new scopes

[John Larkin]

These are all color, and start at $995. They're getting pretty
agressive/insulting against Tek. The ads with the Rocketeer character
are pretty lame, as if they figure us geeks are easily impressed.

http://www.home.agilent.com/USeng/nav/-536898067.536905607/pd.html

If anybody buys one of these, please let us know what you think of
them.

John

 

[Jim Thompson]

These are all color, and start at $995. They're getting pretty
agressive/insulting against Tek. The ads with the Rocketeer character
are pretty lame, as if they figure us geeks are easily impressed.

http://www.home.agilent.com/USeng/nav/-536898067.536905607/pd.html

If anybody buys one of these, please let us know what you think of
them.

John

"Agilent"? Isn't that just a new name for the Carly-ized hp?

...Jim Thompson

 

[Pooh Bear]

"Agilent"? Isn't that just a new name for the Carly-ized hp?

Actually, I thought that HP divested themselves of all their historically
profit earning arms such as test gear and semis. They have become Agilent.

Shame - HP sounds neater.

Graham

 

[Keith Williams]

Actually, I thought that HP divested themselves of all their historically
profit earning arms such as test gear and semis. They have become Agilent.

No, not all. HP still owns the ink division.

Shame - HP sounds neater.

Sure, but Aligentsounds better than having Carly try to bury the
instruments divisions.

 

[Bob Stephens]

"Agilent"? Isn't that just a new name for the Carly-ized hp?

...Jim Thompson

I remember when HP test equipment looked like it meant business.
The Carly-ized front panel in the above link looks like you'd feel out of
place operating it without an iPod and a couple of piercings. Goofy
looking.

Bob

 

[Jeroen]

These are all color, and start at $995. They're getting pretty
agressive/insulting against Tek. The ads with the Rocketeer character
are pretty lame, as if they figure us geeks are easily impressed.

http://www.home.agilent.com/USeng/nav/-536898067.536905607/pd.html

If anybody buys one of these, please let us know what you think of
them.

The device looks quite the same as the Tek TDS3034 I've here, at a first
glance. This 3034 is the finest scope I ever worked with. How do other
people think of this scope?

'Reach beyond Tek scopes' sounds much like Xilinx vs Altera.

Jeroen

 

[Chris Carlen]

These are all color, and start at $995. They're getting pretty
agressive/insulting against Tek. The ads with the Rocketeer character
are pretty lame, as if they figure us geeks are easily impressed.

http://www.home.agilent.com/USeng/nav/-536898067.536905607/pd.html

If anybody buys one of these, please let us know what you think of
them.

John

The price is great for the capabilities. Should make a bunch more
hobbyists able to get into the DSO game. I don't regret my purchase of
a Tek TDS3014 for $4400 a few years ago though, for home. Great for
fixin' the toaster and stuff.

I've ordered the new Agilent MSO6054 with 8Mpts memory upgrade and logic
analyzer channels for work. Should arrive in a few weeks. I'll make
some comments about it sometime.

Good day!


--
_______________________________________________________________________
Christopher R. Carlen
Principal Laser/Optical Technologist
Sandia National Laboratories CA USA
[email protected]
NOTE, delete texts: "RemoveThis" and "BOGUS" from email address to reply.

 

[John Larkin]

The device looks quite the same as the Tek TDS3034 I've here, at a first
glance. This 3034 is the finest scope I ever worked with. How do other
people think of this scope?

I have a 3032 and it's the first digital scoped I've ever loved, much
less wanted to be in the same room with. And the fet probes are
awesome. But my 'personal' scope is a cheap TDS2012, 100 MHz color
thing, and it's great for 90% of what I do.

'Reach beyond Tek scopes' sounds much like Xilinx vs Altera.

Yeah. After ignoring this end of the business for a decade or so, now
every other word they utter is 'Tektronix.'

John

 

[Paul Mathews]

I wouldn't complain about the competition. Agilent, LeCroy, and
Yokogawa are keeping Tektronix on their toes. The Tek folks turned out
some pretty awful models in the 80s and early 90s.

I have TDS 3032 and TDS 5104. I prefer the little guy for everything
except situations that need deep memory. Folks who think that digital
scopes are still not the way to go are stuck in the past.

TDS2000 series has much inferior front-end, with practically zero CMRR,
although the isolated inputs can be useful in spite of that problem.

Paul Mathews

 

[John Larkin]

TDS2000 series has much inferior front-end, with practically zero CMRR,
although the isolated inputs can be useful in spite of that problem.

Precisely zero CMRR. The BNCs are grounded.

But what's wrong with the front end? Seems to work fine for me.
Overload recovery is excellent.

John

 

[Tim Shoppa]

These are all color, and start at $995.

[...] against Tek [...]

If I read their website correctly, they've got a single $1000 scope
(60MHz, 2 channels, color, 4k deep) and the next step up is $3000.
Maybe a loss-leader strategy? Maybe the discount you get by expressing
interest in the $3K scope is big?

