Design World

  • Home
  • Articles
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
  • 3D CAD Models
    • PARTsolutions
    • TraceParts
  • Leadership
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 Winners
    • 2020 LEAP Awards
  • Resources
    • DIGITAL ISSUES
      • EE World Digital Issues
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • 2020 LEAP Awards
    • MC² Motion Control Classroom
    • Motion Design Guide Library
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
  • Women in Engineering
  • Ebooks / Tech Tips
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • COVID-19

June 2018 Special Edition: Test & Measurement Handbook

By Editor Design World | June 21, 2018

Share

Will high test instrument costs keep the next Steve Wozniak out of the tech business?

Back in the heyday of personal computing, it was possible to do state-of-the-art work without making a big investment in test equipment. To see what I mean, consider the development of the first 5.25-in. floppy disk drive for the Apple II PC. Introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in early 1978, the hardware design was largely by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. The timing signals on the Apple Bus included 1 and 7-MHz clocks. The controller board only carried eight chips which Woz used to fashion a state machine.

I recently had a chance to ask Woz about what kind of test instruments went into developing the floppy controller for the Apple II. He explained, “I ran the state machine at 7 MHz, as I recall, so I only needed an oscilloscope that could work at that speed. But I really didn’t use the scope for this. … I looked at the results and fixed bugs to get what looked like the right 1’s and 0’s coming back. I could write a track and see that I got the same 1’s and 0’s back without any scope. I was almost totally in the digital world on this project…. I had no logic analyzer, but really didn’t have to deal with parallel data outside of simple read and write commands from the Apple II processor….I only had to see that my 7-MHz timing wound up generating 4-μsec. timing, and that was all I needed in a scope. When you make a project small and it’s all digital, your equipment needs are less.”

For Woz to see a 7 MHz signal in 1977, he would have needed a scope with a bandwidth of at least 14 MHz. Instruments of that caliber were easily within reach of small companies back then. A good candidate would have been the Tektronix 423, a widely used analog scope of the day with a 25 MHz bandwidth and a list price of about $1,600. Online calculators compute that $1,600 in 1978 had roughly the same buying power as $6,400 today.

The floppy drive for the Apple II was a first-of-its-kind, never-been-done-before item. It is noteworthy that the only test gear necessary to conceive it was a scope that was reasonably priced.

And it is a little scary to think about what kind of instrumentation is necessary for state-of-the-art work now. Consider, for example, what it might take to field something in the 5G telecom area which is expected to dominate IoT applications. Developers probably would need instruments able to generate the IQ waveforms and envelope tracking involved, as well as an oscilloscope with a 1-GHz bandwidth to see the complex baseband IQ signals.

The $1,600 that got Woz up and running in 1977, or even the equivalent $6,400 of today, wouldn’t go far for work in 5G. A look at PXIe modular instruments widely used for 5G illustrates the cost chasm over which developers must leap. To cite a few examples, a 1-GHz PXIe scope from Keysight goes for $12,000. An IQ arbitrary waveform function generator in the same format able to work at 1 GHz runs $22,000. A 500 MS/sec PXIe digitizer, also handy for 5G work, runs $7,800.

LeeTeschlerTHIt’s tough to look at the cost of this test equipment and not wonder about the fate of two-guys-in-a-garage tech start-ups. There will certainly always be entrepreneurs, but the daunting cost of test equipment may prevent them from unleashing the kind of breakthrough hardware technology that came out of Apple in the 1970s.

LEE TESCHLER
EXECUTIVE EDITOR

MOTION DESIGN GUIDES

“motion

“motion

“motion

“motion

“motion

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Configuration Management: Configuration Integrity IS A Core Driver for Business Success
  • How to Choose a Linear Actuator
  • Create your perfect machine with Advanced Engineering
  • How a ME/EE turned passion for design into his own bike company
  • Everyone Can Save on Cable Costs. Here’s How
  • How and Why You Should Use a Wave Spring for Bearing Preload
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Tweets by @DesignWorld
Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP Awards

Copyright © 2021 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Articles
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
  • 3D CAD Models
    • PARTsolutions
    • TraceParts
  • Leadership
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 Winners
    • 2020 LEAP Awards
  • Resources
    • DIGITAL ISSUES
      • EE World Digital Issues
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • 2020 LEAP Awards
    • MC² Motion Control Classroom
    • Motion Design Guide Library
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
  • Women in Engineering
  • Ebooks / Tech Tips
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • COVID-19
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.OkNoRead more