Portable DSOs Measure Up To Industrial Power Market

Oct. 4, 2004

A new DSO class, with isolated channels and eight-hour battery operation, expedites design validation and equipment maintenance in the lab and the field.

Roger Allan

Boasting four isolated channels, a family of portable digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs) brings an array of noteworthy features to the industrial power market. Designers and technicians within the automotive, communications, consumer electronics, medical instrumentation, and security systems industries can look forward to gains in productivity when using Tektronix's 8-lb TPS2000 100- and 200-MHz scopes. The tools perform a broad range of design-validation and equipment-maintenance tasks amid a variety of working conditions. Each scope's 8-lb weight includes one standard and one optional battery. And, the scopes measure 26.7 cm high by 47.6 cm wide by 22.9 cm deep.

The family comes in three flavors, giving users a host of performance options. They include the TPS2012 two-channel, 100-MHz unit (1-Gsample/s rate), the TPS2014 four-channel, 100-MHz unit (1-Gsample/s rate), and the top-of-the-line TPS2024 four-channel, 200-MHz unit (2-Gsample/s rate). All three models include the same amount of memory and maximum floating and input voltage capability (using the optional P5120 probe, which is part of the TPS2PBND Power Bundle) and are available with a standard P2220 probe. Also, all models provide four hours of hot-swappable lithium-ion rechargeable battery operation (the optional battery provides up to eight hours of operation) and can be run from 120-V ac sources.

Users often must quickly, accurately, and affordably verify the performance of complex control circuits and determine the effects of neutral current for differential voltages. Isolated and floating measurements up to 30 V_RMS with standard Category II wiring can be made using the P2220 probe. When it comes to higher voltages, standard Category II wiring using the TPS2PBND Power Bundle option is the best bet. This option, which includes the P5120 probe (four such probes are included), can make isolated and floating measurements that reach 600 V_RMS.

The P5120 optional probe, using Category II wiring, also enables users to make high-voltage measurements from tip to ground of 1000 V_RMS. Measurements spanning digital circuitry to three-phase power are possible from a single instrument, enabling specific measurements on four isolated channels simultaneously. All inputs are isolated from ground using a patent-pending Tektronix IsolatedChannel technology.

The oscilloscopes offer quick isolation of events with advanced triggers, as well as fast and accurate device characterization with automatic measurements. They also provide circuit analysis and troubleshooting via fast Fourier transforms (FFTs). The user interface is simplified with independent knobs and buttons for each channel, and an auto-set menu offers waveform selection. Other features include auto-ranging, backlit menu buttons, and brightness and contrast controls. There's even a versatile hanging strap that can be rigged up to handle measurements in very tight places like closets and small wiring enclosures.

OpenChoice software is available for documenting and analyzing measurement results. An integrated CompactFlash memory feature provides a maximum record length of 2.5 kbytes.

The TPS2012, 2014, and 2024 cost $2990, $3390, and $3790 each, respectively. The optional TPS2PBND Power Bundle, which includes four P5120 probes along with the TPSPWR 1 power measurement and analysis software, costs $1190. The software measures phase switching loss, true power levels, reactive power, power factor, harmonic levels down to the 50th harmonic, and other parameters.

Tektronix Inc.www.tektronix.com
(800) 426-2200

About the Author

Roger Allan

Roger Allan is an electronics journalism veteran, and served as Electronic Design's Executive Editor for 15 of those years. He has covered just about every technology beat from semiconductors, components, packaging and power devices, to communications, test and measurement, automotive electronics, robotics, medical electronics, military electronics, robotics, and industrial electronics. His specialties include MEMS and nanoelectronics technologies. He is a contributor to the McGraw Hill Annual Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He is also a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and holds a BSEE from New York University's School of Engineering and Science. Roger has worked for major electronics magazines besides Electronic Design, including the IEEE Spectrum, Electronics, EDN, Electronic Products, and the British New Scientist. He also has working experience in the electronics industry as a design engineer in filters, power supplies and control systems.

After his retirement from Electronic Design Magazine, He has been extensively contributing articles for Penton’s Electronic Design, Power Electronics Technology, Energy Efficiency and Technology (EE&T) and Microwaves RF Magazine, covering all of the aforementioned electronics segments as well as energy efficiency, harvesting and related technologies. He has also contributed articles to other electronics technology magazines worldwide.

He is a “jack of all trades and a master in leading-edge technologies” like MEMS, nanolectronics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, military electronics, biometrics, implantable medical devices, and energy harvesting and related technologies.