With microcontrollers making their way into everything, oscilloscope makers keep churning out MSOs (mixed-signal oscilloscopes). Yokogawa's latest entry is the DLM2000 series, which consists of three MSO and three DSO (digital signal oscilloscope) models with bandwidths of 200 MHz, 350 MHz, and 500 MHz each. The three DSO models (DLM 2022, DLM 2032, and DML 2052) have two analog channels while the three MSO models (DLM 2024, DLM 2034, and DML 2054) have four analog channels when running without logic inputs and three analog channels when running eight logic channels.

The MSO models feature bus decoders for CAN, LIN, UART, I2C, and SPI serial buses, letting you detect and display bus packets. A virtual DAC (digital-to-analog converter) lets you capture digital signals from, say, an ADC (analog-to-digital converter) and display the value as an analog signal. The analog display lets you compare a DAC’s digital output to its analog input. The oscilloscopes include 15 digital bandwidth filters that let you remove noise, providing a clear view of the wanted signal.

The two-channel DSOs let you capture 62.5 Msamples of data on each channel. When running two channels, the four-channel models store 125 Msamples. When running three or four analog channels for three analog and the eight logic inputs, the MSOs store 62.5 Msamples per channel. At CAN bus speeds of 12.5 Msamples/s, for example, you can capture up to 10 s of data. When you don’t need all of the oscilloscope’s acquisition memory, the instruments will use the memory to store a history of past waveforms. A history key on the front panel provides access to the historical data. A knob lets you scroll through the signal history, up to 20,000 waveforms of analog, logic, or math channels.

The DLM 200 series oscilloscopes let you store data on USB thumb drives. Connectivity includes an Ethernet, IEEE 488, and USB ports on the rear panel.