TDS-1002b Any good? Comments?

If none of the PC based scope manufacturers offer them then you obviously don't have a choice. In which case be careful in what you buy up front or be prepared to make your own probes if needed.

I am not doubting your original post, yes it is an important point.

I could have sworn I opened the 54600 series probe box once and it had some active circuitry, but that was long time ago, so ok, my mistake, sorry. I may have been confused with another LA, I've used a lot of them.

You have misinterpreted what I said again. What was I was referring to was your inference that I simply hit the trigger button and was relying on the deep buffer of the scope, but of course no one uses a logic analyser like that (that I know of), they always use some form of minimal triggering to find the event they want and then get any required pre and post data. Sorry, the word "smart" probably wasn't too appropriate there, I should have said "standard" or something that would not confuse you.

It was a follow up design to my 40MHz 32 channel PC based logic analyser published in Electronics Australia in Oct/Nov 96, but it never made it to publication, sorry to disappoint you.

Well that's just fantastic for you, and that's all I need *most* of the time too. But recently (and at other times) such a logic logic analyser would be essentially useful for me.

What is your problem Jim?, I was just pointing out that I've had to use (many times) a logic analyser much more powerful and with much more sample memory than the 2K (transitions or otherwise), it does happen you know, that's why they make bigger and better logic analysers. If a logic analyser does not let me see what I want to see because it's got a small memory, then it's essentially "useless" for my task at that time. But if that's all you got, then, well, you make do with it some how.

I never said you could.

I never said it was! and I was not bragging, just pointing out that I've had to resort to such high end logic analysers on quite a few occasions.

Chill out a bit, I'm not out to get you, or to bag the Intronix unit, really.

Dave.

Ah, judging by your newly displayed email address you either work for Intronix or you *are* Intronix, in which case that explains why you have such a bee in your bonnet! ;-)

Dave.

Well, your close. I'm not Intronix, and I don't work for anyone. I'm retired. You may have already guessed this by the fact that I was using logic analyzers 25 years ago.

With regards to my connection to Intronix, I started out as just an enthusiastic customer/user of the their product. I became friendly with, and have had many conversations with the designer of the product. For a short while we even had an arangement where I was paid to do some of their tech-support (before they hired someone to do it full time). That's one reason I'm so intimently familiar with the product. And yes, I do still have certain privelages with the company - including email.

I came across this thread while looking for feedback on the Tektronix TDS1002B. I'm a bit of a test-equipment junky, and I saw a TDS1002B for sale cheap. I was considering buying it, though obviously won't after reading what users have said about them here.

When I saw a blow-hard self-appointed expert like yourself condemn a product which you hadn't even tried, one which I happen to know very well and am very impressed with, I couldn't resist taking you on. In the brief period that I did tech support for Intronix I talked to many happy users of their product. I was amazed at just how loyal people are to it. Some large companies have actually purchased dozens of them. There is something about the product which people seem to fall in love with. It's friendly to use and all of that, but I think the real reason might just be that for once, a PC-based test instrument meets its specs, and actually does what it says it will. My observation in the past has been that many don't.

So now you know where I'm coming from, but you've also revealed your motivation. In a word, it's jealousy. You *almost* did something meaningful 10 years ago, but you didn't have the where-with-all to put anything into production so you put it into the public domain instead. Now you resent anyone who has had commercial success in that market. I could tell from your comments that you just couldn't stand the thought of another soul buying that product. Darn the people at Intronix anyhow for following through on their efforts, and for being successful!

Don't feel bad though. I don't have the where-with-all to put anything into that market either. But I don't resent those who have.

So you can let the bee out of *your* bonnet now ;-}

Jim

Nope, didn't guess, sorry. I used my first logic analyser 20+ years ago now, and I am nowhere near retirement age, probably got another 30 years to go in fact.

Ok, cool.

And you kept up all the chest-beating after I admitted I hadn't noticed the Intronix unit used transitional sampling, which of course puts it into an entirely better and more useful category, and I said as much. And I have said at least a few times that I am not bagging the Intronix unit.

Very true, many don't.

Nope, you couldn't be further from the truth.

Nope, you couldn't be further from the truth again. I never had any ideas of turning it into a commercial product, it did it just for fun like I did with all my published projects (almost a dozen of them), it's one of my hobbies.

Utter mis-interpreted rubbish again. I based my original post on the (incorrect) point that it only had 2K (of non-transitional) memory. Since then I have not bagged the Intronix one bit.

Give up trying to read people, you aren't very good at it :->

Dave.

Hello all. I own a GDS-2000 series scope from Goodwill / Instek. A GDS-2062. I did a straightforward features/price ratio, and ordered it immediately. It's well built, feels solid to use. Looks nice. They haven't finished it yet. You can collect 25K points (total, 25k * 1 channel or 12.5k * 2 channels), but only zoom in (0, 1 or 2 levels, as far as I can see) on the centre of the sample window - no panning. The extra detail at either end isn't available. After I calibrate the scope (well, go through the prescribed motions) the two channels report 10% different values for the same testpoint (both probes attached to the same testpoint, at the same time). It locks up from time to time, requiring switch off - switch on. Switch on takes a while - I think it's loading the FPGA inside. Sometimes you get a BSOD that says something reassuring about the FPGA, but it still needs the power switch to get it to start again. There are little niggly problems all around with it. I think it has all the hardware it needs to be a good scope, it just seems like they haven't finished writing its firmware. I've just given up on a project that should have been straightforward if the scope worked, but it doesn't. If you can afford one of these, you should find 8 friends who want one too, and then you should go and buy one Agilent, and pass it around between you. A firmware upgrade was mentioned by one of their staff, in the only reply I got to numerous emails and messages using their web-based contact forms. If they produce one, I may switch the thing on again. If they don't, I'm going to give the scope to my 16-month-old daughter. She'll really, really like it.

Make your own minds up, maybe I'm a bit over emotional about my purchase. Regards Sean

Wow, that really sux and I'm sorry to hear that. :-( That's almost the exact opposite of my experience with the Rigol I bought. The firmware has been very stable and seems pretty much finished. I do see a fair amount of drift the first few minutes while it's warming up, but if you turn the auto-cal button off and on to force an instant auto-cal, the baseline centers right back up. Accuracy seems fairly decent and I seem to be able to view all the data in the capture buffer. It crashed a couple of times when I was hot swapping a memory stick, but after doing one reload of the factory settings it hasn't flinched since. I corresponded with the tech support people in China over a couple of things (pc software key and memory stick crash) and they were very responsive. And yeah, my two year old really wants one for herself too. ;-) MOUNTAIN!!! PICTURE!!!!