Tektronix 1 Series Brings TekScope UI to $450 Entry-Level Oscilloscopes

Tektronix has priced its new entry-level oscilloscope family at $450, and the 1 Series DPO carries the same TekScope user interface that runs on the company's 7 Series instruments. The 16-model range offers two or four channels, 12-bit resolution and bandwidths from 50 MHz to 200 MHz. Tektronix will introduce and demonstrate the series at Electronica 2026 in Munich, Germany, on November 10–13, and the instruments are available now, directly from Tektronix or through distribution partners.

What does one interface across the range change?

Tektronix's oscilloscope line now runs from the 1 Series through the 7 Series, with bandwidths spanning 50 MHz to 25 GHz and channel counts from two to eight. The 1 Series places the TekScope interface and its programmatic capability onto the company's lowest-priced instruments, built around a 7-inch WSVGA (1024 × 600) capacitive multi-touch display.

The design aim is skill transfer. Students trained on low-cost 1 Series instruments in teaching laboratories meet the same interface later on any scope from the 1 through the 7 Series, so graduates can start productive work without relearning the instrument. Employers gain similar flexibility, moving technicians across test inventories of differing cost and performance.

The interface also serves hiring. Instructors and interviewers can disable Autoset, so a candidate must set up vertical scale, timebase and trigger levels manually. Real knowledge of lab procedure, as distinct from last-minute tutorial familiarity, becomes quickly apparent.

The takeaway: the shared interface turns a $450 bench instrument into a training and screening tool that scales to the full Tektronix portfolio.

How was the series defined?

Tektronix built the product around input from academia and industry. Ted Coleman, Staff Product Manager for 1–3 Class Scopes, said: "We spent a lot of time listening to professors, lab managers, and engineers across regions about what they actually need from an entry-level scope. That input drove deliberate choices about performance, usability, learning support and connectivity."

Daryl Ellis, VP and GM of Acquisition and Analysis, placed the product in a wider frame: "We set out to redefine what engineers should expect from an entry-level oscilloscope... The 1 Series puts serious measurement capability within reach" for students, professors and working engineers alike.

Education-specific features include remote viewing of student work through the eScope tool, an extensive help system with video demonstrations, QR-code access to labs and onboarding material, and an AI-based learning assistant.

What are the acquisition and analysis specifications?

The family comprises 16 models. Each of four guaranteed bandwidths — 50, 70, 100 and 200 MHz — comes with two or four analog channels, each configuration offered with or without an integrated arbitrary function generator; AFG models carry an "S" suffix.

Key specifications, as stated by Tektronix:

• 12-bit vertical resolution across the family
• Sample rate up to 1.25 GS/s with half the channels active, 625 MS/s with all channels
• Record length up to 10 Mpoints per channel
• Waveform capture rate above 125,000 waveforms per second
• Standard triggers: edge, pulse width, runt, timeout, rise/fall time
• Serial trigger, decode and analysis for I2C, SPI and UART (RS-232/422/485)
• 23 automated measurements, cursors, XY and limit-mask plots, a 5-digit DVM and a 6-digit frequency counter

The 25 MHz integrated AFG on S models generates arbitrary, sine, square, pulse, ramp, DC and noise waveforms with AM, FM, ASK, FSK and sweep modulation; select models add Bode plot analysis. The math toolset combines waveform arithmetic, FFT and an advanced equation editor with real-time display of computed waveforms — capability Tektronix calls new to this low-bandwidth class.

Inputs withstand 135 VRMS, with peaks from -400 V to +400 V, CAT II. Inputs and outputs are physically separated, and the software shows a clipping warning on overdriven signals. Tektronix recommends a 500:1 high-voltage probe such as the P5200A for higher-voltage work. Every channel ships with a probe: the P2101 on 50–100 MHz models, the P2201 on 200 MHz models.

What is the Tek Intelligence Connector?

Launching alongside the scope, the Tek Intelligence Connector is a software link — not a physical interconnect — that connects a customer's chosen AI agent to Tektronix measurement knowledge and instrument control, with the 1 Series as the first supported instrument. An engineer describes an objective in plain language, and the agent translates that intent into validated instrument commands.

Rick Kuhlman, GM of AI Design and Platform Software, explained the software-first decision: "AI agents typically run on a PC, not on the instrument itself, so placing the connector where the agent already lives allows a single solution to support dozens of instruments across our portfolio."

The instrument's compact footprint conserves bench space, with a 100 mm × 100 mm VESA mount for automated test integration. Connectivity includes front USB 2.0 device, rear USB 2.0 host and 10/100 Base-T Ethernet with USBTMC and Python-based automation support; TekScope PC software adds multi-scope analysis, further serial decoding, jitter and power options under license.

The standard warranty is one year, and the instrument includes a Kensington security slot. With the AI connector in early access and Electronica 2026 demonstrations ahead, Tektronix is betting that interface consistency and agent-driven automation will shape how entry-level buyers choose their first — and next — oscilloscopes.