OSCILLOSCOPE guide

Dippy

Moderator
Last edited:

MFB

Senior Member
I purchased a Pico 2204 scope several months ago and have found it reliable and relatively easy to use, provided you dedicate a PC for support. However, the price of standalone digital scopes have now dropped to about the same price as a similar performance USB based instrument and I now think these are a better option.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
Two things to bear in mind for portable scopes are the size of screen, and how easy that is to view, plus the display resolution ( number of pixels ).

I personally find test equipment with knobs and levers more comfortable and easier to use than PC screen based virtual controls and would recommend people try the software out first if they can.

Perhaps a compromise is a box with knobs and levers ( home built from a broken scope front panel ? ) could be integrated to the PC for the best of both worlds ? Maybe someone has already done that.
 

Dippy

Moderator
I too prefer standalone. And PICO better keep an eye on their prices I reckon ...
I was really just pointing people to things that should be considered before purchase rather than a review of scope types - they're available on nerdynet.

Hippy, open that wallet and get a Tektronix, then you can have knobs and virtual knobs. ;)

I think if I were going portable (not pocket sized) I'd consider a PICO plus Netbook. There are some nice 'proper' portable ones around but , phew! , quite a price tag.
(I'm talking proper like Fluke etc.)

But with anything small and portable versus big and desktop the compromise will always be there. That's a given.
 
Last edited:

Husos

New Member
Which scope PC or desktop

So guys,

What is the better solution, I appreciate PC based is smaller but does it have the like for like quality and results of a desktop based system.

I am just about to buy one and a farnell desktop scope was recommended any thoughts would be appreciated, I have about 300£ to spend or so

Husos
 

womai

Senior Member
Rigol DS1052E is a pretty solid standalone scope. Come from China but really good quality (in fact they produce some of Agilent's and Le Croy's low-end models - these get then simply rebranded and sold with 100% markup...).

Wolfgang
 

John West

Senior Member
Rigol DS1052E is a pretty solid standalone scope. Come from China but really good quality (in fact they produce some of Agilent's and Le Croy's low-end models - these get then simply rebranded and sold with 100% markup...).

Wolfgang
$372 US was a price I found online - and I checked out the specs. Very nice.

"Electronics R&D without a 'scope is like playing soccer blindfolded. You can do it - but you'll get very frustrated - and you'll lose." - JW
 
Last edited:

Dippy

Moderator
I would URGE anyone strongly not to part with large wedges of cash to Internet suppliers - unless they have a decent reputation, or good references and are likely to still be there next year. :eek:


"Here Endeth the Warranty" is a commonly used phrase by Car Boot sellers whether they are in a Car Park or on-line.


ALWAYS check the spec as in that LINK I provided.
There was even a link from that site to REVIEW pages - did anyone bother to look?

One man's mega-scope is another man's toy.;)

Work out what you want and what you might want in 6 months time.
DON'T just rush in and get some cheapo - especially online.
Don't the words 'Warranty' and 'Support' mean anything? I'm genuinely amazed.

Here's a cheapo or two...
http://uk.farnell.com/tenma/72-8395/digital-storage-scope-25mhz-2-ch/dp/1739448
http://uk.farnell.com/gw-instek/gds-1022/oscilloscope-dso-25mhz-colour/dp/1563796
here's a great pile, I'll leave you to check the specs based on the criteria suggested in that link I gave originally.
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=1001695+411+500001&Ns=PRICE_PLS_002_PRICE1|0

I think I gave similar links to you before Husos.
Like I said before: I am NOT recommending any of them as I have no experience.
My experience is solely with Tektronix digital scopes which I find to be excellent and reliable and stable and accurate and everything you want in a 'scope.

Suppliers like Farnell will almost certainly be more expensive, but from them you can get a refund if it's not up to spec.
Even if you simply don't like it you can get a refund - minus a handling charge from Farnell (and similar suppliers)
And they WILL always be there to support any warranty claims.
THESE are a few reasons why things cost more from these suppliers.

Try that with Floggit&Scarper Ltd from Ebay! :cool:



Husos.
"What is the better solution, I appreciate PC based is smaller but does it have the like for like quality and results of a desktop based system."
- What is the better solution?
Depends on what you want to do. A good PC based one will have big advantages of storage and logging. A standalone one may be easier to use and generally 'better' as all the hardware is designed as a 'scope.

You should also be asking:
"Why spend the extra £300 on a Tektronix over a Beijing Special?"
I really don't know. I'm sure there are some great cheap ones around.

But let me tell you a little story about a Tektronox TDS210 scope (which, by the way, is still working after 11 years).
Three years after I bought it Tektronix announced a precautionary safety recall. They took it away, checked and calibrated it free of charge. It went from me in UK to Europe and was returned in 5 working days.
Will you get that service with YingTong scopes limited?

So, maybe I've just answered my own question from above....



Good luck on your searching. Double-check the spec and don't rush into buying from Dodgey Dave the 'Scope Man.
 

ylp88

Senior Member
Rigol DS1052E is a pretty solid standalone scope. Come from China but really good quality (in fact they produce some of Agilent's and Le Croy's low-end models - these get then simply rebranded and sold with 100% markup...).
I got myself a Rigol DS1064B just over a year ago - it has done wonders for me! The four channels and decent memory is excellent for debugging digital busses such as i2c and SPI, even without logic analyser functions. Highly recommended based upon my experience.

ylp88
 

fernando_g

Senior Member
It may be me, but I've never have had 100% success with USB based scopes. They tend to freeze, and have sluggish responses when adjusting controls.

