Products > Test Equipment

Rohde & Schwarz RTB2004 - Fan Noise

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javadesigner:
I'm fairly new to electronics, as a hobby.

Read about R&S RTB 2004 - the touch screen and the improved logic decoding sounded great. On a whim, sold the Rigol 1104Z+ I previously owned and just purchased the R&S RTB 2004 COM4 package from a North American reseller/retailer.

The R&S is definitely an amazing scope - beautiful and lightweight. The lightness is unbelievable and puts a smile on my face. But..the fan noise is way way too loud. At least as LOUD or (LOUDER) than the Rigol (and the Rigol was the loudest thing in the room). Plus the R&S fan cycles through a subtly changing pitch, so that makes it even more annoying than the Rigol. The room is cool (70F) and I'm not doing anything with the scope yet the fan is probably just running flat out. Did a factory reset but that did not help. The unit I received (Jan 2021) is running the 2018 firmware, but the next firmware was only released Oct 2020 so not too surprising.

Another thing: the plastic bags were crinkly and the manual and one probe insert sheet had some minor spots on it. The Rigol scope packaging was factory spotless, not a single crease or crinkle in any of the bags.

This could be a production artifact - maybe the European factory is more hand driven and humans are manually putting stuff in bags, which would explain the crinkles. Or perhaps-  on account of being so damn loud - maybe this unit was previously bought/returned and the retailer shipped that same unit back out to me. I've emailed the retailer and waiting to see what they say. I paid the full promo price (~4K USD).

Would be nice if R&S sold directly (like Rigol does) - which would remove any potential shenanigans but whatever.

Anyway, my questions are:
1) Why is this thing so loud ? It is supposed to be darn near inaudible! It is engineered to be quiet, with the rubber gaskets/mounting/design etc, which is a big selling point in favor of R&S (at least on paper).

2) What are my options when a new 'scope has this sort of issue ? Repair would defeat the reason for buying something new in the first place. Should I return it, ask for swap, try a different retailer ? Luck of the draw if another unit has the same problem ?

Any suggestions or comments from anyone who might have experienced a similar issue would be highly appreciated.

Attached images show:
1) 38.5db value in quiet room with osc off
2) 47.9db value in quiet room with osc on - same db meter position.
3) Some random spots in the manual as well as pack of probe insert

Harjit:
I use it in my home office and so the environment is quite quiet i.e. I can hear when my laptop fan spins up.

Having said that, I too was (and am surprised) by the sound level of the RTB2004 fan. I did send it in and it came back at the same level. So, that is normal. I think in a normal lab environment with plenty of things humming/buzzing, I don't think it would be noticeable - at least that is what I tell myself.

Zlotnik:
There seems to be quite some variance in the fan noise level. Mine is my quietest piece of equipment (excluding the fan-less stuff, I mean), the fan is nigh on inaudible.

javadesigner:

--- Quote from: Harjit on January 17, 2021, 05:22:26 pm ---Having said that, I too was (and am surprised) by the sound level of the RTB2004 fan. I did send it in and it came back at the same level.

--- End quote ---

Hi - thanks for the info/reply!

Where did you send it in ? To R&S repair or to your reseller? If R&S, what did they diagnose ? If reseller, did you get back another new unit and if so, how do you know it was actually new ?

javadesigner:

--- Quote from: Zlotnik on January 17, 2021, 06:28:57 pm ---Mine is my quietest piece of equipment (excluding the fan-less stuff, I mean), the fan is nigh on inaudible.

--- End quote ---

Precisely - that's what I was expecting and thanks for confirming. Since you are in the Netherlands, am wondering if this has something to do with either 220v vs 110 volt difference (unlikely) -or- a manufacturing date different than perhaps a large promotional batch that was shipped to the USA and that me (and the poster above) happened to get.

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