But at that $1k price they aren't just going up against Tek, they're
putting a lot of pressure on Fluke scopemeters, for example.

Tim.

 

[Pooh Bear]

Precisely zero CMRR. The BNCs are grounded.

LOL ! I'm glad you pointed that out.

Whatever happened to differential inputs btw ?

I can recall a few scopes of old that I've used that had differential
plug-ins. Damn useful too.

Graham

 

[John Larkin]

LOL ! I'm glad you pointed that out.

Whatever happened to differential inputs btw ?

I can recall a few scopes of old that I've used that had differential
plug-ins. Damn useful too.

A couple of the new Tek scopes have fully, galvanically isolated input
channels. Handy for switching power supplies and such, I'd imagine.

Tek also sells external filter/isolator boxes that aren't bad.

John

 

[Pooh Bear]

A couple of the new Tek scopes have fully, galvanically isolated input
channels. Handy for switching power supplies and such, I'd imagine.

Funny you should say that - it's exactly what I had in mind ! The pcb for the
new smps arrives next Tuesday.

Hah ! I must ask what process they're using for the hot air levelling.


Graham

 

[BFoelsch]

Precisely zero CMRR. The BNCs are grounded.

But what's wrong with the front end? Seems to work fine for me.
Overload recovery is excellent.

I think Paul was referring to the A-B capability, which is also referred to
as CMRR.

He is correct. The math functions are performed on the screen image, not the
input values. The dynamic range and differential CMRR are exactly one screen
height. Try an A-B with one input spilling over the edge of the screen!

I too like the 2012. There are some things it just plain won't do, like
display a modulation envelope. Biggest single gripe is the way it puts the
trigger point in the middle of the screen, rather than at or near the left
end, although now that I think of it I should be able to make a custom setup
to work around that.

 

[John Larkin]

I think Paul was referring to the A-B capability, which is also referred to
as CMRR.

He is correct. The math functions are performed on the screen image, not the
input values. The dynamic range and differential CMRR are exactly one screen
height. Try an A-B with one input spilling over the edge of the screen!

I too like the 2012. There are some things it just plain won't do, like
display a modulation envelope. Biggest single gripe is the way it puts the
trigger point in the middle of the screen, rather than at or near the left
end, although now that I think of it I should be able to make a custom setup
to work around that.

I sort of like that, seeing pre and post-trigger stuff. But if you
don't, just turn the horizontal position knob.

John

 

[Mac]

I think Paul was referring to the A-B capability, which is also referred to
as CMRR.

He is correct. The math functions are performed on the screen image, not the
input values. The dynamic range and differential CMRR are exactly one screen
height. Try an A-B with one input spilling over the edge of the screen!

I too like the 2012. There are some things it just plain won't do, like
display a modulation envelope. Biggest single gripe is the way it puts the
trigger point in the middle of the screen, rather than at or near the left
end, although now that I think of it I should be able to make a custom setup
to work around that.

Well, you can put it wherever you want it. But if you are going to change
from microseconds to nanoseconds per division, it helps to put the trigger
event at the center of the screen, first. ;-)

--Mac

 

[Mac]

No, I don't think so. The HP moniker stuck with all the computer products
and peripherals and so forth.

Agilent got all the product lines that originally made HP famous. Power
supplies, test equipment and so on.

I remember when HP test equipment looked like it meant business.
The Carly-ized front panel in the above link looks like you'd feel out of
place operating it without an iPod and a couple of piercings. Goofy
looking.

Bob

Unless I am mistaken, Carly Fiorina had little to do with creating
Agilent, and even less to do with running it. She was appointed CEO of HP
in July of 99, and the IPO for Agilent was in November of that same year.
It seems to me that the split must have been in the works since before she
took the helm. In any event, she can't be held responsible for changes at
Agilent after the split, can she?

--Mac

 

[Paul Mathews]

Sorry to insult your particular choice of equipment. I suggest that
you try this experiment with a TDS2000 and a TDS3000 scope:

Connect a passive scope probe, with its tip grounded, to a high dv/dt
signal source. (Try this with any 'safe' arrangement of grounds, of
course.) You'll understand what I mean by CMRR. Call it what you
like. The TDS2000 will show a significant amount of 'signal'; the
TDS3000 will not. This is pretty important for people working with
switchmode circuitry, for example. I think TDS2000 series are great
products, but they have their limitations.

Paul Mathews

 

[John Miles]

On Wed, 11 May 2005 18:13:25 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

I remember when HP test equipment looked like it meant business.
The Carly-ized front panel in the above link looks like you'd feel out of
place operating it without an iPod and a couple of piercings. Goofy
looking.

Well, to be fair, they're just ripping off Tek's new "Fisher-Price" look
and feel in that respect. Those scopes are aimed squarely at Tek's
TDS2000 line, and seem to be direct rip-offs. Probably no reason other
than price to choose one vendor over the other in that market segment.

Fiorina had nothing to do with any Agilent products whatsoever. The
breakup occurred before her time, if I remember correctly.

-- jm