Seriously, Tektronix?

[Tim Williams]

"Tom Miller" <tmiller11147@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:lk927t$cec$1@dont-email.me...

Or you buy five or ten of them and when one breaks, your spare parts
problem is solved.

And much easier to store than the automotive case

Tim

--
Seven Transistor Labs
Electrical Engineering Consultation
Website: http://seventransistorlabs.com

 

[Joerg]

John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 05 May 2014 10:23:46 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Phil Hobbs wrote:
From the email slush pile this morning:

Tektronix

-----------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Support Has Ended. We're Here to Help.

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Phil,

As of April 8th, 2014, Microsoft stopped issuing security updates and
providing technical support for systems running its' Windows XP
operating system...including oscilloscopes. Protect your investment by
upgrading your Tektronix oscilloscope to a Windows 7 version
(MSO/DPO5000B, DPO7000C, or DPO/MSO70000C/DX) today.

An upgraded oscilloscope will not only protect your instrument from
security threats and technical issues, it will also provide you with
additional measurement capabilities, including:

- Serial Decoding for over 15 different serial buses (PCI Express,
Ethernet, I2C, etc.)
- The award winning Visual Trigger system, an intuitive graphical
triggering system
- Compliance test packages for a variety of serial standards to ensure
faster pass / fail conclusions

Protect your oscilloscope investment by upgrading your instrument's
software or trading up to an entirely new device. Take action today!

I WANT TO PROTECT MY INVESTMENT
http://info.tek.com/protect-your-scope.html

-------------------

So the way to "protect my scope" is to throw it out and buy a new one,
just because of their crappy choice of OS.

Their marketing droid is obviously an Obamanaut. "We have to destroy
your (scope, insurance, economy, liberty, village) to save it."

Many of them are like that. Always looking for a way to force customers
to abandon the older product. "Oh sorry, out of support, we can't
service this gear anymore".


My protection method is to buy top-of-the-line boat anchors instead.
Cheap, powerful, no Windows, no worries. (Unless I need to go on a
service call.)

20-30 push-ups 3-4 times a day and 100 miles of serious mountain biking
per week will help with that.

I went in another direction, looking for super-light USB-driven
instruments. For fast samling scopes there isn't much out there,
unfortunately. Don't know why because designing fast sampling gear isn't
really rocket science. Maybe not enough market.

Pico does USB samplers

http://www.picotech.com/picoscope9000.html

but the prices are serious. ...

Well, yeah, there have been similar ones. But they cost as much as a
decent car. Totally overpriced IMHO.

... It's actually not hard to do, and the
parts are cheap.

And that's why I don't understand the outrageous pricing. I just
designed two TDRs. Ok, those are really on the budget side with single
diode samplers and all that but the BOM isn't higher than a few beers at
Zeitgeist. One of them would only be good for a single beer and it can't
be an Anchor Steam OBA. With reasonable samplers they'd still not be
much into three-digit turf with the BOM.

A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.

I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[rickman]

On 5/5/2014 6:53 PM, Joerg wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

Pico does USB samplers

http://www.picotech.com/picoscope9000.html

but the prices are serious. ...


Well, yeah, there have been similar ones. But they cost as much as a
decent car. Totally overpriced IMHO.


... It's actually not hard to do, and the
parts are cheap.


And that's why I don't understand the outrageous pricing. I just
designed two TDRs. Ok, those are really on the budget side with single
diode samplers and all that but the BOM isn't higher than a few beers at
Zeitgeist. One of them would only be good for a single beer and it can't
be an Anchor Steam OBA. With reasonable samplers they'd still not be
much into three-digit turf with the BOM.


A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.


I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.

I understand the issue of there being more expenses than just the fab
costs. The NRE is sizable when you factor in all the costs. But it
seems like it should be possible to produce a decent 500 MHz attached
scope for under $1000 or even $500 once the NRE is covered.

