Author Topic: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S  (Read 3465 times)

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Offline NozzerTopic starter

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I recently retired and am interested in resuming a hobby I last did over 20 years ago with a general experimental interest. I am not intending to develop audio at this stage. I still have my old 20MHz CRT analogue scope (which is so old it still has a Z plate input) but it is obviously rather out of date. I have been following the review #451 and as the Rigol 2072A costs about the same as my analogue scope when it was new ::) and I need a new function generator, I was wondering if it would be better to buy the Rigol DS2072A-S with its built in generator.

As I'm completely new to digital scopes (not to mention any digital measurement/test device) I'm a little confused by the specified bandwidth of 70MHz but a bandwidth limit of 20MHz*. Could someone explain this in plain English please?

See spec via:
https://www.rigol-uk.co.uk/Rigol-DS2072A-S-Digital-Oscilloscope-p/ds2072a-s.htm#.VwA5UHp4WK0
 

Offline MK14

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2016, 09:47:18 pm »
I'm a little confused by the specified bandwidth of 70MHz but a bandwidth limit of 20MHz*. Could someone explain this in plain English please?

It is fully a 70MHz scope, BUT you can switch the maximum bandwidth DOWN to 20MHz. (Bandwidth Limit feature).

It is a feature, which allows you to limit the bandwidth to 20MHz. In theory used if you are more interested in lower frequencies.


From:
http://telonicinstruments.co.uk/rigol-uk/MSO-DS/MSO-DS2000A%20User%20Guide.pdf

Quote
Bandwidth Limit
Setting the bandwidth limit can reduce the display noise. For example, the signal
under test is a pulse with high frequency oscillation.
? When bandwidth limit is disabled, the high frequency components of the signal
under test can pass the channel.
? Enable bandwidth limit and limit the bandwidth to 20 MHz or 100 MHz[1], the
high frequency components that exceed 20 MHz or 100 MHz are attenuated.
Press CH1 ? BW Limit and use to enable or disable bandwidth limit (the
default is OFF). When bandwidth limit (20 MHz or 100 MHz) is enabled, the character
“B” will be displayed in the channel status label at the bottom of the screen. You can
also press BW Limit continuously to switch the bandwidth limit status.
Note[1]: Only the oscilloscope which analog bandwidth is 200 MHz or 300 MHz can limit the
 

Online tautech

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2016, 09:47:55 pm »
I recently retired and am interested in resuming a hobby I last did over 20 years ago with a general experimental interest. I am not intending to develop audio at this stage. I still have my old 20MHz CRT analogue scope (which is so old it still has a Z plate input) but it is obviously rather out of date. I have been following the review #451 and as the Rigol 2072A costs about the same as my analogue scope when it was new ::) and I need a new function generator, I was wondering if it would be better to buy the Rigol DS2072A-S with its built in generator.

As I'm completely new to digital scopes (not to mention any digital measurement/test device) I'm a little confused by the specified bandwidth of 70MHz but a bandwidth limit of 20MHz*. Could someone explain this in plain English please?

See spec via:
https://www.rigol-uk.co.uk/Rigol-DS2072A-S-Digital-Oscilloscope-p/ds2072a-s.htm#.VwA5UHp4WK0
Welcome to the forum.

20 MHz limit refers to the bandwidth limiter, there's 1 for each channel and it's there to mask/limit sensitivity from spurious signals that aren't the fundamental frequency of interest.
Avid Rabid Hobbyist
Siglent Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SiglentVideo/videos
 

Online Zero999

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2016, 11:18:40 pm »
It can also be hacked to 300MHz but doing so may void the warranty.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2016, 09:14:14 am by Hero999 »
 

Offline nugglix

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2016, 05:53:48 am »
Hi!

As a DS2102A-S owner I would recommend to *not* buy the S version.
The generator can help a little in the beginning, but is so limited that you'll buy a real function gen. anyway.
Not to mention the handling, which is horrible (imho).

In my opinion go with the scope and get a function gen. like the cheap Siglent SDG2000X series.
Even this really cheap thing is way better then the built-in generator of the DS2000A series.
And reagarding the liberartion option, it's a real steal.  ;)

Cheers
 
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Offline NozzerTopic starter

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2016, 07:00:23 pm »
Thanks everyone for translating the bandwidth into English and advising me to avoid the built in generator. Could you explain what hacking in the context of oscilloscopes means.

Incidentally would I be better off buying a 200MHz scope or won't I need that bandwidth.
 

Offline Dubbie

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2016, 07:50:09 pm »
I also bought the s version and have used it about twice. I bought a proper arb gen which is so much better and I use it all the time.


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Offline ledtester

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Re: Newbie digital oscilloscope: Rigol DS2072A or Rigol DS2072A-S
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2016, 08:02:52 pm »
Whether or not you need 200 Mhz all depends on what you want to do. You can do a hell of a lot with a 100 Mhz scope (or even a 50 Mhz scope.)

Another thing to consider is the number of channels. Being able to display four waveforms at once (even if at a lower bandwidth and sampling rate) might have more value to you than a two channel higher bandwidth scope.

Hackable means that extra features (triggering options, bandwidth, decoding options, etc) can be enabled by entering a license code, and some people have figured out how to generate those codes which you normally have to pay for.

Personally, for a "beginner" I wouldn't spend too much money on your first digital scope. Scopes are like computers - they are only going to get better, cheaper, faster. Any digital scope is going to be better than your analog scope in terms of size, weight, power consumption, triggering ability, auto measurement capability, capture record depth, usb/network connectivity, etc.

I would also look at the Rigol DS1054Z - it's been widely discussed on these forums.
 
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