Keysight Oscilloscope Mobile - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 08, 2016, 10:19:46 pm
content: Hey EEVBlog members! I work on a team at Keysight that has released a mobile app that lets you view live waveforms, make measurements, capture instrument screenshots and control your Keysight/Agilent oscilloscope from your phone or tablet.The app is called Keysight Oscilloscope Mobile and is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keysight-oscilloscope-mobile/id749341889?mt=8https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agilent.oscilloscopeMobile&hl=enIf your scope is on the network, you can connect to it directly from your mobile device (requires Oscilloscope Mobile 2.0 or above). Otherwise, you can also connect to your scope through a PC, using a companion PC application named Oscilloscope Mobile Agent which can be downloaded fromhttp://www.keysight.com/find/scopemobileKey Features- Supports up to 4 analog channels- Simulation mode available- Experiment with the app before connecting it to your oscilloscope- Save screen captures from your instrument onto your mobile device- View and control oscilloscopes that are connected by LAN, USB, GPIB or RS232- Collaboration - Have a colleague connect to the same scope on their tablet or phone and see what you see.Control the following functions on your Keysight/Agilent oscilloscope- Start/stop/single acquisition- Autoscale- Change time- Change volts- Turn channels on/off- Select trigger type/level/source- Measure: frequency, rise/fall time, min/max, peak-peakHere's a screenshot from a Nexus 10 running Android 4.2.2:If anyone tries it, we'd love to hear your feedback!Cheers, Gordon

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 08, 2016, 10:55:11 pm
content: I'll give it a try tonight - any specific reason the app needs access to the camera(I'm using Android)?

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 08, 2016, 11:07:31 pm
content: The app doesn't actually use the camera, although when you install it on Android it requests permissions to do so. We'll fix this in a future release.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2016, 11:23:05 pm
content: I guess the people at Keysight are reading my reviews. In herehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/gw-instek-gds2204e-(200mhz-4-channel-dso)-review/msg855870/#msg855870I wrote:In 2016 you should be able to control your scope from your smartphone!

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 08, 2016, 11:29:29 pm
content: We agree! And with Keysight'sBenchVueandBenchVue Mobilesoftware, you can also control your DMM, power supply, function generator and spectrum analyzer with your smartphone.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 02:19:14 pm
content: Just tried on my MSO6034A.It seems to force auto trigger mode, with no obvious way to change, which renders it useless for slow signals.

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 04:25:59 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on June 09, 2016, 02:19:14 pmThanks for the feedback. That is correct, the app sets the trigger mode to Auto. We will look at adding support for Normal mode triggering in an update.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 04:48:16 pm
content: Quote from: GordonK on June 09, 2016, 04:25:59 pmOther things that would be useful :Hodloff adjustSave trace to scope internal memory - the app does not show intensity data, so you may need a way to record the full data.The top line, showing the scope ID and menu dots is a bit wasteful of screen space, especially on smaller phones

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 05:43:51 pm
content: Curious how people will be using this. Is it fast and featured enough to use as a remote panel? Maybe a scenario where I am coding and could keep an eye on the circuit behavior from my coding workstation that is across the room from the test bench?

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 06:09:38 pm
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on June 09, 2016, 05:43:51 pmI'm not entirely sure really, the DSOX2000/3000 series have a pretty darn good web based interface as it is. I was controlling my scope that is in the basement from upstairs the other night.I can't think of too many use cases for it but if you did have the scope in some sort of test chamber having full remote control of it could be very useful.Either way I do appreciate all of the effort Keysight is going to to give us all of the different control options.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 06:44:01 pm
content: It's reasonably quick but nowhere near a substitute for the proper panel and display. There is no intensity info, and controls are limited.Useful if you need to look at signals while walking about the room - motion sensors etc.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 07:38:03 pm
content: It really is faster that I expected.Works extremely well in Single Capture modeSometimes I have to watch a system from far away and this would give me a good way to do it easily and fast.What I like:- Quick and easy sceenshots as if you capture the signal with the save button from the scope to USB- But alternatively you can also save it as a iPad screen ... very nice !- See picturesWhat I did not like:- I tried it with my iPad and an Agilent MSO7054B scope- The flickering between the green "Run" and the red "Stop" light on the scope is a little irritating- When the iPad goes in to "sleep" mode the scope stops the capturing.Suggestions:I tried to use different scopes and every time I had to enter the new IP addressIt would be very easy to have the last scopes connected listed in a history.Also some settings control for the scope would be niceIn general I like your App and will use it for some applicationsIt even would be handy to show some clients a real scope running in the distance.Question:Can I use the app over the internet and select my own port?Sorry, I did not try it out.Here are some pictures of my setup.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2016, 08:11:10 pm
content: One more problem discovered...Lets say I have the scope set to "High Resolution" Acquire modeAs soon as I log on with the APP, it switches the scope to "normal" Acquire modeOr is there a setting in the App that I have not found ?

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 12:28:14 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on June 09, 2016, 04:48:16 pmGood suggestions, thanks! I added those to our list of potential enhancements.