I would be the issue is not what it costs, but what it is "worth". If
Pico can get people to pay $1500+ for a good attached scope, then why
would they charge less? Once the units are copied and sold from China
thee prices will fall. I have seen any number of Chinese scopes, but
none seem to be much good and of course the software is always questionable.

I recall someone saying there was open source software for a scope front
panel. But I have never found it. Anyone know what that would be?

--

Rick

 

[Joerg]

rickman wrote:

On 5/5/2014 6:53 PM, Joerg wrote:
John Larkin wrote:

[...]

A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.


I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.

I understand the issue of there being more expenses than just the fab
costs. The NRE is sizable when you factor in all the costs. But it
seems like it should be possible to produce a decent 500 MHz attached
scope for under $1000 or even $500 once the NRE is covered.

I would be the issue is not what it costs, but what it is "worth". If
Pico can get people to pay $1500+ for a good attached scope, then why
would they charge less? ...

Well, I get a lot of request from clients for scope recommendations and
Pico almost always lost out because of high prices. Most of the time
clients end up buying a box instead of USB because it costs less.

... Once the units are copied and sold from China
thee prices will fall. I have seen any number of Chinese scopes, but
none seem to be much good and of course the software is always
questionable.

I've got a Taiwan-designed scope as my main workhorse and I am happy.

I recall someone saying there was open source software for a scope front
panel. But I have never found it. Anyone know what that would be?

What good would that do it the control registers are all different
because they depend on HW? Front panels are easy.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 05 May 2014 10:23:46 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Phil Hobbs wrote:
From the email slush pile this morning:

Tektronix

-----------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Support Has Ended. We're Here to Help.

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Phil,

As of April 8th, 2014, Microsoft stopped issuing security updates and
providing technical support for systems running its' Windows XP
operating system...including oscilloscopes. Protect your investment by
upgrading your Tektronix oscilloscope to a Windows 7 version
(MSO/DPO5000B, DPO7000C, or DPO/MSO70000C/DX) today.

An upgraded oscilloscope will not only protect your instrument from
security threats and technical issues, it will also provide you with
additional measurement capabilities, including:

- Serial Decoding for over 15 different serial buses (PCI Express,
Ethernet, I2C, etc.)
- The award winning Visual Trigger system, an intuitive graphical
triggering system
- Compliance test packages for a variety of serial standards to ensure
faster pass / fail conclusions

Protect your oscilloscope investment by upgrading your instrument's
software or trading up to an entirely new device. Take action today!

I WANT TO PROTECT MY INVESTMENT
http://info.tek.com/protect-your-scope.html

-------------------

So the way to "protect my scope" is to throw it out and buy a new one,
just because of their crappy choice of OS.

Their marketing droid is obviously an Obamanaut. "We have to destroy
your (scope, insurance, economy, liberty, village) to save it."

Many of them are like that. Always looking for a way to force customers
to abandon the older product. "Oh sorry, out of support, we can't
service this gear anymore".


My protection method is to buy top-of-the-line boat anchors instead.
Cheap, powerful, no Windows, no worries. (Unless I need to go on a
service call.)

20-30 push-ups 3-4 times a day and 100 miles of serious mountain biking
per week will help with that.

I went in another direction, looking for super-light USB-driven
instruments. For fast samling scopes there isn't much out there,
unfortunately. Don't know why because designing fast sampling gear isn't
really rocket science. Maybe not enough market.

Pico does USB samplers

http://www.picotech.com/picoscope9000.html

but the prices are serious. ...


Well, yeah, there have been similar ones. But they cost as much as a
decent car. Totally overpriced IMHO.


... It's actually not hard to do, and the
parts are cheap.


And that's why I don't understand the outrageous pricing. I just
designed two TDRs. Ok, those are really on the budget side with single
diode samplers and all that but the BOM isn't higher than a few beers at
Zeitgeist. One of them would only be good for a single beer and it can't
be an Anchor Steam OBA. With reasonable samplers they'd still not be
much into three-digit turf with the BOM.

