Author Topic: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply  (Read 123538 times)

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Online PA0PBZ

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #150 on: August 20, 2013, 12:06:58 pm »
A pulldown resistor for the MOSFET's gate (n-channel) is a very simple, reliable and cheap solution. There are things which can be done in hardware much better than in software  >:D

Of course, but since you have to pull the gate up at a certain moment, and you don't know the state of your controlling circuit  before your processor runs.... If it was that simple we would not have any PSU's with this kind of behaviour don't you think?
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Offline madires

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #151 on: August 20, 2013, 12:08:47 pm »
Well but this is an extreme example and not really representative of what people around here work on.. Also raising the voltage to 6V as ElectroIrradiator is not a good case since there are many simple ways to do it (add one battery?)

A battery in series with the PSU? I won't comment anything on that :-)

Quote
I'm looking for examples that would justify buying these scopes and power supplies, and you guys are perfect for that since you may be fully utilizing such equipment.. Could you guys give any examples?

Standard circuit with a MCU (3.3V or 5V) and some dual rail OPamps (+/-15V).

Quote
I'd like to list 10 reasons/projects where I'd need such lab equipment (rather than a PC power supply unit)

If you can't think about any reasons yourself you simply don't need any fancy PSU.
 

Offline madires

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #152 on: August 20, 2013, 12:22:21 pm »
A pulldown resistor for the MOSFET's gate (n-channel) is a very simple, reliable and cheap solution. There are things which can be done in hardware much better than in software  >:D

Of course, but since you have to pull the gate up at a certain moment, and you don't know the state of your controlling circuit  before your processor runs.... If it was that simple we would not have any PSU's with this kind of behaviour don't you think?

Sure, it takes more effort to design a circuit supporting save operation modes while powering up or down. You won't find that for inexpensive PSUs, because the PSU is built to be inexpensive.
 

Offline xchip

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #153 on: August 20, 2013, 12:41:07 pm »
A battery in series with the PSU? I won't comment anything on that :-)

I didnt say that

If you can't think about any reasons yourself you simply don't need any fancy PSU.

Ok, but show me your use cases and the projects you developed where you actually needed it. :) if you have a blog just post it.



« Last Edit: August 20, 2013, 12:52:55 pm by xchip »
 

Offline nack

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #154 on: August 20, 2013, 01:32:51 pm »
@xchip

From your replies I assume you are relatively new to electronics? Seriously if you need to ask for applications on using a dedicated bench power supply, I advice you to build more projects. Learn about electronics, fail and start over again, learn about the difference of voltage and current. If you gain these basic principles you will see the need/advantages of a bench power supply in stead of a hacked PC supply. :)

On a side note. I've commented previously that the voltage reading on the channels are not live if the outputs are switched off. I personally find this a real shame, however if the set overvoltage (OVP) has been engaged, the output is switched off and now there's a live reading of the voltage at the output! Not very useful ofcourse, but it should be easy to add a live voltage reading if the outputs are disabled by a firmware update.

Is there any way to suggest such a functionality and communicate this to Rigol? Maybe Marmad who has some 'credit' at the responsible Rigol Engineers?
 

Offline crisr

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #155 on: August 20, 2013, 01:36:49 pm »
BTW another example of good equipment made right is the Fluke 87V. I love my Fluke 87V, I can trust it and I must admit I find it amusing when Dave puts the 87V to the back and puts his Agilent front and Center whenever a critical test comes up and then we get to see the least two significant digits on the Agilent moving around like a slot machine.  Anyway I love Dave's videos I just wish that when he did equipment reviews they were done with a little less ratings emphasis on the rarely used features and concentrated more on the accuracy and usability of the basic features that most of us use 99% of the time.

To talk about the Fluke 87V and usability / "intuitivity" (don't get me wrong, I have one and it's a great DMM), can you tell me from the top of your head how to use the relative zoom bar graph mode? Or how to activate the smoothing feature?
 

Offline madires

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #156 on: August 20, 2013, 02:09:45 pm »
If you can't think about any reasons yourself you simply don't need any fancy PSU.

Ok, but show me your use cases and the projects you developed where you actually needed it. :) if you have a blog just post it.

