Tekprobe BNC connector

Tekprobe-BNC interface

The Tekprobe BNC interface was introduced in 1986 and is widely used in 1990s Tektronix equipment to interface active probes (e.g. the P6243) to oscilloscopes.

It consists of a plain BNC connector that allows traditional BNC based connections such as from passive probes.

This connector is surrounded by contact pads carrying power and data. The two larger pad areas match the simple resistive readout pins on probes from the 7000 series scope generation (e.g. a ×10 probe will connect this pad to ground through 11 kΩ, or short it to ground when the Identify button is pressed — see 7000 series readout system for details). The smaller pads carry +15 V, +5 V, −5 V and −15 V power, an offset voltage supplied and controlled by the mainframe, and a clock/data signal pair for serial communication between the mainframe and "smart" probes. Probes are allowed to draw max. 1.25 W, max. 75 mA from the ±5 V rails, and max. 25 mA from the ±15 V rails.

A similar standard exists based on SMA connectors, suitable for higher frequencies.

Evolution of Tektronix probe interfaces (click to enlarge)

Used in

Scopes	Plug-ins	Probes
TDS300 series TDS400 series TDS500 series TDS600 series TDS700 series TDS3000B series TDS5000B series TDS7000 series 1103 power supply ...	11A32 11A33 11A34 11A52 11A71, 11A72 11A81 ...	P5205 P5210 P6203, P6204, P6205 P6217 P6231 P6250, P6251 P6241 P6243, P6245 P6246, P6247 P6248 P6249 P6330 P6701(-A,B), P6702, P6703(-A,-B) P6711, P6713 TCP202 ADA400A 013-0278-00 ...

Links

• What is the TekProbe interface? (Tektronix FAQ)
• What is the difference between the Tekprobe and TekConnect probe interfaces? (Tektronix FAQ)

Pictures

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  Tekprobe BNC connector (socket)

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  Tekprobe BNC plug (on P5210)

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  Tekprobe BNC socket (on 1103)

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  Tekprobe-BNC interface

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  Tekprobe plug