Starting out: First Scope Buy cheap used one or quality new one? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 09:51:31 am
content: Well I am planning on buying a scope this week or next week and I am having a bit of trouble choosing what to buy. I was thinking should I start out with a cheap used analog scope with 20mhz or something like that, or a new one, digital preferably, such as Rigol DS1052E.

author: LEECH666
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:25:02 am
content: A decent lab setup will have both types of scopes available on the bench.I've only got an analog 200Mhz / 4 channel / Tektronix 7623B and I (imo) it's not very convinient to use. No cursors, tiny buttons, yadda yadda ...For general purpose I'd rather recommend a DSO since it has a lot of nice to have features that older and lower end analog scope don't have at all.I think I'll buy the hackable TEKWAY DST1062B soon.Florian

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:33:21 am
content: What are you going to be using it for, how quickly do you need it and what is your budget (both "would prefer" and "could stretch to if I needed")?The Rigol is clearly a better 'scope than "a cheap used 20MHz analogue scope", though also more expensive - not sure what 'scopes go for on eBay in Aus but in the UK 20MHz analogue 'scopes go for £30-60 (50-90 Aus $).For probably a bit less money than the Rigol (assuming $300 - $400, they're £300 or so new in the UK) you could probably pick up a 150-200MHz analogue, Say a 2445 or 2445A - a couple have gone recently just over the £200 mark in the UK. I picked up a PM3382 for similar money and I'm happy that it's "as good as" something like the Rigol for my purposes. I do loose heavily in the digital section (c'mon it's 20 years old) but gain an extra pair of input channels, the possibility to switch to analogue if needed and double the bandwidth for 2/3 of the price.One thing about eBay though - it's probably best not approached with a "I want to buy a 'scope this week" - it can take several weeks to find just the right one at the right price.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 11:39:33 am
content: Avoid buying overseas, if you can. Since you're in Oz, you should first find what is most cost effective for you, peferrably a local dealer. I think Dave posted some vendors who have the new price for the Rigol, which is ~ US$330 for the 50 MHz and $400 for the 100MHz.

author: bullet308
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 02:29:15 pm
content: I wonder if the market in Australia isn't similar to that here in South Carolina, USA, in that the electronics industry does not have a big history or large footprint here, resulting in a shortage of decent used equipment floating about.In my case, the ONLY halfway reliable way to pick up used lab gear without a two-hour+ drive (Craigslist never seems to turn up anything within a 200kM radius of here, at it all tends to be overpriced) is through our state government surplus outlet, which happily is about ten minutes away from where I work and live. Also happily, the entirety of the states public college system's surplus comes through there, so 'scopes are to be found fairly regularly in the $50-75 range. They pretty much price them all the same, too. a 20mHz Mystery Meat-brand unit that wont power up and a 60mHz Tek in perfect condition will sit on the shelf side-by-side with the same price tag. If it hangs around long enough, it might even go on 50-75% off sale, which means even a DOA unit might become worth it.The bad news is that none of them that I have ever seen have been digital, or speced much over 65mHz (colleges don't seem to spring for the high-dollar stuff much), but still, its a good resource. Don't know what governments and colleges do to get rid of their gear in Australia, though. I expect I will spring for a Rigol before too long and then I will be set up pretty well. :-)

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:01:18 pm
content: Funny. Most people who have used both would probably call old Tektronix analog scopes high quality and modern Rigol ones cheap.

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:06:46 pm
content: I was thinking about buying from Emona instruments since they have a nice price around $360 and they are official reseller and also give out warranty. I am planning to buy from them locally.

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:07:16 pm
content: Here is the link by the way:https://secure1.ozhosting.com/emona/shop/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=72

author: Teknotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:13:33 pm
content: I recently purchased my Rigol from Emona. Great service, I highly recommend.

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:20:54 pm
content: Excellent. I think I will go with the Rigol, unless somebody manages to convince me to buy a different scope within the next hour

author: chscholz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 10:31:51 pm
content: If you are staring out, I'd say call the the applications department of the scope vendor and see how good their support is.Quote from: Mint. on January 26, 2012, 09:51:31 am

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 11:02:30 pm
content: Quote from: chscholz on January 26, 2012, 10:31:51 pmThanks for the tip, I searched around on the internet a bit and it seems the support is very good. I honestly never in my life had to call customer support for anything that I had boughtbut maybe some day...

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 26, 2012, 11:16:11 pm
content: Quote from: chscholz on January 26, 2012, 10:31:51 pmRigol has an applications department? Or any kind of helpful support at all? They got popular because it was the first affordable DSO on the market that didn't suck (as much as the previous attempts), not because of their excellent support.Since then other Asian brands have released decent DSOs, often with better specs, but as far as I know they're all more expensive than the Rigol DS1052E.