Instek GDS-1062A micro review - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2010, 05:28:19 pm
content: First some background -The Instek GDS-1062A is in the same price range (or slightly more expensive) as Rigol 1052E. On paper it looks better with 2M long memory that can be used at 1GS/s. Bandwidth is 60Mhz, and of course no 100MHz hack. Otherwise very similar!It was released only a few months ago, so reviews are still few and far between. The only one I found was this -http://welecw2000a.sourceforge.net/docs/Hardware/GW_Instek_GDS-1152A.pdffor the 150MHz version. It has some high quality photos of the internals (I don't want to take mine apart yet).The Instek appears to be of higher build quality compared to Rigol'shttp://home.comcast.net/~ajawam1/rigol/RIGOL_DS1102E_GUTS.htmlOne interesting thing to note is that Rigol uses 5xAD9288-40 dual ADCs to get 1GS/s (overclocking from 40MHz to 100MHz), while Instek uses 4xAD9288-100 dual ADCs to get 1GS/s (overclocking from 100MHz to 125MHz).From Digikey,AD9288BSTZ-40 = $6.32AD9288BSTZ-80 = $10.09AD9288BSTZ-100 = $17.09The total cost of the 4 ADCs Instek is using (17.09 x 4 = 68.36) is much higher than Rigol's 5 ADCs (6.32 x 5 = 31.6). This is for single quantities, but the ratio should be similar at high quantity. The 100MHz parts cost almost 3 times as much as the 40MHz parts. We don't know what's the impact of this difference.Now fast forward to yesterday... (most parts are copied and pasted from this threadhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1189.15)Just got my GDS-1062A. Have only been playing with it, and probing some few hundred kHz UART signal.No major (or minor) complaints so far. I'm pretty happy with it, but then I don't have anything to compare it to (except the Tektronix in school lab).Scrolling is smooth. Tried different time bases, etc. No noticeable lag any time.I want to test it out for future potential buyers' benefit, but don't really know how. And I don't have a signal generator (I do have MCUs, passive components, diodes, transistors, common chips, etc). Any suggestions? I don't even have something that can generate short enough rise time to test the bandwidth!Just a note before I forget - Yes, 1GS/s can be used with 2M long memory mode. 100us is the maximum timebase for 1GS/s (2ms recorded). It switches to 500MS/s at 250us.For equivalent time sampling -25ns -> 1GS/s10ns -> 2.5GS/s5ns -> 5GS/s2.5ns -> 10GS/s1ns (min) -> 25GS/sSo when the manual says the long memory cannot be used at <25ns, it just means it cannot be used with ETS. So yes, it is better than Rigol in this regard (1GS/s with 2M).At 1x probe, DC coupling, averaging off, 1Gsps, probe shorted to ground clip, 2mV/div, 1ms/div, I am gettingVavg = -117uV, Vp-p = 400uVIf that means anything (I'm curious. Anyone want to do the same on Rigol and see what you get?). PS. tried aluminum foil grounding with same resultInterestingly, if I switch to ground coupling, Vavg becomes 89.1uV, and Vp-p = 0.From joelby:QuoteA comment from mojo-chanQuoteI can confirm it on my Instek. If you have different levels in the same pixel's time, it becomes a strip from maximum to minimum.As for the subjective things -Build quality is good. Nothing filmsy. User interface is well laid out. Didn't notice any peculiar sequences needed to access any function.Responsiveness is good when scrolling without math. No noticeable lag any time. With FFT it starts lagging noticeably at high time bases. Gets to about 2 frames per second.Fan noise I don't know. I am in a room with 5 computers and probably 20 fans =) It sounds like jet engine.From alm:Quote1. Measurements are done on the actual data. I can still get the 1kHz frequency reading from the compensation output even if I zoom out to 100ms/div (becomes big yellow band).2. I have no way of measuring accuracy, but vertical offset (tried from -30V to 30V) does not change the readings appreciably (on the compensation output).3. Used soundcard to generate 8kHz, 2.3Vpp sine wave. Appears to trigger reliably. I put it on continuous trigger mode, and moved the trigger from peak to peak. Waveform display is always very stable, and trace is thin. Tried manual triggering a few times, too. All images look identical.ConclusionFrom my very limited experience with the GDS-1062A, I believe it's well worth the extra $70 or so I paid for it. Main advantages are faster and deeper memory, higher build quality, and better firmware (and maybe analog frontend/triggering).EDIT:Another thing I noticed -The Rigol has 1 set of vertical controls (volts/div and offset) shared between the 2 channels. Instek has 1 set for each channel. Should be easier to use?

