What scope to choose ?

[minim]

since 1054Z seems  to be out of stock everywhere and many is reporting that it won't be back until over christmas is there options? Would 1074Z bring more to the table than a hacked 1054Z and could it be an alternative since it's in stock at more places?

[David Hess]

since 1054Z seems  to be out of stock everywhere and many is reporting that it won't be back until over christmas is there options? Would 1074Z bring more to the table than a hacked 1054Z and could it be an alternative since it's in stock at more places?

As far as I know only the bandwidth and price differs between the various 1054Z models so the 70 MHz 1074Z should be a replacement for the 50 MHz 1054Z in all respects.  The 1074Z costs about $250 (75%) more though.

It is possible that the lower bandwidth oscilloscopes when hacked to operate with higher bandwidth lack proper calibration but nobody has shown this to be the case in tests.  If there is a difference then it appears to be minor.

[minim]

It's expensive to have no patience I would just love to have one before Christmas but seems like that's gonna be hard with the 54. Since so many like them they are not very common one the used market either (none in Norway).

I hope it's ok with the OP that I'm asking this in your thread but are the probes that are included in the kit good and all that's needed for basic measurements?

[AG6QR]

are the probes that are included in the kit good and all that's needed for basic measurements?

The Rigol DS1054Z includes four RP2200 probes, one probe per channel.  Those probes are passive probes, switchable between 1x and 10x.  At 10x, they have 150 MHz bandwidth (bandwidth at 1x is much lower, as is typical for a passive probe).

They're typical general-purpose high impedance voltage probes for this type of scope, and should be good for most basic measurements. 

Like this Rigol, most new scopes in this bandwidth class will come with passive 1x/10x probes similar to these, usually one per channel.  Note that if you're shopping for used scopes, many won't include probes, and if probes ARE included, they may be beat up.  Replacement RP2200 probes list for $33 apiece in USD, meaning that getting four new probes would cost around 1/3 of the list price of a new scope.

There are other kinds of specialty probes, like current probes, high voltage probes, differential probes, etc.  These may be useful or essential for some types of work, but they're not typically included in the standard kit of an oscilloscope.  Some specialty probes can be very expensive.

[minim]

Thanks for the reply.

I currently got no clue about what I need or what the 1x/10x does but I'm sure I'll find out with some reading. It's been many many years since I used a Oscilloscope in my electronic class and I've pretty much forgotten all about it.

I just got the interest back after making a really basic "Oscilloscope" trough my line-input on my computer (caught the idea from a forum..) with a 100k potmeter used as a voltage divider to get the volt down to 40mV approx just to not blow up the input and then I was able to at least read off the frequency of my 3 volt signal. I just hit ordered the 1054Z and will get it early in december so I'm really looking forward to start catching up on electronics again.

[David Hess]

I currently got no clue about what I need or what the 1x/10x does but I'm sure I'll find out with some reading. It's been many many years since I used a Oscilloscope in my electronic class and I've pretty much forgotten all about it.

The obvious thing that x10 probes do is attenuate in the input by 10 times so the input voltage range of the oscilloscope is extended by 10 times.  Their real purpose however is to lower the input capacitance so the probes work at higher frequencies.  x1 probes are limited to somewhere between 10 and 30 MHz while x10 probes can be used at 100 MHz and higher.  For most work x10 probes are appropriate.

I just got the interest back after making a really basic "Oscilloscope" trough my line-input on my computer (caught the idea from a forum..) with a 100k potmeter used as a voltage divider to get the volt down to 40mV approx just to not blow up the input and then I was able to at least read off the frequency of my 3 volt signal. I just hit ordered the 1054Z and will get it early in december so I'm really looking forward to start catching up on electronics again.

I like to divide oscilloscopes into test instruments and toys.  Test instruments use x10 probes or better and include the Rigol DS1054Z.  Toys are just toys.

[AG6QR]

I currently got no clue about what I need or what the 1x/10x does but I'm sure I'll find out with some reading. It's been many many years since I used a Oscilloscope in my electronic class and I've pretty much forgotten all about it.

While you're waiting for your "real" scope to arrive, I strongly recommend checking out the "oscilloscope training class" in the sticky thread at the top of this board.  It is a bit long, so get comfortable.  It's primarily oriented toward older analog scopes, but the basics are absolutely the same as for digital scopes -- almost everything you learn about how to use an analog scope will also apply to a digital one.  In particular, the 1x/10x probes are exactly the same, because even a digital scope has analog probes, analog amplifiers, and analog signal conditioners before the signal is digitized.

The very short answer to 1x vs 10x is that you should use 10x at all times unless you have such a low level signal that you can't see what you need to see at 10x.  And if you use 1x you will lose high frequency components of your signal.  The bandwidth at 10x is wider and flatter, and the loading of the circuit is also lower.  There is more detail to this in the video.

And regardless of whether you're using 1x, 10x, or something else, be sure that the setting on your scope matches the setting on your probe for that channel, or else your scope's voltage readings will be off.  (That's a mistake everyone makes sooner or later).