Tektronix Oscilloscopes Reviews

I develop electric vehicle systems. I use the serial protocol analysis tools, as well as using it with some high voltage differential probes for measuring motor voltage and battery current. We are measuring CAN bus RS232, as well as some power signals for voltage and current.

Being able to monitor data from a CAN bus while the vehicle is running will cut down a lot of the feedback for the design mode. I can obtain things quicker because I can figure out exactly why things aren't happening. Or, if there's a fault, I can find out the source more quickly.

The ability to have the serial protocol analysis is key. 

Isolated probes are good to have, as most of the scopes don't have it. It drives up the cost when you have to buy isolated probes.

We would like more features for the CAN bus decoding, such as importing DDC files, which allows us to take the raw data and convert it into engineering units. So, if I wanted to look at speed from a vehicle instead of looking at a hexadecimal or binary values on the oscilloscope it can load the DDC file and display the actual speed in miles per hour.

Its connectivity and ability to use it with PCs and smart phones needs improvement.

You can get application keys for it. The hardware isn't really upgradable, but you can unlock additional functionality,

I don't utilize the full bandwidth. Most of the stuff that I do is for CAN bus, which doesn't need anything in the gigahertz range

First, I'd go over to Google. The manuals are pretty well-written. They have a lot of documentation there. It's also not hard to reach out to the technical support, as they are fairly responsive.

When I first started using an oscilloscope, it was a Tektronix. That is what my university had. There was a learning curve, but it was mostly associated with the fact that I did not know how to use an oscilloscope.

I was an intern at Tektronix, then I got a deal on a Tektronix Oscilloscopes. That was pretty much the reason why I chose it. I didn't pick it over a previous scope, because I didn't have one before.

Tektronix Oscilloscopes are really expensive for small businesses. The low-end scopes don't really compare performance-wise to what the other companies provide, like RIGOL . Mostly that just has to do with the software options.

It's available on the low-end scopes for free, but on the higher-end scopes, it is expensive. Therefore, it's a bit more difficult to make stuff work. 

It is really solid hardware. The only room for improvement is the software.

Make sure that you understand what you are going to use these oscilloscopes for and don't spend money on features which you don't need.

Some of competitors' user interfaces are more intuitive. The Tektronix Oscilloscopes user interface is a lot of method menu. The newer Tektronix user interfaces are easier, because they have touch screens.

The application space that the solution targets is embedded systems for electric vehicle development. For example, I'm working on an electric bicycle dashboard right now.

There will be some Bluetooth at some point. I haven't gotten to it yet.

We use a range of Tektronix scopes. We have a 33-gig, real-time scope, as well as some lower-end models that we use for general digital debugging. In addition, we do ISP/IO characterization and general analysis. We do high-speed serial designs that are embedded. We mainly focus on fiber-optic telecom gear.

We measure the full gamut of signals, whether it's low-speed control IO, like Is4c, all the way up to 28G certes designs. It's a full range of signals, and as far as the applications it's enabling, that's really our entire design.

We are utilizing the whole bandwidth.

For the high-end products, we do a lot of general analysis. We use it to verify reference plot jitter and that's very important, especially when problems come up with BER and particular types of designs.

The most valuable feature is the automation component in setting up some of these measurements. There a lot of software packages, which are a part of the 33-gig scope in particular, that make it easy to do some really complex measurements. For the most part, it's point and go.

With the lower-end scopes, we use the Is4c bus decoding. That's a very valuable feature for us. We use that on a monthly basis to debug a lot of Is4c problems that seem to pop up every so often.

Technical support is great. That's why we have been loyal to Tektronix. We have a local rep who helps us out with any problems that we have or assistance that we need in making measurements. That's really key. It's not so much the scope itself, but getting support when we need it.

It could always be cheaper, but I don't really get involved too much with the pricing.

Research well what you need because, with the capabilities of the instruments, you definitely pay up for getting a very high-end piece of gear, and that might not necessarily be exactly what you need, even though the sales guys tell you that it is.

It doesn't take too long to get acclimated to the product. Whenever we do have a problem, the local rep seems to be able to help us with it. It's important too, to make sure you're doing things right, and not necessarily do them on your own, thinking you're doing things right.

The user interface is usable. It's nothing fancy.

