Rigol DS1025E On Its Way...Looking For a Great Way To Play...Any Suggestions?

[thakidd]

Ok, after back and forth debate in my head, I took out my CC, entered the info, and bought the Rigol. My very first oscilloscope will arrive on Wednesday (which happens to be my birthday...although this wasn't planned ). I would like to experiment with some circuits to become familiar with using the oscilloscope. The first idea that popped into my head was Parallax's Understanding Signals book. Since I have a Basic Stamp dev kit + the parts, I figured this would be a good place to start. Since I can download the manual for free, I figure it would not be too hard to build a few of their experiments and see what happens scope wise.

I also have a Radio Shack electronics kit laying around that I could play with...however, I think the parallax option is the way to go as the images of their osc software will give me an idea of what I should see on the Rigol. I could also play with the Arduino, Make Controller, or a few other development boards I have laying around. Again, at least their is a set course with Understanding Signals.

Anyways, I would like to ask those on the EEVblog forum if you have any recommendations on a 'Get to Know Your Scope' path. I would like to really test the scope and understand its functions before I move forward and/or before I hack it. I promise to follow Dave's example either way...Smell it, then take it apart!

Thx in advance for any suggestions.

[Mechatrommer]

well, this is my 'Get to Know Your Scope' advice:
at least i've heard 5 people bricking or malfunctioning their Rigol scope while trying to mod it, thats it. Cheers.

[thakidd]

Yeah tbh, I plan on waiting a few months before I even think about updating the firmware.

[orbiter]

These should help....

http://www.hobbyprojects.com/oscilloscope_tutorial.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_5850284_use-digital-storage-oscilloscope.html

http://www.tek.com/Measurement/App_Notes/XYZs/03W_8605_2.pdf

[Veramacor]

The first thing I did with my Rigol was to test switches.  It may not sound like much, but you can get a real feel on how to 'zoom in' on the signal bounce. 

I was fascinated by just watching the scope capturing what happens in real switches.


http://www.picotech.com/experiments/switch_bounce/measuring-switch-bounce.html

[thakidd]

I got my scope a day before my BDay FTW! Bought it here in the US from http://www.tequipment.net/ with no issues using FedEx Ground. Opened up first and second inside box and pulled it out. Looked excellent in person. Calibrated one of the probes with success and dove right in. Decided to pull out my 3 yr old Basic Stamp Board of Education kit and run through their Understanding Signals book which thankfully is available for free online!

Understanding Signals PDF

Bout to go to bed but I ran through high and low signals with BS2, servo square waves, and sign waves with the piezo circuit. It took a few minutes some times to find the controls on the Rigol that the Parallex tut was talking about...Then again, the tut is based on their USB Osc. While I was playing around with it I was smacked in the face by a very large trout when I realized just how much better this Osc is compared to Parallex's USB Osc. You can tell if you look at the crappy PC software graphs in the PDF compared to the Rigol. OMG a whole hell of a lot more detail! Buy a real scope if you are a newb like me and can afford it. Thx Dave for saving me from the POS USB scopes and a very bad investment.

I mean this bitch is just beautiful for a first scope! Was totally worth the $400 just to learn how to use a tool I have never touched before. I would recommend not touching the Auto button if you get one...as you should learn something first (that is my personal rule anyways...make sure you burn after reading!). Also, if the Rigol is your very first scope, put off the urge to hack it to 100MHz. DO NOT screw with the firmware until you understand how the damn thing works..unless you have an extra $400...I don't plan to anyway. I figure if I learn how to use it, hack it, and brick it...at least I got my $400 out of it since i learned something. Just my two cents so you can get your four extra brain connections and now sex is on the brain...hrm! Anyways...My plan involves fully exploring 50MHz, finding out where the limits are so I understand why I should hack to 100Mhz, and in the meantime, collecting data and files from EEVBlog about the hack for the next 2-3 months before I attempt the it just to make sure I don't brick a $400 piece. May each user's road vary and ultimately stumble upon success?!?

Two pics of the Basic Stamp Piezo experiment running with the Rigol hooked up. Looks sexy!

http://www.tekcrack.com/downloads/eevblog/rigol1.jpg

http://www.tekcrack.com/downloads/eevblog/rigol2.jpg

Goals:
Step 1: I need to learn this girl!
Step 2: I have 6 pieces of hardware to repair and friends bringing their broken stuff to play with! Wo0t!
Step 3: Use combined knowledge to leverage Rigol against my embedded circuit designs.

Thanks Dave for your great videos and forum and thx to the EEV community for making my first scope purchase a great success!

[thakidd]

@veramacor: that is a great idea. i will work on that tomorrow night.

@orbiter: i will check those out as soon as i get a chance.

thank you both for the help

[David]

Mine should arrive soon too!

[Veramacor]

I don't think O-scopes have generated this much excitement since the invention of them.

Definitely Dave made it famous!