A few weeks back we published an short article on the recently released Keysight 1000X, an oscilloscope that marks Keysight’s late however welcome entry into the hacker-centric entry-level market. Understandably, this range is triggering a great deal of excitement as it promises to bring a few of the high-end pedigree of the widely known 2000X as well as 3000X designs down to a much budget-friendly price. now couple that with the possibility of hacking its bandwidth lock as well as all this fuss is well justified.

[Dave Jones] from the EEVblog got his hands on one, as well as while conducting a UART dump saw the range report 200 MHz bandwidth in spite of being labelled as a 100 MHz model. He then proceeded to really hack the primary board to unlock an undocumented 200 MHz bandwidth mode. This produced a great deal of confusion: some stated [Dave] got a “pre-hacked” version, others presumed all 100 MHz versions really have a stock bandwidth of 200 MHz.

Alongside the concern of bandwidth, numerous wondered exactly how this would fare against the present entry-level standard, the Rigol 1054Z. Is the extra expense as well as fewer channels worth the Keysight badge?

Keysight’s response to our queries as well as confusion was the guarantee to send us a evaluation unit. Well, after getting it as well as playing around with it, clearly a great deal of Keysight’s high-end excellence has trickled down to this lower end version. However, this device was not without some silly firmware issues and damning system crashes! checked out on the full evaluation below.

Out of the Box:

In addition to the scope, the box includes a mains cable, two probes, a good bright yellow envelope including the calibration certificates as well as a friendly pointer that its really Keysight now as well as NOT Agilent or HP. The supplied probes are nice. The silicone leads feel truly good to the touch, as well as is a nice change from the stiff PVC insulation we are utilized to. The probe specs are not anything spectacular, you can switch the attenuation between x1 as well as x10, as well as capacitive packing in the x10 mode is a moderate 10 pF.

Interestingly, all 100 MHz variations of the range are suspiciously supplied with 200 MHz probes as standard, yet once again alluding to higher than advertised bandwidth. Is this smart advertising to motivate hacking it to the unlock the undocumented 200 MHz bandwidth mode, or just a ploy to dissuade the the 70 MHz variant that is supplied with 75 MHz probes only? regardless of the intent, this is a commendable gesture.

First Impressions as well as Layout

As somebody who has a Rigol DS1054Z, the responsiveness of the 1000X took me by surprise. This range is snappy. All the menus are swift, as well as there is no apparent sluggish down if the screen is cluttered with both channels, the FFT, as well as a math function. Clearly, the fairly lower sample rate as well as bandwidth are proving to be a walk in the park for the enclosed Megazoom ASICs, otherwise accustomed to some much much more gruelling processing in the higher end scopes. anybody who hates the sluggish response encountered when offsetting waveforms on low-end scopes will welcome all this speed.

Well laid out: analysis choices neatly grouped
The menus as well as choices are laid out extremely well as well as are pragmatically grouped. understanding HP has been making scopes because the dawn of time, this is definitely no surprise. The buttons respond precisely as you’d expect, as well as much more significantly are consistent across the scope. For example, pressing as well as holding a button, corresponding to any type of option/feature in any type of menu screens a assist appear that discusses the choices as well as highlights any type of details.

Furthermore, a double press always navigates you to the previous menu. All variable entrances are finished with a single rotary knob. The acceleration application is excellent, infact the very best I’ve seen in an entry level scope. All the rotary knobs have a centre button, which makes it extremely intuitive to set default values if needed.

The previous generation of entry level scopes were plagued with horrifically low resolution screens. Thankfully, this has altered as well as the 1000X has a good big screen that is sharp as well as adequately bright. It is truly comforting to the see the market collectively relocation away from little dodgy screens in lower end offerings.

Math Functions

The math functions aren’t anything ground breaking. You get all the typical math functions you’d expect as well as a few fascinating others. You have two results you can work with: f(t) is the displayed math function while g(t) is an intermediate math function, that after being defined once, can be utilized within any type of subsequent math calculations. This isn’t anything new however I like the method they’ve done it. Rigol for example, makes you redefine the intermediate function for each different operator, which is unnecessarily convoluted.

