Tektronix Oscilloscopes Other Advice
CJ
Curtis Jones
Teacher (emeritus) at San Jose State University
I have been using Tektronix scopes since about 1962. I would recommend the product to a colleague.
The user interface is fine. It has knobs. There was a phase where the oscilloscope designers - and this may have been Hewlett Packard, Agilent, Keysight - tended to have one big knob and then you had to push various buttons and you had to have the buttons pushed the right way for the knob to do whatever you wanted it to do. These scopes are a reversion to the old scopes where you have an individual knob or button for each function, and that has helped.
In terms of being upgradable, there are modules one can get. We do have a power module for some people who sometimes share the oscilloscopes.
View full review »RO
Ron Olisar
SI Consultant at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is a very capable instrument. It really does the job. It's in a fairly compact form factor at a reasonable power level. There's some other products right now that are huge and take an enormous amount of power, so I would still say it's a key player in the market.
The learning curve was pretty quick. We needed some hand-holding on a few items, but it went pretty fast.
We're measuring electrical signals to ICs that are in the optical modular space and out of the ICs from the ICs in the same space. The application space that we are using the solution to target is 100 gigabit Ethernet and 400 gigabit Ethernet. We are using this product to support optical links.
Real-time scopes offer abilities to see all of the signal. The alternative is equivalent time scopes. You can get an equivalent time scope with the same high bandwidth, but equivalent time scopes sample at such a low rate that we miss errors in diagnostic information. Real-time scopes sees everything. To get a real-time scope above 50 gigahertz bandwidth requires the very best.
View full review »XL
Electric4b10
Electrical Engineer at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
I would definitely recommend this scope to colleagues.
There was a little bit of a learning curve regarding the menu, but I eventually figured out how to get multiple windows or single windows and how to turn on a given domain. Overall, it's really quick. The front panel, the operational panel, is very straightforward. It has the scope plus a regular spectrum analyzer, with keys for the numbers.
I rate the product at ten out of ten. If someone needs a general-purpose scope, it's a good one.
View full review »Buyer's Guide
Tektronix Oscilloscopes
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Tektronix Oscilloscopes. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.
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George Brown
Sr Electrical Engineer at TVH
I was at KU for 18 years, where I was director of the electronics labs there. Yes, every semester there was a new learning curve but they did catch on fairly quickly. The scopes were extremely reliable.
View full review »JS
Jose Silva
Senior Design Engineer at PETsys Electronics SA
We would definitely recommend this product.
There is an ongoing learning curve. They exponentially increase the number of functions. I don't think I ever use 80 percent of the functionality. I probably use only 20 percent of the functions. The user interface is complicated when you first start it up, but then you get used to the sequences.
Our solution is field-upgradable up to 10 gigahertz.
I would rate the product at nine out of ten. A ten is never achievable. There is always room for improvement.
View full review »GS
Glenn Snyder
Principal Electrical Engineer at a aerospace/defense firm with 10,001+ employees
It's pretty intuitive after you've used any scope. It's relatively easy. I like to use it and it does what I need it to do.
For what I use it for, it works perfectly well for me. Our solution is field-upgradable, but it's good the way it is for us.
I would rate the product at eight out of ten. I don't usually find that the scope is holding me back from finding out what I need to.
View full review »SA
Sai Ram Anand Vempati
Hardware Validation Engineer at Qualcomm
The applications that this products target are more services. We do target certain applications, like PCIe and USB. We are not using it for IoT development.
It is mostly used for measuring NRB signals.
View full review »PH
Founder2a26
Founder at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
They are closer to 4G in the applications space.
View full review »CR
Hardware439f
Hardware Design Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Research well what you need because, with the capabilities of the instruments, you definitely pay up for getting a very high-end piece of gear, and that might not necessarily be exactly what you need, even though the sales guys tell you that it is.
It doesn't take too long to get acclimated to the product. Whenever we do have a problem, the local rep seems to be able to help us with it. It's important too, to make sure you're doing things right, and not necessarily do them on your own, thinking you're doing things right.
The user interface is usable. It's nothing fancy.
I believe our solution is field-upgradable, especially when it comes to software packages. If there's something that we need, we can get a key for that pretty quickly.
View full review »HC
Hor Lam Cheuk
Sr Engineer at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Try it if it is within your budget. It is a good product.
