Big picture, small footprint
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 4/1/2004
EDITORS' CHOICE
LeCroy's WaveSurfer line of scopes come in a box that's radically different from the company's other scopes. Instead of low and deep, the WaveSurfer is tall and thin—so tall that it holds a 10.4-in.display, but it's only 6 in. deep.
Designed for engineers who want a clear view of a signal, the WaveSurfer leaves enough bench space for your circuit-under-test. Other conveniences include a touch-screen display, which lets you zoom in on a portion of a waveform with your finger (you can also use a mouse). When you need to save your waveforms, you can use the front-panel USB 2.0 port (or two side-mounted ports) to connect a storage device such as a flash drive or CD burner (the scope runs Windows XP). Other ways to get data from the scope are through its Ethernet port or RS-232 port.
Six models make up the WaveSurfer line. They come in 200-MHz, 350-MHz, and 500-MHz models, two and four channels for each bandwidth. Base models hold 250 ksamples/channel of acquisition memory; 500 ksamples/channel when using half the channels. Optional memory expands the scope to 1 Msample/channel. All scopes include basic math and LeCroy's analog-persistence displays.
Base price: $4190. LeCroy, Chestnut Ridge, NY. 800-453-7269; www.lecroy.com.
