Features are funny. Until you need one, they seem fluffy. One example for me was I thought triggering on a pulse less than x uSec seemed not very useful. Until I needed it and was delighted I could do it. Of course the big change from an analog scope is that one trigger that meets the condition gets caught and I get to see the one in a million case. So much of that trigger capability in the digitals is only useful in a digital sampler scope.
That's why good old analog "TV service scopes" with 2-prong supply and fully isolated plastic chassis came in handy back in the day. Today, a battery-powered DSO is the better option.
One problem with DSO's I'm still having is the unability to judge edge-rate / rise-time just from trace thickness alone, as well as using trace sharpness as direct indicator for noise or low-level oscillation.
I looked at used units, various 2-4 channel Rigol and Siglent.
A Rigol DS1054Z went for £250; a Siglent SDS1104X-E is £425 on eBay. Both 8-bits.
Then I found the Rigol DHO800-900 range.
£354 via Banggood for a new DHL804 - 4 channels, 12-bit, can be supplied by USB battery power, 70MHz and software upgrade to 200MHz. Small form factor and a big touchscreen.
It's a bit more than I originally intended but these units will replace the DS1054 as the obvious choice for a starter oscilloscope.
Btw Siglent has reduced the prices of their budget units.
I bought the DHO804.
A Rigol DS1054Z went for £250; a Siglent SDS1104X-E is £425 on eBay. Both 8-bits.
Then I found the Rigol DHO800-900 range.
£354 via Banggood for a new DHL804 - 4 channels, 12-bit, can be supplied by USB battery power, 70MHz and software upgrade to 200MHz. Small form factor and a big touchscreen.
It's a bit more than I originally intended but these units will replace the DS1054 as the obvious choice for a starter oscilloscope.
Btw Siglent has reduced the prices of their budget units.
I bought the DHO804.
Richard, which model Siglent scope is that?
I did a quick search for a Siglent 12-bit scope, which returned the SDS2104X HD at about $2,600. Which, obviously, isn’t what you were referring to.
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I've been thinking of getting an scope to play with audio signals. I want to do time and frequency measurements... hopefully using white/pink noise and swept frequencies. Time (impulse) and frequency is what I want to do...
But, I'm can't afford the stuff we have in the labs at work and I don't really want to have a PC doing much more than just a plain interface to download the data and do some post mortem analysis
In addition, I would rather keep it under a kilobuck ( incredible huh ? ).
I'm open to getting a programmable function/signal generator as well.
I haven't been paying much attention to the analog DIY, low end devices, since at work we tend to use JTAG and fairly high frequency logic analyzers nowadays. But, it would be nice to have something at home other than DMMs.
Any ideas?
But, I'm can't afford the stuff we have in the labs at work and I don't really want to have a PC doing much more than just a plain interface to download the data and do some post mortem analysis
In addition, I would rather keep it under a kilobuck ( incredible huh ? ).
I'm open to getting a programmable function/signal generator as well.
I haven't been paying much attention to the analog DIY, low end devices, since at work we tend to use JTAG and fairly high frequency logic analyzers nowadays. But, it would be nice to have something at home other than DMMs.
Any ideas?
What else do you need that isn't in the 'budget' models we've been discussing?
They're digital, 2-4 channels, upgradeable to around 200MHz if you need it, 12-bit, and way less than US$1,000. That's Rigol.
@popeman says Siglent's version is coming out today (as it's the new tomorrow where I am and in Asia 😅)
They're digital, 2-4 channels, upgradeable to around 200MHz if you need it, 12-bit, and way less than US$1,000. That's Rigol.
@popeman says Siglent's version is coming out today (as it's the new tomorrow where I am and in Asia 😅)
I have a Picoscope 5242D 60MHz dual channel scope, it is sort of expensive but in single channel measurements offers up to 16 bit single channel resolution and in 2 channel mode up to 15 bits, as useful perhaps is the spectrum analyzer which is quite good. I wanted a small solution that leveraged the computer already on my bench top rather than a standalone scope. Replaced both my analog scope and a Tektronix TBS1052B
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The model number is SDS814X HD, I don't think its officially available yet outside China (nothing showing on Aliexpress) but I did turn up a YT review.
Having used a vareity of scopes for many tasks I'm at a loss on how to use 12+ bits when looking at a waveform. The screen doesn't have the resolution to see it all and vertical magnification is useful only to a degree in specific applications (ones that my Tek 7A13 differential comparitor does well). Frequency domain is another issue. However for audio band a good audio ADC (Cosmos?) is hard to beat (20+ ENOB) and software like Virtins allows some pretty amazing analysis.
Have you tried REW with a usb interface? REW offers a crude scope display. May be enough for your time domain stuff. The swept/noise analysis is going to be better in a 16+ bit usb interface than even a 12 bit scope. I tend to use the scope for time stuff and REW for hi-res low noise analysis. I started with a scarlett 2i2 and now use a motu ultralite v5. The motu has slightly better performance.