Best Oscilloscope for $3k

I make out the ENOB to be 11.6 bits at 125 MSPS with 14 bit samples

My 694C is actually a pre-production model that an old Tek guy upgraded with a brand-new CRT and a few options. If the trigger chip hasn't died yet, I'm not too worried. And I have a bunch of FET probes (P6201 1.1 GHz and P6249 4-GHz), so the 50-ohm input isn't an issue unless I were to turn the offset pot on the P6201 too far and roast the termination resistor in the scope front end. A trap for young players, for sure.

If the OP needs the mixed-domain capability, then I agree that the newish ones are best, but you can get a 4-channel, 500 MHz digital scope for way under $1k on eBay--my last one was $465, and works brilliantly.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 

160 North State Road #203 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

hobbs at electrooptical dot net 
http://electrooptical.net

We have the 1 GHz Rigol, and it's a great scope. The screen is home-theatre size.

Yep, no doubt about that. I don't know enough about them to speculate as t o whether the failures are initiated by power-up events or heat over time. The trigger chips don't really get that hot, at least with the cover on. Either way, the number of 694Cs for sale with similar faults does make me a bit nervous about using this one when I don't need the bandwidth.

I poked around at it for a while but couldn't determine where to pin the bl ame in the limited time I had. It's unfortunate that there are no schemati cs for it. There are a lot of similarities vis-a-vis the TDS 520B road map , but also a lot of differences. It's possible that the problem isn't even in an ASIC, since the 694C actually has more LSI-ish parts in its trigger subsystem than the 520B does.

Some of the signal-conditioning chips could probably be replaced by ADCMP58

0s or the like. But without a schematic, that amounts to a research projec t.

It's been great. I don't know if you saw my post on TekScopes, but I actua lly replaced your panel with a different one (

lcd2.jpg ). The image quality was fine before, but matching the scope's na tive 640x480 resolution made it look even better.

-- john, KE5FX

I made the jump over 10 years ago at home. At work, sometimes I have had Linux and sometimes not.

If you have, or can get, source code for the drivers, then it is more likely to continue working on Linux. (This might mean that *you* have to make it work, but you can get it done.)

Some other points:

If the widget documentation mentions a particular version of Linux, sometimes that just means "that's all we tested it on, but it will probably work on other stuff", but sometimes it means "that's all it will work on". My standard approach is to pretty much ignore what the vendor says about Linux compatibility, and either look for feedback from users, or get one and try it.

If I can get a sample widget, my usual test is to plug it into an absolutely stock Linux install and see what happens. The more functionality I get from it, the happier I am.

Look around and see if there is any kind of hobbyist/enthusiast community online for your proposed device. (This is more likely for less expensive devices, but I'm sure there are people out there that use

1 GHz A/D cards for fun.) These groups often have good information on what it takes to get things running under Linux.

If the widget comes with a kernel module (a file like foo_driver.ko that you have to insmod), look at the kernel messages when the module is inserted (use the dmesg command). Sometimes this happens at boot time, and sometimes it happens when you first plug in / power up the device. In my experience, the kernel people are pretty good at warning you about upcoming changes, if you know to look for the warnings. If you see things like

warning: foo_driver.ko uses obsolete setup_special(), it should be changed to use setup_generic()

in the kernel messages, that's a mark against that widget.

Over time, Linux is developing the ability for some drivers to run in user-land rather than in kernel space. This makes it a little bit easier for non-root users to install (and develop, if needed) drivers. If you have an extremely high-performance device, this may not work as well, though.

A few months ago, I wrote a more extensive post about getting a device supported under Linux:

or or even

The phone stuff changes often enough that I don't care too much about whether a widget supports it or not. These days, the answer for some widgets is that the widget should have a little Web server in it, and then I can access it via Wi-Fi or Ethernet with whatever browser I have handy - desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. It can use HTTP for setup and slow-to-medium data, and some kind of direct TCP or UDP connection for fast data.

Matt Roberds

The market is still very small.

Well, the Picoscope which has comparable spec to the Hantek is 160 USD...

Cheers

Klaus

Really? Which one is that? Which Pico model and which Hantek model?

--

Rick

Let me rewind it to your claim of 1000USD for a Picoscope:

Picoscope 2200A, 50MHz, 460USD

Compared to Hantek DSO5062B:

The Picoscope has an arbitrary signal generator, the Hantek does not

Cheers

Klaus

Glad you're happy with it. I did see your thread about that on Tekscopes. I bookmarked the LCD you used for future reference. I still have one left of the panel I put in your scope; when I need more I'll probably buy the one you used as long as it's going in a higher-end unit, as it is more expensive and the margins on the lower-end models has become quite thin. The one I've been using is this one:

It's half the cost for some reason...

I hate scopes that don't have separate controls for vertical amplitude and position. (But I'll sell them till the cows come home...)

The manufacturer says it costs 9k6$, not 3...

Best regards, Piotr

Sure. It's a better scope, for less money, than the Keygilent.

A $350 Rigol is all the oscilloscope that most people ever need.

Ok, that's great, but not what I was comparing because I am looking for a MSO. That is why the Pico weighs in at $1000.

--

Rick

Have you looked at LeCroy. I haven't used one since the old orange trace ones. The new ones look nice and have a lot of features. The low end WaveSurfer 3000 Oscilloscopes run about 3K. I'm curious if someone has played with one.

200 MHz, 350 MHz, 500 MHz bandwidths Long Memory - up to 10 Mpts/Ch 10.1" touch screen display WaveScan - Advanced Search and Find LabNotebook Documentation Tool History Mode - Waveform Playback Serial Data Trigger and Decode 16 Digital Channels with 500 MS/s Sample Rate WaveSource Function Generator Mixed Signal Debug Capabilities Analog and Digital Cross Pattern Triggering Digital Pattern Search and Find Analog and Digital Timing Measurements Activity Indicators

Thanks everyone for your comments. Especially useful were the reminders of how unwieldy virtual controls are on a scope and the great bargains available for older but top-notch gear.

I've decided to purchase the Picoscope, specifically the 5444B. The main driver for me is the high precision at low frequencies which has direct applicability for my particular area.

The main drawback of no physical controls I'll fix using encoders and a controller emulating a USB keyboard. You can see one idea for an encoder enclosure that sits just below the computer monitor here:

The same control software is used across the Pico line of products, so I think I should be OK on software updates. If it turns out poorly, I'll sell it (maybe to Klaus ;), and go the route of a nice used system.

ChesterW

Please don't sell it to me. I have 3 different scopes allready (Pico, Tektronix and Hameg), and I really cannot bear to part with any of them :-)

The Hameg 205-3 was my first scope, my late mother bought it for me. I power it up once per month just to keep it running, although for long durivity it would probably be better to have it powered 24/7

Regards

Klaus

It's 29 years old, got it when I was 12 years or so....

Test equipment with sentimental value, love it. Similar reason why I still have my 20MHZ Tenma, not a great scope but was a first scope.

Cheers

That's a very nice scope for a beginner, especially a 12 year old one. Your mother must have had real faith in you. At 12 I was mainly interested in fishing and hunting and almost certainly would have ruined such nice gear.

Starting electronics tech school at age 15, 38 (gasp) years ago, we students thought our Simpson 260 VOMs were high-tech.

ChesterW