Back in the first part of September I was seeking to improve my knowledge of modern and upscale Oscilloscopes. On the Tektronix web site I found a couple of excellent downloads. One was titled "ABCs of Probes" and the second was titled "XYZs of Oscilloscopes". After I downloaded the texts I found that they were well positioned to teach me many of the things I wanted to learn. If you also have questions about Oscilloscopes or Probes I highly recommend you check these publications out. Here is a link to the Tektronix Learning Center:
Shortly after I download the the ABCs and the XYZs I was contacted by Varun Merchant, the Technical Marketing Manager for Tektronix. He asked me if I was interested in actually sitting down and familiarizing myself with an upscale Tektronix scope. He explained that Tektronix was doing a series of Seminars called "Power Tour Best Practices for Testing Power Converter Designs" in several key cities and that there would be a seminar in Minneapolis on October 20. Now those of you who know my level of expertise and have seen my shop equipment know that I probably do not belong at the controls of a $25,000 scope attached to $4,000 worth of probes. Quickly, before anyone could change their minds about the invite I had signed myself and Millie up for the show. I did not want to pass up this opportunity to see what real quality equipment looked and felt like.
On the day of the show my enthusiasm was evident as Millie and I were the first of about 24 participants to arrive Tektronix had the room laid out with 9 tables each equipped with a Tektronix MSO5204BMSO5204B 2 GHz Scope a High Voltage Differential Probe and an AC/DC current probe In addition there was a test power supply board and a Lab Manual with different experiments to work through that would demonstrate a few of the myriad capabilities of the MSO 5204B The majority of the participants at the seminar were technicians and engineers from electronics manufacturers in the Minneapolis area
Here is a picture of Varun Merchant greeting me and another closeup of the MSO5204BMSO5204B
After a presentation by Jim Brophy Account Manager for the area the program was turned over to Brian Hensley the Application Engineer for the 5000 and 7000 series Tektronix Scopes Brian did a good job of explaining the importance of quality and repeatable measurements to the industrial customers that had come for the seminar There are many standards and regulations that must be met in the manufacture and testing of power supplies and converters If the measurements are not made with good quality test equipment then the final product is not on a good standing Brian explained that the Tektronix scopes actually come with the industry standards built into the software of the scope so that they can be used for performance comparison and for documentation Apparently Tektronix also monitors the regulations and standards and provide upgrades to the software as standards and industry rules change When Brian finished his short presentation everyone in the room quickly got down to testing and checking out the MSO5204BMSO5204B Scopes I wish I could tell you about all the capabilities of this piece of equipment but frankly I knew just enough to be awestruck by it I spent my time with the scope making some of the simple measurements that I understood and checking out all the drop down lists that were available across the top of the screen This oscilloscope operates with Windows 7 and I could access many of the functions from the controls by touching the screen or by using the mouse and cursor While the engineers and I checked the scopes and probes out the Tektronix staff including another very competent fellow Jerry Mendez whom I have yet to mention went from table to table answering questions and demonstrating unique capabilities Here is a picture of the group working on the experiments that were suggested by the workbook
I had a nice picture of this same scene with Millie in it but she insisted that this one with me be used. Besides the scopes, Tektronix also brought along a small selection of other equipment including some Keithley meters. I understand that there is another one of these seminars in Chicago in a few days and still another on the West Coast in the near future. I really enjoyed this opportunity to try out the Tektronix MSO 5204B scope with the differential and current probes. If you are interested in more information on Tektronix equipment or one of these seminars I am sure that you can e-mail Varun Merchant
for more information.
John
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