Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Radar Analysis with the Tektronix MDO4104-6

This week, Tektronix introduced the "scope revolution", the new Mixed Domain Oscilloscope.  There is a ton of material already available describing the architecture of the oscilloscope and how it can be used for some common applications, such as Zigbee, power supply design, PLL settling, etc.  I won't repeat today what you'll find on the Tektronix site.  I want to blog on some less common applications.  In this case, I am using the MDO4104-6 to analyze a wideband chirped radar.
What are some common measurements I need to make in radar design, what tools are used today, and why would I use an MDO to analyze my radar?

Monday, August 22, 2011

To run Windows or not to run Windows - All About Oscilloscope Operating Systems

Quick.... look at both of these oscilloscopes.  What's the difference between them?

 

Both oscilloscopes look awfully similar.  They are both the same height, width, and have the same screen size.  They have the same button layout, and both are available in 350MHz, 500MHz, and 1GHz variants.  What's the difference?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Oscilloscope Revolution - Analog + Digital + RF

This is a technology blog, but this news is so big, I thought I should use my blog to help promote it.  Besides, sign up for the launch party and you can win one of $30,000 worth of prizes!  I guarantee you won't want to miss August 30, 2011!

Check it out and sign up now:


Monday, August 8, 2011

What's the difference between a GHz and a GS?

One of the most confusing things for real-time oscilloscope buyers is the difference between sample rate and bandwidth. I remember when I started with Tektronix, I heard people tell me they owned a "20GHz Agilent oscilloscope". At the time, Tektronix was the only one making a 20GHz oscilloscope. Agilent made nothing more than 13GHz. What they were telling me was impossible. However, the lower bandwidth Agilent oscilloscopes did have 20GS/s sample rate, which was the source of their confusion.

So what is the difference between a GHz and a GS?