Mid-range oscilloscope sports capacitive touch screen, up to eight analog, 64 digital channels

The new 5 Series MSO mixed-signal oscilloscope is said to be the first to allow 4, 6 or 8 analog channels and up to 64 digital channels, integrated protocol analysis and signal generator, a new 12-bit signal acquisition system, a massive high-definition capacitive touch display, and a highly intuitive Direct Access user interface.

Developed by Tektronix, the 5 Series MSO provides the ability to correlate multiple analog and digital inputs to gain synchronous views of events in complex embedded and IoT systems. Until now, oscilloscopes have been defined with fixed configurations: the user had to decide up front how many analog channels and whether they want zero or a fixed number of digital channels. In many instruments, analog and digital channels are sampled at different rates, triggered using separate hardware, and stored in different-sized records, making precise comparisons impossible.

The 5 Series MSO offers models with four, six, or eight FlexChannels — the industry’s first reconfigurable oscilloscope input. By default, the input is a TekVPI+ connector that accepts all TekVPI analog probes, but when the new TLP058 Logic Probe is connected the input is converted to eight digital channels. The user can add as many logic probes as they need, enabling anywhere from eight to 64 digital channels. Digital signals are sampled, triggered, and stored the same as analog signals, greatly simplifying comparisons.

The 5 Series MSO also sports a 15.6-in. capacitive touch, high definition (1,920 x 1,080 px) display. With the display comes an advanced user interface that lets users access controls directly through objects on the display rather than having to navigate through menus to get to more menus. Users can also drive the oscilloscope using a mouse and conventional front-panel controls.

The compact instrument is less than eight-inches deep and improves the user experience with a rugged handle, a streamlined and intuitive front panel with LED light rings indicating selected waveform and trigger sources, and adjustable feet that enable additional viewing angles.

The 5 Series MSO incorporates a next-generation front-end amplifier that lowers noise approximately 4.5 dB from previous generation oscilloscopes. It also uses a 12-bit analog-digital converter (ADC) and a new High Res mode that delivers industry-leading vertical resolution (up to 16 bits). This combination of low noise and high-resolution ADC delivers excellent Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) performance.

The new 5 Series MSO can run as either a dedicated scope or in an open Windows configuration. The user can switch between the two simply by adding or removing a solid-state drive that has the Windows license/OS installed on it. When the SSD is installed, the instrument boots Windows. When it’s removed, the instrument boots as a dedicated scope. Regardless of the configuration, the scope’s user interface drives exactly the same way.

All 5 Series MSOs can be purchased or field upgraded as needs change with an arbitrary/function generator (AFG), digital probes, extended record length up to 125 Mpoints, additional protocol support, and bandwidth up to 1 GHz. An upgrade to 2 GHz is available through Tektronix Service Centers. The scopes are all backed by a three-year warranty.

The 5 Series MSO is priced from $12,600 US MSRP.

More information: www.tek.com/5seriesMSO