Pico Technology, a leader in the design, development and manufacture of high-performance PC Controlled Oscilloscopes has announced increased bandwidth for its PicoScope 9300 family of Sampling Oscilloscopes with two new 25 GHz models. The USB controlled Sampling Oscilloscope, available from Pico, stands as one of very few low-cost, high-integrity options for viewing and measuring RF and microwave signals, paths and networks. Sampling Oscilloscopes are the cost-effective solution to today’s proliferation of gigabit-per-second data streams and their copper, wireless and optical fiber interconnects.
The new 2 and 4 channel 25 GHz models, extend the existing 20 GHz PicoScope 9300 Series, to now support fifth harmonic capture for data up to including 10 Gb/s, and third harmonic capture up to 16 Gb/s. These high data rates are being increasingly found in Ethernet, Thunderbolt, USB 3.1, PCIe 4, Rapid I/O, e-SATA, OC-192 / STM-64 and OC-256 interfaces. All have transmission lines, cables, components, transmitters and receivers that need pre-compliance testing and characterization.
Owning a real-time scope with 25 GHz bandwidth currently is expensive with prices starting from $200,000 and thus renting becomes the only option and even that can cost over $15,000 per month for some scopes. With the updated 9300 series one can have a 25 GHz Sampling Oscilloscope, on bench every day or where and when needed, for the equivalent of 1 month’s rent of a 25 GHz real-time box. This range of oscilloscopes starts from just over 14,000 Euros.
PicoScope has developed cost-effective, low-invasive, high-performance probes. The PicoConnect 900 probes can be used to probe multiple broadband signals in-system, with minimal invasion of the measurement, without interrupting system function of the oscilloscope. They have a comprehensive family of microwave and gigabit products, uniquely configured as interchangeable AC or DC coupled probe heads in three division ratios (÷5, ÷10 and ÷20), and are ideally suited to in-system probing of analog, pulse, impulse and high-speed serial data streams. They can interface to any other instrument type with 50 Ω inputs and likely outperform similar but manufacturer-locked accessories present.
The PicoScope 9300 Sampling Oscilloscopes can now be upgraded, free of charge, to full touch-screen operation with the latest PicoSample 3 software. PicoSample 3.25 also includes new masks for USB 2.0 and USB 3.1 Gen1 and Gen2. The new PicoScope 9301-25 and 9341-25 Sampling Oscilloscopes are now available for $16,765 / €14,235 / £11,765 and $26,235 / €22,275 / £18,405 respectively.