author: slburris
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2010, 05:56:40 pm
content: Where did you get your GDS-1062A from? Teequipment.net or somewhere else?Scott

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2010, 06:17:02 pm
content: I am in Canada so I got it fromhttp://www.tradeport.on.ca/.I think they are Instek's representative in Canada or something, since they answered an email I sent to Instek.I was thinking about Tequipment, too (they have lower price), but they have 1 month lead time for this scope, and warranty would be less convenient.

author: cybergibbons
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2010, 08:11:35 am
content: Good review - I agree with pretty much everything there (for my GDS-1162A).The zooming UI is the one thing the Rigol does a lot better, but I can live with it.

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 07:47:13 am
content: First very minor complaint -The channels are coloured yellow and blue, yet the 2 probes come with red, blue, and black rings.I like to have the ring colour match the channel colour, so I don't need to try to figure out which channel is which every time. The probes that came with Tektronix scopes do have yellow rings.I guess it's attention to tiny details like this that sets the big brands apart from these Asian brands.Still very satisfied with the scope, though. Measured a few different things (UART signal, low frequency amplifiers, power supply ripple, and some audio frequency stuff from my soundcard). Everything works perfectly so far.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 08:18:59 am
content: Are you sure you got original Instek GTP-060A-4 probes?http://www.gwinstek.com/en/product/productdetail.aspx?pid=40&mid=171&id=265

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 09:23:03 am
content: Quote from: cyberfish on September 26, 2010, 07:47:13 amWhy keep blaming Asian? if you judge only base on that, then Rigol (Asian) will be at the same par as Textronix (or even better), since they got plenty of this yellow and blue rings, even better they got pink rings which i'm still trying to figure out for what? Think global, not local. and you are competing a jet with a car and keep complaining how shitty the car is.

author: Kiriakos-GR
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 10:55:42 am
content: Well I am blaming the Westerners for an change ... some of them they have not even learn,how to use an digital camera ... and post pictures ..

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 01:48:20 pm
content: I'm choosing between the Instek GDS1102A ( 100MHz BW ) and the GDS1152A ( 150MHz ) scopes.They both have the same sample rates but I vaguely remember our Dave suggesting that one should get DSOs with a sample rate of at least 10x the bandwidth of the scope so should I avoid the 150MHz one that ground alone?Edited to add: I've just read the sourceforge link mentioned above and the reviewer appear to think that the actual sample rate is 500Ms/s!? But the -3dB point of the scope's bandwidth is 173MHz by using a pure sine wave input.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 03:23:53 pm
content: why dont you just go with 200MHz? nice number... 2x 100MHz

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 05:04:24 pm
content: The 10x is for the dominant fundamental. Your effective bandwidth is then 5x, which should be enough to capture up to the 5th harmonic. For most signals, that's enough to get a good view.You only need twice the highest frequency in your signal to perfectly reconstruct it.And then there's equivalent time sampling, a trick that only works with repeating signals.

