Products > Test Equipment

Why are Deskew Fixtures expensive?

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kerouanton:
Now that I have both a differential probe and a current probe from Micsig, I'm looking about the Power Analysis features of scopes and am wondering why Deskew Fixtures are expensive, as they look quite simple in design. As I'm a Siglent user I've looked for their fixture and saw on the forum that in order to calibrate those Micsig probes I have, the PCB has to be cut/adapted, and even so I believe it's overpriced.

After looking around, I realized all A-brands seem to sell "raw PCB" fixture devices, which look cheap but are very expensive (oh, by the way, why are all those devices sold as a simple PCB without any case? Doesn't look professional imho, but there must be a reason I don't really catch.

On Aliexpress I also researched for cheaper "clones", supposing some manufacturers there may have the idea of designing cheap ones but I didn't find any. That's puzzling for me too, why aren't any chinese manufacturer selling that? (after all they design and sell a ton of crap boards, this one shouldn't be difficult to make either).

I remember that there was at least one company in the Netherlands or Belgium that had created a homemade fixture but my memory is deficient and I can't recall the name of the website, I just think it was a long time ago (when I didn't guess what it was meant for) and they stopped selling it. Oh, it's probably Ashlabs, my memory came back... but they seem not to sell the fixture any more  |O https://shop.ashlabs.be/

I'd love to buy one of the Ashlabs ones, but the thread doesn't seem to have any recent posts.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/scope-probe-deskew-fixture-pcb-project/msg3168766/#msg3168766

tautech:
You can use any fast edge for deskewing current probes however a known amplitude pulse is useful for setting current probe attenuation correctly.

Follow the thread you linked .......  ;)

kerouanton:
That's what I had guessed but I wasn't sure. So as I own a SDG6052X, I could also generate such pulses with it to deskew the probe signals, is my guess good?
 :popcorn:

Nevertheless, thank you for your answer @tautechm, but it doesn't explain the huge price and the fact that they are bare pcb not even in nice plastic boxes ;-)

PS:Just ordered another SDS1104X-E today as replacement for my failed one... Having just one scope isn't the best configuration to probe the issues on a failed scope! I contacted Siglent via my local distributor and checked the Service Manual but it seems there can only be a psu, motherboard or screen replacement. So I ordered a new one with a quite nice discount from siglent.eu (I know it's not the official site, just a distributor!).

tautech:

--- Quote from: kerouanton on September 05, 2023, 04:10:11 pm ---That's what I had guessed but I wasn't sure. So as I own a SDG6052X, I could also generate such pulses with it to deskew the probe signals, is my guess good?
--- End quote ---
Certainly, SDG6000X can produce edges ~40x faster than the Siglent Deskew PCB ~80ns edge.
However the high current pulse/loop produces a current pulse higher than SDG6000X can provide.

Spend more time studying the thread you linked.  ;)


--- Quote ---PS:Just ordered another SDS1104X-E today as replacement for my failed one...
--- End quote ---
Cough, you mean the one you broke:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/siglent-sds1204x-e-flexible-printed-cable-j12-connector-pn/

Martin72:

--- Quote ---On Aliexpress I also researched for cheaper "clones", supposing some manufacturers there may have the idea of designing cheap ones but I didn't find any. That's puzzling for me too, why aren't any chinese manufacturer selling that?
--- End quote ---

And that will probably be the reason why the available devices are so "expensive".
There are simply no purchasable alternatives to them. ;)

I had bought the deskew fixture from siglent, drew a schematic of it and posted it on the forum, that might have caused one or the other replica. 8)
I would stick to it in your place instead of buying an "original", especially since the original is not mechanically optimally designed and you have to edit them to be able to clamp narrower current clamps there.

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