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

[mikeselectricstuff]

Any clue about if they scheduled for releasing firmware update?

Rich was saying this month, and this was a fairly early reported issue, and acknowledged., so hopefully that will be fixed.

[Rich@RohdeScopesUSA]

Any clue about if they scheduled for releasing firmware update?

Rich was saying this month, and this was a fairly early reported issue, and acknowledged., so hopefully that will be fixed.

Still planned for May, but I'll get another update and let everyone know ASAP.

-Rich

[Robaroni]

Thanks Rich,

Here's the link again for updates.
Rob

https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/firmware/rtb2000/

[ruairi]

I just got mine on Tuesday and I'm really impressed, it's very well organized and I only had to reach for the manual once. 

On the same day I also got some fantastic news that sets me up for some very expensive months ahead, I may have to go the eBay route.

[Hydron]

Just did a quick check with a 10 quid maplin wattmeter (0.1W resolution) for interest:
0.5W in standby (much lower than mike's number, possibly suspiciously low)
48.5W during acquisition, most channels and ethernet enabled, no USB device/host though
Measured ~0.6 power factor while running, almost 0 during standby.

If the 0.5W number is even vaguely accurate then I forgive having the soft power button

[mtdoc]

Got mine 2 days ago.  I am blown away by how nice the screen and user interface is.  I'm finding the touch screen very convenient. No noticeable lag for me but I'm coming from a hacked Rigol DS 2072 (though I have played a bit with Keysight infinivision scopes).   

I consider myself a middling hobbyiest though I did spend 10 years using analog oscilloscopes professionally from the mid 1980s to 1990s.    The Rigol was my first DSO and it's been a great scope but I've recently been finding the need for more channels . I had planned to spend about $1500 or so on a new 4 channel scope but when the package deal on this scope came along I could not resist (and I'm lucky enough to be at a place in my life where I can afford it). This is way more scope than I need right now but hopefully I'll grow into it.

The only issue I've had so far is getting the remote LAN connection to work on a Window's machine. I've tried both my Win 7 Laptop and the XP machine in my lab. An IP is assigned and the scope says a link is established but put the IP in a browser window and nada! I've tried all the usual things, turning off firewalls, different browsers, cables,  etc but nada.  Aargh - I despise Window's networking.   Any advice welcomed! 

Ironically, my 10 year old Mac Laptop has no problem connecting.  I checked the rise time with my Tektronix DSO demo board that has a pulse with a rise time specified at < 200ps.  The scope shows a risetime that hovers around 1 ns which puts the BW at about 350MHz - the same ballpark as others have found.

Bottom line - I LOVE this scope. Now I need to up my game to take advantage of all it's features.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I had no issues connecting under Win7 ( using Firefox)

[mtdoc]

I had no issues connecting under Win7 ( using Firefox)

Thanks. I think the next step is to attach the scope to my wireless router and see if I can connect that way instead of direct scope to computer cabling.

My usual back asswards approach to Windows networking issues is to try different things until one works and then work back from that.  I wish I had enough networking skills to approach it more systematically..

[KE5FX]

I had no issues connecting under Win7 ( using Firefox)

Thanks. I think the next step is to attach the scope to my wireless router and see if I can connect that way instead of direct scope to computer cabling.

My usual back asswards approach to Windows networking issues is to try different things until one works and then work back from that.  I wish I had enough networking skills to approach it more systematically..

If you hook it up directly to the PC, it will not get a DHCP address.  Connecting it to your router should fix that problem.

You can hook it up directly to the computer but you'll have to assign it an address, gateway, and subnet mask manually.  Much easier to attach it to your LAN's existing DHCP server like any other PC.

[mtdoc]

If you hook it up directly to the PC, it will not get a DHCP address.  Connecting it to your router should fix that problem.

You can hook it up directly to the computer but you'll have to assign it an address, gateway, and subnet mask manually.  Much easier to attach it to your LAN's existing DHCP server like any other PC.

OK thanks. That sort  of makes sense. In hindsight I should have tried that already ( I will when I get home).   But why does it work fine when directly connnected to my Mac laptop?  Doesn't a direct Windows box connection support DHCP?   It does appear to get assigned an IP address when directly connected to the Windows box (so I assumed DHCP was functioning).  Also it would be nice if the manual would spell that out..

[KE5FX]

If you hook it up directly to the PC, it will not get a DHCP address.  Connecting it to your router should fix that problem.

