Decision for a cheap oscilloscope - support needed - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: SgtPepper
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 29, 2013, 01:17:01 pm
content: Hi everyone,I'm coming to you with a unique question you've pribably never heard of: I need a cheap oscilloscope, which one should I buy?However, this is just half of the truth. To give you a short background: I'm studying electrical engineering and as a hobby I'm doing projects on AVR and ARM (including hardware development). Until now I've only used multimeters for measuring and "debugging" but I think its now time to get something more powerful which lets me actually analyze what is going on on busses, power supply etc. Actually, this came to my mind some month ago so I read reviews, watched videos and saved some money (student = not much income).So now I have saved about 450€ (=580) and would like to buy an oscilloscope. Therefore I checked the following devices (since they are affordable and available at local dealers). My requirements were as follows: 50 - 100 Mhz bandwidth (preferably about 100 MHz or "hackable"), sample rate ~ 10 * bandwidth, memory depth ~ 500k/channel, max. 450€.1. Rigol 1052E/1102E2. Owon SDS6062/SDS71023. Tekway DST1062B4. Voltcraft DSO-1062B6. UNI-T UTD 2102 CM R7. PEAKTECH 1240Of these devices the Peaktech seems to be an Owon SDS6062, hence I kicked it from the list. For the UNI-T I did not find much information but for me a major drawback is that it has a 800x480 display but a resolution of just 400x240. So the following candidates remained.1. Rigol 1052E/1102E2. Owon SDS6062/SDS71023. Tekway DST1062B4. Voltcraft DSO-1062BOf these the Rigols are "Dave approved" but seem to have the oldest design. For me a major drawback is the small screen as I have weak vision. Moreover the 1052E seems not to be hackable any more so if I'd like to get something more "powerful" I'd have to stick with the 1102E which costs 100€ more.The Owons were the ones I liked best first, however it seems that handling is a bit complicated and that signal quality is poor compared to the Rigols. Moreover they seem to be a bit slow compared to other devices even though this might be FW related. In recent days I've heard that these issues have been (partially) adressed but now I'm not sure how to deal with the Owons.Finally, the last two devices seem to be almost the same, however the Voltcraft is by far cheaper (329€ vs. 429€) and seems to have a less powerful design compared to the Tekway. I read some reviews of the Tekway and they were quite convincing, hence I almost bought the Voltcraft. But then I saw that Dave released a review of the Tekway 1102B (afaik 100 MHz version of the 1062) some days ago which was kind of devastating. Even though it seems that he got a bad device I'm now doubtful what device I should stick with.If I had the money I would buy the Rigol DS2072 for sure, but I don't have it and if I save the money I'll have to wait some more months (and I'm sure by that time there is the new Owonrigoltekwayagilent 007WTF which outperforms all other devices and costs "just 800€ more").So maybe you can give me some advice how to deal with the current situation. I know that I cannot have everything for that price, but a reliable device to experiment and learn with would be great.Kind regardsDaniel

author: Deckert
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2013, 03:31:58 pm
content: Your question is not unique. Search the forums a bit, even just going back a few days in the "test gear" section has a load of information.See, for example:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/year-2013-oscilloscope-choices/--deckert

author: Carrington
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2013, 04:47:17 pm
content: Hi Daniel!Have you read my private message?

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2013, 07:40:27 pm
content: I made a fairly big spreadsheet of cheap scopes recently.I sort of came up with my own "value formula" which probably makes sense to nobody but me.Anyway here it is:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnnYGMOtVmrVdFZrT19PR1ZTOTFKSHFzZFBpT3hiTmc&usp=sharing

author: benemorius
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2013, 07:59:04 pm
content: Quote from: SgtPepper on June 29, 2013, 01:17:01 pmQuote from: Deckert on June 29, 2013, 03:31:58 pmPretty sure he was employing sarcasm in a humorous acknowledgment of the fact that we probably see this question over and over. In my book, such an acknowledgement gets him off the hook.

