My new toy :) Agilent DSOX2002A - Sex on a stick!

[Kibi]

I feel like a kid in a sweet shop I am so excited.

I needn't go into too much detail as Dave has covered this family in an excellent review and a teardown. I dare say it is Dave's fault now that my wallet is somewhat dented

So, pictures. Sorry some of them are a bit blurred, but I couldn't be bothered with setting up my tripod.







Now, I remember someone in another thread wondering if the LAN module was little more than a Mag-jack. Well perhaps the following photo of the label on the back of the main unit will confirm those suspicions:



So, I got the parcel delivered to my work. At work there is a man who wonders around all of the buildings on the site and PAT-tests ANYTHING that he sees. I don't know how he does it, but he has a knack of sniffing out any equipment that is not PAT-tested within a 500metre radius.
In my excitement I unpacked my 'scope to have a look at it at work. I left it on the desk while I nipped off to the gentleman's room. Within two minutes, Mr. PAT-man had been and gone. I wouldn't have noticed if it were not for the 13 Amp fuse lying on my desk. He'd replaced the fuse in the plug for a 3 Amp one as part of his PAT procedure.

[HLA-27b]

Cool toy
Now get it do stuff 

[mikeselectricstuff]

I feel like a kid in a sweet shop I am so excited.

..was it the lead that came with it from Agilent that had a 13A fuse ? That's a bit naughty if so....

[Kibi]

I feel like a kid in a sweet shop I am so excited.

..was it the lead that came with it from Agilent that had a 13A fuse ? That's a bit naughty if so....

Yes, the lead that came with it had a 13A fuse in it! Very naughty. It is a 2 metre lead though - which is nice.

[Wartex]

I'm grabbing popcorn and pepsi, let's see how long before it mysteriously fails. (Not that I wish this happened to you)

[grenert]

Wartex, all of your postings regarding the Agilent DSOX sound like a big bowl of sour grapes.

[Wartex]

Wartex, all of your postings regarding the Agilent DSOX sound like a big bowl of sour grapes.

Because I want to buy one, and every time I'm on a verge of buying, there is a new post about how it miserably failed in some way. That's why.

[nyo]

Kibi, do you mind me asking what kind of work you do at home on your lab? I mean what kind of stuff will you use this oscilloscope for?

[Richard W.]

..was it the lead that came with it from Agilent that had a 13A fuse ? That's a bit naughty if so....

In Germany we would be thankful if would have any fuse in the plug
Most circuit breakers in the consumer boxes are 16A with B characteristic.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Standard-Ausl%C3%B6sekennlinie.svg/428px-Standard-Ausl%C3%B6sekennlinie.svg.png


x * Nennstrom means the facor of overcurrent. 32 amps through a 16 amps fuse is factor 2
Auslösezeit in s means the time in seconds it takes to break the circuit. Note the logarithmic scale!
Thermischer Auslöser is for overloads when you connect to much power-hungry devices
Magnetischer Auslöser disconnects if there is a short circuit

They only save the wiring in the walls... 

[jahonen]

But then, it is well known that one can't protect semiconductors with a fuse, a fuse blows in time scale of tens of milliseconds at best (at double nominal current, it might take minutes to blow), whereas semiconductors are destroyed in microsecond timescale, so I'll accept that the purpose of the fuse is to prevent fire, nothing else.

Regards,
Janne

[Richard W.]

Of course, the fuse can't protect semiconductors.
With a fuse in the Plug you don't blow the fuse for the whole room.
this would be much better, when the computer is on or when it is dark without electric light.

It would be just more comfortable. 

[Bored@Work]

They only save the wiring in the walls... 

Similar with the 13 A or 3 A fuse. They are supposed to protect the wire, not the user.

As far as I know Zimbabwe uses British plugs. I don't know if Zimbabwe uses the British ring circuit system, too. The ring system is the reason why there should be an additional fuse in the socket or plug, because the fuses in the ring system can't adequately protect the lead between the socket and the instrument.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Yes - IEC plugs are only rated 10A so should never have a 13A fuse in the plug.

[Zero999]

..was it the lead that came with it from Agilent that had a 13A fuse ? That's a bit naughty if so....

In Germany we would be thankful if would have any fuse in the plug
Most circuit breakers in the consumer boxes are 16A with B characteristic.

That maybe the case in Europe but here in the UK 32A is more common, which is why it's so important to use a plug with the correct fuse.

Of course, the fuse can't protect semiconductors.
With a fuse in the Plug you don't blow the fuse for the whole room.
this would be much better, when the computer is on or when it is dark without electric light.

Apparently that happens in other countries. I agree, it's better to have a fuse in the plug and it's safer too as it can be a lower rating i.e. 3A.

[mkissin]

Yes - IEC plugs are only rated 10A so should never have a 13A fuse in the plug.

That's not quite right. The specific IEC sockets on most equipment are rated for 10A, but there are IEC plugs and sockets rated up to 20A, specifically the C19/C20 contact set is not uncommon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320

[mikeselectricstuff]

Yes - IEC plugs are only rated 10A so should never have a 13A fuse in the plug.

That's not quite right. The specific IEC sockets on most equipment are rated for 10A, but there are IEC plugs and sockets rated up to 20A, specifically the C19/C20 contact set is not uncommon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320

Although there are other varients, I was referring to the specific type used on the scope, which is also what most people refer to as an IEC plug. Others are sufficiently rare that they are usually referred to by their specific type as opposed to just IEC.   

