Electronics > Beginners

Help with buying a first oscilloscope

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Doctorandus_P:
If I were to buy a new oscilloscope in the near future it will also be the 4 channel Siglent.
I have an old Rigol DS1052E and it is good enough for almost anything I do, but I do not like the small screen, the rotary encoders which do not work properly (already replaced one), and the probes of the Rigol, which are not reliable.

If you compare reviews of Siglent and Rigol Spectum analysers, then Siglent is years ahead of Rigol. The Siglent 1000X-E series even has a very decent Spectum analyser built in in the scope.
The spectrum analyser funtion in my Rigol DS1053E is nothing but a joke.

4-channel Siglent also has some logic analyser functionality and serial decoding built in. This is great if you are working with stuff that has both digital and analog going on at the same time.

But if you want to grab multiple serial busses at the same time you quickly run out of channels.
For low-speed stuff an EUR 5 Logic Analyser from Ali / Ebay / China is a good addition.
Search for "24m 8ch", and use it with the Open Source Sigrok / Pulseview combination.
Sigrok can decode a lot more protocols, and almost every month more protocols are added.
Just for fun I've grabbed and debugged some low-speed USB signals with such a USD5 Logic analyser. Sigrok can work with much more capable hardware also (Starting around EUR50, depending on your needs).
A PC & mouse is also a better interface for a LA than an oscilloscope screen. A big & high resolution monitor is a real advantage for a LA.
A good introduction of what you can do with Sigrok can be found in the video's from OpenTechLabs:

Old Printer:
I have only been around here the last couple years, but i have watched the 2 new Siglents pretty well. Particularly on the 4 channel they seem to be pretty responsive to the bugs and firmware updates, certainly better than their history. I know some say there shouldn't be bugs, but these are $400-500 scopes and that seems to be the price to be paid in this market. If there is something serious that cannot be fixed via firmware, then that is a different story. Really curious to see if/when Rigol will answer Siglent's new release.

innkeeper:
The lead times on development are so so long that, unless they have an "answer" in the pipeline, it's not gonna come for at least 2 years.  unless they rebadge one of their more advanced scopes and sell it as the new base model.

siglent is following the footsteps of rigol with there SDS1104X-E ... letting their base model be hacked basicly and ... getting people hooked on it, and then what do they do in their labs at work, buy the more advanced model as they're already used to the ui on the base model.

i don't wanna call it a loss leader, but it kinda is....but they can claim innocence to it all. ... rigol could have closed the door anytime but never did... i suspect the same will be true for siglent.

...and unless siglent does something silly, like Tektronix did,  there posed to keep rising in market share., not that Tektronix was significantly hurt by it, they're just not playing the same game :)

yngndrw:
I can't comment on the Siglents as I've never used one, but I'd advise staying well clear of the Rigol DS1054Z.

I was in the market for a new oscilloscope and for my money I had the choice between a new Rigol DS1054Z and a used Keysight DSOX2002A for around the same money. (Both of which can be hacked to unlock extra features) I decided based on a thread on here to go for the Rigol DS1054Z and while the extra channels are useful and the scope generally does the job, the performance is appalling. The lag when adjusting the vertical position makes using the oscilloscope a chore. How they can make something with such dismal performance and decide to sell it is beyond me, but here we are. Either way I regret my decision and wish I'd gone for the Keysight DSOX2002A, but sadly I can't can't roll back the clock now.

Like I say I can't judge the Siglent as I've never used one, but I'm very wary of these budget brands now - The user interface is everything on a device that you're constantly interacting with.

rstofer:
The Rigol UI is slow, no doubt about it.  I notice it every time I change the vertical position.  No doubt about it!

However, how many times per hour do I actually change the vertical position?  At the moment, I am using just a single channel to watch an analog signal.  Once I have the position fixed, I'm not going to change it in the next minute, hour or even day.  More often than not, I just push the knob to center the trace and move on.

Clearly this is a matter of application.  Are there times when I use the adjustment more often than once per day?  Sure!  But it really isn't a big deal.  I spend more time messing around with the trigger point or the V/div than I do with vertical position.

That's the way I use the scope.  Others will have different requirements.

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