Someone who is far knowledgeable than myself on high speed busses tells me that there are some conflicts/limitations on USB. That firewire was a far better serial interface bus and that was the reason video equipment use it as the interface (althought this appears to be changing). Maybe someone more knowledgeable than myslef can correct me if I'm wrong.

Call me biased but...., I also feel that handling buttons or levers provides a more intuitive way to find or capture difficult waveforms. There is something about the tactile feedback of a knob going click, click, click.
 
Last edited:

InvaderZim

Senior Member
Amazon sells Rigol models for only ~$20 US more than other places. I'd be tempted to go through them if you don't want to risk buying from a random online site. Warranty issues might be easier to resolve.
 

John West

Senior Member
(snip)
You should also be asking:
"Why spend the extra £300 on a Tektronix over a Beijing Special?"
I really don't know. I'm sure there are some great cheap ones around.

But let me tell you a little story about a Tektronox TDS210 scope (which, by the way, is still working after 11 years).
Three years after I bought it Tektronix announced a precautionary safety recall. They took it away, checked and calibrated it free of charge. It went from me in UK to Europe and was returned in 5 working days.
Will you get that service with YingTong scopes limited?

So, maybe I've just answered my own question from above....
9snip0
Musings on scopes:

You got very, very, very, lucky with that one, Dippy. I bet you were grinning ear to ear over it.

Check the prices for recalibration of used scopes. It's often far more than was likely paid for the scope.

I have 4 HP scopes - one of them is analog storage, a couple of Tek scopes, one a 4 channel 400MHz, and a couple of Phillips digital storage scopes. But the one thing I don't have is a calibration sticker on any of them. It simply costs too much to get it done. Properly maintaining a good stand-alone scope is expensive. So I'm never sure that what I see on the scope display represents the actual signal. It often becomes a process of comparison of signals just to be sure of things.

The 3 primary reasons I would think for purchasing a USB plug-in scope is that they're smaller and cheaper than the real thing - yet can do most of what you will ever need a good scope to do, and they are easy to calibrate (or should be.)

A good stand-alone scope is almost always overkill out of necessity. It must be capable of successfully catching the most difficult of signals - whether you run into such on a regular basis or not. Owning something that can do that gets expensive.

I'm looking forward to getting my pic-based PC port scopes (from Womai) up and running so I can cart one of them along with me wherever I go - just as I already do with my multimeter. The idea of buying a very inexpensive PC-based digital scope as a first step toward an an expensive high-performance stand-alone scope is a good one - (like buying a small boat and actually doing a bit of sailing before deciding to invest in a yacht.) Use it, learn from it, blow it up and fix it and keep your eyes open for a good stand-alone scope at a good price later on. It's a good feeling knowing that I can do something stupid with a $50 USB scope and be able to fix it for $10.

Working at mains voltages with a scope that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair after a moment of carelessness creates a degree of tension I'd rather avoid when I can. I try to use the cheapest piece of gear I have to do whatever needs doing in my lab. That's why I use a $4 multimeter all the time and leave the 5 and a half digit Fluke shut off. And I use the Fluke for more precise work and leave the Advantest 8 and a half digit shut off. I'd be quite happy to do most everything with the ssimple little $5 to $50 test equipment and leave the expensive gear just for show. I like the peace of mind.

I'm not so sure of the ultimate value of an expensive PC-based digital scope. There are far too many companies in the PC add-on scope business. Most of them won't be around in 5 or 10 years. Meanwhile, I'm still downloading service manuals for my 50 year-old HP gear. That's hard to beat in the support biz.

Musing over.
 

John West

Senior Member
It may be me, but I've never have had 100% success with USB based scopes. They tend to freeze, and have sluggish responses when adjusting controls.

Someone who is far knowledgeable than myself on high speed busses tells me that there are some conflicts/limitations on USB. That firewire was a far better serial interface bus and that was the reason video equipment use it as the interface (althought this appears to be changing). Maybe someone more knowledgeable than myslef can correct me if I'm wrong.

Call me biased but...., I also feel that handling buttons or levers provides a more intuitive way to find or capture difficult waveforms. There is something about the tactile feedback of a knob going click, click, click.
You make a good point. Every part of a stand-alone scope was designed to be compatible with every other (hopefully.) USB scopes are designed without knowing virtually anything about what they're plugged into - beyond the USB standards, I and II and the OS. After that it's version unknown, service packs unknown, DLL's unknown, other programs and bds unknown, specific hardware architecture unknown. That's a lot of unknowns to design around.

So you then have 2 pieces of gear to get working properly together instead of just one that has already been designed and verified to work that way. Frankly, I'm surprised that many USB plug-ins work as well as they do. I'm just glad when they do.
 

Dippy

Moderator
Yes, I was lucky. But DO remember; there are different levels of calibration.
Anyway, to me it goes to show Quality service from a Quality manufacturer - that was the point I was really trying to make.

I've just been frightened to death by the price of good quality differential isolated probes.... aarrgh!

I think my final comment on this subject is that people should think what they want it for:-
For me an oscilloscope is a measuring instrument as well as display.
I have to be able to rely on it.
I need something that is ~100% out of the box.
I don't want to have to check it or attempt to calibrate it (against what?? I don't have any standards, do you?)
Therefore I am happy to pay the extra for a BIG name brand.

Each to their own (and their own budget) and good luck to all those hunting around.
 
Top