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 05:19:29 pm
content: QuoteYeap. That's what it says on the 2 little bags the 2 probes come in. There are yellow and green rings in that picture, but no red. A new revision maybe?QuoteSorry I wasn't clear. What I really meant is, that's the difference between major oscilloscope brands and small brands. It just happens that all the major brands right now are Western, and all the small brands right now are Asian. Hence the (incorrect) generalization.I feel like I can blame Asians and Asian qualities for everything because I am Asian myself and my family owns a manufacturing business in Taiwan. Truth is, in general, quality of Asian products cannot match that of Western products, yet. It has to do with values and cultures. When you make US$100 a month, you develop a very different set of values than if you made US$10000. And it passes on. I've found the average income of a nation to largely correlate with the quality of products they produce, on average. That's why Taiwanese products tend to be of higher quality than mainland China's, but still inferior to those from Korea and Japan. When you make $100 a month, you want the things you buy to just work. You don't want someone to polish it up and charge you twice as much. Who needs build quality? Just use it carefully. Low income also makes clones and such much more appealing, so much that it becomes part of the culture (that thinks balant copying of everything is okay).QuoteYou'll have to go find a Westerner elsewhere.And the reason why I didn't post pictures is because you can find higher quality pictures in many other places. Instek's site for example.QuoteSample rate doesn't have to be 10x the BW of the scope. It just has to be 10x the bandwidth of the highest frequency signal with rich harmonics (eg. square wave) that you want to see clearly. It all depends on what you want to see.For a DSO, BW and sampling rate are pretty much independent. The 150MHz scope is better.The total sample rate is 1GS/s. Or 500MS/s if you use 2 channels. You can use all 1GS/s for one channel if you disable the other one.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 09:42:20 pm
content: Quote from: cyberfish on September 26, 2010, 05:19:29 pmStrange. You could ask Instek what is going on. In the past they had the order code PA-105 for a set of blue, pink, green and yellow rings, two each. If you can't get some from Instek, hopefully for free, maybe the Tektronix 016-0633-00 clips fit ($7, which is of course a ripoff for a few grams of worthless plastic) .

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 10:01:44 pm
content: QuoteI painted a pair yellow already.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 11:09:09 pm
content: Quote from: cyberfish on September 26, 2010, 05:19:29 pmthe culture, the quality, the income and finally the knowledge... that will depend on you brother, will depend on you. i cant blame you if you are hired, (ie not self employed). But remember, Asian is really a big peaces of lands and has some of the largest companies on earth eventhough not in Ee industry. if you specify China, then the scope will be much smaller. If you keep with the mindset that Asian is poor quality, then there will be no change for now, future and at anytime, esp for you.most major (both western, eastern) companies have targetting most small and low income Asian countries to become their production plant due to low labor cost, but i think they hire one guy (probably pay him big money) just to ensure quality among the (cheap) workers.i'll call it exploitation. well, i can type more, but... thats it. Cheers

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2010, 11:39:43 pm
content: By Asia, I really mean the less developed parts of it, ie. China and India. Japanese and Korean quality is just as good if not better than Western. Taiwan is somewhere in the middle.That scale, curiously, reflects average income.QuoteI don't see how it concerns me, but anyways, denying inferiority is not the way to go forward. Admitting it and improving it is. If you go on to Chinese forums for example, you'll see that they do realize Chinese products are way inferior, and, in the case of oscilloscopes, recommend imported products for any serious work.QuoteThere is a difference between made-in-China and made-by-a-company-based-in-China, for precisely this reason.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2010, 03:15:58 am
content: Quote from: cyberfish on September 26, 2010, 11:39:43 pmsorry if i misunderstood you. made-in-China and made-by-a-company-based-in-China still includes China people to work there (low level operators), and most probably Chinese work in Instek got the same salary as Chinese who work in Fluke (China Branch) if not less just by a bit. but the quality are different due to the way they treat their QC policy which mostly handled by higher level supervisors or engineers or managers. and which the Design (Fluke) comes from its Original (western) country but company based in China, as we cannot deny and must improve, "mostly inferior". So, its not the low income the workers get there makes the product inferior as you mentioned. That actually my point. CheersAnd when you mention Asia, you are talking about more than half the population of earth. If you be more specific, you just could save those 60% people who are innocent by stating only China (1/3rd of Asia). Cheers

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2010, 03:31:37 am
content: QuoteThat is exactly what I meant. It's not the workers that matter. It's the management level.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2010, 03:36:28 am
content: Quote from: cyberfish on September 26, 2010, 05:19:29 pmi agree with the "different value and culture". from my experience as a "underpaid freelance photographer" maybe the point is, we seldomly find people who realy cares about quality, most people care most on the price, most of them couldnt afford Tektronix quality and price. Thats why maybe for Instek, their main target is just for these abundant of hobbiest and normal users, but for brand like Tektronix, their target is to these "very seldom" professional geeks with load of money. Thats the thing that make them apart. And i think it is intentional for the survival of their business. So for your case, its one of the unlucky consequences that you got the whole black rings, they maybe have missed it due to less number of workers less paid etc.Its must be pointed out that due to the difference in "value and culture" in politics and economy of Asia, that cause this inferiority. Not that we are that stupid to intentionally miss the yellow and blue rings. We can do it, we can do better, but our environment just doesnt support it. Cheers

