Rohde & Schwarz MXO 4 Oscilloscope Review

This 30-minute video reviews the features and functions of the R&S MXO 4 Oscilloscope. It covers the following topics:
00:00 - Start
01:10 - Who is the MXO 4 for?
02:59 - Instrument, Probes and User Interface
05:45 - Current, Power, Noise: Ferrites and Inductors
07:22 - Current, Power, Noise: FPGA Power Measurement
09:23 - Spectral Analysis: PSU Noise Spectrum
11:00 - Spectral Analysis: RF Modulation
12:37 - Spectral Analysis: Conducted and Radiated EMC
17:23 - Waveform Generation: Frequency Response Analysis
19:47 - Waveform Generation: RF Mixer Testing
21:22 - Waveform Generation: LoRa Transmission
22:42 - Memory, Logic, Protocols: SPI Flash File System
25:11 - Memory, Logic, Protocols: RS-485 DMX Troubleshooting
26:43 - Summary: What's Good and What's Bad? What's Missing?
For an unboxing video, see • R&S MXO 4 Series: What...
For the full written review, see community.element14.com/produ...

[@101blog]

A rather well done reveiw Shabaz, this is a great scope with many features and presents them in a very clean well thought out way that you have brought out in the reveiw, a scripting language or some such for this device would be wonderful as well as some of those finishing features you mention in the review .. this took ages but i cant wait for the next one !
P.S the RF fixtures were really a great extra point hope these get noticed in the E14 writen review!

[@shabaz_]

Thanks! That's a good idea. It would be brilliant to be able to just run, say, Python scripts natively and build up a set of them to extend the instrument. I hope they consider it, if not for this instrument, then at least for future instruments in this generation. Automation/programmability is super important.

[@TingILi]

You must have an awesome project. Nice video.

[@shabaz_]

Thanks!

[@sheffieldhoney]

Nice review

[@egonotto4172]

Great review.

[@shabaz_]

Hi @egonotto4172, Thanks!

[@Chris-hy6jy]

Great review! Have you had chance to compare this with the Tek 4 series?

[@shabaz_]

Hi! I'm very familiar with the Tek MDO 3000, but have not used the newer 4 series unfortunately. Compared to the MDO 3000, I prefer the Tek supplied scope probes (they have a softer cable and also have built-in electronic compensation adjustment) however other than that, I find myself using the MXO 4 much more. I purchased a couple of softer cable scope probes for the MXO 4. The main difference with my workflow is now that I have the spectrum analysis turned on very frequently, since it gives the extra insight. For instance, working on a transformer-based supply, I could use the spectrum analysis on the MXO 4 to see exactly what the harmonics were like, and if there were any spurious oscillations from the driver circuit (there was, and I was able to solve it by adding a ferrite to the base of the driver transistors). I would not have seen that without the spectrum feature and the high-res acquisition. For a 12-bit 'scope, a fast, good quality spectrum view is fundamental to get the most out of it, and probably the MXO 4 has the edge here. Overall, a few things still feel unintuitive (I really like the dual A/B control knobs on the Tek scopes, their 4 series has that too) however I'm getting speedier over time with the MXO 4. Basically a few minor idiosyncrasies but now would struggle to want to go back to the 3000. Also, I originally wasn't too sure about the History control and segmented memory, since I'd never had that capability with the older scope, but now find it useful when looking to see what the variability is with logic values in protocols. For instance, if you have a burst of data with pulse width encoding, you can set up the record length and trigger such that you can capture hundreds of the sequences, and then quickly scroll through them, observing the variations, and determining if (say) any windows for sampling data are good or bad. I know from using the MDO 3000 that the Tek 4 series will be a terrific instrument, but I really like the features in the MXO 4. I hope this helps!

[@Chris-hy6jy]

@@shabaz_ thanks for the detailed reply. Yes, the MXO 4 really seems to be at the top of the pile when it comes to specs compared to the equivalently priced Tek or Keysight at the moment. Keysight always had the waveform update rate advantage with their Megazoom4 but the R&S seems to have topped that now. The SA functionality of the R&S seems very capable too. No need for a separate SA as long as you don't need the higher bandwidth.

[@HSong-qr7dn]

I ordered it a month ago but it’s still not shipped yet…

[@shabaz_]

I hope you receive it soon! It will be great to hear your feedback on it, and I hope you enjoy it for many years!

[@sheffieldhoney]

Spectrum waterfall needed pls pls pls

[@shabaz_]

Hehe I feel exactly the same. I never thought I'd ever be wishing for that on an oscilloscope product!