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LeCroy Introduces WaveRunner 6000 Series Oscilloscopes with Top Performance and Low Price for Everyday Bench DSOs Chestnut Ridge, New York---LeCroy Corporation launches the WaveRunner 6000, a new series of its popular WaveRunner digital oscilloscopes (DSOs) that features five models covering the bandwidth range from 350 MHz - 2 GHz. The WaveRunner 6000 Series of DSOs has the most advanced signal capture technology and easiest user interface in the 350 MHz - 2 GHz DSO class, and represent a new industry standard for performance in a bench oscilloscope used by design/test engineers in the development and troubleshooting of typical circuit problems. LeCroy has developed the WaveRunner Series to be the new price/performance leader within this bandwidth class. Each channel of every WaveRunner 6000 Series oscilloscope (except for the WaveRunner 6030) has a 5 GS/s real time ADC. This ADC can be interleaved to 10 GS/s on two channels on the 1 GHz (model 6100) and 2 GHz (model 6200) units. With 1 Mpoint of memory per channel, 5 ppm clock stability, and an 8.4-in. color touch screen all standard, the new WaveRunner 6000 Series delivers unmatched performance. It also carries an industry-leading product support package that includes a three-year warranty and seven-year end-of-life support. The WaveRunner 6000 Series offers a robust set of trigger features, options for a variety of application-specific test packages, and is compatible with a wide variety of active and passive probes. As standard features, LeCroy includes the new model PP007 2.5 mm 500 MHz passive probe (one per channel), 100-BaseT LAN, a touch screen and CD-ROM with every unit. The LeCroy WaveRunner 6000 Series delivers outstanding performance and unmatched utility and usability ( at a surprisingly low price. The WaveRunner 6000 Series' price/performance sets the standard for general-purpose bench top oscilloscopes in the 350 MHz - 2 GHz category. User Interface Based on a wide ranging set of customer interviews and beta testing, LeCroy also refined the acclaimed WaveRunner user interface for the 6000 Series to meet the needs of the general-purpose oscilloscope user. The intensive customer research program led to a front panel layout with dedicated controls for all basic functions, and easy touch-screen access to the most commonly used features. The new interface puts basic tools for viewing signals literally at users' fingertips, while maintaining one- or two-touch access to commonly used signal troubleshooting features. For example, each channel has its own V/div and offset controls. Cursor and zooming controls have dedicated knobs. Basic triggers can be set from the front panel. The most popular controls, such as Analog Persistence, Zoom and Print (screen, email or internal or external printer) have dedicated buttons. All knobs that control waveform position may be pressed to set as zero or return the wave to its original position. It's also easy to make signal measurements or to troubleshoot circuit problems. The menus for all traces, timebase, and triggering can be entered by a single touch. Detailed Specifications The WaveRunner 6200 is a 2 GHz DSO with a 5/10 GS/s (4/2 channels) sampling rate, 1 Mpoint of acquisition memory per channel, 225 ps rise time, and a $25,990 price tag. The WaveRunner 6100 is a 1 GHz DSO with a 5/10 GS/s (4/2 channels) sampling rate, 1 Mpoint of acquisition memory per channel and a $15,990 price tag. The WaveRunner 6050 is a 500 MHz instrument with 5 GS/s ADC per channel. It is priced at $10,990. The WaveRunner 6030 is a 350 MHz scope with a 2.5 GS/s sample rate and 1 Mpoint of memory. There is also a 2-channel 500 MHz model, the WaveRunner 6051. Customers can purchase 2 Mpts, 4 Mpts, 8 Mpts or 12 Mpts per channel memory options. If only one or two channels of the oscilloscope are in use, the available memory doubles. All WaveRunner 6000 Series DSOs come with a standard 8.4-in. color touch-screen display, advanced triggers for troubleshooting, and a wide variety of signal measurement capabilities. Though the WaveRunner 6000 Series is targeted for general purpose use as everyday bench DSOs, LeCroy also offers options for specific applications. These options include advanced waveform math (XMATH), measurement of signal jitter/timing (JTA2), power device measurements (PMA2), a digital filter package (DFP2), testing of serial datacom signals using standardized test masks (SDM), and a package for testing Ethernet signals (ENET). Connectivity The Windows 2000 operating system and 10/100BaseT