One of the extremely fascinating math function included is the low Pass Filter. view the video below, to see the range demodulate an AM signal, utilizing only the math functions!

Can you discuss why this works?

Bandwidth?

Bandwidth: 133MHz
Right, lets get this out of the way. What is the out of the box bandwidth of the 100 MHz version anyways?

To test this, I’ve utilized my reliable Marconi 2030 RF Signal Generator to output a 1 V Pk-Pk signal. I then determine the -3 dB (0.707 V) point on the scope.

The bandwidth measurement concerns about 135 MHz, an expected security margin for a 100 MHz scope. Out of curiosity, I determined the amplitude at 200 MHz as well as it concerned about -7 dB (0.45 V).

Overachiever: frequency Counter
Whilst investigating the out-of-the-box bandwidth, I was pleasantly amazed by the hardware counter in the scope. I thought, like the Rigol 1054Z, it would begin to stop working around 100 MHz: wrong! I cranked up my RF signal generator method beyond the -3 dB point of the range however the hardware frequency counter continued to work. In fact, it worked absolutely fine as much as about 435 MHz! I suspect this would continue to work even higher, as well as was primarily restricted by the falling amplitude because of the restricted range as well as probe bandwidth. It would be fascinating to see exactly how far it continues to work in the 200 MHz “unlocked” version.

Waveform Generator as well as training Signals

The 1000X includes a rather capable built-in 20 MHz function generator. Not only can it produce all the typical square, sine as well as triangle waves however likewise has a 20 MHz noise waveform, a pulse, as well as even just DC. The generator can swing between +/- 12 V into a high impedance load, so any type of amplitude as well as DC balance out combination within that variety is valid. The output impedance is 50 ohms, therefore the output drops to +/- 6 V for a 50 ohm load.

Rather disappointingly, the sine wave is the only waveform that goes to the full 20 MHz. The square as well as pulse waves are restricted to 10 MHz, as well as even then they look awful. The ramp wave goes as much as a simple 200 kHz. This is a 20 MHz generator, as well as no more.

A extremely great addition to this is the capability to apply different modulations to the sine as well as ramp waveforms. You can do FM, AM as well as FSK with variable modulation depths. It’s great fun to observe the spectra of the different modulated waveforms on the FFT!

Closely associated to the wave generator are the training signals offered on the probe calibration connector. These signals are intended to shed light on a variety of waveforms that a beginner can expect to find across as well as provide you a possibility to polish up your set off configuration skills. For example, you can see the impact of noise coupled into a waveform. A great method to test your FFT skills as well as modulation theory is to try one of the RF waveforms. The different digital as well as glitch waveforms assist you comprehend the much more obscure however powerful triggering modes on the range such as envelope triggering in pass/fail mode. numerous of the training waveforms likewise let you modification parameters.

Seeing that the training signals contained much much more fun waveforms compared to the actual waveform generator, I rather slyly, tried to utilize both at the exact same time. Unfortunatey, this did not work. You cannot utilize both the training signals as well as the waveform generator at the exact same time. As the training signals include a great deal of arbitrary signals it is remove Keysight are routing the waveform generator to the calibration connector as well as leveraging the DDS-type generator employed for the arbitrary waveforms.

This made me think, is it possible to somehow customize the data system as well as include your own arbitrary waveforms? Examining the inbuilt file-system exposed some data with “.arb” extensions that cannot be checked out or written to. Nonetheless, it is remove that even though the waveform generator does have the capability to produce arbitrary waveforms, this is disappointingly restricted by Keysight. For example, the generator on the 3000 X-Series, with otherwise similar specs, enables you to specify arbitrary functions.  I bet the 1000X has the exact same hardware, albeit restricted out of caution to avoid unnecessary toe-stepping of the higher end market.