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2010, 06:16:08 am
content: You know, the fun and ideological "different values and cultures" stops when outright dangerous devices, with faked safety marks, are produced. There is a level of not caring for quality from where it starts to become criminal. Do not excuse delivering deadly devices as being a cultural thing.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2010, 09:59:28 am
content: maybe they got their own version of "By Law" or "Standard" Manual.

author: blackdog
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2010, 06:33:23 pm
content: Hi,For you Girls en Guys who want to test there scope, build a scope tester!!Follow this link =>http://www.hamforum.nl/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=1384&p=5473#p5473It is build with low cost components and the origional is from Tektronics...It wil be my next evening project, and YES Kiriakos, i will make some picturesRegarts,Bram

author: cybergibbons
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2010, 07:22:31 pm
content: Mine came with blue, yellow, black, red and green rings.

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2010, 08:03:55 pm
content: Good to know they fixed that.Mine was probably old stock then (they have a stock in Canada because they need to be modified to comply with Canadian regulations or something).

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2010, 03:33:55 pm
content: Quote from: blackdog on September 27, 2010, 06:33:23 pmcool!

author: McPete
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2010, 10:32:10 am
content: With all going well, I'll be ordering mine next week!

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2010, 06:09:43 pm
content: Great review, but could use some pics. May I suggest you take it to your school and check it out with any signal generator they have, and push the scope to its maximum frequency response.Since this is a 60MHz scope, a quick test is send it a 6 MHz square wave, it should look mostly square, since the 9th harmonic is at the edges. Then go up from there, and keep the scope image looking square!If you have time, walk it through sine waves from 50 MHz and up and take pics. Enjoy.How much did it cost finally, in $CDN?

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2010, 12:20:23 am
content: I'm not in school right now (on internship), so school is kinda far away.It costed me $485 CDN + tax. Tequipment has it for cheaper, though, but they have 1 month lead time.I thought about pics... but it really looks just like in those official pictures. Nothing strange/interesting that I want to point out physically.

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2010, 12:23:44 am
content: And looking at a Rigol pic... I realized there's something very strange. Took me a few seconds to figure out what's different.It appears like the Rigol only has one set of vertical controls for both channels.The Instek has 1 set each, hence larger panel. I didn't even know there are oscilloscopes that have the 2 channels share a knob!

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2010, 07:51:55 am
content: Quote from: cyberfish on October 11, 2010, 12:23:44 amPlenty of scopes do, especially on the high end, it allows either a smaller front panel or more space for other controls. A knob per channel was necessary when they were still analog pots, but no need with digital control. Both ways work fine for me, no reason to prefer either.

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2010, 07:53:09 am
content: I know I like to adjust the 2 channels alternating-ly, so sharing one set of controls would probably annoy me.I've never seen a 2 channels scope that share controls. I know some 4 channels ones do.For 2 channels... is it really worth it for a 1 inch smaller panel?Even for 4 channels, most have 1 set of controls for each.I just read a book on user interface designs (The Design of Everyday Things), and one point the author made is that a control should only have one function, if at all possible. It reduces the mental load on the user's brain, because now the user doesn't need to keep track of the state (which channel), which allows more efficient and intuitive usage. That's why car radio controls are so hard to learn and use, because they need to cram hundreds of functions into a few buttons.Taking out 2 most frequently used controls on the panel just to make the scope 1" smaller? Hmm...

