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News and New Products
Logic analyzers offer fast capture, deep memory, compact size, and low price
By Dan Strassberg -- EDN, 8/21/2003
If you are willing to sacrifice modularity, Tektronix can save you a lot of money and bench space on your next logic analyzer. From the front, the four units in the company’s new TLA5000 series look much like the benchtop members of the company's modular TLA700 family. From the side, however, the TLA5000 units differ significantly: They measure only 11.35 in. deep versus 17.5 in. Unlike the TLA700 series, the TLA5000 series is not built around VXI-like modules, so the channel count is fixed; before you buy, you must decide how many channels you will need.
The TLA5201 has 34 channels and a base price of $9200; $11,300 buys a TLA5202 with 68 channels; prices for the 102-channel TLA5203 start at $13,500; and prices for the 136-channel TLA5204 begin at $15,700 (Picture). Those prices are for units with a memory depth of 512 kbits/channel. Options can increase the memory depth to as much as 8 Mbits/channel, but if you use no more than one-fourth of the channels, the memory depth quadruples, and, if you use no more than half of the channels, the memory depth doubles. Timing resolution at any of these memory depths is 500 psec (2 GHz). The maximum sampling rate in state-analysis mode is 235 MHz.
The TLA5000 units also include Tek's proprietary MagniVu feature, which provides 125-psec (8-GHz) timing resolution at a memory depth of 16 kbits/channel centered on the trigger point. MagniVu uses separate memory and operates concurrently with full-depth acquisition. Neither the main-memory depth nor the use of the quarter- or half-channel modes affects the MagniVu memory. The units' front-panel-mounted 10.4-in. (diagonal) LCDs provide 1024×768-pixel resolution, but you can simultaneously use an external monitor with resolution as high as 1600×1200 pixels. Each unit incorporates a Windows 2000-based PC, and you can access the PC's full capabilities.
Tektronix Inc, 1-800-426-2200, www.tektronix.com.