Frequency reaction Analysis

FRA: common Setup
One of the features I was truly thrilled about was the frequency reaction Analysis. This is essentially a stripped-down version of the Power analysis Module offered in the 3000 X-Series scopes. It can allows you utilize the interior waveform generator in conjunction with both channels to determine the frequency as well as phase reaction of a circuit, from DC to 20 MHz. Although alittle range, this is a very great function to confirm audio grade filters, opamp GBP, PLL loop filters, as well as so on. The dynamic variety is extremely impressive, I have determined it working fine down to about 20 uV (-79 dBm!)

So what precisely is this helpful for? let me tell you about the time it saved me a great deal of headache. I was developing a laid-back PLL loop filter; as you do I started with simulator as well as proceeded to optimise through trial as well as error by altering a few components. I discovered that a specific 1 uF capacitor in my junk bin provided spectacular results, which was not attainable with the other 1 uF capacitors I had. So what precisely is going on here? exactly how might I see the impact of this wonderful 1 uF capacitor on the general filter?

Sweeping the filter with the special capacitor exposed a region where the acquire would plateau, purchasing me some phase margin as well as leading to a steady loop. Clearly, this capacitor had extremely high ESR. however exactly how much exactly, so this might be duplicated repeatably with one more capacitor? utilizing the markers, I determined the begin of the plateau at about 3 kHz, leading to a specific time constant as well as ESR of 50 ohms. equipped with this knowledge, I tried a different capacitor as well as added a 50 ohm resistor in series as well as voilà the loop was steady with practically similar results!

FRA: unknown however steady 🙁

FRA: understood however unsteady :/

FRA: understood as well as steady 🙂

Although an uncommon as well as thus much welcomed function for a low end scope, it is unnecessarily restricted. For example, you cant set the sweep resolution or add a DC balance out to the sweep waveform, even though the Wave Gen has these capabilities.

Furthermore, the firmware is likewise not as polished as I would expect, as it cannot differentiate a phase shift of -180 degrees from +180 degrees. This implies any type of time your phase hits -180, the plot erratically jumps to +180 leading to a very confusing phase plot. This ought to have truly been ironed out before the release.

FFT- FTW!!

Smartly grouped
The FFT or quick Fourier transform is an progressively appropriate function of all contemporary scopes. In the past, entry level scopes utilized to conceal it deep within some obscure math function menu, embarrassed by the crusty performance that would follow. now however, even low end scopes have moderate bandwidth in the few numerous megahertz, higher than needed sampling rates as well as enhanced ASIC power; all of which have enabled the FFT to be much much more usable. Infact, the 1000X is so positive of its performance that it flaunts the FFT by providing it a
physical button of its own.

The FFT function, has a great deal of adjustable parameters which is extremely great to see. You can go into a span, as well as a centre frequency, as well as it will determine as well as tells you your bin resolution. Also, not only can you carry out the FFT on either channel, you can likewise carry out the FFT on an intermediate math function! This is far far much better than the FFT offered on the Rigol.

FFT: 100KHz Carrier, 10KHz sidebands
Even though the screen is rather large, state you want to turn on two channels, carry out a math function between them as well as then carry out the FFT on the result. exactly how would you potentially screen all of those traces on one screen without it appearing like a huge mess?

This brings to light one more good function of this scope. You can turn all the channels off, eliminating any type of indication of them on the screen however still carry out all the math functions on them. This is fantastic as well as is very different to the Rigol 1054Z where you cannot hide a channel, rather only either turn it totally on or turn it totally off through relay action. The 1000X does not seem to turn the channels off physically at all. instead it just hides them. This implies if you are just thinking about taking a look at the spectra of a signal, you can utilize the whole screen, in all its glory, to look at the FFT. None of that split screen nonsense!

The FFT choice on this range is extremely well implemented apart from a few quirks. For example the scope, for some reason lets you set a rather ambitious as well as outright silly span of 500 GHz. one more bit inconvenience is the option of the colour white for the FFT waveform that corresponds with the option of text colour. If you now position the FFT trace at the bottom of the screen to maximise the visible dynamic range, you end up covering a few important parameters! I likewise discovered that the range was prone to glitch if the FFT was fiddled with excessively. Once, I couldn’t get a few of FFT parameters to vanish even after turning the FFT off, leading to mess of overlapping text strings on the screen.

Update Rate

Keysight is we