I'll have to take you to The Monk's Kettle. They usually have at least
one beer in the $75 range.

If you seem hesitant to choose among the 60 or so beers available, a
bartender steps out from behind the bar, joins you, and consults.

It's actually a great place. Good food, too.

A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.


I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.

The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But
there IS a market that I think would work.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2014-05-05, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

I recall someone saying there was open source software for a scope front
panel. But I have never found it. Anyone know what that would be?

xoscope ?




--
umop apisdn


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

 

[JW]

On Mon, 05 May 2014 10:57:26 -0400 Phil Hobbs
<pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote in Message id:
<A9SdncFJaJlLO_rOnZ2dnUVZ_sOdnZ2d@supernews.com>:

From the email slush pile this morning:

Tektronix

-----------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Support Has Ended. We're Here to Help.

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Phil,

As of April 8th, 2014, Microsoft stopped issuing security updates and
providing technical support for systems running its' Windows XP
operating system...including oscilloscopes. Protect your investment by
upgrading your Tektronix oscilloscope to a Windows 7 version
(MSO/DPO5000B, DPO7000C, or DPO/MSO70000C/DX) today.

An upgraded oscilloscope will not only protect your instrument from
security threats and technical issues, it will also provide you with
additional measurement capabilities, including:

- Serial Decoding for over 15 different serial buses (PCI Express,
Ethernet, I2C, etc.)
- The award winning Visual Trigger system, an intuitive graphical
triggering system
- Compliance test packages for a variety of serial standards to ensure
faster pass / fail conclusions

Protect your oscilloscope investment by upgrading your instrument's
software or trading up to an entirely new device. Take action today!

I WANT TO PROTECT MY INVESTMENT
http://info.tek.com/protect-your-scope.html

-------------------

So the way to "protect my scope" is to throw it out and buy a new one,
just because of their crappy choice of OS.

No, you can buy the software "upgrade".

You don't *have* to replace the scope...

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Phil Hobbs wrote:

From the email slush pile this morning:

Tektronix

-----------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Support Has Ended. We're Here to Help.

-----------------------------------------------------

I've had XP install updates three times since XP support ended. It
ignored the setting to tell me there were updates, they were just
installed.



--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

 

[Tom Miller]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:asmdnYevYsQhTvXOnZ2dnUVZ_rGdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

Phil Hobbs wrote:

From the email slush pile this morning:

Tektronix

-----------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Support Has Ended. We're Here to Help.

-----------------------------------------------------


I've had XP install updates three times since XP support ended. It
ignored the setting to tell me there were updates, they were just
installed.



--

Were they for IE-8?

I saw the same thing.

tm

 

[Lasse Langwadt Christense]

Den tirsdag den 6. maj 2014 18.48.49 UTC+2 skrev Joerg:

John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid

wrote:



John Larkin wrote:



[...]





I'll have to take you to The Monk's Kettle. They usually have at least

one beer in the $75 range.



If you seem hesitant to choose among the 60 or so beers available, a

bartender steps out from behind the bar, joins you, and consults.



It's actually a great place. Good food, too.





Oh yeah, that sure looks good.



http://monkskettle.com/index.php/menus/beer/





A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be

the Windows software.



I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed

doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because

the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as

simulated, or pretty close.



The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But

there IS a market that I think would work.





I am not so sure about the market. I've helped a lot of start-up clients

equip their labs initially. Rarely did they ever truly need even as much

as a 200MHz BW scope. Most of the time a 50-100MHz budget deal was all

it took.

how about something like this? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope



-Lasse

 

[Joerg]

John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

[...]

I'll have to take you to The Monk's Kettle. They usually have at least
one beer in the $75 range.

If you seem hesitant to choose among the 60 or so beers available, a
bartender steps out from behind the bar, joins you, and consults.