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2010, 07:58:38 am
content: Some more observations -1. At high timebases, >= 500us/div, scrolling becomes noticeably sluggish. Sometimes lags behind as much as 1s. This gets annoying.2. Fan noise is definitely noticeable. I don't know how to quantify it, but turning the scope off lowers the noise level noticeably (I am about 30cm from it, in a room with a few computers and fans). I'm not bothered by it, but I have very high noise tolerance. It's a low pitched constant humming sound.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2010, 12:32:53 pm
content: At some point you'll need your own signal generator to create test signals, so now's a good time to think about it. But low cost ones typically just do 3MHz, far underneath the scopes capacity.Its better to have dedicated buttons for each function, as you say, but there is no hard rule. Consider the computer keyboard, remains most popular almost identical to the original IBM PC/PS2 KB of 1985-7, attempts to add extra buttons creates a large size and has never been popular [ such as gamer keyboards], likewise, mini-keyboard, such as laptops, with multiple functions per key and particularly the numeric keypad integrated into the QWERTY keys, is cumbersome to use.Designs trade off space for complexity, and cost. As functions rise, the number of keys become too large to track, so the trend is in dynamic screens, like iPads, shown functional options only as needed. That said, I think 2 dedicated keypads for CH1 and 2 make sense when looking at 2 signals simultaneously, rather than flip-flopping between both setup buttons, but if the Rigol can drop the cost of such a scope to $350 US, including tax and shipping, I think I can live without those extra switches.Quote from: cyberfish on October 11, 2010, 12:20:23 amQuote from: cyberfish on October 12, 2010, 07:53:09 am

author: bogdan546
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 12:57:44 pm
content: I bought such an oscilloscope and noticed a slight wobble to calibrate the probe. is normal?

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 03:08:47 pm
content: Looks good to me. There's always a bit of noise.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 03:27:13 pm
content: Quote from: saturation on October 12, 2010, 12:32:53 pmOpen up an old computer (Pentium 1-2 era or so) and there's plenty of high frequency signals to test your oscilloscope with. For more serious use, it's relatively easy to build your own signal generator. Especially when many major semiconductor manufacturers make low cost PLL/programmable oscillator chips. One project I'm working on has a Maxim DS1085 (for square waves) and an Analog Devices AD5933 (for sine waves and Bode plotting).

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 04:28:27 pm
content: DS1085 looks like an interesting chip, but is it just me or does the datasheet not say anything about rise time?!

author: larry
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 04:43:48 pm
content: Excellent review. The review posted on the sourceforge website states the 1152A is 500MS/S in single channel mode. How did you verify 1GS/S operation?

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 08:37:05 pm
content: I got my GDS 1152A the other week and am quite happy with mine so far.www.cpc.co.uksupplied mine.Here is the picture of what I got in the box.The instruction manual is 133 page long and it's all ONE language! Rarely does one see such printed instruction manuals these days.The probes are 150MHz types and they each come with adapters, coloured rings and even an adjusting tool as well!It also came with 2 IEC mains leads, one UK type and the other US type ( I think ) and I had to chuck the US one away ( incidentally I get peed off with such waste!)The small thing in the top right is the SD card to USB adapter but you need to provide your own SD memory card.What's interesting is that one can actually set the frequency of the probe calibrator anywhere between 1kHz to 100kHz in steps of 1kHz!Anyway I may play around a bit more with it when I find the time and hopefully I can compare it with my 18 year old Leader 20Mz analogue scope.

author: Time
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2010, 11:34:17 pm
content: Why throw the US cable away? Just throw it in your junk. I think power cables are useful.

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2010, 01:36:38 pm
content: Quote from: Time on November 05, 2010, 11:34:17 pmI have plenty of UK plug to IEC mains leads at home and can always get a "new" one at work easily.Back on topic, DSOs do take getting used to!I noticed that when I play with the TIME/DIV setting ( sampling the probe calibration output ) that the sample rate does change. The sample rate is 1GS/s between 100us/div and 25ns/div and then enters equivalent time sampling from 10ns/div ( 2.5GS/s ) to 1ns/div ( 25GS/s ) in proportion to the time/div. The sample rate falls in proportion to the time/div from 250us/div ( 500MS/s ) to 50s/div ( 2.5KS/s! ) The display starts rolling from 250ms/div onwards. The way to display the sample rate is to press the Acquire button and it will be display in the lower right corner of the screen.It's perfectly sensible really when you realise that you are unlikely to be interested in a 100ns segment of a 50s long sample!I can also confirm that the 1GS/s only applies when the scope is in single channel mode ( just turn off the second channel by pressing it's button ) the sample rate is halved when showing both channels ie 500MS/s when both channels are on.Before anyones asks, I'm NOT taking it apart!

