Yeah I totally understand that it's difficult to show all the context details. Not critisizing, I was just originally puzzled.
measurements due to noise.
No problem. I just wanted to be clear about what was shown and why. IMO, the two primary criteria are 1) don't mess with the circuit I am probing. 2) let me see what is actually happening. Then comes all the other things like tip selection, body styles... Of course, no probe meets those first to constraints, so it's a compromise depending on what I am trying to measure.
Just to drive that point, shown with the PP002A 350MHz 10X probe connected to the AP-1M buffer, then to the WaveMaster. During the review I showed how the loading for this probe was on par with your probe when attached to the 1GHz NEL oscillator. But when use the scope and probe to measure the signal, we get a flat line with a bit of offset (M3). Not at all useful.
Compare that to your probe (M2). The signal is high enough that the noise isn't a factor and with that higher BW, we get some details about the clock.
Now compare that with the HFP3500 (M4). What's the right answer? I would say I need a better scope and probes to answer that!
It was good to see a lot of the performance specifications get some external validation. I really appreciate all the work you put into the review!
Would the following be a fair summary of your conclusions?
Pros
Pretty good probe frequency response, with similar bandwidth to what's specified.
Low tip capacitance leads to low impact on DUT signal, with performance in line with specification.
Really good price/performance ratio. Multiple times cheaper than comparable used probes from ebay.
9 hour battery life.
Not a proprietry connection to test equipment.
Beyond these, I also felt the overall quality of the probe is good. The size of the body fits the hand well. It was provided with a good variety of tips. The hard carry case is a bonus.
One thing you may want to consider is a way to guard the input from ESD when the probe is being handled. Hence my use of the bug rug.
***
Also, with there being no auto power off and having left the probe on a few times already, if it wasn't clear, I have been using the probe with a lithium ion rechargeable battery. These only output 7.4V when charged and it seems to be fine.
***
Cons
Noise level is higher than other probes, so less useful for analogue work. This is unfortunately unavoidable due to the input design.
Needs to be handheld to achieve measured probe response linearity. This is interesting as all of my testing has been handheld so far, which is maybe why I didn't observe this. I will look into this further for the next production run, although no promises of any improvement. If I can't fix this I'll stick a note in the datasheet about this.
A bit tricky to clamp when not using handheld. Is this a good thing given the above issue
Offset ground pin can be a bit fiddly. I agree it can be a bit tricky. It works best when you pop the ground pin in a ground via nearby the signal to be measured.
Conclusion.
General mark of approval, especially at price point. Best for high frequency digital measurements. Less useful for analogue measurements due to noise.
One thing about SJL's scope, they advertise it as being 6GHz. The unit they provided not only is easy to verify, they surpass it with a wide margin. IMO, you appear to want to advertise the product right at the limits of what you could measure using a $1000 VNA and what ever standards it came with. Personally, I wouldn't do this. I would be much happier buying a product rated to 2GHz but seeing it perform at 2.5GHz.
The whole hand placement on the body of the probe IMO effecting the measurements needs to be addressed. Then again, maybe not. It's similar to the noise level. I can tell you that my first dive into active probes, I would have been working on analog designs with higher voltage levels. This probe would have been a very welcome addition. It far out performs my first commercial active probe. I would say it has a place, even as it is today.
At the selling price, I see it as a win. Hobbyist are not typically doing cutting edge designs at home and may just need something better than their 10X probe. IMO this probe could very well fit that need. Buyers just need to be aware of the limitations.