Tektronix MSO2024B - Review

The website wouldn't let me attach it directly to the roadtest, I hope the moderators can do so .

Roadtest link: http://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1478

Scoring

Total Score      50/60

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First Impressions:

The box arrived October 10th, I picked it up and took a look … they shipped it in the original Tektronix packaging, no outer case.  The large words Tektronix are printed on each side as well as the web address.  This is something that you should be aware of in the instance that your delivery person decides to simply leave the package on your doorstep.

In this review I will be concentrating on ease of use as well as some of the nuances that I discovered that are not covered in the manual.   Who knew that I would be spending most of my time bug hunting on this very well built piece of equipment.

I carefully opened the packaging, inside I was delighted to see how well everything was separated and packed. Each component and accessory had its own little compartment.

  I lifted up the brown tray and peaked inside.  On top of the scope was a black pouch made of a sturdy nylon fabric.  It was small, I wondered if all of the probes would fit inside.

They did.

The scope was packaged with foam on the ends securing it in place.  I am sure that this box could have been dropped and no damage would have occurred to its contents.

I pulled the scope out and marveled at all of the buttons,   I am used to much simpler devices.  I currently own a Rigol 1052e and still have and use my first scope which is a Tektronix 434a storage analog scope.  The older Tektronix has stood the test of time in its ruggedness, it is still in calibration as well.  This is a testament to what their build quality used to be.  Will this new scope live up to its ancestor in these two areas?  Only time will tell that.

The  MSO2024BMSO2024B is a relatively heavy scope in comparison to my rigol.  It honestly feels like you get your moneys worth by simply lifting it.  I am a fan of electronics that feel like they have something to them at least when they are designed to sit on a bench all day and not be carried in my pocket

Here are some of the unpacking images as well as closeups so that you can better see some of the features.

I hooked it up and turned it on.  Instantly an image greeted me….. 10 seconds… 20 seconds….. what felt like a full 2 minutes went by and that image was still on the screen.  Should I push a button?  Is it locked up?  I was used to the almost instant on of my other scopes.  The rigol boots up in seconds and the old 434a is instant (if you don’t count the warm up time needed to stabilize the internals).

Eventually a screen appeared that stated something about several features were only a trial.  This is troublesome, I personally despise crippleware and when you purchase an item you should have access to all of its features and not just part of them.   I expect this will be a target for hacking later by others if it isn’t already.

The scope has accessories that can connect to it through the use of small spring loaded contacts, hence all of the exposed circuit board.  None of my older devices are equipped with this so it is a new feature for me.   Also included is a place to insert an upgrade module when the trials expire.  I looked into what these software packages would cost and at nearly one third the cost of this scope new I will most likely be making do without.  There is only one slot, and on the tektronix website the software package module all seem to be sold as singles.  From further reading, I found that most tektronix scopes can only have two modules unlocked at a time.  In this scope, you need insert the two modules into the side slot with one facing forward and one facing backward. 

I pushed a button labeled "Test"…. instantly I was greeted with the screen below.

hmmm….  ok, lets try the basics then…

Probe compensation

I hooked up one of the probes and touched the test signal output.  991 Hz?  This strikes me as a really odd value.  I will test this with my other two scopes and verify that this is the case.  If so, then great, if not… then there are other issues.

I hooked it up to another scope and tested the signal, it is indeed 991.160 Hz.

The probe compensation is in the usual way, there is a small screw on the connector that you turn to adjust the signal.

Next up, I took a look at the accessories included.  The logic analyzer functionality is implemented through a reasonable length cable.  The ends are keyed that you cannot insert it backwards into the oscilloscope. 

They also included a breakout cable to attach small clips.

These all seem to be of reasonable quality, however I would have preferred the labeling to be filled in with white paint to make it easier to read in a dimly lit area.  The cables themselves were very flexible, a very important feature and if you have ever been forced to use cheap probes with a stiff cable, one that you will appreciate.

The knobs on the front panel all are very well laid out.  If you are familiar with most other oscilloscopes you should be right at home with this model.  The menu system is also very intuitive, you can enable or disable different functions as needed while analyzing signals.

While testing the scope, I discovered a bug, after I set the date and time a message popped up.

I found this to be a huge flaw, at least for testing purposes.  Setting the date back did not fix this issue.

In my testing I also discovered a few other issues, one of them is that the scope attempts to auto detect your probes as they are hooked up.  I had all 4 probes attached and the logic analyzer probes hooked up,  probe one and the logic analyzer were both receiving a signal as shown below.

However, when you enter the About menu, it does not show them attached nor does it receive the signal that I was sending it.  This tells me that the firmware that is currently loaded on my scope is definitely not completed.  I do look forward to upgrading it in the future, when some of the features such as the test button have been implemented.

Saving a waveform was as easy as inserting a flash-drive into the USB slot and hitting save.  The device captures exactly what is on the display.  There is also a print button, however when pressed it gives the following error message, even with a printer attached.  I will look into this further after a firmware upgrade.

Conclusion:

Overall, the Tektronix 2024B oscilloscope is a very capable tool.  I assume this is an early version of its firmware and there are menu bugs and other little nuances that I hope will be corrected in the future.  None of the issues it has are a show stopper however and as a basic scope and semi crippled logic analyzer, especially since all of the trial-ware expired almost immediately, I find it a great addition to the bench.

In the value for money area, the additional cost of the software modules  do tip the scales in a negative way.  Instead of spending 1500 dollars on modules I would be more inclined to just purchase a second hand bench logic analyzer or one of the PC based solutions, especially given some of the current firmware bugs.

Lets hope Tektronix update the firmware soon to fix the issues that I found. This model really does feel like a diamond in the rough.

I will update this review with further information as it becomes available.

Cheers!

ThunderSqueak