Tektronix Unveiled New Probes at APEC 2011

03/18/2011

Tektronix, Inc., a leading manufacturer of oscilloscopes, announced two additions to its TPP Series of passive voltage probes at the APEC 2011 conference. The new TPP0850 and TPP0502 probes are well-suited to the needs of engineers tasked with developing more energy efficient power supplies and power semiconductors, offering the industry’s lowest probe loading in a general purpose probe.

“Designers are increasingly being pressed to make their designs more energy efficient, leading to an emphasis on switch-mode power supplies and power semiconductors that minimize power loss,” said Roy Siegel, general manager, Mid-range Oscilloscopes, Tektronix. “We continue to offer innovative solutions for our oscilloscopes, such as new probes and automated power measurement tools that help our customers meet the latest challenges, including the drive toward more energy efficient designs.”

Industry-Best Probes for Industry-Best Oscilloscopes

At APEC 2011 Tektronix introduced the TPP0850 and TPP0502 probes that extend the breakthrough TPP Series architecture of high bandwidth, general purpose probes. The TPP0850 offers the industry’s highest bandwidth probe (800 MHz) for high voltage signals (up to 2500 Vpk-pk). This is ideal for testing power semiconductors and switch-mode power supplies, which continue to increase in switching speed to minimize power loss, creating a need for faster rise time, higher bandwidth, and higher voltage probes. The TPP0850 meets this need and can be used with switching transistor circuits operating at 1200 V_RMS, above the voltage operating range of standard general purpose probes. It will also be able to accommodate emerging power applications that will require even faster rise time capabilities.

The TPP0502 offers the industry’s highest bandwidth (500 MHz) and lowest attenuation factor (2X) for making low voltage measurements such as ripple, a common measurement on the output of power supplies. The low capacitive loading of the TPP0502 means long ground leads can be used with minimal impact on measurement quality, providing today’s engineer with the flexibility to move around their design without worrying about ground lead length.

Both the TPP0502 and TPP0850 offer smart communication with MSO/DPO5000 and MSO/DPO4000B Series oscilloscopes through the TekVPI interface. This means the oscilloscope will automatically scale the display to match the attenuation factor of the probe to show the correct results. Furthermore, the built-in auto-compensation feature on the probes automatically compensates the probe-oscilloscope pathway to provide the most accurate measurement every time the probe is connected to the oscilloscope. Before now, engineers had to manually compensate their probes every time they moved the probe to a different channel on the oscilloscope or a different oscilloscope, a time consuming process.

Introduced in late 2010, the MSO/DPO5000 and MSO/DPO4000B Series oscilloscopes deliver the industry’s most comprehensive power analysis, including measurements for power quality, switching loss, magnetic loss, and power output analysis. The DPOxPWR and DPOPWR software solutions also feature automated deskew of probes to ensure accurate measurements.

Following introduction at APEC 2011, the TPP0850 and TPP0502 probes will be generally available beginning in June.

Tektronix, www.tektronix.com.