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Test Equipment / Re: Magnova oscilloscope
« Last post by LoneWolf6912 on Today at 01:19:10 pm »Hello,
I haven't received my personal unit yet, but I’ve already had the chance to use one at work.
Unfortunately, I can’t take any photos because the Magnova is connected to an experimental plasma machine under an NDA.
That being said, my first impressions are very positive. The display is stunning, and the user interface is extremely responsive. The FFT is fast, even faster than our Tektronix MSO3 that we already have in the lab. Regarding trace thickness, I didn’t encounter the issue previously mentioned—traces are fine, as expected from a reputable oscilloscope brand.
However, a few remarks: the oscilloscope allows zooming down to a few picoseconds per division, which is a bit excessive for a device in this frequency range. It doesn’t have any practical physical relevance.
The probe ports seem designed for active probes, but nothing in the menus currently supports their full use. I wasn’t bothered by the side-mounted probe setup either.
You can switch between a dark mode and a light mode, which is always nice. However, Batronix currently doesn’t provide a platform to retrieve firmware updates, which is an area for improvement.
Personally, I had no issues using this device. Even though it's somewhat different from a classic oscilloscope, everything remains very intuitive.
A particularly appreciated feature: the ability to display measurements directly on the traces. This is a real plus, especially in a professional context where you may need to present results to people with diverse scientific backgrounds.
The statistics function is also a great addition. While the numerical values are the most useful, seeing the variation on a graph is a real bonus. As for the math functions, they cover a wide range of logical and mathematical operators. However, some functions are still missing, such as the absolute value, for instance.
Having experience purchasing scientific equipment, I can confidently say that, in this price range (with the current promotion), the Magnova offers more than any other oscilloscope. I’m very happy with my purchase and hope Batronix will provide regular updates to improve the software.
A few improvements would be welcome, such as the ability to split the screen for each channel or to adjust the font size. One of my colleagues, in his fifties, had difficulty reading the X and Y axis divisions.
Moreover, the arbitrary waveform generator accessory won’t be delivered until next May, so no Bode plot function until then.
It's worth noting that I’ve been using this oscilloscope in a physics research context, not purely for electronics.
I haven't received my personal unit yet, but I’ve already had the chance to use one at work.
Unfortunately, I can’t take any photos because the Magnova is connected to an experimental plasma machine under an NDA.
That being said, my first impressions are very positive. The display is stunning, and the user interface is extremely responsive. The FFT is fast, even faster than our Tektronix MSO3 that we already have in the lab. Regarding trace thickness, I didn’t encounter the issue previously mentioned—traces are fine, as expected from a reputable oscilloscope brand.
However, a few remarks: the oscilloscope allows zooming down to a few picoseconds per division, which is a bit excessive for a device in this frequency range. It doesn’t have any practical physical relevance.
The probe ports seem designed for active probes, but nothing in the menus currently supports their full use. I wasn’t bothered by the side-mounted probe setup either.
You can switch between a dark mode and a light mode, which is always nice. However, Batronix currently doesn’t provide a platform to retrieve firmware updates, which is an area for improvement.
Personally, I had no issues using this device. Even though it's somewhat different from a classic oscilloscope, everything remains very intuitive.
A particularly appreciated feature: the ability to display measurements directly on the traces. This is a real plus, especially in a professional context where you may need to present results to people with diverse scientific backgrounds.
The statistics function is also a great addition. While the numerical values are the most useful, seeing the variation on a graph is a real bonus. As for the math functions, they cover a wide range of logical and mathematical operators. However, some functions are still missing, such as the absolute value, for instance.
Having experience purchasing scientific equipment, I can confidently say that, in this price range (with the current promotion), the Magnova offers more than any other oscilloscope. I’m very happy with my purchase and hope Batronix will provide regular updates to improve the software.
A few improvements would be welcome, such as the ability to split the screen for each channel or to adjust the font size. One of my colleagues, in his fifties, had difficulty reading the X and Y axis divisions.
Moreover, the arbitrary waveform generator accessory won’t be delivered until next May, so no Bode plot function until then.
It's worth noting that I’ve been using this oscilloscope in a physics research context, not purely for electronics.
The springy outer conductor of the connectors is too small in diameter by about .3mm and does not make good contact to any mating BNC-F connector. So, the connectors themselves are really bad. Nonetheless, I created an open and short by filing down the center conductor and then soldering a small tinned copper disk for the short, just for the fun of it. The result was smith chart that looks like Indiana Jones whip after calibrating. For open, short and load (even below 1GHz) the smith chart does not even get close to where it is supposed to be and jumps all over the place when just looking at the connector. I really wonder how the guy from the website linked above managed to get anything out of these connectors, but it may also well be my soldering skills.