In the ever-evolving landscape of electronic testing and measurement, the ability to remotely access and control oscilloscopes has become a crucial feature for engineers and technicians seeking efficiency and flexibility. Tektronix offers a range of remote access and control options for its oscilloscopes, crucial for remote learning, collaboration across locations, increased productivity in manufacturing, and more. In this blog, we’ll explore the difference between remote access vs remote control and the three methods you can use to remotely access and control your Tektronix oscilloscopes.

Remote Access vs. Remote Control

While the terms “remote access" and “remote control" are sometimes used interchangeably, these are two very different methods of interacting with remote instrumentation. Remote access is the ability of users to access a device or a network from any location. Remote control is the remote operation of a device via signals or commands. In other words, remote access allows a user to interact with an instrument directly from a remote location, as though the instrument were in the room with the user, while remote control allows a user to indirectly interact with an instrument via a command set such as SCPI.

An easy way to think about the difference between remote access and remote control is that all remote access allows remote control, but all remote control does not allow remote access.

Figure 1: Table outlining which methods allow remote control vs remote access

Remote Access Using e*Scope and TekScope

Remote access is like viewing the scope’s screen on your computer, remote control is interacting/sending commands/settings to the scope remotely.  Select Tektronix oscilloscopes can be accessed remotely using either e*Scope or TekScope PC software.

What is e*Scope?

Tektronix enables many of its oscilloscopes with a free capability called e*Scope that allows both remote access and remote control of the instrument. This webserver is a built-in feature on 4/5/6 Series MSO scopes and functions as a real-time display and interface via a web browser.

To use the e*Scope feature, simply connect the oscilloscope to a network via LAN. Then, enter the scope’s IP address into a web browser and select the e*Scope instrument control panel from the home screen. An exact replica of the oscilloscope’s screen will appear on the browser. From here, you can interact with your MSO scope as though it were right in front of you, using the keyboard and mouse.

1. Open a Web browser on a PC connected to the same network as the instrument.
2.  Enter instrument IP address on the URL line of the browser and press Enter. For example: 135.62.88.157. The browser searches for and opens the Web page for the instrument.
3.  Select Remote Scope Control. The browser displays the instrument screen.
4.  Use a mouse to select and interact with the instrument controls shown in the Web browser. If your remote PC or laptop has a touch screen monitor, you can use the remote touchscreen monitor to access the instrument controls.

On many entry-level and previous generation oscilloscopes, e*Scope is a remote User Interface that allows you to quickly see a snapshot of the oscilloscope display and adjust settings and measurements. Examples of these oscilloscopes include TBS2000B, 3 Series MDO, and 4/5/6 Series MSO (Linux OS only).

What is TekScope PC?

TekScope is a PC-based analysis software application that functions both online and offline. With the Starter License , you can connect to a oscilloscope to pull real-time data from the remote scopes. You can access this software and see more details at scope.tekcloud.com.

The TekScope interface duplicates the features and user-friendly interface of our new scopes like the 2/4/5/6 Series MSOs. TekScope also supports importing popular waveforms file formats from a variety of vendors, including: *.wfm, *.csv, *.bin, *.trc, .*isf, *.tr0, and *.wfmx.

Figure 2: Supported waveform import formats

TekScope is also available via a free tier called ‘Basic’ which includes remote connectivity, offline viewing capabilities, plots, cursors, etc. The application-specific analysis features are available as licensed options. For a summary of features and options, please see https://www.tekcloud.com/tekscope/pricing/.

In addition to offline analysis, real-time data acquisition, TekScope PC also offers the ability to access online scopes remotely via the remote access button. 

What Does the Remote Access Button Do?

TekScope PC remote access allows you to access your oscilloscope front panel in a manner like a remote desktop connection. In fact, you may use the built-in Windows remote desktop procedure, but we recommend using Myrtille for a more cohesive experience with TekScope. Myrtille is an open-source solution alternative to windows Remote Desktop functionality. A supported Myrtille version can be downloaded from TekCloud.com’s prerequisite section, and will need to be installed on your remote windows-based scope.

Figure 3: Scope Remote Access Location within TekScope

To use TekScope PC remote access, connect to a scope over ethernet. Then, right click on the Scope Tile, select “Configure Scope 1”, and click on “Access Scope – Live Control.” From here, TekScope will detect the best remote connection method and you will be prompted to enter your credentials to log into either a Windows remote desktop session or a Myrtille session to access the scope.

Figure 4: A Remote Access Session Running within TekScope using Myrtille

What is Myrtille?

Myrtille is an open source, remote access gateway that provides access to remote servers and desktops via a web gateway. Myrtille can be used by TekScope PC when remotely accessing a scope as an alternative to Windows remote desktop. If you are having issues with your Myrtille installation, check out the troubleshooting guide.

For a Windows 10 instrument, you will need to install the Tektronix Myrtille package on the windows oscilloscope to access the remote scope live.

Follow these steps to download and install Myrtille:

1. Go to tekcloud.com.

2. Click Sign In.

3. Enter your Email and Password to login.

Figure 5: TekCloud Login Page

4. After login, go to scope.tekcloud.com/#/help/prerequisites.

5. Click Install Myrtille to download the ".exe" file.

Figure 6: The Myrtille installation download location on tekcloud.com

6. Double click on .exe file to install the Myrtille on the oscilloscope.

7. Once the installation is completed, reboot the oscilloscope to get the Myrtille service running so that you can access and configure the oscilloscope (for full live control).

When to use Myrtille instead of Windows Remote Desktop

While Myrtille and Windows Remote Desktop work similarly, there is a particular use case where one offers a much better experience than the other. When working remotely, it is common practice to remotely access a lab PC that is connected to the instrumentation. Now consider how this would work. As an example, a laptop in a user’s home office would remotely access the PC in the lab that is running TekScope. Then, if the connected scope needed to be accessed, it could be remotely accessed via TekScope PC on the lab computer. However, if this second remote session is via Windows Remote Desktop, the remote session to the scope will overtake the remote session to the lab PC, leaving the user accessing the scope via their laptop with no way to return to the lab PC remote access session.

Figure 7: A remote desktop session into a lab PC which is using its own remote desktop session to access a connected scope

Now, consider the same example where instead of using Windows Remote Desktop to access the scope from the lab PC, Myrtille is used. Myrtille allows a remote access session to be opened within its own window in TekScope, so there is no risk of a second remote access session overtaking the first like in the previous example.

Figure 8: A remote desktop session into a lab PC which is accessing a connected scope within the TekScope PC software using Myrtille

Remote Control Using TekScope

TekScope PC also offers remote control abilities outside of utilizing remote access. When remote control is on, changes made through the Vertical, Horizontal, and Trigger menus in TekScope are propagated across all connected scopes. To activate remote control, open the I/O settings under the Utility menu, then turn the “TekScope Remote Control” toggle On.

Figure 9: The location of the TekScope Remote Control setting in the IO menu

Conclusion

By leveraging remote access, engineers and technicians can achieve greater control over their measurement processes, facilitate remote troubleshooting, and streamline data management. The following table shows which of the remote access methods outlined in this blog can be used by which Tektronix oscilloscopes. To learn more about e*Scope , and TekScope PC visit tek.com.

Figure 10: Remote access options for Tektronix Oscilloscopes