Rigol DS1102E funky knobs - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: gustou
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 15, 2014, 06:10:05 am
content: Dear EEEVBlog community,I've been reading for a while but this is my first serious post asking your help!ContextA friend recently explained that they bought 12 DS1102E two years ago for their school but never actually used them because DSO are so much more complicated than good old scopes. I accepted the challenge and decided to show him that these puppies are not that complicated to uses.So I asked him one of his scope and the issues started...SymptomsThe knobs seems to be drunk. Some do nothing (who uses the vertical scale anyway!) and some such as the horizontal scale seems to be doing random stuff such as changing the brightness or the trigger level or the CH1 offset...It's as if a funky mod was installed and the knobs decide on their own what they want to control...It is impossible to use the scope...DebugI have seen some old posts (from 2010) explaining that the knobs where not really working, but nothing about the knobs doing something else that what they are supposed to!I've installed UtraScope and on the mock up interface I was able to control the scope and display the test signal so it seems that the hardware is fine.I'm in favor of a software issue on the interface or hardware issue in the connection between the front panel and the logic but I have no idea how to verify...If you have any idea of what I should do... I'll be happy to open them (the warranty is over anyway...)Thanks a lot!Here is the detailed version of the firmware:Power Up time: 53Serial Number: DS1EB14xxxxSoftware version: 00.03.01.00.00DSP: 00.01FPGA: 03.07HardwareVersion: 58

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2014, 06:49:54 am
content: A school where they don't know the difference between"complicated" to useanddefect?Tell your friend they should send the oscilloscopes back. The defect ones because they are defect.The working ones because at that school they aren't qualified to teach people how to use oscilloscopes.

author: gustou
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 15, 2014, 07:07:33 am
content: Well the likelihood of receiving 12 broken units is pretty low so they assumed that the problem was probably between the screen and the chair. In high school the purpose of the experiment is to show sound waves and let the students experiment by themselves rather than show all the nice functions of a scope so yes the teachers are not EE expertsI'll send them back then but out of curiosity I wanted to troubleshoot what could be wrong...

author: theatrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2014, 05:06:47 pm
content: Have you checked that all 12 are actually broken? That's a huge test escape.Find a teardown of the 1052/1102 and check if there is a ribbon/ffc cable which may have been dislodged.

author: gustou
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 06:19:38 am
content: So I've opened it with extra care for the power switchApart that everything went fine!Apart some solder joint on one of the knob that seems a little bit cracky and will benefit from some extra solder everything seems fine. The ribbon cable was securely latched.I've also tested the knobs with my multimeter and as far as I can tell they seem to be ok ( but it's hard to test with only three hands ).I have no more ideas so unless it's a software bug I don't think I can repair it...

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 06:33:35 am
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on June 15, 2014, 06:49:54 amIf they already have "good old 'scopes", that implies they can drive an analog Oscilloscope.How hard is a DS1102E going to be,if they are just doing school stuff?Wouldn't it be just a matter of hitting "Autoset"if the DSOs are not faulty?I don't have a Rigol.oranymodern DSO,but from postings & videos on this forum,they seem to be a lot easier to operate than earlier generation digitals.

author: gustou
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 06:51:57 am
content: Well the one I have standing on my desk is really much more complicated (but not sure it's because it's a DSO). The knobs reclaimed their freedom and do whatever they want!After spending several hours with him I can't find the option to enslave them again, so I will call it defunct.In general I disagree, a DSO is more complicated if you come from the old days where the sampling rate, the memory depth, the refresh rate,.. did not exist. It's not super complicated but enough for someone using it for basic experiments to prefer the old analog version. That is why I wanted to borrow the oscilloscope and write a simple tutorial on how to use it so it become easier for them to use. But that was before I found the funky freedom issue

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 08:42:47 am
content: Quote from: gustou on June 16, 2014, 06:51:57 amI guess I was thinking of students as looking at simple audio signals,but perhaps the results of Physics Labs or similar,may yield much more complex waveforms than I thought.I found the early generations of DSOs sorely lacking,not so much in that it was difficult to find appropriate settings for complex signals,as much as the fact thatnosettings would work!

author: ice595
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2016, 09:50:59 pm
content: I've got my DS1102E back in early 2013 and its been working great until just today when I tried to use it.The same problem happened to me. All the front panel rotary encoders seem to have gotten a little too much to drink.Thankfully my unit is still under warranty (1 month and a week until expiration)Its a really good scope when it worked, the responsiveness of the controls are amazing. It sure beats the Tek TDS2000 and MDO4000 series in my school.