Tek pins growth rate on new scopes

Electronic News, Sept 2, 1996

Beaverton, Ore.--To continue its 10 percent market growth in the test and measurement product sector, and to fight the slowdown trend felt over the last six months, Tektronix, Inc. unleashed a new digital real-time (DRT) oscilloscope line, the TDS 200 series.

Targeted at the lower-priced market segment previously addressed only by analog scopes, the Tektronix TDS 210 and TDS 220 are compact 60- and 100MHz units, respectively, designed for manufacturing, education and service. At about half the price of existing entry-level digital scopes, the TDS 200 series offers a combination of features that the company hopes will overcome customers' objections to moving from analog to digital scopes.

The TDS 210 and 220 are for customers who normally turn to low-cost analog scopes for production line and bench service applications. The instruments offer low price, good measurement capability, compact size and analog-like controls and operating modes, while weighing in at 6.4 pounds.

At $1,695, the 220's price is directly competitive with 100MHz analog scopes, and, at $995, the 210 is the first digital storage oscilloscope at under $1,000, both falling well below Tektronix's last digital offering, the TDS 500 (EN, July 1, 1991), which is in the $9,500 to $14,000 range.

The 210 and 220 models give the simplicity, and display clarity enjoyed by analog tool users, bringing back many of the front panel knobs familiar to analog scope users, Tek said. Functions like gain, sweep speed and vertical/horizontal positioning, are immediately accessible and respond like analog scope controls. Automated digital functions are controlled by a simplified menu system on the display screen.

The TDS 200 Series' menus are available in 10 languages, which are permanently stored on board and user-selectable.

The series' screen is a bright, high-contrast backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) with a wide viewing angle. Unlike analog scope displays, the LCD maintains full contrast at all sweep speeds and gain settings. Any signal triggering the TDS 210 or 220 will be clearly visible on the screen, Tek promised.

The TDS 210 and TDS 200 are available for ordering now.