new killer scope in town - a true game changer from R&S - RTB2002 & RTB2004

[Hydron]

This was my bug list (in addition to those already reported):

- Custom probe scaling factor does not work in A mode, only V. Workaround is to set a custom factor (e.g. 0.05) in V mode then change to A (becomes 50mV/A).
- Occasional math trace bugs when zooming in/out of captured waveforms
- Web (Ethernet) UI doesn't allow download of digital channel data. Also requires saving channel-by-channel, there is no time-saving "all visible" or similar option. (part bug, part missing feature)
- The external trigger voltage can't be set with on screen keyboard, only with the rotary knob.
- Latest waveform in history mode gets cut off at the trigger point when moving to another waveform then back to the most recently acquired one.
- Loud fan (on some units, including mine)

These unfortunately didn't get to them till late May due to an errant spam filter, so wasn't expecting fixes, but they haven't made the known-issue list either.

[Markus@RohdeScopes]

This poor guy Rich has to do deal with this in his spare time (and he is only responsible for the R&S US market) where nobody from the R&S headquarter in Germany ever bothered to say hello or to comment here. I would have expected either substantial firmware improvement and function adaption to make allow the RTB2004 to shine in its market segment or at least an official comment on how R&S want to proceed/deal with our input. Instead: nothing but silence.
Imho this is pretty lame from R&S but typical for many non-customer-oriented companies (which can be found much more frequent in Europe than in the US .... which might be the reason why Rich from R&S US is present here in his spare time - btw: kudos to you Rich, we really appreciate this!).
For the R&S headquarter in Munich/Germany we -here at EEVblog- are probably to minor/unimportant to mind.... (though two people at least visited Mike .... )

Hi,

I'm Markus Freidhof from Munich and I'm part of the R&D team for oscilloscopes. More as 13 years ago I've founded the oscilloscope development at R&S and until now I very deep involved (together with a lot of very good engineers) in the design of our oscilloscopes.

First I like to say, that I and a lot of my colleagues follow this forum and the discussions. For myself I do this serveral times per day and I've learned a lot. It's an important forum.

But please understand that I don't envolve myself in deep discussions, for such things my englisch not good enough. There is chance that some important information will be "Lost in Translation".

I can understand your frustration about missing bug fixes and I'll discuss this with my responsible colleagues. Let's see.

@Rich: A big thank you for your work here in this forum (additional "Kinder Schokolade" today?) and please stay tuned ...

Regards

Markus

[Hydron]

Hi Markus, I am very happy to see R&S following and taking part in the comments and discussions of those who use your products.

Please thank the engineers for their hard work on this new product - the effort and thought that has been put into the RTB design makes it fantastic to use.

Many of the comments made here are because we see an great product with a small number of frustrating omissions and bugs - I feel that there is the opportunity for the RTB2k to compete very well with competition's offerings and make it's users very satisfied if some of these are able to be addressed.

[skench]

So after upgrading to the latest firmware version I thought I would run the Self Alignment routine.

It failed with this message:

  Channel: 1
  Alignment not possible.

  ERROR-ID: 201-59.1.23014

I followed the instruction to the letter.
I then retried but with a terminator on Channel 1 input and then the Self Alignment passed.

Do I have a problem?

Thanks

[skench]

Another new User Manual is available for the RTB2000 series.

They have managed to add over 150 new pages!

[Rich@RohdeScopesUSA]

So after upgrading to the latest firmware version I thought I would run the Self Alignment routine.

It failed with this message:

  Channel: 1
  Alignment not possible.

  ERROR-ID: 201-59.1.23014

I followed the instruction to the letter.
I then retried but with a terminator on Channel 1 input and then the Self Alignment passed.

Do I have a problem?

Thanks

Hi skench - no problem.  If the unit passed the second time it is fine.

-Rich

[skench]

Thanks for your fast response Rich but it actual failed the Self Alignment a number of time and it always failed with the Channel 1 error message.

It only passed after I fitted a 50 ohm terminator to channel 1.
The other 3 channels passed without any terminators fitted.

Why would channel 1 need the terminator to pass?

Thanks

[mikeselectricstuff]

I've noticed that when unconnected, ch1 is slightly noiser.
As the scope has an input grounding function, seems odd that it should need an external short.

[agdr]

That RTB2000 firmware update seems to have sucked all the enthusiasm right out of the room.   The thread was clear over on the 3rd page.

[nctnico]

That RTB2000 firmware update seems to have sucked all the enthusiasm right out of the room.   The thread was clear over on the 3rd page.

This posting has some complaints about R&S leaving much to be desired when it comes to firmware updates and completeness on their budget equipment:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/rohde-schwarz-4-0ghz-portable-spectrum-rider-fph-review-teardown-experiment/msg1172922/#msg1172922

[egonotto]

Hello,

@Markus Freidhof

Hello,

@Markus Freidhof


Is a sample in memory 10 bits?

I am sorry that I have no chance to get a good early promo price.
Perhaps Rohde & Schwarz don't like people that can pronounce Rohde & Schwarz correct.

Best regards
egonotto

[Markus@RohdeScopes]

Hello,

@Markus Freidhof

Hello,

@Markus Freidhof


Is a sample in memory 10 bits?

I am sorry that I have no chance to get a good early promo price.
Perhaps Rohde & Schwarz don't like people that can pronounce Rohde & Schwarz correct.

Best regards
egonotto

Hi egonotto,

the ADC has 10 bit and all of them are stored in the memory. If you store the waveform in a file, you'll get all 10 bits (or more with HiRes).

Since I'm in the engineering team, I can not help you with commercial aspects. But I can promise you, that nearly the whole world pronounce "Rohde&Schwarz" different as germans do. Don't worry I've written the company name wrong in my application and they hired me.

Best Regards

Markus

[ws2812b]

Seems like once you click one, Youtube keeps following you. Another unboxing video, but this time in German


I actually really like the colour power net frequency analysis he does at 27:30min

[artelse]

Hi, just got in my RTB2004 and am having a problem with probe calibration on channel 1. Whatever I try, switching probe from 1x to 10x or anything else in the channel settings, I always get - Probe Adjust Warning: Signal does not match. -. I don't have this problem on the other 3 channels and all channel settings are the same. Different probes make no difference either.

Anyone seen this?

[Octane]

I didn't have this problem on mine. Do you put the probe onto the contacts as seen in the picture that the scope shows when calibrating? So tip into the signal pin and the probe cable to the left so that the ground ring lies in the ground contact?

[EEVblog]

[artelse]

@octane yes, exactly like in the picture. Works on the other three.

update: problem has disappeared the next day.. don't know why it failed.

[artelse]

K0 (demo) option (see screenshot). Anyone know what this is, cannot find any info in the documentation or R&S website.

[nctnico]

Are contestants from the US excluded? They already had the chance to buy this scope for a very much reduced price. Anyway it would be nice to see this scope go to someone who could really use it 

[Markus@RohdeScopes]

K0 (demo) option (see screenshot). Anyone know what this is, cannot find any info in the documentation or R&S website.

The K0 option is a key which enables all options inside the instrument. This option is used for demo equipment.

Markus

[artelse]

Here's another RTB2004 giveaway. He needs 10k views to give it away and he's at ~7k.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I also have one to give away but haven't yet thought of a good way to do it & very busy atm.

[nctnico]

So nobody wants to keep it? 

[mikeselectricstuff]

So nobody wants to keep it? 

I am keeping the other one 

[BU508A]

I also have one to give away but haven't yet thought of a good way to do it & very busy atm.

Why don't you do it together with Dave?