Rigol entry-level scopes - Usage opinion?

I recommend analog scopes as a first scope.

Make them do some math. Count those lines. Both ways, find out the mS or whatever and 1/ to get the frequency, shit like that.

In a way it is like teaching people how to drive on a stickshift.

I have an older Rigol 4 channel 200MHz DS1204B which I'm happy with, it's had a lot of use and has proved reliable. My only complaint is that the screen is a bit small, but the ones you mention have bigger screens.

I'd like if they put a VGA (or whatever) output on the back - everyone must have a spare screen knocking around.

We buy all Rigol scopes now. We have Python libraries to talk to them in automated test stands. My scope is the DS4034 upgraded to 500 MHz. For a modern digital scope, it's not hard to drive. We have the panoramic 1 GHz scope too.

We must have a dozen Rigols and none have ever failed. Some Tek scopes have been buggy.

A friend and I both have the DS1054Z scope. The GUI is a little clumsy until you "get it" and it's sometimes hard to figure out how to make some special feature go away... but it's been a great "generic" scope for everyday use.

I think mine even survived a few amps through a ground lead with no damage...

The USB connector on the front is great for powering fans.

My Rigol has the fabulous red DEFAULT SETUP button. Get me the hell out of here!

Our big LeCroy is a user interface nightmare.

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** Meaningless.

You colleague needs to come here himself.

..... Phil

You could get an USB based scope, for example the 600USD PicoScope

2406B, 4 channels 50Mhz, but with signal generator, so you can do bode plots/VNA with free SW.

They should also have an "undo" button, mostly for if you press the default setup button by accident - on mine that's right next to run/stop for rearming single shot.

I do have to confirm the default setup.

Is there a guide to the RS232 port on the back and what data it can send and/or receive?

The standard manual on my 1102E is silent about it

My DS1102E is great, I may upgrade that soon as I wish I had a higher-end one with a bit more memory and the ability to decode an i2c bus right off the scope probe would be really handy for the stuff I do

It's kind of lame that at least my scope has like a 1 megasample memory but AFAIK you can only dump to a USB stick whatever is on the screen.

I don't know what the kids are doing with the Python. They use ethernet or USB.

On a sunny day (Thu, 18 Mar 2021 18:54:03 +0000) it happened Clive Arthur snipped-for-privacy@nowaytoday.co.uk> wrote in <s307kd$mp5$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Camera and some cardboard:

here to get video from drone remote screen (very small) to analog video to USB to laptop to reord an display on big laptop screen. []---------USB_stick------- laptop / \ / \ ====== small LCD

On a sunny day (Thu, 18 Mar 2021 11:27:29 -0700 (PDT)) it happened Jeff Urban snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

+1

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** "Entry level" is an ambiguous term.

In marketing it refers to the bottom of a given range of similar function products. It can also mean a product intended for beginners.

IMO Rigol scopes and the like are non ideal for beginners.

..... Phil

I've got a few pieces of Rigol equipment- digital triple power supply, dual arb signal generator and spectrum analyzer and they're all great. We bought a couple of the very cheapest Rigol scopes for field use and the user interface was a bit unpleasant, I remember they shared one encoder for two functions, but hey for a few hundred bucks they were still very good value and better performance than the old monochrome low end Tektronix scopes they replaced. They didn't manage to break them.

I've had small-ish problems with Agilent equipment (encoders that went flaky, mystery failures that might have been loss of proprietary calibration information) that cost significant amounts of money and down time to fix. So far <knock on wood> the Rigol stuff has been flawless, as has most of the older HP stuff and Tek stuff.

There are other "name brand" Chinese/Asian makers such as Owon, Hantek, Atten, Siglent, Instek (Taiwan). Have not used much of them.

It would be nice to be able to throw $10K at Keysight to get a top-end LCR meter or $15K for a source-measure unit but if I can get most of what I need for $1500..

Rigol used to manufacturer for (and co-developed stuff with) Agilent, IIRC- the fit and finish, thickness of moldings and so on fits more with a higher-end test equipment manufacturing heritage than the prices of their more affordable products may suggest.

I have a couple of Picoscopes and since the Lecroy went a bit flakey (sometimes it powers up - sometimes it doesn't) they are my first choice for general scoping. The scope being a PC application makes generating reports/notes as you go so much easier than anything else. If you need serial protocols they decode more than most and are included in the basic price.

The downside of the Picos (especially the cheaper ones) is the very limited range of DC offset and the odd way they display it.

Above 500MHz its the Lecroy 610zi or an R&S - I like the interface on the Lecroy but I think JLs is a later version - and certainly not entry level.

MK