With a press presentation on June 17th at the Novotel rooms in Madrid, Tektronix revealed the potential of its mid-range MDO Series 3 and MSO Series 4 oscilloscopes featuring an innovative design and a broader display of the respective categories.
Engineered for a wide range of demanding applications at an affordable price, Tektronix’ new mind-range oscilloscopes have been reimagined with the award-winning user experience and industrial design first introduced in the 5 and 6 Series MSOs. Built from the engineer up, the 3 Series MDO and the 4 Series MSO round out Tektronix’ portfolio of oscilloscopes.
To meet a wide variety of development challenges, engineers need test instruments that are capable, versatile and, most of all, easy to use. The new 3 Series MDO and 4 Series MSO feature the largest display sizes in their class, highly intuitive touchscreen user interfaces, class-leading performance and advanced analysis capabilities.
“Tektronix is a company built for engineers, by engineers, and we continued that legacy when we developed our new scopes,” said Chris Witt, vice president and general manager, Time Domain Business Unit at Tektronix. “Our teams spent 100s of hours talking with engineers around the world, testing and prototyping new features and designs, and we’re excited to bring the very best products to market built around insight from everyday engineers.”
Together, the 3 Series MDO, 4 Series MSO and the 5 and 6 Series MSO oscilloscopes represent a state-of-the-art portfolio that look and drive the same and provide a complete range of performance, functions, specifications and price points that make them market leaders in their respective segments.
General Features
The 3 and 4 Series share a user interface design with touchscreens and front panels that keep key controls close at hand. Rather than digging through multiple menus to find settings, simply double-tap the appropriate readout or measurement on the display. Witt continued, “We made usability and versatility a top priority, so engineers can focus on innovation and solving difficult problems and not time wasted trying to figure out how to use their scopes.”
4 Series MSO: Large display, up to 6 Flex Channel inputs
Large oscilloscope displays enhance user experience and speed up debugging and analysis tasks. The new 4 Series MSO features a 13.3-in. display with 1920 x 1080 HD resolution, the largest and highest resolution in its class.
It offers bandwidths up to 1.5 GHz and uses 12-bit ADCs for the highest vertical resolution in its class as well. It is the first scope in this class to offer six input channels and with innovative FlexChannel™ technology, any input channel can be converted from an analog to eight digital channels simply by connecting a logic probe.
To meet a diverse range of application requirements, the 4 Series MSO is available with bandwidths starting at 200 MHz and is well supported with options including serial decode and analysis, an arbitrary/function generator and a DVM/frequency counter. The new Spectrum View feature offers time correlated frequency domain analysis with independent spectrum controls. A power analysis package is available to automate AC line, switching device, ripple and sequencing measurements.
Bandwidth and options are all field upgradeable. All models deliver a 6.25 GS/s sample rate on all analog and digital channels. Standard record length is 31.25 Mpoints with option for 62.5 Mpoints.
3 Series MDO: New levels of versatility
With a starting price point of € 3,570 / £ 3,130 / $ 4,150, the 3 Series MDO is intended to be the compact, versatile test instrument that sits on the desk of every engineer. It features a sleek industrial design and the largest display in its class at 11.6-in. with full high-definition resolution. It uses the same intuitive user interface as the rest of the portfolio with a similar set of knobs and buttons but takes up less than 6 inches of depth on a bench.
Tektronix MDO Series 3
The 3 Series MDO is more than an oscilloscope and can cover a wide range of debugging and validation tasks. It offers an optional spectrum analyzer up to 3 GHz, with a separate RF input and specifications comparable to a standalone analyzer. This enables engineers to quickly debug wireless components in their designs or quickly track down sources of unwanted EMI emissions without having to use another instrument. Sixteen digital input channels are available for mixed signal analysis. Comprehensive serial protocol debugging and triggering options, optional power measurement and an optional AFG set the standard for versatility. A DVM/frequency counter is included for free with product registration.
The new 3 Series MDO is available in bandwidths starting at 100 MHz and extending to 1 GHz. Models are available with 2.5 GS/s or 5 GS/s sample rates on all analog and digital channels. Standard record length is 10 Mpoints. For investment protection, bandwidths and options are fully field upgradeable.
The critical last few inches
The distance between the front of the oscilloscope to the device under test are critical to gaining insight into troublesome circuits. Both the 3 Series MDO and 4 Series MSO use the TekVPI probe interface, giving access to the full range of Tektronix differential voltage probes, active voltage probes, and current probes, plus the recently-introduced power rail probes and optically-isolated differential probes.
