Oscilloscope - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: roby712
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 06, 2022, 06:08:26 pm
content: Good evening, excuse my English. I'm new to the forum and I met you by searching google for various information.I decided to buy an oscilloscope, my budget is around 400 €.Looking online, to date, there are MANY models and it is difficult to understand which one to buy so I ask for help from you more experts.It would be my first oscilloscope, I would use it for repairs of audio amplifiers, electronic boards of household appliances etc.I studied some theory at school but now I would like to buy one to start getting carried away. I would not want a model that in a few years I will have to change because it is incomplete, so I am looking for an oscilloscope that has a few things to satisfy me for a while.I was directed towards a RIGOL 1054z to be modified to obtain 4 channels at 100MHz, 1GSa / s and some SPI, I2c decoding ... only the CAN decoding would be missing but for this price you can't have everything. What do you recommend? Could something more complete like Siglent be good or better? Always remaining in the 400 € approx ...Thank you all!

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2022, 06:28:36 pm
content: The Siglent 1104X-E is a much better scope than the DS1054Z (I've had both) in many ways, but unfortunately it appears that it can't be had for 400 € due to EU pricing and the big VAT bite. You can search the forum for extensive discussions of these scopes in previous threads. If you can stretch your budget to get the 1104X-E, I'd recommend it. The only thing I can't comment much on is the serial decoding because I don't do much of that--mostly just trying it out occasionally.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2022, 02:18:11 am
content: I have the Rigol DS1054Z modified for 100 MHz and it works very well. The Siglent SDS1104X-E wasn't available when I bought the Rigol. Today, I would definitely go for the Siglent. It's a little over your price range due to the VAThttps://www.batronix.com/shop/oscilloscopes/Siglent-SDS1104X-E.htmlETA: I would definitely unlock the Siglent to 200 MHz - details elsewhere.The DS1054Z is 100€ cheaper:https://www.batronix.com/shop/oscilloscopes/Rigol-DS1054Z.html

author: roby712
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 07, 2022, 09:34:47 am
content: therefore the siglent 1104x-e is much better. Is it worth spending this extra € 100? unlocking it I would have 4 channels at 200MHz, it's not very clear to me if it also includes a small signal generator, maybe unlocking it, right?Also, I should test an audio amplifier, they advised me not to make measurements on devices that have the same mass, so I should buy the appropriate probes to avoid shorting everything, which ones do you recommend?

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2022, 02:34:28 pm
content: Quote from: roby712 on March 07, 2022, 09:34:47 amThe 1104X-E does not include a signal generator at all and the hardware isn't present, so it can't be enabled or unlocked. Unless you mean the probe calibrator output, but that is just a fixed square wave.I'm not completely sure what you mean by the second part, but if you are referring to the fact that all 4 channels are not isolated and have a common ground, that is indeed something you have to watch out for. As a beginner and at audio frequencies, a rule that will keep you out of trouble is to only use the ground clip on ONE of the probes, don't even install the others on the probes. You also have to be careful that you don't connect your ground clip to any point that has a potential to earth ground, even if you are only using one channel. There's a video on the subject...If you need to make measurements on multiple circuits that cannot share a common ground or a circuit that has potential to ground on both points you want to test, you'll need isolated or differential probes of some sort, or an isolated scope.

author: roby712
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 07, 2022, 07:19:41 pm
content: https://www.amazon.it/Siglent-Technologies-SDS1104X-U-Oscilloscopi-fosforosi/dp/B08PD3WKCZ/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1DMMH8A8NJ99X&keywords=oscilloscopio+siglent+sds1104x-e&qid=1646680672&sprefix=oscilloscopio+siglent+sds1104x-e%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-2I found this sds1104X-U .... it doesn't seem to change anything response to the 1104X-E, what do you think?

author: roby712
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 07, 2022, 07:30:51 pm
content: Come non detto.https://siglentna.com/application-note/differences_xe_vs_xu/as not mentioned, for a difference of € 70, it is better to take the XE

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2022, 03:26:34 am
content: Quote from: roby712 on March 07, 2022, 07:19:41 pmIf you are budget constrained the X-U is a good choice however it does lack many of the SDS1104X-E features.Comparison chart attached.