Comparing oscilloscopes - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: brokentrak
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 04, 2012, 10:12:57 pm
content: Recently I caught myself in need of an oscilloscope and so I decided to do some market research from The Big Three: Agilent, Tektronix and LeCroy. I put all the data I thought was important to me and made a spreadsheet. The results may be surprising.If you have any information to add please let me know so I can update my spreadsheet.Link to spreadsheet --->http://www.editgrid.com/user/brokentrak/OSC

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 04, 2012, 11:09:25 pm
content: The Agilent has HiRes mode (and the Lecroy too?), and a 4M memory option.You can probably get the 1GHz Agilent for the same price as the others, if you want to "price level" them.And you didn't factor in the Agilent Arb gen.Dave.

author: tlu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 03:21:04 am
content: Hi Dave,In terms of low to mid-range dso or mso which ones do you recommend? I saw your review on the agilent msox2000 and 3000 series but those are a bit pricey for me. Can you do another review on a particular Chinese scope? I'm referring to the Hantek MSO5000D series with the integrated LA. I find that besides the dso functions, I will need Logic Analyzer functions as well. I'm a young player in electronics and beginning to take college classes on this subject. A video blog would be most excellent.Much obliged,Tim

author: Dread
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 03:47:17 am
content: Yeah Dave a Video Blog on other less expensive scopes would be niceTLU take a look at the Owon 8x02 series, it's low priced and well built.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 03:54:34 am
content: I don't have any Hantek scopes to review.I have a Rigol 2000 on the boil.Technically I can get my hands on any scope these guys have in stock:http://www.triosmartcal.com.au/But really, there are so many scopes that I could review it's just crazy.Dave.

author: brokentrak
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 09:55:08 am
content: I put together this spreadsheet from data availible from manufacturers. Agilent and LeCroy didn't mention any HiRes mode in their datasheets. Also, in order to make this comparison fair, I used only base model scopes not the upgraded ones. As Dave recommended, I will add the Agilent 1GHz model.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 05:15:44 pm
content: The LeCroy is the best spec scoped in the bunch, particularly at the €12k range. At these prices, you should be able to test drive all the scopes in your list before buying it. If you don't have such options, even leasing it would help.Some parameters are better given variable weights. For example, the sampling rate is a key feature, and pretty much depresses the Tek even more from the running. The 3054a has more features that arent' in your list [ as well as the LeCroy] that may matter when you actually use it [ or not] assuming its weaknesses are not critical to your application, its also €3.5k less money. The remote control feature for example, could compensate for the smaller screen size and lack of touch screen:Folks can have mixed opinions about LeCroy's GUI, history of other model bugs, trapped into LeCroy accessories, hardware reliability with aging, etc., but these may be moot if you're overall more productive with its setup.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 06:15:37 pm
content: Definitely +1 for getting a proper demo of any scope you plan to buy, plus its competitors to see if there's anything you find you prefer about them once you've had chance to actually test one. I've never had any trouble getting distributors to come in and demonstrate equipment, and they're often happy to leave it behind for a day or two as well.I think the arguments you make against LeCroy could easily apply to the other manufacturers too (though I'd really like to hope that Tek no longer use a soldered-in module that encapsulates the backup battery used to store calibration data and options, like they did on the TDS5xx, 6xx, 7xx series).

author: tlu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 08:54:41 pm
content: Hi Dread,Is the Owon 81xx series any different from the 71xx series in terms of features and functionality? I know the it has a larger bandwidth but besides that, any different in firmware?Thanks,Tim

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 09:21:55 pm
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on October 05, 2012, 06:15:37 pmIts easy to unsolder those and make a backup. There is a sad story from someone on Tek's own forum about a dead TDS7000. The problem seems to be a dead backup battery which prevents the whole scope from booting. Many people are bashing PC based test instruments but in the end they are easier to maintain because you can still get lots of new 'obsolete' hardware from Ebay. Last year I upgraded a 486 based instrument with a brand new 85MHz Pentium Overdrive.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 05, 2012, 11:40:15 pm
content: Quote from: saturation on October 05, 2012, 05:15:44 pmLecroyusedto have the worst GUI in the business. The scopes where powerful but a bitch to drive. In all labs I've worked at that have had Lecroy scopes, they always sat in the corner gathering dust and were only dragged out on special occasions when required (usually deep memory, back before most digital scopes had deep memory). Because they were a bitch to drive for everyday use.Lecroy knew that and have radically changed the GUI in their modern scopes.Dave.

author: tlu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2012, 12:43:57 pm
content: Dave,What features in firmware do you recommend that most modern dso should have at the minimum?thanks,Tim