me dig
around in the very back of a couple of their storage units and I've been
finding and buying quite a bit of old General Radio, HP and Leeds and
Northrup equipment.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 8:45 AM Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

One of my 834s has a T-Cabe in the back, with a label "206771-1 8233" on
the plugs. And it has the "834R05 extended instruction set ROM pack".

I have one or two things with serial connection still working... but I
think I won't make much use of this tool either.
I will give them for free to anybode who is willing to pick them up in
Stuttgart...

cheers
Martin
Chuck Harris
 

The "T" cables, typically are just a piece of 25 conductor ribbon cable
that has multiple IDC style male and female DB25 connectors crimped on.

It is not a show stopper, as using a pair of scissors and a bench vice,
you can easily make your own high quality cable in less than 15 minutes.

-Chuck Harris

- wrote:

I really should pick up something like this since I have computer systems
(intel MDS-800, SWTPC, etc) that use an RS-232 terminal but all of the 834s
that I find locally are missing that T-cable. Thanks for the offer Martin
but I'm in the US so shipping would be prohibitive. There is one 834 at a
scrap electronics place locally that I could probably get it for very
little but it's missing the T-cable. Lately they've been letting me dig
around in the very back of a couple of their storage units and I've been
finding and buying quite a bit of old General Radio, HP and Leeds and
Northrup equipment.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 8:45 AM Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

One of my 834s has a T-Cabe in the back, with a label "206771-1 8233" on
the plugs. And it has the "834R05 extended instruction set ROM pack".

I have one or two things with serial connection still working... but I
think I won't make much use of this tool either.
I will give them for free to anybode who is willing to pick them up in
Stuttgart...

cheers
Martin
momemeca
 

Hallo Martin,
I would like to accept your kind offer and I can arrange for it to be picked up on my behalf.
Please let me know if this is acceptable and we can discuss further.

Danke Schoën,

Rick

On 26 Oct 2020, at 23:45, Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

One of my 834s has a T-Cabe in the back, with a label "206771-1 8233" on the plugs. And it has the "834R05 extended instruction set ROM pack".

I have one or two things with serial connection still working... but I think I won't make much use of this tool either.
I will give them for free to anybode who is willing to pick them up in Stuttgart...

cheers
Martin
-
 

I don't know what's in them but the 834s that I saw years ago all had
pods on them. Does anyone have a manual for an 834 and does it show a
schematic of the pod or cable?

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 10:02 AM Chuck Harris <cfharris@erols.com> wrote:

The "T" cables, typically are just a piece of 25 conductor ribbon cable
that has multiple IDC style male and female DB25 connectors crimped on.

It is not a show stopper, as using a pair of scissors and a bench vice,
you can easily make your own high quality cable in less than 15 minutes.

-Chuck Harris

- wrote:
I really should pick up something like this since I have computer
systems
(intel MDS-800, SWTPC, etc) that use an RS-232 terminal but all of the
834s
that I find locally are missing that T-cable. Thanks for the offer
Martin
but I'm in the US so shipping would be prohibitive. There is one 834 at
a
scrap electronics place locally that I could probably get it for very
little but it's missing the T-cable. Lately they've been letting me dig
around in the very back of a couple of their storage units and I've been
finding and buying quite a bit of old General Radio, HP and Leeds and
Northrup equipment.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 8:45 AM Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

One of my 834s has a T-Cabe in the back, with a label "206771-1 8233" on
the plugs. And it has the "834R05 extended instruction set ROM pack".

I have one or two things with serial connection still working... but I
think I won't make much use of this tool either.
I will give them for free to anybode who is willing to pick them up in
Stuttgart...

cheers
Martin
Chuck Harris
 

Looking at the 1984 Tek catalog, the 834 apparently uses both
pods, and a cable with multiple DB25's.

They say it comes with:

RS232 three connector cable assembly, front panel jumper set,
US power cord, and a manual.

I suspect that the pods you have seen are for different interfaces,
it supports, such as Current Loop, RS449 (RS422/RS423), or MIL 188C.

It would also appear that you will need ROM Packs to use any of the
optional interface pods.

I think my earlier statement is probably correct for this instrument.

Note that its top speed is 19.2Kbps. Any PC goes to at least 57.6K,
and many to two or three times that.

-Chuck Harris

- wrote:

I don't know what's in them but the 834s that I saw years ago all had
pods on them. Does anyone have a manual for an 834 and does it show a
schematic of the pod or cable?

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 10:02 AM Chuck Harris <cfharris@erols.com> wrote:

The "T" cables, typically are just a piece of 25 conductor ribbon cable
that has multiple IDC style male and female DB25 connectors crimped on.

It is not a show stopper, as using a pair of scissors and a bench vice,
you can easily make your own high quality cable in less than 15 minutes.

-Chuck Harris

- wrote:
I really should pick up something like this since I have computer
systems
(intel MDS-800, SWTPC, etc) that use an RS-232 terminal but all of the
834s
that I find locally are missing that T-cable. Thanks for the offer
Martin
but I'm in the US so shipping would be prohibitive. There is one 834 at
a
scrap electronics place locally that I could probably get it for very
little but it's missing the T-cable. Lately they've been letting me dig
around in the very back of a couple of their storage units and I've been
finding and buying quite a bit of old General Radio, HP and Leeds and
Northrup equipment.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 8:45 AM Martin <musaeum@arcor.de> wrote:

One of my 834s has a T-Cabe in the back, with a label "206771-1 8233" on
the plugs. And it has the "834R05 extended instruction set ROM pack".

I have one or two things with serial connection still working... but I
think I won't make much use of this tool either.
I will give them for free to anybode who is willing to pick them up in
Stuttgart...

cheers
Martin
Martin
 

Hi Rick,

you're welcome... please send me a PM with the details.

cheers
Martin
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