author: dfnr2
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2010, 05:21:38 pm
content: Thinking about buying one of these as a stopgap while I repair or replace my main scope (Lecroy 9834TM). By any chance, does the GDS-1062A come with a calibration certificate? Or would I need to send it out for cal?Thanks,Dave

author: bogdan546
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2010, 06:06:20 pm
content: has a calibration certificate

author: dfnr2
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2010, 09:06:00 pm
content: Quote from: bogdan546 on November 19, 2010, 06:06:20 pmThat's great to hear. Actually, in the meanwhile I called tequipment.net, and the salesman said that the scope doesn't come with a cal certificate. It is possible that he hasn't checked, however. Can anyone who has ordered from tequipment.net comment?Thanks,Dave

author: bogdan546
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2010, 07:07:35 am
content: I bought three weeks from tequipment.net oscilloscope and it is the certificate of calibration

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2010, 09:33:21 pm
content: Quote from: TheWelly888 on November 05, 2010, 08:37:05 pmHave you taken that adapter apart? Mine was really poor quality. (Not a problem for me as long as everything else is good quality since my laptop has a built in SD slot.)

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 01:44:27 am
content: The card reader is a common OEM design. I got one when I bought an SD card, too. Exact same design (case shape, PCB, etc), with just different logo.Looks fine to me? Works, too.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 04:59:06 am
content: Mine had poor quality soldering (which I fixed) and it used a really cheap "black blob" controller. At least it gets a good speed on the hdparm test (16MB/s or so) and it worked just fine with a 4GB SDHC.As for the oscilloscope itself, the USB "just works" with the cdc_acm module in the standard kernels. (I haven't really looked into the userspace programs, but the protocol is well documented.) The fact that it's only USB 1.1 is a big minus since it would greatly limit its use as a high speed ADC. Which is not that much of a problem considering it is mainly intended for standalone use, but it would be nice to be able to connect it to a repurposed TV tuner and have a nice front end for GNUradio.The included probes seem good to me, although it's hard to tell since it's my first real oscilloscope. The display scale has to be manually changed when enabling or disabling the attenuator, but that's expected for such simple probes. The hook can be pulled off to reveal a needle tip, perfect for reverse engineering use. (Which could be a lot sharper but it's good enough.) The probes can also be adjusted when all are installed, unlike the fancy Tektronix probes I have used in class where to adjust one, all the probes to the right must be removed to access the adjustment.One slight annoyance is that I haven't figured out how to enable only the FFT display. If I turn on the FFT then turn off the time domain graph, the FFT sits still. Quite an annoyance when the time domain is mostly irrelevant and the frequency domain is what really matters. Unless there's a way to turn off the time domain graph and still have a FFT, it's not an oscilloscope I can recommend for communications engineers like Tiffany Yep who work in the frequency domain a lot. (Not that 60MHz would be enough for her, but you get the idea...)

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 05:07:57 am
content: For PC connectivity, gds2000tools (http://code.google.com/p/gds2000tools/) works (though I've only tried taking screenshot).I noticed the inability to turn of time domain, too, but it doesn't really bother me since my work is mostly time domain.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 12:13:37 pm
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on November 27, 2010, 04:59:06 amNo scope I'm aware of would do this. The transfer from ADC to sample memory is many orders of magnitude faster than the CPU reading from this memory. The memory can manage up to 1GB/s (1GS/s at 8-bits), the CPU is much slower. Scopes are only designed to sample during the horizontal sweep, not for continuous sampling. At 2ns horizontal sweep speed, one sweep takes 20ns. But it will probably only sweep 20 times per second or so. So of the 1s, it samples during 400ns, and is blind for the other 999999600ns.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 03:39:47 pm
content: Herehttp://www.tech-software.net/someone is using a GDS-1022 Instek oscilloscope in the process of decoding short Mode S radar samples. My understanding is he is doing it non-continuous.

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 04:06:38 pm
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on November 24, 2010, 09:33:21 pmNo I haven't taken it apart but squinting through the tinted plastic found that one or 2 joints appear to be missing! I did try the adapter and it worked but I have now just discovered the SD slot in the front of my lapdog!

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 27, 2010, 04:13:58 pm
content: Quote from: BoredAtWork on November 27, 2010, 03:39:47 pmYes, if you can fit it into the sample memory, it should be fine. Performance shouldn't really be an issue in that case, though, unless you want to capture several transmissions per second.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2010, 03:03:19 am
content: Quote from: alm on November 27, 2010, 12:13:37 pmCouldn't they connect the USB controller directly to the FPGA, then allow continuous capture at 25MS/s or so for one channel with USB 2.0? (USB 3.0 can probably do 3GS/s for one channel, although a future oscilloscope with USB 3.0 will probably do a lot more than that.)

