Agilent 33622A Waveform Generator

[jpb]

I have just noticed the new Agilent waveform generator, the successor to the 33522 series I presume:

http://www.home.agilent.com/en/pd-2380493-pn-33622A/waveform-generator-120-mhz-2-channel?nid=-32907.1082253&cc=GB&lc=eng

It is a very nice instrument but the price isn't listed - if you need to ask you can't afford it I guess!

It is interesting that they have seem to have copied the trend that Rigol set with the DG4000 series by having different frequency bands for different amplitudes (maybe this was accepted practice prior to Rigol but I'd not seen it before except in some very high frequency AWGs).

edit: I see it has been out for a few months, and that the Aspen price for the 2 channel 120MHz version is £4,300(+VAT) or £5,160 - a bit more pricey than the Rigol DG5102 which is around £3,500 (translating from the Euro price at Batronix) but not unreasonable given its specs, sadly it is around 4 to 5 times what I might stretch to.

[plesa]

I have just noticed the new Agilent waveform generator, the successor to the 33522 series I presume:

http://www.home.agilent.com/en/pd-2380493-pn-33622A/waveform-generator-120-mhz-2-channel?nid=-32907.1082253&cc=GB&lc=eng

It is a very nice instrument but the price isn't listed - if you need to ask you can't afford it I guess!

It is interesting that they have seem to have copied the trend that Rigol set with the DG4000 series by having different frequency bands for different amplitudes (maybe this was accepted practice prior to Rigol but I'd not seen it before except in some very high frequency AWGs).

The 2channel 120MHz is on the US version of the website  near to 7k USD.

[element14]

It is a very nice instrument but the price isn't listed - if you need to ask you can't afford it I guess!

Hi jpb.

We're giving away four Agilent 33622A Waveform Generators on element14 to engineers who are willing to write unbiased reviews about them. Starting Monday, you can enter to receive one here:

http://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1276

(Free to register, and absolutely no cost to enroll.)

As you mentioned, these units begin at around USD $4000, so we are really excited to be giving so many of them away!  If you want to learn more about the 33600A line of products, Agilent pointed us to the following video:

http://bit.ly/33600A

Thanks, and good luck!

Cheers,
Sagar
element14

[Rigby]

Nice!  Gonna sign up for that.

[jpb]

Hi jpb.

We're giving away four Agilent 33622A Waveform Generators on element14 to engineers who are willing to write unbiased reviews about them. Starting Monday, you can enter to receive one here:
...

Thanks, and good luck!

Cheers,
Sagar
element14

I'll be signing up - I guess there will be quite a few others! 

[grbolet]

There are only 3 left, one will go to robrenz :-)

[robrenz]

There are only 3 left, one will go to robrenz :-)

I am already on it 

[element14]

LOL, nice. :-)

Remember, we select winners based in large measure on the strength and detail of what they say they will use the product for. Come up with a really cool project for the 33622A and your odds of getting selected go up.

Good luck to everyone!

[Rigby]

How are there only 3 left if you can't even enter until the 17th?

I'm not going to apply, seems like the outcome is rigged.  I don't even know what I'd use it for, other than testing and demonstrating scope probe bandwidth, coax bandwidth and so on.

[jpb]

How are there only 3 left if you can't even enter until the 17th?

I'm not going to apply, seems like the outcome is rigged.  I don't even know what I'd use it for, other than testing and demonstrating scope probe bandwidth, coax bandwidth and so on.

I think the reference to only 3 being left was humorous!

I think though my application might fall on the exciting project criteria as I'm in the process of building up my lab so want it for experimentation, testing filters, amps,  pulse/serial coms testing and so on.

Still - we've got the weekend to think something up!

[nctnico]

Blogging, making videos, etc sounds like a lot of work to me. If I spend the same amount of time on my daily work I can probably buy one or an equivalent from Siglent without the hassle. 

[Rigby]

I'll make videos and blog all the live long day if it got me free test gear.

I want to learn about this stuff.  I understand why e14 only want to give these things who can produce useful output, because e14 wants quality content for their site.  Of course they do.  Content is their bag, baby.  However, those who can produce the quality e14 are after already have access to this gear and have experience using gear like this.  I could really use this gear, but I don't know how high the quality of my output will be.  I don't currently know how to use it properly - I would use the equipment to learn how to use the gear itself...

[element14]

Hey Rigby-- grbolet was joking. There are four units available, and enrollment begins on Monday. So you have as much a chance to get one of these as anyone else. :-)

Regarding the work that goes into producing a review, you can see some examples of what we like to see here--

http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1511

http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1685

As you can see, it does take some work. We like to see rich detail on how the product looks, what it was like getting it up and running, and how it performed in an actual project. But as Rigby mentioned, strong content is what we're after. We have given hundreds of great products away over the years to engineers in return for their commitment to come back and write a detailed review within the first month or two after having received it. Because we are an electronics distributor, we often have access to some of the most exciting new technology around.

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

[Rigby]

Pfft. I type emails longer than those, with more detail and explanation.  (I am a great annoyance to my coworkers --as well as members of this forum-- once I get an idea stuck in my head.)

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

It does, thank you.

[alexwhittemore]

So I'm actually still not totally clear. I get that you're effectively paying in equipment for high quality content, but for how expensive these generators are, the deal still seems too good to be true, even if it takes multiple days of labor to produce satisfactory content! If we fail, either by taking too long or being too non-thorough, the only down-side is we're blacklisted from future tests? And of the four reviewers for this sig gen, the one deemed "best" wins an Agilent meter? (kind of funny that the prize is >1 order cheaper than the test article )

It looks like I'll have to give this a real serious shot. The only thing I'm worried about is that I don't have the test equipment on the other end (i.e. an advanced enough scope) to really do a proper experiment justice!

EDIT: Nope, just watched the video on the road test page. All is totally clear, just an AWESOME opportunity!

[element14]

Enter to win here: www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1276.

And good luck! 

[pigrew]

The 33622A right next to where I am sitting at school started whining when in shutdown mode. The sound goes away when turned on. Weird. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the generators.

Should I have it sent it in for repair? Is this indicative of a generator about to have a power supply failure? Should I swap it out and let someone less picky deal with it?

(I don't really expect an answer  to the above questions. I just thought this was an interesting failure.)

-Nathan