It's actually a great place. Good food, too.

Oh yeah, that sure looks good.

http://monkskettle.com/index.php/menus/beer/

A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.

I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.

The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But
there IS a market that I think would work.

I am not so sure about the market. I've helped a lot of start-up clients
equip their labs initially. Rarely did they ever truly need even as much
as a 200MHz BW scope. Most of the time a 50-100MHz budget deal was all
it took.

One reason is that there aren't that many engineers around anymore who
can operate a serious scope. Aside from setting it up there is a whole
science in connecting up the cabling in a manner that a giggeehoitz BW
really makes sense. You and I know how to do that but we are almost
dinosaurs by now.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[John Larkin]

On Tue, 06 May 2014 09:48:49 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

[...]


I'll have to take you to The Monk's Kettle. They usually have at least
one beer in the $75 range.

If you seem hesitant to choose among the 60 or so beers available, a
bartender steps out from behind the bar, joins you, and consults.

It's actually a great place. Good food, too.


Oh yeah, that sure looks good.

http://monkskettle.com/index.php/menus/beer/


A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.

I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.

The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But
there IS a market that I think would work.


I am not so sure about the market. I've helped a lot of start-up clients
equip their labs initially. Rarely did they ever truly need even as much
as a 200MHz BW scope. Most of the time a 50-100MHz budget deal was all
it took.

There is a market. I just haven't had time to work on it.

One reason is that there aren't that many engineers around anymore who
can operate a serious scope. Aside from setting it up there is a whole
science in connecting up the cabling in a manner that a giggeehoitz BW
really makes sense. You and I know how to do that but we are almost
dinosaurs by now.

Insults like that just bounce off my scales.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[Joerg]

John Larkin wrote:

On Tue, 06 May 2014 09:48:49 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
[...]

[...]

A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.

I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.
The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But
there IS a market that I think would work.

I am not so sure about the market. I've helped a lot of start-up clients
equip their labs initially. Rarely did they ever truly need even as much
as a 200MHz BW scope. Most of the time a 50-100MHz budget deal was all
it took.

There is a market. I just haven't had time to work on it.

For TDR (which is fairly easy) there are markets but I really don't see
one for regular sampling scopes like what the Tek 11801 was. Else they
wouldn't pawn them off for around $1k like here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-11801B-Digital-Sampling-Oscilloscope-with-Module-SD-26-/191018227396?pt=BI_Oscilloscopes&hash=item2c7992d6c4

One reason is that there aren't that many engineers around anymore who
can operate a serious scope. Aside from setting it up there is a whole
science in connecting up the cabling in a manner that a giggeehoitz BW
really makes sense. You and I know how to do that but we are almost
dinosaurs by now.

Insults like that just bounce off my scales.

Well, many of us in this NG are past prime in the normal lifespan of
humans. I could imagine slowing down my consulting work in five years or
so and only taking on the tougher jobs. Then I'll do more bike rides and
stuff because when waiting another 15-20 years, who knows, I might not
be able to do that anymore. Someone has to take over after us. Sometimes
promising newbies show up and I try my best with them but there aren't
enough of them.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Lasse Langwadt Christense]

Den onsdag den 7. maj 2014 01.04.46 UTC+2 skrev Neon John:

On Tue, 6 May 2014 12:35:32 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen

langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote:





how about something like this? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope



No knobs == no way!

yes knobs are nicer, I think I've seen that for some of the USB scopes
someone made a usb box with knobs to control it

but it is also nice to be able to directly cut and paste stuff to a document
and or type some info on a screen shoot with a proper keyboard

No way I'm going to try to grope my o-scope while trying to work in an

environment with 240 or 480 line voltage and >1500 volts DC exposed.

