High Bandwidth Oscilloscope - 5GHz and More - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Cigarsnob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 05:30:47 pm
content: Howdy,My boss is asking me to find some high BW and high sampling rates scopes. Do you guys recommend any scopes for the following specs?Mainly digital lines, 3GHz clock input, minimum BW of scope is 5GHz with the ideal BW of the scope being 10GHz. Ideally a 4 channel input scope, and good screen size/resolution.To give you guys an idea of what we already have: LeCroy WaveRunner 6100 and LeCroy WaveRunner 104Xi-AAny ideas?

author: Hydrawerk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 05:47:09 pm
content: Maybe DSO91204A?http://www.home.agilent.com/en/pd-1306734-pn-DSO91204A/infiniium-high-performance-oscilloscope?nid=-34748.749306&cc=CZ&lc=eng

author: mike1305
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 05:51:51 pm
content: What's your budget like? Most 6 GHz scopes are going to be in the range of $60,000 USD, up to $100,000 if you want to squeeze a bit more bandwidth out of it. I'd suggest:LeCroy 760Zi - 6 GHz model ~$70,000 USD startingAgilent DSO90604A - 6 GHz model, ~$77,000 USD starting priceIf you want to foray into the 10 GHz + range, go withLeCroy 8 Zi-A series (up to $200K)Agilent DSO91204A (~$125K) 12 GHzSounds like you might be biased or more used to LeCroy's but your scopes are pretty old, their interface has changed a bunch and it would be worthwhile to shop around a bit. Either of these companies would be more than happy to send out a field engineer to give you some TLC for a purchase like this.

author: Cigarsnob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 06:19:25 pm
content: Thank you both for the recommendations. Just spoke with the boss again and I guess our budget is limited to $2k-$3k. Yikes! So buying is out of the option and we'll most likely be renting an item. I'll check with the local businesses to see if they have any of these bad boys to rent.I'm just tossing this out there as maybe someone will know of this product...My boss said he found some USB scope for $900-1k that had high sampling rates and a high BW. I'll be trying to find that particular item after posting this. Sadly though, that is all the information he remembered about the product. Does anyone know of such a USB scope?

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 06:23:47 pm
content: Quote from: Cigarsnob on May 31, 2013, 06:19:25 pmI think Pico make some of the higher bandwidth USB scopes - they recently announced one that can trade off resolution vs. bandwidth.http://www.picotech.com/

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 06:28:33 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on May 31, 2013, 06:23:47 pmI was about to suggest pico might be what he saw, however, their 12Ghz scope is a sampling scope so limited application and it isn't that cheap either.

author: Jay_Diddy_B
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 07:02:50 pm
content: Hi,You could look at a used Tektronix TDS820.Jay_Diddy_B

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 08:35:40 pm
content: Tektronix has older (IIRC) DSA and CSA series scopes with plugins which will do 20GHz or more. But the signals have to be repetitive. I would'nt recommend the TDS820. Most are old and filled with capacitors which may leak and it only triggers to 2GHz.

author: Cigarsnob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 08:42:08 pm
content: Thank you everyone...I've made a list of recommendations from here and what I found. I'll pass it onto the boss to see if any meets his needs.Thanks again,Phil

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 08:59:40 pm
content: Quote from: Cigarsnob on May 31, 2013, 08:42:08 pmIf the boss thought he was going to get a 5GHz + BW 4 channel scope for $2-3k he is in need of a clue

author: Wuerstchenhund
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 09:18:17 pm
content: Quote from: Cigarsnob on May 31, 2013, 05:30:47 pmQuote from: mike1305 on May 31, 2013, 05:51:51 pmI'm sorry but that is wrong on both ends. The Waverunner 6100 was the first generation of Windows based scopes (the 6000 Series from 2003 runs W2k Embedded, the 6000A Series from 2006 runs WinXP Embedded) using the current LeCroy Windows touch-based UI, and the Waverunner 104Xi-A (which has the same UI) came out in 2012 so it's its a bit far fetched calling them 'pretty old'.And even if you're coming from the old (VxWorks and LeCroy OS based) LeCroy scopes' (LT/LC/WavePro 900/9300) UI then the new UI should present no challenge.

author: Cigarsnob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 09:19:15 pm
content: Quote from: Rufus on May 31, 2013, 08:59:40 pmNaw naw...The guy is pretty sharp. I guess he was interested more in renting or picking up a USB version, then buying one.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 10:21:38 pm
content: even a used 5 GHz bandwidth ( not a sampler ) scope with 10 or 20Gs/s is going to cost you a nice BMW 5 series...

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 10:34:47 pm
content: Quote from: Jay_Diddy_B on May 31, 2013, 07:02:50 pmHe said he wants "high" sampling rate, so a 50KSPS TDS820 won't work, nor will any other sampling scope. I don't think his budget is high enough to even rent what he would need.

author: Cigarsnob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2013, 10:39:20 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on May 31, 2013, 10:21:38 pmHey free_electron...I was just reading the blog on Jim Williams Pulse Generator. Awesome work that you shared there. Thanks as I was planning on testing out my new (old) scope that I just picked up from ebay.And yeah I'm starting to realize that after checking some of the USB guys out. Then again, my girlfriend swindled some guy down to $500 for a 5 series. Given it's an '80s model, but she has fixed it up rather nicely. If only I had the charisma to dupe someone down to a price like that for a USB scope meeting my needs.