Like many people in this industry, I love technology. Working for Tektronix, I am excited when we are the first to introduce new technology, like the Tektronix MDO4000 Mixed-Domain Oscilloscope. But I am also interested to innovation from other test and measurement suppliers. 

Last year, Teledyne LeCroy introduced the WaveRunner HRO, or High-Resolution Oscilloscope. They rebranded it this year as the HDO, or High-Definition Oscilloscope. The idea is to use a 12-bit digitizer instead of an 8-bit digitizer to acquire a waveform.

Informative, innovative and interesting articles from our favorite blogs and websites

1.  Custom EQing Headphones for Your Ears, Jan 30 2013 – Rich Pell, 20-20kHz -- Unlike a loudspeaker, the sound produced in a set of headphones is dependent on the user’s auditory canals, making accurate measurement and correction of sound reproduction difficult.

Informative, innovative and interesting articles from our favorite blogs and websites

1. Memory Testing, Jan 25 2013 – Michael Dunn, Scope Junction -- Even though no piece of electronic equipment is 100 percent reliable, designers will continue to strive for perfection. Michael Dunn of Scope Junction looks at the special issues DRAM and NAND Flash present designers, and discusses helpful memory test strategies.

Informative, innovative and interesting articles from our favorite blogs and websites

Recently I had an opportunity to talk to some budding engineers about oscilloscopes.  It turns out that working in the electronics industry has caused me to take more than a few things for granted.

Informative, innovative and interesting articles from our favorite blogs and websites

1. USB 3.0 Gets a Speed Boost at CES 2013, Jan 7 2013 – William Wong, alt.embedded -- Did you miss the USB 3.0 announcement at the Consumer Electronics show? Check out William Wong’s blog for an overview of how the USB Implementers Forum plans to double the throughput of the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 that currently runs at 5 Gbits/s.

When the Curiosity rover landed on Mars, I was reminded of the moon landings of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Like many engineers my age, I grew up obsessed with the Apollo program. I thought it might be interesting to compare a scope that engineers and scientists would have used to put astronauts on the moon to the design tools we have today. In the late ‘60s, a lucky engineer would have probably had a Tektronix 547 DC-to-50 MHz oscilloscope on their bench.