Hi guys,
Tektronix 3 series main downside is, you can NOT have RF turned on (visible) at the same time as any other of the channels. I have not found this mentioned anywhere.
It is just two devices in one, in this case RF analyzer is really a useless benefit for me. You buy a scope with RF for time correlation, right?
BTW: The interface is really kind of slow, even the mouse is lagging behind more than on 4 series.
BTW2: This scope has 8 bit ADC (you can use up to 12bit HiRes mode). 3 series has different front end than 4 and 5 series (which are 12 bit and up to 16 bit in HiRes mode).
BTW3: 3 series LCD screen compared to 4 looks a bit diffused and not so sharp, kind of VGA like.
After finding the RF analyzer visibility limitation, I immediately went on to test 4 series.
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First of all, I am looking for a contemporary, fast and modern mixed signal scope.
This unit was MSO 46 @ 350MHz (weirdly), firmware 1.20.7, with full software licenses as a DEMO unit (400 days licence).
I am younger generation user who is used to touchscreens, I never owned an oscilloscope.
I hate wasting money on stuff that is mediocre, I preffer paying more for high quality / investment.
I need:
- logical analyzer, current probe, SPI, I2C, UART
- no fan, or a really silent fan
- well made, intuitive and fast UI
- good screen, quality build
Not needed but nice and futureproofing:
- separate Aux In
- separate Aux Out, Ref In, AFG
- RF analyzer on every channel
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I will try to include anything positive and negative i have found.
For me there are two main downsides on a "built from scratch, new and fast GUI":
1. Even though there is quite a bit of nice and well thought out touch and visual elements present in the GUI, its frame rate looks slow and somehow fixed to the framerate of the acquired data presentation update rate. The screen framerate should be independent and prioritized for fast GUI response we are used to from high tech smartphones and tablets, to match the quality of the hardware panel controls. I think to wait for data to be ready to be shown is a minor issue and to be expected, with a lot of processing that a sheer number of inputs, search, measure, math and other functions on this scope introduce. I hope I write it clearly.
2. I work in professional live audio industry, where touchscreens on mixing consoles and tablet / smartphone remote controls are very common. I am into UI, HMI, LEDs, audio, maybe some RF modules.
When debugging these mixed signal devices, there is quite a lot to watch for, and a lot of times I am looking at a broader context, then at solving some particular issue found, then again on the broader context and so on.
Tek 4 series allow to save a "Setup" to a file and then reload it, which is awesome idea BUT:
- The load of this file starts with a "default setup", when every probe is turned off, display is cleared, etc. etc.
- A complete load of setup file takes around 30 seconds, which is really too much, considering nothing has changed in the physical connections and settings. I just wanted to see a different combination / representation of the same data on the scope for particular purpose.
- If there were a possibility for the scope to compare actual state with the setup file I want to load, this "switchover" could take considerably shorter time and act similarly to a layer switching of faders on an audio mixing console, which makes your use of the panel and display context sensitive and therefore the operation is much quicker!
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Positive:
- execelent quality of buttons and knobs, especially those two cursor knobs
- every off (not visible) channel is aquired all the time, so you can turn on channels after the aquisition and the data is there to be shown
- 30A current probe is amazing
- matte display, option to have "black on white" color scheme for bright environments (and for export of waveform images to pdfs etc.)
- you can change channel color coding (including front panel buttons and led rings) to match your preference or project, trigger knob ring has the color of the source
- Aux In is simple edge trigger only - but handy
Weird quirks:
- 4 series has a better position of USB connectors than 3 series, but both 3 and 4 have them a bit too close to used buttons in the bottom of the panel.
- When selecting bus decode on analog channels, all of the predefined triggers are set to 0V, which is of little use and you have to change this to some milivolts above 0V to trigger.
Negative:
- Long startup time.
- Scope freezed 2 times in 5 hours.
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GUI:
- FHD display is so much more practical, where:
- - amazing feature to have is Overlay / Split view of channels
- - nice option to Group needed channels to a part of the Split window
- - possibility to resize individual parts of the screen, dragging of tables, plots etc.
- - unfortunately when turning channel off and on again, Grouping of the channel is lost
- - Grouped channels could have all their respective vertical division values displayed in adjacent columns on the right side where they are nicely colored
- a lot of scrolling is needed when multiple channels, busses and other features are active because of:
- - AFG, Horizontal and Trigger windows take unnecessary space on the bottom line of badges / buttons
- - Run/Stopped button take unnecessary space as well (Run / Single buttons on the top of the scope are perfectly visible and tell me far better what is happening)
- - Clock badge take unnecessary space. I have clock elsewhere in the workplace, not needed on the scope. If somebody likes to see the clock, it would be more adequate in the top right corner, where is plenty of space
- - DVM badge takes unneccesary space and could be well hidden inside Measure button
- "Add New..." section on right top corner has quite small buttons for my fingers, I kept pressing Note instead of Search quite often
- Missing Trash gestures to the bottom and side of the touchscreen as they are present on 3 series! You have to drag everything to trash (or invoke a right click menu) which is quite slow.
- Very nice would be an option to SWITCH Measure, Search and Bus decode to be done JUST on the visible data. As these processes are now done on whole captured data (which is sometimes very useful), it slows the unit down significantly. Of course you need a full data Bus decode for triggering from the Bus, but that is just one Bus decode, with much lower speed penalty.
Feature requests:
- Bus decode displayed charactes horizontal size to be maximized, not limited to length of the serial data. Binary representation is longer and not visible even if it could be, same applies for hex and ascii in various zoom levels. (check my photo)
- Push and hold on Channel/Math/Ref button to select it as a Trigger source?
(this would avoid some menu diving)
- Fast Setup switching.
- Faster GUI framerate. Say when you turn Bus decode ON, it takes long time (2-3 seconds) until the GUI lets you know, that you have pressed the button, just the menu did not appear yet.
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Unfortunately i did not have the possibility to check out the logical probe (and the firmware behaviour), as the sales person forgot to bring it. I have just seen the different 3 series logical probe, which is a very nice one.
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Tektronix 4 series needs quite a lot of work until I consider it to be worth the expense. Tektronix 3 series is a no go for me.
Apart from that, it is surprisingly modern and slick and much better than everything else I have seen so far.
Tektronix MSO 4 has potential to be the best mixed signal scope on the market.
PS: I think 4 series are MDO, and 3 series are MSO with RF, and that the official product names are other way around and confusing.
Thanks!
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