You can hook it up directly to the computer but you'll have to assign it an address, gateway, and subnet mask manually.  Much easier to attach it to your LAN's existing DHCP server like any other PC.

OK thanks. That sort  of makes sense. In hindsight I should have tried that already ( I will when I get home).   But why does it work fine when directly connnected to my Mac laptop?  Doesn't a direct Windows box connection support DHCP?   It does appear to get assigned an IP address when directly connected to the Windows box (so I assumed DHCP was functioning).  Also it would be nice if the manual would spell that out..

Couldn't say for sure.  In my experience Windows does not enable a DHCP server by default.

[Electro Fan]

Hi mtdoc, Congrats on the new scope!  If you have the serial decoding (and the digital channels?) let us know how things compare to whatever you had (serial decoding?) on the DS2072.  Thx, EF

[mtdoc]

Hi mtdoc, Congrats on the new scope!  If you have the serial decoding (and the digital channels?) let us know how things compare to whatever you had (serial decoding?) on the DS2072.  Thx, EF

Thanks and I will. But the truth is, I made very little use of the Rigol's serial decoding - in part due to the small screen and in part due to it only having 2 channels. I've mostly been using a cheap eBay logic analyzer or my Digilent Analog Discovery.  Now that I have a scope with a big screen and 4 channels (plus 16 logic channels oh my!) - I will definitely be decoding on the scope more.

[kaz911]

After few delays etc I'm now also a RTB2004 owner - only got 59 minutes with it so far - but seems fine apart from a few issues here and there. 

Now after kids are asleep I'll try to measure some microphones. hmm...

[casinada]

No issues here connected to Windows 10 Pro using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. 

I don't know if anybody mentioned that the probes are made by Texas:
http://www.hktexas.hk/en/pro_passive_probe.html
The model number seems to be : TX5430 or TX5130 (with metalic BNC)
http://images.100y.com.tw/pdf_file/59-TEXAS.pdf
The only difference seems to be that the RT-ZP03 doesn't come  with the BNC to probe tip adaptor and the colors of the identification tags for the probes.
http://www.hktexas.hk/en/pro_pa.html

Any comments on the probes? 

[agdr]

I don't know if anybody mentioned that the probes are made by Texas:
.
.
Any comments on the probes? 

Only that they are not actually in Texas, see below (I'm in Texas). 

[casinada]

Yes, Hong Kong Texas 

[coppice]

I don't know if anybody mentioned that the probes are made by Texas:
.
.
Any comments on the probes? 

Only that they are not actually in Texas, see below (I'm in Texas). 

Yeah, they are about as honestly named as Paris, Texas, complete with its own Eiffel Tower. 

[Hydron]

Seems that LeCroy uses the same OEM for some of their probes, as I found out when their accessory bundle fit the R&S probes: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-killer-scope-a-true-game-changer-from-rs-rtb2002-rtb2004/msg1200931/#msg1200931

[1design]

Just got mine, looks good. I can't wait to get some spare time and integrate it into Matlab to add the VSA functionality
Not a 14 bit front end, but still, for low order modulations it should work pretty well with the fast ETH interface!

[skench]

Did Dave give up on a in depth review of this scope?

[JoHr]

...  at least Dave could measure with it

[Pinkus]

Did Dave give up on a in depth review of this scope?

Maybe he just waits for the first firmware update which -imho- would make sense.

[norks]

There's an updated datasheet for the RTB out now, I compared it to the last one and there were 2 changes...

Added to compliance section:
"in line with EN 55011 class A, operation in
residential, commercial and business
areas or in small-size companies is not
covered; therefore the instrument may not
be operated in residential, commercial and
business areas or in small-size companies
unless additional measures are taken to
ensure that EN 55011 class B is complied
with."
(...so I guess that means it has the potential to cause interference in excess of that spec.)

UART decode spec changed: max bitrate officially reduced to 3 Mbps.   

[Robaroni]

There's an updated datasheet for the RTB out now, I compared it to the last one and there were 2 changes...

Added to compliance section:
"in line with EN 55011 class A, operation in
residential, commercial and business
areas or in small-size companies is not
covered; therefore the instrument may not
be operated in residential, commercial and
business areas or in small-size companies
unless additional measures are taken to
ensure that EN 55011 class B is complied
with."
(...so I guess that means it has the potential to cause interference in excess of that spec.)

UART decode spec changed: max bitrate officially reduced to 3 Mbps.   

OK, what's EN 55011 class B?