Tektronix continues to expand its range of "¼-VGA" liquid crystal display DSOs with three new models targeting the industrial power sector.

The TPS2012 and TPS2014 models have a bandwidth of 100MHz (1GS/s), whereas the TPS2024 doubles that at 200MHz (2GS/s). Four fully-isolated measurement channels are provided on the latter two models, whereas the lower-cost TPS2012 has only two channels.

We used the Tektronix A621 Current Probe for our power measurements. This little beauty can handle up to 1000A.

Other common specifications include a vertical resolution of eight bits, a maximum sensitivity of 2mV/div and a record length of 2.5K points.

As reported in our earlier reviews (July 2001 and July 2002) of Tektronix DSOs, the company has succeeded in packaging their fully featured scopes into an amazing "shoebox" form factor, measuring just 336W x 161H x 130D and weighing in at only 3.2kg. This time around, they’ve even found space for two battery packs but more on that later.

These scopes are exceptionally easy to use. Most-used functions such as horizontal and vertical scaling and trace position are instantly accessible using traditional analog-style knobs. Less-used functions are accessed with pushbuttons and simple on-screen menus.