Want a new scope for your hacking pleasures? How about one that rings in at $3650? That price tag makes us cringe, which is why we’re working on our 1k word essay to win one. The Tektronix MSO2024B pictured above is the top scope in its family and there’s more than enough features to start the drool flowing. Need more motivation? Check out the demo/advertising video below which walks through an overview of what the scope has to offer.
The contest — sponsored by EETimes and Tektronix — seeks to reward the best story about fixing a product that was disappointing on delivery but awesome when you got done hacking on it. Your thousand words or less are due by October 26th along with a fifty word bio about yourself, with the winner announced on Halloween. Be warned, you must register an account to qualify But we hit their daily article viewing limit while writing this post so you may need to log in just to read about the contest. Or clear their cookies… we are a hacking website after all.
They’re only giving away one scope. So don’t put this one off. Start polishing your totally bogus legit story about how you fixed something using mad engineering skills.
There’s something mildly ironic about this.
My oscilloscope is an old leader lbo-522 that’s older than me. Only one channel works, and It’s sure showing it’s age. I suppose I could use one channel to fix the other. Though it sure would help if i had a second oscilloscope to fix the first :/
I suppose an essay about how horribly sluggish and unresponsive those MSO 2000 series scope are wouldn’t win?
Not unless you fixed it. Then it would be hilarious!
I suppose replacing it with an Agilent scope doesn’t count as “fixed”…
well that fixes it but would hardly win you any points for creativity.
So you’re running the contest huh? Nice. I’m not eligible if I work at a company owned by tektronix parent company (that’s not tektronix), right? :(
I’ve got a sweet project I’m about to start that I think would fit very well.
I am running it. I don’t really know if that would disqualify you or not. I’d have to ask someone. I actually think it would be ok since Tektronix is not running the contest or judging it. They’re just putting up the prize. You probably couldn’t have relatives at EEtimes though.
What, Tek can’t afford to make a decent video? 360p, distorted overdriven audio, and horrible editing.
Way to advertise a new product, Tek.
7 inch 480×232 TFT. A $3650 scope with a screen somebody pulled out of a Chinese McDonald’s happy meal toy. Aside from the insultingly low resolution, a measurement tool you may very well have to look at from weird angles is where an IPS display would shine. If I had the money I’d buy the scope outright and write my essay on “How I replaced your fucktarded screen with a Nexus 7 so I wouldn’t be embarrassed to show this to people.”
Heh I was thinking the same thing about the screen…that TFT only costs a few dollars – the “I replaced your screen with a good one” essay definitely came to mind, or the “fucktarded screen” as you very eloquently put it. ;)
Scope manufacturers have a history of using ludicrously out of date tech on their LCDs. It’s quite common even today for scopes to come with DSTN displays. Yes, the washed-out blurry mess of a screen whose like you haven’t seen since the cell phone you bought in 1999 regularly appears on oscilloscopes costing over $400.
Yes, you do indeed have a point about the screen, but the real trouble with these scopes is their underpowered CPU. Sure, the screen may look like you’re running on a 90’s era device, but the software inside feels like you’re running Window Vista on a 90’s era PC.
I have personally used one of these Tek MSO 2000 series scopes. I’ve also used Rigol and Agilent scopes. Don’t waste your money. Long ago Tek made great products, but this one is a real lemon! The cheap Rigol works ok if you’re on a tight budget, and the Agilent 2000X and 3000X are far superior at about the same price as Tektronix.
1. Buy Rigol
2. Problem solved
1. which one exactly?
2. what problem?
Guessing a story about how a Tek scope was used to engineer an awesome Rigol scope hack wouldn’t win either.
I’ve used that exact scope in the school lab before I left… What a joke..
Worse than trying to run Windows8 on a potato. You can SEE the screen redrawing when you push a button. Sometimes there will be about 4-5 seconds delay before anything happens. Somethings NOTHING will happen.
All running with the speed and grace of molasses.
Oh yes, this scope has a length BOOTUP time as well.
Refresh rate goes down the shitter soon as you put any measurement on the waveform. I wouldn’t be surprised if they still had a damn 68K in there just like the old 90s models, it feels just as crusty and annoying.
Does it work? —yes. Measreument integrity is not terrible, the frontend isn’t bad as it’s Tek designed.
I ended up using the 60mhz HP DSO in the corner of the lab instead, it was just as snappy and great to work with as an analog scope.
For out. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do much post stroke. I have no documentation of what I done before the stroke, other than a jumble of notes in spiral bound notebooks. Back then weren’t as many publishing options as their are today why would one have a potential article material in mind? While I not pointing fingers because there would be three pointing back to myself I hope there aren’t any English teachers or editors on the judging panel. :)
This is the first I had been direct to an EE|Times article so I went to the home page to check it out more. At the right I seen a photo of a familiar fella, Mr. Caleb Craft.
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1319296&
If you’re worried it’ll hurt your chances you could always get someone to check over it.
Yep, I’m the one running this contest. And if you’re already familiar with me, you know I certainly won’t give you a hard time about spelling or punctuation. All entries will be copy edited before sharing.
Only available to residents of USA and Canada…
yep, even if it was intl, good luck paying for the import duties…
https://sites.google.com/site/kenselectronicsprojects/fluke8050a_display
haha that would be a perfect thing to write about. Fluke and Tek are owned by the same parent company.
Oh goody, I could write about my Tektronix TDS 220 that I bought second-hand. The External Trigger BNC wasn’t installed correctly due to poor quality control, the pin for the BNC was literally not even in the soldering-hole, but instead bent over it.
Oh, they’ll probably dock me points for that one, never-mind!
I would certainly love to see that if it was well documented enough.
an essay
USA and Canada only, and it cant have been published anywhere else – like a personal blog or HaD…
Maybe somebody should write an essay about hacking their own dongle for a MSO2xxx series scope to fix all the disabled functionality 30 days after switching it on for the first time.
“The Tektronix MSO2024B pictured above is the top scope in its family and there’s more than enough features to start the drool flowing.”
>every single response says the scope is garbage
I have a sinking feeling this post came straight from SupplyFrame.
Nope, I sent it to Mike. This isn’t a supply frame thing. I’m sure hes abasing his quote on the supplied features. You’ll note he doesn’t say anything about using one and liking it.
I’ve never used one either, but even with the poor reviews I wouldn’t mind having one for free.
Free is, in fact, a very difficult price with which to argue. If I had a hack that conformed to the rules of the contest, I’d most certainly enter…
Came here to say that I have a MSO2024 at work and that it’s slow and a pain to use. But seems ALL the other people beat me to it… It’s still a better scope than my DS1052E I have at home.