Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Nozzer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2016, 09:35:17 pm
content: I recently retired and am interested in resuming a hobby I last did over 20 years ago with a general experimental interest. I am not intending to develop audio at this stage. I still have my old 20MHz CRT analogue scope (which is so old it still has a Z plate input) but it is obviously rather out of date. I have been following the review #451 and as the Rigol 2072A costs about the same as my analogue scope when it was newand I need a new function generator, I was wondering if it would be better to buy the Rigol DS2072A-S with its built in generator.As I'm completely new to digital scopes (not to mention any digital measurement/test device) I'm a little confused by the specified bandwidth of 70MHz but a bandwidth limit of 20MHz*. Could someone explain this in plain English please?See spec via:https://www.rigol-uk.co.uk/Rigol-DS2072A-S-Digital-Oscilloscope-p/ds2072a-s.htm#.VwA5UHp4WK0

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2016, 09:47:18 pm
content: Quote from: Nozzer on April 02, 2016, 09:35:17 pmIt is fully a 70MHz scope, BUT you can switch the maximum bandwidth DOWN to 20MHz. (Bandwidth Limit feature).It is a feature, which allows you to limit the bandwidth to 20MHz. In theory used if you are more interested in lower frequencies.From:http://telonicinstruments.co.uk/rigol-uk/MSO-DS/MSO-DS2000A%20User%20Guide.pdfQuote

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2016, 09:47:55 pm
content: Quote from: Nozzer on April 02, 2016, 09:35:17 pmWelcome to the forum.20 MHz limit refers to thebandwidth limiter, there's 1 for each channel and it's there to mask/limit sensitivity from spurious signals that aren't the fundamental frequency of interest.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2016, 11:18:40 pm
content: It can also be hacked to 300MHz but doing so may void the warranty.

author: nugglix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2016, 05:53:48 am
content: Hi!As a DS2102A-S owner I would recommend to *not* buy the S version.The generator can help a little in the beginning, but is so limited that you'll buy a real function gen. anyway.Not to mention the handling, which is horrible (imho).In my opinion go with the scope and get a function gen. like the cheap Siglent SDG2000X series.Even this really cheap thing is way better then the built-in generator of the DS2000A series.And reagarding the liberartion option, it's a real steal.Cheers

author: Nozzer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2016, 07:00:23 pm
content: Thanks everyone for translating the bandwidth into English and advising me to avoid the built in generator. Could you explain what hacking in the context of oscilloscopes means.Incidentally would I be better off buying a 200MHz scope or won't I need that bandwidth.

author: Dubbie
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 03, 2016, 07:50:09 pm
content: I also bought the s version and have used it about twice. I bought a proper arb gen which is so much better and I use it all the time.Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2016, 08:02:52 pm
content: Whether or not you need 200 Mhz all depends on what you want to do. You can do a hell of a lot with a 100 Mhz scope (or even a 50 Mhz scope.)Another thing to consider is the number of channels. Being able to display four waveforms at once (even if at a lower bandwidth and sampling rate) might have more value to you than a two channel higher bandwidth scope.Hackable means that extra features (triggering options, bandwidth, decoding options, etc) can be enabled by entering a license code, and some people have figured out how to generate those codes which you normally have to pay for.Personally, for a "beginner" I wouldn't spend too much money on your first digital scope. Scopes are like computers - they are only going to get better, cheaper, faster. Any digital scope is going to be better than your analog scope in terms of size, weight, power consumption, triggering ability, auto measurement capability, capture record depth, usb/network connectivity, etc.I would also look at the Rigol DS1054Z - it's been widely discussed on these forums.