Hi there i'm more of less a beginner/novice (I think) I have being messing about with electronics since I was little (now 25) and I currently have a old scopex 14D-15 I bought from a radio rally a some time ago. I currently mainly do stuff with arduinos & raspberry pis but I hope to do more in the future, and at the moment i'm trying to debug an cheap SPI TFT touchscreen module connected to a wemos mini (the screen I have got working but no matter what the touch screen refuses to work and i'm trying to look at the SPI bus to try to see whats going on and my old scope can't do it).
I'm have been looking at getting a Rigol DS1054Z for some time now as it has the 4 channels and can be unlocked to 100Mhz with SPI, i2c, and serial decode options using the riglol unlock thing. as I will mainly be using it for digital electronics i.e. Arduino, Raspberry Pi. The SPI, i2c, and serial decoders seem very useful to me . I know it doesn't have a logic analyser built in (which is a same, but you can't have it all) but I figure the 4 channels will probably be more useful to me and if I need a logic analyser I can always buy one later when I need more than 4 channels
Before I buy one I would like to know a few things:
1. My budget really can't stretch much more than £350ish inc vat+p&p (~$450) so is the DS1054Z still the best value (as of April 2017) assuming it can still be unlocked to 100Mhz with the protocol decoders? Or is there something better for a similar price with similar features i.e 4 channels, decoders, etc ?
2. The DS1054Z scope I'm looking at ordering has the 00.04.04.SP3 firmware preloaded from what I can tell (https://www.rigol-uk.co.uk/productdetails_popup.asp?productcode=FIRMTEST) does the option unlock exploit still work (from my research some sources say it does but would be nice to see clearly confirmed for me)? - yes it does still work
3. If the hack still works is the 500µV thing still a thing or does it work in the 00.04.04.SP3 firmware? - this doesn't work and never will
4. I'm currently looking at buying this
https://www.rigol-uk.co.uk/Rigol-DS1054Z-Digital-Oscilloscope-p/ds1054z.htm as it seems to be the offical UK reseller and they seem to be as cheap as anyone else I can find(but I am open to buying 2nd hand locally I just missed one on here earlier in the month
) does anyone know of a better price?
5. Is this the best board for this post or should it be in test gear or buy/sell?
Many Thanks