At least with knobs and buttons, I know where to reach to change

something. Plus by the time you figure in the cost of a good tablet

with decent screen size, you could have bought a Rigol and had a night

on the town.

yeh it is a bit expensive for what it does, I think the idea is that the table cellphone or pc is something you already have on your desk

I'd like to see when they open source the sw, I have plenty of boards with FPGAs and fast ADCs that could be hacked into something useful but writing
a gui for a scope from scratch is not my idea of fun

-Lasse

 

[Joerg]

Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:

Den tirsdag den 6. maj 2014 18.48.49 UTC+2 skrev Joerg:
John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:
John Larkin wrote:


[...]





I'll have to take you to The Monk's Kettle. They usually have at least
one beer in the $75 range.
If you seem hesitant to choose among the 60 or so beers available, a
bartender steps out from behind the bar, joins you, and consults.
It's actually a great place. Good food, too.


Oh yeah, that sure looks good.



http://monkskettle.com/index.php/menus/beer/



A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.
I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.
The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But
there IS a market that I think would work.


I am not so sure about the market. I've helped a lot of start-up clients

equip their labs initially. Rarely did they ever truly need even as much

as a 200MHz BW scope. Most of the time a 50-100MHz budget deal was all

it took.


how about something like this? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope

You can already buy cheap USB scopes, a client just bought this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Hantek-Digital-Storage-Oscilloscope-Bandwidth/dp/B009H4AYII/ref=sr_1_1/177-1868163-9632848?ie=UTF8&qid=1399405124&sr=8-1&keywords=Hantek

Works. They also make higher end versions with higher sample rates,
integrated arb gen, and so on.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

On Monday, May 5, 2014 10:57:26 AM UTC-4, Phil Hobbs wrote:

From the email slush pile this morning:



Tektronix



-----------------------------------------------------



Windows XP Support Has Ended. We're Here to Help.



-----------------------------------------------------



Dear Phil,



As of April 8th, 2014, Microsoft stopped issuing security updates and

providing technical support for systems running its' Windows XP

operating system...including oscilloscopes. Protect your investment by

upgrading your Tektronix oscilloscope to a Windows 7 version

(MSO/DPO5000B, DPO7000C, or DPO/MSO70000C/DX) today.



An upgraded oscilloscope will not only protect your instrument from

security threats and technical issues, it will also provide you with

additional measurement capabilities, including:



- Serial Decoding for over 15 different serial buses (PCI Express,

Ethernet, I2C, etc.)

- The award winning Visual Trigger system, an intuitive graphical

triggering system

- Compliance test packages for a variety of serial standards to ensure

faster pass / fail conclusions



Protect your oscilloscope investment by upgrading your instrument's

software or trading up to an entirely new device. Take action today!



I WANT TO PROTECT MY INVESTMENT

http://info.tek.com/protect-your-scope.html



-------------------



So the way to "protect my scope" is to throw it out and buy a new one,

just because of their crappy choice of OS.



Their marketing droid is obviously an Obamanaut. "We have to destroy

your (scope, insurance, economy, liberty, village) to save it."



My protection method is to buy top-of-the-line boat anchors instead.

Cheap, powerful, no Windows, no worries. (Unless I need to go on a

service call.)



Cheers



Phil Hobbs





--

Dr Philip C D Hobbs

Principal Consultant

ElectroOptical Innovations LLC

Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics



160 North State Road #203

Briarcliff Manor NY 10510



hobbs at electrooptical dot net

http://electrooptical.net

One would have imagined that a company
of Tektronix repute would have used a
simple RTOS on their scopes. Looks like
Tektronix is following in HP's foot
steps.

 

[Neon John]

On Tue, 6 May 2014 12:35:32 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen
<langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote:


>how about something like this? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope

No knobs == no way!

No way I'm going to try to grope my o-scope while trying to work in an
environment with 240 or 480 line voltage and >1500 volts DC exposed.
At least with knobs and buttons, I know where to reach to change
something. Plus by the time you figure in the cost of a good tablet
with decent screen size, you could have bought a Rigol and had a night
on the town.

