- With the launch of its MXR series scopes in early May 2020, Keysight boasts the only oscilloscope on the market with 8 inputs covering a frequency range above 2 GHz.
- With the announcement of the 6 Series B mixed-signal oscilloscopes (MSO), Tektronix is back in the running. It becomes the only oscilloscope supplier to offer an oscilloscope with 8 analogue inputs covering a bandwidth of up to 10 GHz.
Until now, Tektronix’s 6 Series B MSOs have only offered four analog channels and have covered bandwidths of 1 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 4 GHz, 6 GHz, and 8 GHz, depending on the model. To have 8 channels, you had to turn to the 5 Series MSO oscilloscopes, which cover bandwidths of 350 MHz, 500 MHz, 1 GHz, and 2 GHz, depending on the model.
The new 6 Series B MSO now consists of several oscilloscopes with 4, 6 or 8 analogue inputs, depending on the model, covering 1 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 4 GHz, 6 GHz, 8 GHz and 10 GHz frequency bands.
The digitisation of analogue/digital signals is performed by 12-bit analogue/digital converters, compared to only 10 bits for Keysight’s MXR oscilloscopes.
The 6 Series B MSO Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes are equipped with FlexChannel inputs like all the latest generation MSO oscilloscopes. These analogue FlexChannel inputs can each accept a TLP058 logic probe with 8 digital channels. For example, four of the 8 analogue channels can be used to acquire analogue signals while the other four offer 32 digital inputs.
The 6 Series B MSOs offer a fully scalable bandwidth up to 10 GHz. A 1 GHz model can therefore upgrade its bandwidth after purchase to 2.5 GHz, 4 GHz, 6 GHz, 8 GHz and 10 GHz.
The maximum sampling rate is 12.5 GS/s on 6 or 8 channels, 25 GS/s on 4 channels and 50 GS/s on 2 channels.
According to Tektronix, the high acquisition rate does not come at the expense of noise. The extension of the frequency band would be done with less noise. The 6 Series B MSOs have a contribution of less than 51.1 µV of noise at 1 mV/div and 1 GHz, and less than 1.39 mV of noise at 50 mV/div and 10 GHz.
The 6 Series B MSOs also offer a variety of options for protocol decoding, serial bus conformance testing, jitter analysis, and power analysis.
Digital frequency converters associated with each analogue input enable multi-channel spectral analysis. Synchronisation of spectral measurements with time domain waveforms ensures correlation between events occurring in the frequency and time domains.
Featuring a 15.6-inch capacitive touch screen, the 6 Series B oscilloscopes have an intuitive, object-oriented user interface that allows control via drag and drop functions and zooming by simple pinching and scanning of the fingers.
This new range of 10 GHz scopes is capable of operating under Windows 10 as well as closed operating systems, without, according to Tektronix, losing performance or ease of use.
The 6 Series B MSOs incorporate a removable SSD disk which, through optional security licences, enables them to be used in secure environments with minimal cyber threats.
In conjunction with the launch of the 6 Series B MSOs, Tektronix is also expanding its range of TriMode probes with the introduction of the new TDP7710 TriMode model, which meets the measurement characteristics of the new oscilloscope. The TekVPI probe interface communicates seamlessly with a range of probes to simplify configuration and avoid errors. The new TDP7710 TriMode probe, with its 10 GHz bandwidth, offers the ability to perform differential, unipolar, and common mode measurements without having to disconnect and reconnect the probe.
# Main specifications of the Tektronix 6 Series B MSO:
- Bandwidth: 1 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 4 GHz, 6 GHz, 8 GHz, 10 GHz
- 4, 6 or 8 analogue inputs
- 12 bit vertical resolution
- Noise < 55 μV at 1mV/div and 1 GHz <1.25 mV at 50mV/div and 10 GHz
- Sampling rate: 12.5 GS/s (6 or 8 channels used), 25 GS/s (4 channels), 50 GS/s (2 channels)
- Record length: 62.5 M (standard), 125 M, 250 M, 500 M, or 1 G
