Broadband signal capture with a high-speed oscilloscope can reveal a great deal about the electronic "health" of a component or system. And in terms of measurement power, few oscilloscopes can compare with the new WaveMaster 8 Zi series of digital oscilloscopes from LeCroy Corp. With models covering bandwidths of 4 to 30 GHz, edgetrigger capability of 15 GHz, and sampling rates to 80 GSamples/s, these are powerful measurement tools for both research and production.
The WaveMaster 8 Zi series of digital oscilloscopes includes eight models designed around a common platform. As a result, even the lowest-frequency member of the group, the 4-GHz bandwidth WaveMaster 804Zi, can be upgraded to a WaveMaster 830Zi with 30 GHz analog bandwidth. All eight models provide vertical scaling of at least 10 mV/division across their full bandwidths. The standard vertical resolution is 8 b, with an enhancedresolution feature providing as much as 11 b vertical resolution.
The WaveMaster 8 Zi series oscilloscopes contain both 1 MO inputs for general-purpose use and 50 O inputs for high-speed signals. The instruments feature two 50-Ohm measurement channels at full bandwidth and four measurement channels at reduced bandwidths. For example, the three highest-frequency models provide 20, 25, and 30 GHz bandwidths across two measurement channels, but 16 GHz bandwidth across four measurement channels. In addition, the instruments are equipped with bandwidth limits, with selectable bandwidths of 20 MHz, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, 4 GHz, 6 GHz, 8 GHz, and 13 GHz in the three highest-frequency models.
For the three highest-frequency modules (20, 25, and 30 GHz bandwidths), the standard sampling rate is 80 GSamples/s across two channels (40 GSamples/s on all four channels at the 16-GHz reduced measurement bandwidth). For instruments with analog bandwidths from 4 to 16 GHz, the standard sampling rate is 40 GSamples on all four channels, with an option to increase the sampling rate to 80 GSamples/s on two channels. Capture memory of 10 Mpoints/ channel is standard, with options to increase the capture memory to as much as 256 Mpoints/channel for taming long wavelength records. The full amount of memory is available at full record lengths for processing. When operating at 80 GSamples/s, the memory can be interleaved to 512 Mpoints/channel.
The typical rise time (10 to 90 percent) for the 4-GHz scope is 94 ps while the typical rise time for the 30-GHz WaveMaster 830Zi is 17 ps at the full-bandwidth setting. The input sensitivity for the three highest-frequency models is 10 to 500 mV/div through a 2.92-mm connector and full variable from 2 mV/div to 1 V/div by ProLink or ProBus connection.
The WaveMaster 8 Zi series digital oscilloscopes show information on a 15.3-in. high-definition touch-screen display with 16:9 aspect ratio. The oscilloscopes also allow the use of an integrated second display, which is identical to the main display and aligned and attached above it to add more viewing area.
The company also offers the SDA 8 Zi series of serial data analyzers based on the Wavemaster 8 Zi oscilloscopes, covering the same set of bandwidths and similar sampling rates and memory options for serial data applications.
In addition, LeCroy has introduced the DDA 8 Zi series disk drive analyzers in both 16- and 25-GHz models. LeCroy Corp., 700 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977-6499; (800 533-2769, (845) 425-2000, FAX: (845) 578-5985, e-mail: [email protected], Internet: www.lecroy.com.