The learning curve is very quick. It takes about one or two days.
While we have plans to use this product to support connect devices, we are not currently doing so.
We are currently measuring signals from 3.0 and 4.0, and looking for 5.0.
View full review »JR
Jason Rivera
Computer Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories
The user interface is simple and straightforward.
The application space that we are using the solution to target is vehicle devices.
We are not using this product to support connected devices, e.g., IoT development, nor are we planning to going forward.
CL
Chad Lee
Hardware Engineer at Northrop
There isn't so much of a learning curve. They'll come in and give you training for whatever kind of toy you want to use. The learning curve is fine.
The solution is field-upgradable. We have upgraded several modules as we have needed to. We'll buy the baseline and if something comes up, we'll upgrade.
View full review »CN
Designer273e
Designer/Consultant at a transportation company
It is really solid hardware. The only room for improvement is the software.
Make sure that you understand what you are going to use these oscilloscopes for and don't spend money on features which you don't need.
Some of competitors' user interfaces are more intuitive. The Tektronix Oscilloscopes user interface is a lot of method menu. The newer Tektronix user interfaces are easier, because they have touch screens.
The application space that the solution targets is embedded systems for electric vehicle development. For example, I'm working on an electric bicycle dashboard right now.
There will be some Bluetooth at some point. I haven't gotten to it yet.
View full review »VD
Engineer898a
Engineer Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would recommend this product.
Regarding a learning curve, there isn't one. It's a very good machine with very good support. If we need the support, they're there every time.
In terms of upgradability, again, I would like to see more memory. Right now, the machine has up to 50 gigahertz variance which, in most cases, is okay.
I would rate the product at eight out of ten because it's not too small and works in most cases. The two missing points are for the upgrades I mentioned. And if I give it a ten, they'll sleep quietly.
View full review »RD
Electric7fa9
Electrical Design Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
It works really well for general lab stuff, general testing, prototype and measurement.
I have been using Tektronix products since I started. I might have used them in college, too, so it's been about seven-and-a-half years. We're using a couple of the O-scopes, the MSO3000 and the MSO4000. We also have some arbitrary function generators and some power supplies.
There is definitely a learning curve. It was so long ago that I don't really know how long it takes to get acclimated to the equipment.
We actually just started an IoT project, so I'm now using it for that.
I would rate the products at nine out of ten. Personally, I don't give things a perfect score unless they really are perfect. They do what I need them to do and work pretty well. They're just a little outdated, but that's not really their fault.
View full review »FG
Febin George
Lead Design Engineer at Cadence
We have pretty good scopes.
The console is pretty standard. It is easy to use, without too many knobs around the scope.
When learning how to use the scope, the technical terms are mostly the same. You can also Google Tektronix, as they have their own documents, which are good to read and informative.
View full review »FC
FrankChen
R&D at LTK
It's a good product. I would recommend it to colleagues at other companies.
Regarding a learning curve for the equipment, when we purchase this testing equipment from the company, they provide training for us, so if we have any issues we can contact them with the details and they help us to resolve the problem.
I would rate the product at nine out of ten. I'm satisfied with it.
View full review »CC
Chris Cheng
Distinguished Technologist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
It's a very reliable product.
I would rate the product a ten out of ten. They provide a great partnership with us. We have certain projects going on with together with Tektronix and they're great partners.
View full review »RT
Ramesh Thangellapslli
QA Director at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Regarding a learning curve, if you are an engineer, it wouldn't take that much time. You could probably learn it in a couple of days.
I would rate the products at eight out of ten because of the design, performance, the ruggedness, and the ease-of-use for the layman. All those things put together make it an eight.
View full review »YK
PostDoct3b3a
Post Doctoral Researcher at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
If you are dealing with time domain measurement, I strongly recommend using a vendor other than this company.
The application space that we are using the solution to target is high-speed serial, like USB or HDMI.
We used to connect this product to supported devices, but anymore because we don't need to, though we should.
View full review »BC
ProductLb9c3
Product Line Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The application space that we are using the solution to target is 5G.
We are measure the following high-speed signals: 1Gb, 2Gbs, 5Gbs, and 10Gbs.
We are not using this product to support connected devices, e.g., IoT development, nor are we planning to going forward.
View full review »Buyer's Guide
Tektronix Oscilloscopes
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Tektronix Oscilloscopes. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.