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Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscopes Review

This product makes my life easier, results better, and speeds up my work

What is our primary use case?

We use it to measure power supply noise.

We are using a couple of types of oscilloscopes from the RTO®2000 product line. We use the spectrum analyzer and signal source analyzer.

How has it helped my organization?

I have been able to do quality measurements that I have been unable to achieve with the equipment from some other vendors. Since I spend quite some time in the lab, this product makes my life easier, results better, and speeds up my work.

What is most valuable?

For real-time oscilloscopes, Rohde & Schwarz has a pretty robust solution.

It's compact.
It has low channel noise.
I appreciate their customer support.
It specifically targets voluntary applications, which is what I'm doing. E.g., I have to do a lot of wattage noise measurements for supply and distress.

So, it is a good match for the sort of things that I need to do.

What needs improvement?

There was a learning curve. Their use interface and the way that their products work are not intuitive to somebody who switches from other vendors, like Keysight or LeCroy. At first, I had to be walked through every step because every time I guessed where to find a function, I would guess wrong.

Once you learn the user interface, it's very nice. However, when you face it for the first time, it's tricky. You have to spend time with the product before you feel comfortable with it.

I would like to increase the range of our signal processing functions in our real-time oscilloscopes. Since they have been marketing their oscilloscope as universal or as a multi-purpose scope, it does very well for the supplying those measurements, but it is lacking in jitter measurements.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I might take advantage of the memory upgrade, because that is something that you can always use more of in a real-time scope.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have been very satisfied with their customer support. I know quite a few application engineers from Rohde & Schwarz and all of them are very helpful, knowledgeable, and easy to deal with.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

A good friend of mine suggested Rohde & Schwarz. Previously, I was using Keysight LeCroy, so I didn't really know about Rohde & Schwarz. I trust the person who suggested Rohde & Schwarz would be better than the competition. I tried it for myself (through a demo) and am now convinced that my friend's opinion of the product is true.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is very competitive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We tried Tektronix or Keysight LeCroy. I have nothing against LeCroy, as the company still uses it with some applications, specifically for voluntary measurements, our debugging tool, and multipurpose tool.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise someone to seriously consider using Rhode & Schwarz's equipment, especially if they have similar needs to mine.

Most of the time, I'm not measuring signals, I'm measuring noise. I'm measuring noise on the power supply. This is important because they are multiple components squeezing through a single chip, so the power supply is always stressed. They can interact and talk to each other, so you want to make sure that doesn't happen.

I use the full bandwidth of this solution.