First portable mobile use oscilloscope with the performance of a lab instrument

Rohde & Schwarz has introduced the first handheld oscilloscope with the functionality and touch and feel of a state of the art lab oscilloscope. The R&S Scope Rider combines five instruments in a compact format, and its rugged design makes it ideal for mobile installation and maintenance work. The instrument features isolated input and communications interfaces. It meets CAT IV standards and can carry out measurements on low voltage installation sources up to 600V. The Scope Rider is equally at home in the lab and in the field. With an acquisition rate of 50,000 waveforms per second, a 10 bit A/D converter developed by Rohde & Schwarz and a maximum bandwidth of 500MHz for the analog input channels, this portable oscilloscope clearly outperforms comparable instruments, says the company. The Scope Rider integrates five functions to offer a level of versatility not found in any other instrument. It is based on a high performance oscilloscope featuring a precise digital trigger system, 33 automatic measurement functions, mask test and XY diagram mode. Plus, the R&S Scope Rider can function as a logic analyzer with eight additional digital channels, as a protocol analyzer with trigger and decoding capability, as a data logger and a digital multimeter. This wealth of functions makes it ideal for a wide range of tasks. The handheld oscilloscope is the first to be equipped with a large format capacitive touchscreen, allowing it to be operated as intuitively as a tablet PC. It also features large buttons for use with gloves and a practical multifunction wheel for convenient parameter adjustment. Users can confidently read their results at any time, as all measurement information is displayed in a clear, application oriented manner on the brilliant screen. Well prepared for harsh environments, the R&S Scope Rider’s IP51 certified housing offers protection from environmental hazards such as dust and dripping water. The handheld oscilloscope has passed all mechanical load tests in line with military standards. The fully isolated instrument offers maximum safety and meets the measurement category requirements defined in IEC 61010-1 for CAT IV up to 600V and for CAT III up to 1000V. In addition to a microSD card, the instrument features USB and Ethernet ports for uncomplicated storage and transfer of measurement data. The R&S Scope Rider also has an integrated WLAN interface. This can be configured as a hotspot to allow the instrument to be remotely controlled via a smartphone, tablet PC or laptop. A simple web browser on the mobile device is all that is required. There is no need for additional software or apps. With more than four hours of battery runtime, the 2.4 kg R&S Scope Rider offers users a high degree of flexibility during installation, maintenance and in emergency situations. The new handheld oscilloscope goes beyond traditional electrical engineering to serve a broad range of industries. Technicians and specialists can also use it to gain a clear understanding of the condition of electrical installations, systems and components. For everything from measurement data acquisition in industrial and manufacturing settings to repairing shipboard electrical drives and carrying out vehicle test drive analyses, the R&S Scope Rider is better suited to the needs of such tasks than any other oscilloscope in its class, says the company. The R&S Scope Rider is available as a four channel or a two channel instrument, the latter with a digital multimeter, with bandwidths of 60 MHz, 100MHz, 200MHz, 350MHz and 500MHz. There will be trigger and decoding options available for I2C, SPI, UART, RS 232, RS 422 and RS-485 at the time of market introduction.