author: SLJ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2013, 08:15:13 pm
content: QuoteIf this is going to be your only scope I'd wait and save for the DS2072. Worth the difference in price.I have the 1102E but only use it for its waveform measurements function. I use an analog scope to actually view waveforms, look for distortion, and trace signals as the 1102E does not have a high enough resolution display for my use. Fun to play with but if it were my only scope I'd be saving for something better.

author: SgtPepper
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 24, 2014, 09:47:35 pm
content: Hello everyone,due to an unplanned stay in hospital I was not able to reply to this thread and forgot about it later. In the meantime I was able to save some more money and I'll buy an oscilloscope within the next days. However, I would like to ask for your feedback.Beginning of this year I heard about the Rigol DS1074Z which looked very interesting to me. Unfortunately it was not available in Germany (where I live) so I began to save even more money to eventually buy the Rigol DS2072A.Luckily, both oscilloscopes are now available and I've saved enough money to buy either of them. The question is which of them I should buy. Comparing the pure technical data suggests that I should stick with the DS2072A. On the other side the DS1074Z is about 300€ (~420US$) cheaper (which would come in handy since I want to buy a small CNC milling machine, too) and has four channels, which may be useful to debug RC speed controllers or SSPI lines.What's your suggestion, should I go for the DS1074Z or the DS2072A?Kind regardsDaniel

author: electronics man
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2014, 09:54:18 pm
content: Quote from: SgtPepper on March 24, 2014, 09:47:35 pmWhat do you mean not available in Germany I bough mine at the end of last yeah from Batronix in Germany it was cheaper than buying it from the uk.

author: SgtPepper
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 24, 2014, 09:59:23 pm
content: Hi,when I checked Batronix ~mid of January it said something like "available in 2 - 4 days" for about two weeks and then switched to "available in > 21 days". Today it switched back to "available in 5 - 10 days", and I hope that they mean itKind regardsDaniel

author: electronics man
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2014, 10:03:04 pm
content: Quote from: SgtPepper on March 24, 2014, 09:59:23 pmAh high demand

author: iDevice
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2014, 10:30:59 pm
content: Quote from: SgtPepper on March 24, 2014, 09:59:23 pmDemand is so high that when they get a batch, it's already sold out weeks before, so they are ">21 days" most of the time.As far as I remember, since the 1000Z series is listed, they had it with status "in stock" twice and it only lasted a few hours the first time and about a couple of days the second time so if you wait for stock to order, you will probably never get it...

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 02:53:38 am
content: Quote from: SgtPepper on March 24, 2014, 09:47:35 pmIt really depends on what you plan to do. If you have a dedicated logic analyzer, you should probably go with the 2072A, purely for performance. For me, I need the decode capabilities for SPI on 4 channels, so I went with the DS1000Z. Then there's also that $300USD price delta.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 03:06:15 am
content: Quote from: Deckert on June 29, 2013, 03:31:58 pmThat was sarcasm

author: mrflibble
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 03:13:51 am
content: Quote from: echen1024 on March 25, 2014, 02:53:38 amAnd 2 channel delta. And some-other-stuff-as-well delta.But yeah, it really depends on what you want to do with it. I just went through the process of agonizing over DS1074Z vs DS2072A. Oh if only the DS2072A had 4 channels. And was cheaper. And etc. Damn you imperfect world! *clickey  DS1074Z*

author: SgtPepper
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 06:49:08 am
content: Hello,thanks for your replies. I just placed my order for the Rigol DS1074Z at Batronix. Since it will be my first oscilloscope I think it does not really matter whether I buy the DS2072A or the DS1074Z since both should meet my requirements in terms of bandwidth, samplingrate, accuracy etc. Considering this the S1074Z has the advantage of a much lower price and four channels (I do not own a logic analyzer yet). Since I bougt it from Batronix I have the advantage that I can test it for 30 days, and if it does not fit my needs I can still go for the DS2072A (or a completely different scope).Kind regardsDaniel