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Oscilloscopes add logic channels

Staff - May 1, 2007

Intended for engineers who design mixed-signal and FPGA-based systems, the new MSO4000 series of small-footprint oscilloscopes from Tektronix function much like the company’s DPO4000 models but with an additional 16 logic channels. The MSO4000 line also features the company’s Wave Inspector technology that lets you scroll through long waveforms.

The MSO4000 consists of four models with two or four analog channels and bandwidths of 350 MHz, 500 MHz, and 1 GHz. All models have 10 Msamples of waveform memory on all analog and digital channels. The digital channels have a time resolution of 60.6 ps, which corresponds to 16.5 Gsamples/s. You can attain that resolution when you turn on the MagniVu high-resolution signal-acquisition technology, which acquires 10,000 samples centered on the trigger point. Otherwise, you get 500 Msamples/s across the entire 10-Msample memory.

The logic probes consist of two eight-channel pods that plug into the oscilloscope’s front panel through one connector. You enable digital channels with a button just above the logic-probe connector. With two groups of eight digital channels, the DSO4000 lets you split channels to opposite sides of a board under test.

Prices: $8700 to $17,200. All prices include analog and digital probes. Tektronix, www.tektronix.com.