I believe our solution is field-upgradable, especially when it comes to software packages. If there's something that we need, we can get a key for that pretty quickly.

We use Tektronix instruments for testing and measuring instruments. We use them in a broadcasting video technology, for video and video applications, to measure CD waveforms and other testing processes. We use them in almost every testing instance for automated design and research. We measure RF, video, and sometimes audio. We are utilizing the full bandwidth of the product.

The latest trend is that you can store things and then you can see them. And they work at high frequencies and low frequencies.

Also, the user interface is excellent. The GUI is so self-explanatory and there are the same knobs everywhere; the design is a standard design line. Tektronix has been in the industry now for 50 or 100 years. These are very good scopes.

The ruggedness could be improved.

Tech support is excellent.

From the beginning, I've been using the same vendor's products, although different models.

The pricing is not too high and not too low.

Regarding a learning curve, if you are an engineer, it wouldn't take that much time. You could probably learn it in a couple of days.

I would rate the products at eight out of ten because of the design, performance, the ruggedness, and the ease-of-use for the layman. All those things put together make it an eight.

We're using the Tektronix 8300 for measurements. It's a very good machine. We typically run with a serial DSLR application. The signals we measure are pulse and we are utilizing the full bandwidth.

Typically, our customers ask us about the full set of signal integrated characteristics, including TDR measurements and VNA measurements. Tektronix gives us manual measurements and we also do automatic measurements with a robot. We provide 100 percent coverage of PCBs. It helps to make sure our customers are happy.

Tektronix is robust and reliable. It's a hammer-resistant machine, a fact which is most important on our manufacturing floor.

The user interface is also good. I'm not in love with it, but it's really good. It's easy to control with our applications.

They need to add more memory to this machine because at this time the machine can support random simulation to the power of 15 but realistically, in requests from our customers, we need it to the power of 31. It's typically memory which is the issue.

Technical support is okay. I'm happy with it.

I would recommend this product.

Regarding a learning curve, there isn't one. It's a very good machine with very good support. If we need the support, they're there every time.

In terms of upgradability, again, I would like to see more memory. Right now, the machine has up to 50 gigahertz variance which, in most cases, is okay.

I would rate the product at eight out of ten because it's not too small and works in most cases. The two missing points are for the upgrades I mentioned. And if I give it a ten, they'll sleep quietly.

We're using the MDO3000 or MDO4000 series. They're very similar. We use them for making measurements or working on testing electrical signals. We use them for general purpose.

I'm working on computer motherboards. It's a different type of signal. The good thing is that it's very general-purpose. In most cases, the frequencies are up to six gig for the spectrum analyzer. For example, I measure I2C5 and USB. It cannot go into superspeed. But for superspeed I can look at the frequency. That's useful at times.

At times I'm almost using the full bandwidth of the product. For example, if I want to look at a USB clock, if it's Gen 1 it would be about five gigs. Sometimes I use that to see if the clocking has an issue.

Because it can detect both frequency and time domains simultaneously, if I want to check I send a command to the device and I can look at the frequency output. I can observe them and see the latencies together at one time. I don't need to use two pieces of equipment. That's the cool part.

I haven't seen anything similar where it has a spectrum analyzer and regular scope together. They work simultaneously, so they call it "mixed domain."

Tektronix sells a lot of options. Those options are a bit of confusing at times. It would be nice if the package included everything so I wouldn't have to figure out what I need to buy.

In terms of room for improvement, it's a powerful scope. But, the power of the computer inside is weak. Sometimes I send a lot of data and I'll feel the lag. The computer is slow. Eventually it provides the answer. I would like to see them improve the processing power.

The company has a direct contact. I know the person I need to call, so it is very easy.

Tektronix came to our company and demoed it and I saw that it was useful. We work with them frequently so when they have a new product it comes to us.

The lower the better, that would be my suggestion.

I would definitely recommend this scope to colleagues.

There was a little bit of a learning curve regarding the menu, but I eventually figured out how to get multiple windows or single windows and how to turn on a given domain. Overall, it's really quick. The front panel, the operational panel, is very straightforward. It has the scope plus a regular spectrum analyzer, with keys for the numbers.

I rate the product at ten out of ten. If someone needs a general-purpose scope, it's a good one.

We're mostly using high-speed network analyzer models, but then we have some low-speed signal integrity work that we do as well. We use the product for circuit debugging and signal analysis. For us, the product targets high-speed serial applications. It's fantastic.