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 12:37:02 am
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on June 09, 2016, 05:43:51 pmHere are some of the uses we've heard:Viewing a scope that's in an inconvenient location such as in an environmental chamberViewing a scope waveform while probing a board, without having to turn away from what you are probing to see the scopeMonitoring a scope in the lab when you are offsite or stuck in a meetingUsing as a panel for a faceless scopeEnabling an expert user to provide remote assistance using the mobile appAccessing a scope in another location on a company intranetMonitoring long-running tests when you are away from your lab

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 12:45:20 am
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on June 09, 2016, 07:38:03 pmThanks for the feedback! I will add your suggestions to our list of future enhancements.I'm not sure if you can use the app over the internet and select your own port, I'll check on this and get back to you.

author: GordonK
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 12:49:23 am
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on June 09, 2016, 08:11:10 pmYes, the mobile app puts the scope into "normal" Acquire mode when it connects. This is one of a few settings that the app sets when it connects. We made the app put the scope in a known state so that we could make some simplifying assumptions in other parts of the app. However, it seems based on the feedback that the current behavior is too limiting. I'll make note of this in our enhancement planning.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 08:10:07 am
content: Thank you GordonKThe one use I have for the APP right now requires "average" acquire mode because of so much noise on the signal.Would be nice if you could fix this and leave the settings of the scope as it is, when the APP connects.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 08:23:29 am
content: I tried this briefly on my phone and MSO-X3104A yesterday.I thought it was unexpectedly responsive, which was really nice to see.Sadly, though, the tiny screen of a phone is a terrible way to control a scope, and I really don't think there's much that you guys can do about this... sorry!I'm very much a fan of proper knobs and buttons, and really don't like peering at and poking a small display. With that in mind, I was quite glad to see that the UI has been kept nice and simple, with just a few essential controls available. Good choice.The constant red/green blinking of the run/stop button on the scope was distracting. If you can't fix that in the app, it might even be worth including an update to the firmware on the scope that will allow it to be suppressed.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 08:47:36 am
content: Bear in mind that the typical user is not the typical phone app customer, so the usual phone app approach of simplifying everything and dumbing down the number of options etc. typically seen in phone apps is not appropriate here. The more options the better!

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 08:54:39 am
content: I hope your phone has a bigger screen, and your eyesight is sharper, than mine.Consider a feature request for 'dummy mode' and 'expert mode' logged!

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 09:24:10 am
content: I tried it on my iPhone as well and to get a quick waveform its ok. But I also would not like to use the iPhone for this purpose.Interestingly, I still had the iPad connected to the scope, when I connected the iPhone and the iPhone also logged in and both devices kept updating. Really nice! With BenchVue only one instance of connection is possible to a scope.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 03:42:14 pm
content: Quote from: GordonK on June 10, 2016, 12:37:02 amThe more I think about this, the more interesting it gets. It's one of those functions that I have never had in my head because the capability was not there - I have old scopes. With a Keysight MSO6000X on the way, I will obviously be getting some options that I have never seen before. Remote viewing and operations during coding and long term tests is going to to be helpful.

author: Kilrah
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 03:48:59 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on June 10, 2016, 08:47:36 am+1, IMO the app should offer 100% of what you can do on the scope itself.The first time you want to use the app to operate your scope that's downstairs but must get up to change an option on the machine itself will be the last one you use the app.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2016, 04:31:23 pm
content: Depending on what you're doing the direct browser based interface is very fully featured.With older scopes like the 5000/6000/7000, it's dependent on a Java enabled browser which is becoming almost impossible to configure these days due to layer upon layer of well-meaning security protecting us from ourselves.The x3000/x4000/x6000 interface appears similar, but is HTML5 so works with newer browsers. It works on tablets but no so well on phones because it won't fit on the screen (at least on iOS devices). I do find it much more useful than the mobile app as it gives you a proper copy of the screen and all controls are available.Either way, neither are super responsive I'm afraid, and for normal use I don't bother with either.Regarding remote connectivity over the internet, I've only ever used them through a VPN rather than direct. Again, they work, but it's not the usually silky smooth response, it's more like a Tek on a bad day ;-)

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 05:45:13 pm
content: Quote from: Howardlong on June 10, 2016, 04:31:23 pmVery true.And Java almost wants to update as much as an Adobe Flash player and resets all security settings. RRR@ KeysightWell, today I had an application for a client for the Keysight Oscilloscope Mobile APPIt is a simple slow signal on a pressure sensor and bad products have to be documented.This would be a perfect application for this APP but ....It seems the app removes all high noise signal and would suggest that all is perfect.Hmm, how does this happen.Here are the sample pictures1. What I see on the scope screen2. What I see on the iPad screenYes, it is a slow 2000X scope but for this clients need it will fit the budget perfectly and should work with the iPad and mobile App.Can this be fixed

author: Keysight DanielBogdanoff
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 09:52:01 pm
content: I see that the scope is stopped, but do you have any persistence turned on in the picture of the scope?I just spoke with @GordonK, and it may have something to do with the way the scope digitizes data for the app. But, I do see a couple spikes on the app that makes me wonder if it's a persistence thing.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2016, 12:18:22 am
content: The mobile app does not show the high-update intensity data - AIUI it uses the SCPI commands to get the waveform data, not screen image data that's generated by the scope's ASIC.