Ethernet port (standard on all models) make it easy to control the DSO from a PC via the network, and to transfer screen images or waveform data for viewing, analysis or printing. The user can simply press "Print Screen" on the DSO and print to a networked printer or store images to a file server. ScopeExplorer (available free from www.lecroy.com) is a self-contained program for data acquisition and display. ActiveDSO, another utility available as a free download, allows the user to write macros for oscilloscope control and data retrieval. Of course, as with any Windows-based oscilloscope, it is easy to transfer files to other Windows applications, such as MATLAB, Mathcad, Excel or Visual Basic. The oscilloscope user who wants to use these popular third-party programs to analyze data captured by a WaveRunner 6000 Series instrument can do much better than simply exporting the data. Using LeCroy's X-Stream( Technology, scripts written in these third-party programs can be inserted into the processing stream of the oscilloscope. Both standard math and parameters, as well as customized calculations, run 10-100 times faster than other open Windows environment oscilloscopes, not counting the time saved by running the calculations in a single application. Analog Persistence The WaveRunner 6000 Series also includes the LeCroy proprietary technology for capturing multiple waveforms in an Analog Persistence oscilloscope display mode. With one touch of the "Analog Persist" button, this display technique allows the DSO to capture many acquisitions of a signal which are then displayed in persistence mode on the bright 8.4-in. TFT screen. The data has brightness-graded intensity, similar to an analog oscilloscope, and the data can be digitally "aged" (with a time constant set by the user) to simulate the action of phosphor on an analog screen. Analog Persistence capability allows the user to see voltage vs. time, and also a third dimension of signal activity ( the intensity of the signal over a period of time. Alternatively, the persistence display can also have "thermal" grading, using colors ranging from red (hot) to blue (cool). The display can even show 3D views of the persistence map - a new way of viewing signal aberrations. SMART Trigger The WaveRunner 6000 Series of oscilloscopes includes a powerful set of SMART Triggers that are often absent in DSOs of this price range. Standard triggers include edge, glitch, pulse width, window, interval width, state and edge qualified, and dropout. Time and events holdoff are also standard. There are also times when an oscilloscope user knows the shape of a typical signal but wants to trigger on abnormal wave shapes. For that situation, LeCroy offers exclusion triggering based on signal timeout, glitch/pulse width, pattern width, or signal/pattern interval. The exclusion trigger allows the DSO user to have a maximum chance of capturing rare events by keeping the trigger circuit active nearly 100% of the time. All the triggers are easy to access and easy to set up. New PP007 Passive Probe All WaveRunner 6000 Series oscilloscopes are provided with one PP007 probe per channel. This is another facet of LeCroy industry leadership - other manufacturers charge extra for passive probes with their 1-2 GHz DSOs. The PP007 is a 500 MHz BW passive probe with excellent physical and electrical characteristics. When connected to a WaveRunner DSO, the PP007 displays 9.5 pF of capacitance at its 2.5 mm tip. The PP007 delivers an impressively flat response, is compatible with over 30 accessories (15 are standard), and costs only $200. Data and Output Management One benefit of a Windows-based platform is that there are unlimited ways to manage DSO data and setups. WaveRunner 6000 Series models ship with a standard 40 GB hard disk, and a CD-R (upgradeable to CD-RW) drive. The WaveRunner 6000 Series also includes five USB ports, including a convenient one on the front-panel - allowing the use of popular storage devices, such as Flash memory sticks, Zip and floppy drives. Standard 10/100 BaseT LAN, parallel, RS-232 ports and an optional GPIB adapter allow even more flexibility. For those who want a fast internal printer, an optional thermal graphics printer produces full-resolution screen printouts in less than 10 seconds. In landscape mode, the printer can produce fully detailed hard copies of long waveforms by making printouts up to 100 feet long. Engineers and technicians who would like to know more can contact LeCroy at 1-800-4LeCroy (1-800-453-2769) or visit the LeCroy Web site (http://www.lecroy.com).

