element14 giving away a Tektronix MDO3054 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: element14
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 06:55:48 pm
content: Hi Guys.We're at it again. This time, we have 3 units of the Tek MDO 3054 to give away. You can enter our RoadTest for free here:http://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1296.And you can learn more about the MDO3000 series of mixed-domain oscilloscopes here:.Good luck!Sagar Jethanielement14

author: XOIIO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 07:49:56 pm
content: Well not even sure what the road testing is, and no clue what I would do with a scope that fancy, and of course odds will be ridiculously small but what the heck, may as well try.

author: liquibyte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 07:54:52 pm
content: No one like you or I will get this. An engineer will get these. I wouldn't know how to put one of these through its paces anyway so why bother.

author: XOIIO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 08:01:09 pm
content: Quote from: liquibyte on May 05, 2014, 07:54:52 pmYeah noticed there is a write up thing, I just put my name in anyways, but I can definitely say that the chance of me getting one will be 0.0000000001% at most.

author: Smalldog
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 08:20:42 pm
content: +1. Signed up for the road test with fingers crossed.Just ordered an Agilent MSOX3054A that's fully optioned (excluding GPIB adapter) and would be very interesting to put these two scopes side by side and put then to work.Smalldog

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 08:21:50 pm
content: I applied for an Element 14 road test and was picked, so you might as well have a go. Mine was a MSP430 ZigBee booster pack rather than a scope, but still...For something like this it does seem sensible that someone who is capable of properly reviewing and appreciating it gets one. I'm still in awe of my new DS1074Z so it'd be a bit wasted on me!

author: liquibyte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 08:27:16 pm
content: Quote from: XOIIO on May 05, 2014, 08:01:09 pmYou've got at least a 0.00000001% chance. I think they're looking for someone that knows quite a bit about what they're doing and this is a way to get free publicity through reviews in order to sell more. I'm sure it works for them or they wouldn't keep doing it. I wish you luck. My luck is never good enough and I'm too old and cynical now to even try. Besides, why would they want nubish reviews when they can get guys like Dave to really spread the word. I'm sure part of the review consideration process is to do a search and see how many hits the site gets daily/weekly/monthly.

author: XOIIO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 08:30:07 pm
content: Quote from: liquibyte on May 05, 2014, 08:27:16 pmNote that I said at most lol.I'm cynical too, I've never won a single thing in my life, still waiting for the first time lol.

author: liquibyte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 08:40:57 pm
content: You convinced me. So this is what I wrote, in all its cynicism.Quote

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 09:57:30 pm
content: lemme at it ! i'll rip it to shreds !

author: jancumps
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 10:05:27 pm
content: You tried so hard that the element14 site is down.

author: element14
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 11:17:59 pm
content: Hi Everyone.Really glad you find this giveaway exciting-- we're pretty stoked that Tek has offered three of these units up. I saw the comments here about how we select winners, and wanted to explain our process.The reason we get such cool product to giveaway is because RoadTest winners agree to write detailed product reviews after they've had a chance to use the item for a couple of weeks. Usually, this involves using the product in a build or putting it through a battery of tests to see how it performs. We never push reviewers to lean one way or another-- but we do want to at least see a detailed review. That's basically what's in it for us as an online community for electronic engineers. We figure that it's more valuable for real engineers to share their opinions than for us to try to rank products ourselves. And the companies that manufacture these products are hungry for detailed reviews from people who understand technology and really know how to tell how it performs.One of the main factors we use in selecting winners is what the applicant writes in their RoadTest application text box. We want to make sure that whoever wins these products will actually follow-through and publish a review within a few weeks after receiving it. We also keep a list showing all of our past RoadTest winners, so we don't accidentally keep picking the same lucky person each time.I hope this helps answer some of your questions about element14 RoadTest.Good luck!Sagar Jethani

author: liquibyte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2014, 11:33:54 pm
content: Quote from: element14 on May 05, 2014, 11:17:59 pmThat's where our concern comes in. Not all of us are professional engineers and feel that this fact alone would disqualify us on an unspoken level. I just built a power supply that I'd love to hook up to a decent scope but since I don't have one, I can't until I can at least fork out between $3-800 unless I want to spend my nights sniping ebay and hoping for the best. I can assure you that anyone of us hobbyists would write a review. The question is, would it be the review that you're looking for? I'd say that what you should really do is search forums and blogs and websites and find three people that would give you what you wanted and offer them to those people. The beginners among us feel that we don't have a chance.

