HP (Agilent) 54600B 100MHz + GPIB - What's it worth - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: danfloun
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 05:44:05 pm
content: This? Is it worth £400?http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Agilent-54600B-Dual-channel-100MHz-Digital-Oscilloscope-with-GPIB-/281090044012?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item417245b06c

author: krivx
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 05:53:36 pm
content: I can't help but think that £400 might get you a smaller, lighter, new scope with betters specs, a USB port and a warranty.

author: AndersAnd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 05:57:11 pm
content: Quote from: krivx on November 19, 2013, 05:53:36 pmBut does the newer scopes have built in Tetris like HP 54600B does?

author: danfloun
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 06:03:34 pm
content: Lol tetris... nooooh I'd never get nothing done at work. Or rather, less than I do currently!Okay. I still can decide, too many scopes.

author: AndersAnd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 06:11:18 pm
content: But in all seriousness, in that price range I would rather spend €535.50 [£450] including VAT and free shipping within EU on a new Rigol DS1074Z 4-channel scope (with colour LCD!):http://www.batronix.com/shop/oscilloscopes/Rigol-DS1074Z.htmlThen you can upgrade it with all extra featuresand upgrade the bandwidth to 200 MHzwith this keygen:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/sniffing-the-rigol%27s-internal-i2c-bus/msg324768/?topicseen#msg324768

author: danfloun
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 06:27:46 pm
content: WHAT!!! Is the DS1074Z definitely upgradable to 200MHz??? I didn't think it was.Are you not mixing up the DS2072 hack to 200MHz?If so that answers my question, as I almost bought the DS1104z.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 06:33:15 pm
content: That sounds like a high price for that. It may be that the seller finds a buyer where that particular model needs replacing on a production line and it's cheaper to replace like for like than rewrite and reverify the control software.

author: rolycat
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 06:39:25 pm
content: Quote from: AndersAnd on November 19, 2013, 06:11:18 pmI don't think you can upgrade the DS1074Z to 200 MHz, officially or otherwise.Can it even be upgraded to 100 MHz? Jury still seems to be out on this question.Also, the keygen page appears to be MIA again.

author: Tom
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 06:43:43 pm
content: A few months ago I bought an HP54600B on eBay for $150 (£93.15) It wasn't until I tried the Tetris easter egg that I found that one of the function buttons didn't work. It worked out for the better as I got a free scope from my work around the same time so I did not feel bad about returning it. I did have time to fool around with it, though.I, personally, think £400 ($644.12) is a total rip off. I'd suggest a Rigol DS1052E and upgrade the bandwidth to 100MHz. £262.80 including VAT. Hell, even if you bought the 100MHz version (DS1102E) it'd still be cheaper than the HP at £342.00 including VAT. And that's just onRigol's website. I'm sure you could save even more money by searching one of these scopes on ebay.

author: AndersAnd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 08:31:21 pm
content: Quote from: danfloun on November 19, 2013, 06:27:46 pmSorry, I remebered wrong andhttp://riglol.3owl.comis down atm, so I couldn't check.But I hav a copy of that web app on my PC so I just ran it locally an you an only add these options (so far)QuoteBut I would still buy Rigol DS1074Z over a HP digital scope series from the early 90's. Or DS1104Z if you need 100 MHz BW, or even Rigol DS2072 if you're willing to spend a bit more.We got several HP 54600 (model B I think) at work when they were new. They were extremely popular back in the 90's. I think the HP 54600 series was some of the first digital scopes from any manufacturer. But a lot have happened with digital scopes in the last 15-20 years since then. Prices has droppeda lotfor entry level DSO's, performance has improved, size (depth) has been reduced a lot with LCD screens, color screens has replaced monochrome screens and a lot of new software features has been added. Interfacing has improved too with Ethernet and USB.If I was in the market for a cheap analog scope I would consider a used scope from the 90's. Analog scopes was already a very mature technology in the 90's, unlike DSOs which were a new technology back then. So for DSOs, a lot of evolution has happened since then, both with central hardware components like ADCs, FPGAs, MCUs and memory and also for software.Some Agilent entry level scopes in recent years are even rebranded Rigol scopes, so even Agilent have approved their quality and price/performance and probably realized they weren't able to design their own entry level scopes at the same price/performance point.

author: AndersAnd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 11:16:40 pm
content: Read this recent topic where someone asked is US$ 200 [£ 124] was a reasonable price for HP 54600B.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hp-54600b-100-mhz-oscilloscope/Even at that price less than 1/3 of £400 noone really recommended it and said it's only useful for repetitive signals.Dave himself summed it up like this:Quote from: EEVblog on July 08, 2013, 09:47:09 amBuy something like a new Rigol or Siglent/Atten instead.LeCroy entry level scopes are just rebadged Siglent scopes, while entry level Agilent scopes are rebadged Rigol.

author: danfloun
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 19, 2013, 11:38:47 pm
content: Okay, thanks all.Looks like I'll have to try sum up ds1052e hacked vs ds1104z. Price vs function/spec