[IanB]

Educate me please. I presume the IEC plug referred to here is what we Brits casually refer to as a "kettle plug"? And electric kettles routinely have 3 kW elements for a total of 3000/240 = 12.5 A. So therefore the typical IEC plug is not really a kettle plug and the term is a misnomer?

[Kibi]

Kibi, do you mind me asking what kind of work you do at home on your lab? I mean what kind of stuff will you use this oscilloscope for?

I am currently using it for AF work and power supply design. I am in the process of building a five channel power amplifier. For this kind of work I don't need a great deal of bandwidth, so that is why I went for the 70MHz version. Let me tell you that 70MHz is a giant leap up from the Heathkit oscilloscope I had years ago

[ejeffrey]

Educate me please. I presume the IEC plug referred to here is what we Brits casually refer to as a "kettle plug"? And electric kettles routinely have 3 kW elements for a total of 3000/240 = 12.5 A. So therefore the typical IEC plug is not really a kettle plug and the term is a misnomer?

What is usually called the IEC plug with no qualification is the 3-prong outlet on the back of almost all non-Apple desktop PCs.

[Kibi]

Educate me please. I presume the IEC plug referred to here is what we Brits casually refer to as a "kettle plug"? And electric kettles routinely have 3 kW elements for a total of 3000/240 = 12.5 A. So therefore the typical IEC plug is not really a kettle plug and the term is a misnomer?

The IEC lead commonly used for computer equipment and indeed this oscilloscope is the C13 designation and although it's incorrectly referred to as a "kettle" lead, it won't actually fit into a kettle because a kettle has a C16 inlet designed to accept C15 leads which are rated at a higher temperature than C13 leads / C14 inlets. A C15 lead (proper kettle lead) will however fit into a C14 (computer) inlet without any issues.

[IanB]

The IEC lead commonly used for computer equipment and indeed this oscilloscope is the C13 designation and although it's incorrectly referred to as a "kettle" lead, it won't actually fit into a kettle because a kettle has a C16 inlet designed to accept C15 leads which are rated at a higher temperature than C13 leads / C14 inlets. A C15 lead (proper kettle lead) will however fit into a C14 (computer) inlet without any issues.

OK, next time I am in the UK I am going to look at some kettle leads and computer leads really closely 

[Kibi]

The IEC lead commonly used for computer equipment and indeed this oscilloscope is the C13 designation and although it's incorrectly referred to as a "kettle" lead, it won't actually fit into a kettle because a kettle has a C16 inlet designed to accept C15 leads which are rated at a higher temperature than C13 leads / C14 inlets. A C15 lead (proper kettle lead) will however fit into a C14 (computer) inlet without any issues.

OK, next time I am in the UK I am going to look at some kettle leads and computer leads really closely 

Have a look at this link. The pictures are a bit crap and make the connectors look like they are different sizes, but you can clearly see the difference.

http://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/technical/iec.html

If C15 connectors are not used for kettles in your country, then take a closer look at the lead that goes into a XBOX 360 power supply. IIRC it is a C15 lead.

[IanB]

Have a look at this link. The pictures are a bit crap and make the connectors look like they are different sizes, but you can clearly see the difference.

http://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/technical/iec.html

If C15 connectors are not used for kettles in your country, then take a closer look at the lead that goes into a XBOX 360 power supply. IIRC it is a C15 lead.

Thanks for that link, it is interesting.

"My country" is in fact the UK, but evidently times have changed. Having done a quick search for corded and cordless kettles, I find all the kettles with cords have a 2.4 kW element (= 10 A). The kettles with the 3 kW elements have a cordless design with a separate base, thereby avoiding the need for a plug in connector.

I am sure that in times gone by there were kettles with 3 kW elements that also had plug in cords, but perhaps that predated the IEC standardization of connectors? I dare say if I looked harder, there were British Standard connectors specified for 13 A duty, given that 13 A is the maximum current for a British 240 V socket. (It's funny actually, those cordless bases have really wimpy looking electrical contacts compared to the solid contact you would get in a plug. I wonder how exactly the maximum current ratings for various connectors are arrived at.)

I do often wish I could go back to the 70's and find all the good things that have vanished these days...

[IanJ]

I am currently using it for AF work and power supply design. I am in the process of building a five channel power amplifier. For this kind of work I don't need a great deal of bandwidth, so that is why I went for the 70MHz version. Let me tell you that 70MHz is a giant leap up from the Heathkit oscilloscope I had years ago

Kibi,

Nice purchase........My current kit includes a 100Mhz 1GS/s UTD DSO and it's not that great for audio usage, it tends to display a rather intermittent snapshot of the waveform I'm scoping.....just terrible. But, for scoping digital stuff it's fine.
I find my old Leader LS8022 20Mhz scope is better for the audio stuff.........so will be very interested to hear how you get on with the DSOX2002A.

Ian.

[Kibi]

Kibi,

Nice purchase........My current kit includes a 100Mhz 1GS/s UTD DSO and it's not that great for audio usage, it tends to display a rather intermittent snapshot of the waveform I'm scoping.....just terrible. But, for scoping digital stuff it's fine.
I find my old Leader LS8022 20Mhz scope is better for the audio stuff.........so will be very interested to hear how you get on with the DSOX2002A.

Ian.

I've been "out of the game" hobbywise for at least ten years. I've not been comletely out of it, but not as into it as I was. Things have begun to settle down again and I've started getting back into it and getting my lab space tooled up again. I'll most likely do more than just audio stuff, but at the moment that is what I'm messing about with.
The progress of my current project is going to be slow because I plan to move house at least three times over the next year or two, but I might post pictures of how I get on if anyone is interested.