LeCroy's' extended press-release comments pretty much say it all about these moderately priced Windows 2000 WaveRunner 6000 Series scopes. However, let me summarize and add a few tidbits, such as the fact that these scopes run embedded 2-GHz Intel micros with as much as 512 Mbytes of RAM. The PC architecture lets you store your findings to the internal hard disk drives, or send your data across a network, or into a Universal Serial Bus (USB) peripheral. You can also optionally run them in automated environments using IEEE-488 GPIB. The Model 6200 is a 4-channel 2-GHz instrument, with 10 Gsample/s digitization performance, a 1-Mpoint memory/channel capability, and 225-ps typical risetime performance. At less than $26,000, it carries an impressive price-vs.-performance spec. The Model 6100 is also a 4-channel scope, but has a 1-GHz bandwidth. Its risetime performance is a bit less, but still highly respectable at 200 ps. The box is priced a bit lower than the top shelf Model 6200, at $15,990. Then you can choose the Model 6050. It's also a 4-channel model but is a 500-MHz instrument with a somewhat slower (although still very fast) 5-Gsample/s digitizer. You can get one for $10,990. The Model 6051 is a dual-channel version, also a 500-MHz BW box with 5-Gsample/s performance and 1-Mpoint memory/ch capability. It comes in at a remarkably favorable price point of $7,990. Note that the Model 6050, the Model 6100, and the top of the line Model 6200 all pack 5 Gsample/s A/D converters on every channel, and have both 50-ohm and high-Z input jacks. Enhanced Vertical Mode All models offer 8-bit vertical resolution, but LeCroy also includes an enhanced resolution mode that can kick that up to 11 bits. This lets you select from 8.5 bits to 11 bits of vertical resolution. All of this is quite amazing---especially when you consider the cost. On the horizontal axis, all of these scopes are switch selectable for sweeps as fast as 20 ps/division (and as slow as 10 seconds/division). As an alternative, and at the same price as the Model 6051, you can select the 4-channel, 350 MHz Model 6030. It's a 2.5-Gsample/s 1-Mpoint memory/ch scope. Like the Model 6050, the 6051 touts 750 ps vertical risetime specs. All of these scopes double their memory length when using two or one channels. Not mentioned in the press release is that these scopes also include what LeCroy says is an exceptionally effective memory management system (some users may worry about the stability of Windows-based operating systems in instrumentation, so memory management is significant). And, the TFT LCDs offer 600 x 800-pixel SVGA display resolution. These new oscilloscopes are also notable because they represent the first time LeCroy has combined its high performance front-end amplifiers, A/D converters, and triggering features that are usually only found in the firm's pricier high-end scopes. With this caliber of A/D conversion, you don't need to worry about undersampling or aliasing like you might if you had a slower A/D up front. The long memory also complements the high-res conversion. Many Options In addition to the PP007 500 MHz passive probe mentioned in the press statement, LeCroy has a range of optional single-ended and differential active probes, as well as current probes. The company also offers optional O/E converters (optical to electrical), as well as differential input amplifiers. There are also a number of nifty touches not usually thought of as part of an oscilloscope's function set. For example, these instruments include audio I/O jacks, and SVGA video output jacks. LeCroy's release also mentions the jitter options. That's abetted by ±5 ppm clock accuracy, and a jitter noise floor that's typically only 2 ps rms (at 100 mV/division). LeCroy mentions that the WaveRunner 6000s include so-called SMART Triggers, mentioning that standard triggers let you trigger on edges, glitches, pulse widths, windows, intervals, state patterns, drop outs, and edge qualified signals. What's not mentioned is that these scopes offer automatic setup capabilities. That means that triggers, as well as timebase and sensitivity settings can be automatically selected for optimum displays. Lastly, LeCroy's persistence display feature, with its thermal color grading that can show 3D-like views of persistence maps seems like an innovation that you might not expect on moderate cost bench scopes. It's just one feature (out of many) that prove that very fast Windows PC architectures married to today's fast digitizers are dishing up features that would have been unheard of in bench scopes even two or three years ago.