Bying advice: oscilloscope, funtion generator & voltage supply

[NemoVanHelden]

Hi!

I`m looking to buy an oscilloscope, a function generator and a voltage supply that can all be controlled from matlab (or labview if not). My budget is about $1000 for all three instruments. If i need to i can probably use a little more, but this is mainly for hobby use so i prefer not stretching my budget too far.

I`ve been reading this forum, and different reviews, but I`m having a hard time finding out which instruments will work with matlab.

From what i can tell there are many very knowledgeable people in this forum, so I`m certain this is the right place to ask for help.

Any suggestions?
If my budget is way to low to get matlab functionality I`m happy with suggestions to good instruments i can buy without it but within by budget. I don`t know much about what to look for in those instruments, so any advice is highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance! 

[w2aew]

The biggest cost might be the Instrument Control Toolbox that you'll likely need for MATLAB. This is what will give you the VISA/GPIB extensions needed to have MATLAB talk to the instrumentation. On the instrumentation side, you'll need to look for units that have a programmable interface (an API) and some connectivity such as USB Device port, Ethernet, or GPIB.

[NemoVanHelden]

Thanks for the info. I`ve found one scope - Agilent DSO1002A - that at least supports Labview. But its pretty expensive considering my budget, so I will look some more and hopefully get some inputs here. I know that Agilent makes good scopes, but I`m not sure if the DSO1002A is good value for money if we look away from the remote programming and consider the other specs.
I`m a student, so the Instrument Control Toolbox is very cheap for me.

[T4P]

What's worrying is that the DSO1002A is actually a Rigol product ... made in rigol of course.
I think Rigol's all of products support labview? With the higher end models (like the extreme DMMs the DM3058 and 3068) they have LAN for LXI

[w2aew]

Thanks for the info. I`ve found one scope - Agilent DSO1002A - that at least supports Labview. But its pretty expensive considering my budget, so I will look some more and hopefully get some inputs here. I know that Agilent makes good scopes, but I`m not sure if the DSO1002A is good value for money if we look away from the remote programming and consider the other specs.
I`m a student, so the Instrument Control Toolbox is very cheap for me.

Keep in mind that as long as the instrument has some type of API and a LAN, GPIB, or USB Device port, it will be able to work with MATLAB/ICT, LabView, Viual Basic, Python, etc., even if it doesn't explicitly say so. When they say that they work with one of these packages, it usually means that they have a driver available. However, you generally don't *need* a driver to make it all work.

As for your budget, be sure to consider used equipment - much cheaper than new.

[NEDM64]

Get a Agilent DSOX2002A, until the end of the year, you'll get a free 20MHZ function generator built in! Agilent is offering it!

For the power supply, no biggie, get a transformer, one or two LM317, LM337 and some other bits, and you can build youself one...

[NemoVanHelden]

That sounds like a great offer! It`s a bit over my budget, but i think I`ll get the Agilent anyway.

I watched a video showing a VNC connection to the scope through the LAN interface. Is there a similar virtual front panel through the USB connection? Or any available (free) software that will do the same?