author: rfbroadband
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 04:41:20 am
content: I would be really interested to figure out how good the built in spectrum analyzer really is and especially how well one can trigger on frequency domain measurements (eg. freq domain mask violations), stop acquisitions and evaluate events and data in the time domain, combined with an MSO option...even better. In addition to a review one could compare this MDO against the R&S RTO as well....would be fun.

author: lapm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 08:49:55 am
content: As poor hobbyist im sad i have no lab cabable to put one of these throw the hoops and see what i can do... So not much point trying to volantier as road tester...

author: w2aew
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 12:53:24 pm
content: Quote from: rfbroadband on May 06, 2014, 04:41:20 amThe spectrum analyzer in the MDO3000 is free-running - not triggered, and not time correlated to the analog and digital signal acquisitions. Time correlation between the spectrum analyzer, along with RF signal capture simultaneous with the analog and digital inputs, is a feature of the MDO4000 series.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 01:37:32 pm
content: Quote from: rfbroadband on May 06, 2014, 04:41:20 amHere is a reply to my question of what the MDO3000 series spectrum analyser would be good for:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-mdo3000-now-includes-the-3ghz-analyser-for-free/msg428931/#msg428931

author: han
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 03:12:13 pm
content: first, i didn't know what option and feature in detail, so forgive me if my suggestion have a flawFor you feel didn't have chance for good review here some sugestion:Anyone can make a good review without billion dollar lab,- If the 3GHz SA is Enabled, you can use Wifi/Bluetooth/your phone for GSM,3G,LTE ,...- If the SA and ARB is enable, you can use ARB to generate "low freq"ODFM signal, and see the the modulation with SA- If there is LA and Protocol Analyzer, you can buy cheap Lattice XO2 about $35 and make pattern with jitter and "squeeze" the LA capability with long unterminated cable for introduce lousy signal. And find how good the LA can decode the signal- DMM....you can find the "undocumented" limitation like (maybe) the BW of the TRMS voltage, DC filtering, etc. with just breadboard and some discreet component, hey you have attached ARB there.- More challange... you can capture funny signal from Phone/wifi,... and play it with matlab or build your own software..

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 03:17:15 pm
content: Application filled out.Thanks for the opportunity.

author: madshaman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 03:24:22 pm
content: They're encouraging me to SPAM all my friends to increase my chances of winning..

author: rfbroadband
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 06, 2014, 06:00:29 pm
content: Quote from: w2aew on May 06, 2014, 12:53:24 pmso it is not possible to trigger the scope on a mask violation of the SA in the frequency domain?

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2014, 03:37:30 am
content: Quote from: rfbroadband on May 06, 2014, 06:00:29 pmIt does not look like it. Tektronix has some documentation discussing the differences between the MDO3000 and MDO4000:http://www.tek.com/document/fact-sheet/mdo4000b-and-mdo3000-series-comparison-fact-sheet

author: rfbroadband
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 07, 2014, 03:58:12 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on May 07, 2014, 03:37:30 amthanks for the link, apparently not...the 3000 only allows to use either the spectrum analyzer mode or the scope mode. So it really looks like the interesting features are indeed in the 4000 series not the 3000 series....

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2014, 04:15:04 am
content: Quote from: rfbroadband on May 07, 2014, 03:58:12 amI would not mind seeing detailed documentation about how both oscilloscopes work internally. I wonder how many MDO3000 limitations are driven by market segmentation.

author: element14
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2014, 02:02:04 am
content: Hi Guys.Just wanted to thank you for checking out our Tek MDO3000 RoadTest. Congrats to our three winners, Jeremy, Tomas, and Brian. We look forward to reading their reviews of the scope!http://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1296We have some more RoadTests and webinars which I'll post about separately.Thanks,Sagar