John
John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.fluxeon.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address

 

[Joerg]

Neon John wrote:

On Tue, 6 May 2014 12:35:32 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen
langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote:


how about something like this? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope

No knobs == no way!

No way I'm going to try to grope my o-scope while trying to work in an
environment with 240 or 480 line voltage and >1500 volts DC exposed.

Huh? That would be exactly where this kind of no-knobs scope excels.
Connect a netbook, step back behind the blast shield and control the
netbook via a Bluetooth mouse. BTDT.

At least with knobs and buttons, I know where to reach to change
something. ...

And get electrocuted when something comes off or arcs?

... Plus by the time you figure in the cost of a good tablet
with decent screen size, you could have bought a Rigol and had a night
on the town.

If you don't have a portable device you can run this with, yes. But
pretty much all engineers I know have netbooks or at least laptops. Some
have tablets but I do not believe it is smart to base a lab instrument
solely on tablets. IOW, personally I would not want to fund that.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[John Larkin]

On Tue, 06 May 2014 19:04:46 -0400, Neon John <no@never.com> wrote:

On Tue, 6 May 2014 12:35:32 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen
langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote:


how about something like this? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope

No knobs == no way!

No way I'm going to try to grope my o-scope while trying to work in an
environment with 240 or 480 line voltage and >1500 volts DC exposed.
At least with knobs and buttons, I know where to reach to change
something. Plus by the time you figure in the cost of a good tablet
with decent screen size, you could have bought a Rigol and had a night
on the town.

John
John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.fluxeon.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address

The TEK TPS series is great. All inputs and the trigger are fully
isolated.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

On Tue, 06 May 2014 10:35:39 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 06 May 2014 09:48:49 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 05 May 2014 15:53:03 -0700, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
[...]


[...]


A 60 ps TDR wouldn't be terribly hard, either. The worst part would be
the Windows software.

I didn't go below 200psec and mainly because the medium to be probed
doesn't support any lower. Haven't tried it out in real life yet because
the boards aren't back but this kind of stuff usually comes out as
simulated, or pretty close.
The thing about doing a TDR is competing with Tek 11801s on ebay. But
there IS a market that I think would work.

I am not so sure about the market. I've helped a lot of start-up clients
equip their labs initially. Rarely did they ever truly need even as much
as a 200MHz BW scope. Most of the time a 50-100MHz budget deal was all
it took.

There is a market. I just haven't had time to work on it.


For TDR (which is fairly easy) there are markets but I really don't see
one for regular sampling scopes like what the Tek 11801 was. Else they
wouldn't pawn them off for around $1k like here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-11801B-Digital-Sampling-Oscilloscope-with-Module-SD-26-/191018227396?pt=BI_Oscilloscopes&hash=item2c7992d6c4

Because not all companies buy on eBay? Because it's just as much work
to buy a $30K scope as it is a $300 scope (well, the only TDR I've
seen recently is more like $100K)? Because the keepers of the capital
equipment inventory lists, instrumentation, and calibration will never
sign off on such things?

I want to buy one of those but no one knows how. In fact, it's harder
to buy the $1K TDR than it would be to buy the $100K scope. I can't
justify $100K (to myself) but I can easily justify $1K or even $10K.

One reason is that there aren't that many engineers around anymore who
can operate a serious scope. Aside from setting it up there is a whole
science in connecting up the cabling in a manner that a giggeehoitz BW
really makes sense. You and I know how to do that but we are almost
dinosaurs by now.

Insults like that just bounce off my scales.


Well, many of us in this NG are past prime in the normal lifespan of
humans. I could imagine slowing down my consulting work in five years or
so and only taking on the tougher jobs. Then I'll do more bike rides and
stuff because when waiting another 15-20 years, who knows, I might not
be able to do that anymore. Someone has to take over after us. Sometimes
promising newbies show up and I try my best with them but there aren't
enough of them.