Replacing rigol probes noob question - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: theleakydiode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:24:23 pm
content: Hi, my DS1052E included probes are starting to get worn out and are going intermittent so I'm looking to replace them. Looking at the official Rigol probes I can see that prices are quite high so I'm probably going with the third party route.My question is are these probes universal or do I need to look out for anything to make sure they will work with my scope? Does the probe compensation adjustment work across the board or do I need to get ones that match the supplied RP2200 probes?Thanks!

author: theleakydiode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:36:24 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on June 06, 2017, 11:25:40 pmThanks. I guess what I'm worried about is not having enough compensation range to get the perfect sqaurewave when I come to calibrate them with probes trimmer adjustment.

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:48:47 pm
content: The concept is universal, Must have a BNC must fit 1 M input impedance.But probes have specs like, bandwidth and very important capacitance, the lower the betterFor general purpose low noise low frequency, even a wire soldered to a BNC will work, But for high noise high-frequency measurements, the probe is a critical element of the equation.Does not have sense to have to have high-end probe on low-end oscilloscope, the idea is to match both, Or have a little bit better probe.Based on the class of your instrument will not be hard to find a compatible probe who wil work fine.http://www.syscompdesign.com/assets/images/appnotes/probes.pdf

author: CopperCone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 12:33:10 am
content: I recommend going on eBay and searching for tektronix or HP probes. You will get stuff alot better then your scope is capable of for cheaper then buying from a website is.

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 12:43:06 am
content: Rigol and Siglent owners sell their new probes sometimes on Ebay,because they either prefer their own, or have extras,or their DSO got stolen, dropped,or cooked measuring the mains or their bug zapperThey usually go cheap and good performers afaict

author: technogeeky
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 12:50:10 am
content: Quote from: theleakydiode on June 06, 2017, 11:24:23 pmIf you want a guaranteed compatible probe, the key figure to look out for is that the compensation capacitancerangeof the old probe match the new probe. It doesn't need to match perfectly; but, the more overlap the better.Fromthis thread(you can't skip reading this unless you really want to...)As is mentioned in that thread by Dave,RP3300 spec is 16pF +/- 5pFRP2200 spec is 17pF +/- 5pFI also want to point out the OP is in the situation where, since he has existing benchmark probes, he can compare them to the conspicuously cheap overseas probes directly. Some of them really are very nice.What we're doing is matching the parameters of the oscilloscope's inputs, but indirectly. We're making the assumption that the probes that came have a suitable adjustment range already, and that if we stay in the same range we'll be fine.

author: sgub
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 08, 2017, 03:13:33 am
content: I've been using Tek TPP0101 probe on Rigol DS1102E and MSO1104Z, it's compensation range is ok and works great (slimmer than rigol probe).