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2010, 02:20:24 pm
content: Nice. He does good work, very well thought out, clean, meticulous and gets bang for buck from his gear. That he works and plays in the same arena is a big plus.Quote from: BoredAtWork on November 27, 2010, 03:39:47 pm

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 28, 2010, 04:28:26 pm
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on November 28, 2010, 03:03:19 amSure, but what's the point of using a 1GS/s sampler as 24MS/s ADC? There's just very little in common with a scope, and the architecture would be different. There are plenty of dedicated DAQ's, NI makes some for example, and I'm sure there are some cheaper ones by less known manufacturers which are cheaper than a DSO.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2010, 03:23:27 pm
content: Couldn't another use be to burst sample at high speeds? With a 1MB buffer, it can do about 25FPS over USB.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2010, 10:41:09 pm
content: I have opened it up and here are the pictures:USB socket and voltage reference:Power supply:Analog front end:ADCs and FPGA:It looks like a bandwidth hack might be just moving a resistor! I didn't try it since I really need it for class and I can't afford to break it. (And I don't need more than 60MHz yet.)

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2010, 11:10:39 pm
content: But did you measure the MN2 resistor? :-)

author: DJPhil
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2010, 11:14:11 pm
content: Thanks for the pictures!I saw something that worried me a bit though . . .

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2010, 11:27:55 pm
content: That's interesting. The resistor isn't connected, though. Probably someone thought resistors are more widely available than sharpie at the place of assembly, so they use that to mark the model.Actually, that makes sense, if the 3 models use different components, so have different pick and place configurations, but have the same silkscreen, and maybe even the same PCB.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2010, 04:19:06 pm
content: Excellent photos, thanks!

author: wardenclyffe
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2011, 04:50:43 pm
content: Bought the Instek 1062A-GDS a few days back. First home lab oscilloscope!!

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2011, 05:26:26 pm
content: Review it please! Enjoy.Quote from: wardenclyffe on January 09, 2011, 04:50:43 pm

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2011, 09:58:13 pm
content: Great find, thanks! Its in Chinese, here's a link for google translation:http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fbbs.pigoo.com%2Fthread-25837-1-1.htmlQuote from: Squonk on August 25, 2011, 09:17:38 pm

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 05:28:08 pm
content: Thanks for the link!Don't worry about the text. No real information there.

author: shadowless
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 06:59:57 pm
content: Yup. Not worth the effort to do google translation.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 08:23:57 pm
content: I think the text is helpful. There are things written in it that are not said, but implied by what the reviewer wrote.Reviewer seems more favoriable to Taiwan products, suggests you are getting a more EU or US class of branded scope while not paying EU or US prices. He suggests the warranty is honored better by Instek and is lifetime; Note whois locates bbs.pigoo.com as Taiwan based website, so the posted could be Taiwanese.Google translation of the posters words:Would choose this for several reasons:A Taiwan brand digital oscilloscope and imported brand-name specifications in Europe and America apart is not the quality.2 Taiwan brand digital oscilloscope and imported brands in Europe and America are greatly different prices.3. ? point than the other side of the products but the use of your peace of mind of many, there is warranty.4, this digital oscilloscope lifetime warranty, I spotted this ? point, after having their own repair facilities.5 was good, sold well and did not return the originalHe measure quiescent runtime temp of 40C.The photos have more QA stickers, and no signs of rework or fingerprints compared to most scope DSO tear downs I recall. No IC labels are not ground or etched out.Compare to the Atten teardown.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3982.msg52524#msg52524

author: cyberfish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2011, 08:37:16 pm
content: He basically said he trusts Taiwanese products more than Chinese products, which is not an uncommon mindset in Taiwan (valid or not). It's in traditional Chinese. Pretty sure that's a Taiwanese site.And also local repair facilities (which of course only applies to Taiwan).

author: Theboel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2015, 01:35:28 am
content: Sorry for post in the old thread,can somebody tell me is that posible to use GDS-1062a with "Wavestudio" from lecroy ?