We use it to support IoT development as well.

I'm not personally utilizing the full bandwidth of the product but there are other people who are using it to the full bandwidth. It's working well for the stuff that's meant for high-speed.

It has a good user interface. It's easy to use, easy to read. It's intuitive. The easier it is to use, the quicker you can get your job done, figure out what's wrong and move on. Ease of use is really the key.

If they could make the user interface even more intuitive that would help. If they could make it easier to read, to know where the buttons are, that's all I need.

The technical support is great. They come in, they show us how to use it. If we have questions, they'll give presentations.

It's cost-effective. The company buys whatever we need to buy. It really isn't a matter of cost. It might cost a lot of money, but if we need it we buy it.

There isn't so much of a learning curve. They'll come in and give you training for whatever kind of toy you want to use. The learning curve is fine.

The solution is field-upgradable. We have upgraded several modules as we have needed to. We'll buy the baseline and if something comes up, we'll upgrade.

The primary case would be passenger measurements and calculations for all PCIe US facilities.

It provides you the best way to view information without opening multiple applications, like a single solution.

I like the ease of use in terms of the different applications. 

The user interface is user-friendly.

There was a learning curve, which was a little tricky at times. Getting used to the GUI took time because we had to learn the different features, but once we learnt it, it was good.

We are using the full bandwidth of the product, and it is handling it well.

The technical support are good and work quickly.

Some of the products are more flexible depending on the use case that you need.

We did demo this product and found it worked for us.

The applications that this products target are more services. We do target certain applications, like PCIe and USB. We are not using it for IoT development.

It is mostly used for measuring NRB signals.

We use many models of oscilloscopes for lab tests. We use it for high-speed systems, mostly for PCIe Gen4. We utilize the full bandwidth of the product.

It helps our design-verification cycle.

It has very fast response with deep memory and gets the job done. The user interface is also very intuitive with a fast response.

I would like to see more integration into machine learning because that's what we try to apply it to.

They have great technical support.

The company was already using it when I started with them.

It's a very reliable product.

I would rate the product a ten out of ten. They provide a great partnership with us. We have certain projects going on with together with Tektronix and they're great partners.

We use several models for validation of electronics designs, for particle physics, or for medical applications. It's a debugger and for prototyping. For us, the solution is mostly targeting 6G. We are measuring data transfer applications, mostly; data links and transference stability. We don't utilize the full bandwidth.

The most valuable feature is the quality. Also, the Ipath and measurements are fantastic and simple to implement.

I would like to see a lower price.

We haven't needed much technical support. And when we have needed it, we have a very good contact person. He always responds fast. But it's not usual for us to need him.

The problem is that the products are expensive. But we know academics get a big discount so I cannot complain much. We are in the academic world, so it's nice.

We also have Keysight and LeCroy. There are always competitors. In terms of demos, at the large companies, they will bring the equipment to them for testing.

We would definitely recommend this product.

There is an ongoing learning curve. They exponentially increase the number of functions. I don't think I ever use 80 percent of the functionality. I probably use only 20 percent of the functions. The user interface is complicated when you first start it up, but then you get used to the sequences.

Our solution is field-upgradable up to 10 gigahertz.

I would rate the product at nine out of ten. A ten is never achievable. There is always room for improvement.

Debugging is our primary use case for the product. We use it around 500 megahertz, maybe one gigahertz, but we're not implementing any serial links. The signals we measure are clocks and data. For the most part we're measuring between FPGAs and memory chips and looking at their data buses. We're not usually utilizing the full bandwidth.

It helps to reduce my testing time.

• It's multi-channel, four-channel
• The frequency range that I can run it over
• It has bandwidth filtering
• The user interface is good, I don't have any complaints with it

I know you can get the Bit Masks but it's generally really expensive to get the eye diagrams and Bit Masks with it. I wish they were included or cheaper.

I have not needed technical support. I had a broken fan once and I just sent it back and it came back.

It's pretty intuitive after you've used any scope. It's relatively easy. I like to use it and it does what I need it to do.

For what I use it for, it works perfectly well for me. Our solution is field-upgradable, but it's good the way it is for us.

I would rate the product at eight out of ten. I don't usually find that the scope is holding me back from finding out what I need to.