- audio stuff (still need a lab PSU with 2*60-80V at 5A for power amps)
- MCU stuff
- PSUs
- repairs
- powering tools

And the features I mostly use are:
- CV
- CC (preventing the magic smoke :-)
- tracking (2nd output follows first one)
- locking (can't change output)

I don't need any really fancy lab PSUs, just solid basic ones.
 

Offline xchip

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #157 on: August 20, 2013, 02:34:57 pm »
@nack  examples examples examples :) Give me your examples, what is that cool thing you worked on that you couldn't have done it without an adjustable power supply...

@madires
- audio: Are you creating your own audio amp? But then the very first thing you need to do is to build a power supply, right? If you are just repairing it then just use the power supply that comes with the amplifier.
- MCU well, for this is ideal a PC PSU :)
- repairs, as in audio, if the power supply is broken then that is what you need to fix, if not no need for a power supply
- powering tools, what sort of tools are those that come without a power supply?

A very good use case I have found though is from http://thesignalpath.com/blogs/ hes a very cool guy that has a video blog that shows you lots of cool projects and experiments, and many times he needs to show how a certain value changes with voltage or intensity...  you should check it out. But any other projects besides his.. I dont think they really need a very fancy PSU... my PC's one has 3.3v(never used), 5V(logic), 12V (that i use for motors/steppers) ans -12v(which I never use because I tend to use low voltage op amps or virtual ground...)

Offline madires

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #158 on: August 20, 2013, 03:00:37 pm »
- audio: Are you creating your own audio amp? But then the very first thing you need to do is to build a power supply, right? If you are just repairing it then just use the power supply that comes with the amplifier.

Actually you design the amp first because the specs for the PSU might change during the design. And if you design the PSU, don't you test it? What happens with undervoltage or overvoltage? What happens if you overload the PSU? Sometimes the PSU of an amp is designed so badly you need a solid PSU for testing and measuring.

Quote
- MCU well, for this is ideal a PC PSU :)

Like providing 24V or 48V for actuators or +/-15V for OPamps? Isolated power rails?

Quote
- repairs, as in audio, if the power supply is broken then that is what you need to fix, if not no need for a power supply

Why do you think that everything has it's own PSU? And if you just repaired the PSU the magic smoke is released again because there's much more broken in the circuit. A lab PSU with CC will be very handy.

Quote
- powering tools, what sort of tools are those that come without a power supply?

The one you build yourself or you buy without any PSU because the PSU is sold as option for an insane price.

Quote
A very good use case I have found though is from http://thesignalpath.com/blogs/ hes a very cool guy that has a video blog that shows you lots of cool projects and experiments, and many times he needs to show how a certain value changes with voltage or intensity...  you should check it out. But any other projects besides his.. I dont think they really need a very fancy PSU... my PC's one has 3.3v(never used), 5V(logic), 12V (that i use for motors/steppers) ans -12v(which I never use because I tend to use low voltage op amps or virtual ground...)

I need variable voltages up to +-/80V and CC.
 

Offline Dread

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #159 on: August 20, 2013, 11:39:26 pm »
Wow after making my post I now remember why I gave this forum a break.
Most of you guys I can tell are knowledgeable and know your stuff, but the others are just going on like little kids!

 I got way too many things on my plate to sit around and debate what I said because it's just a fact.   In the old days aka the 1980s and before, people used their Brains and minimal equipment because real lab equipment was for corporations or the super rich engineers (an Oxymoron).  Today most of you guys just sit around just playing with the equipment and checking out features and Bling and have no idea how to Fix anything or design anything unless as some one said before you can feed it into a ADC and work with it in software.  Unfortunately Daves Video reviews just keep stroking this passion and really don't help any of you to get more into electronics itself but instead turn you guys into equipment aficionados.

Don't get me wrong, when Dave does videos about stuff like the constant current dummy load, or the FPGA tutorial or any of the other circuit design stuff it's all brilliant but the equipment review while well intentioned just steer many of you away from the path you should be following if you want to actually do stuff and not just be playing around with test gear all day long.

You guys like Mike, I like Mike, I bet younger Mike did not learn what he knows by screwing around all day trying to figure out what the latest scope can do or how to use a power supply with 100 options.  I would bet good money he learned what he knows by using a minimal amount of equipment and spending lots of time learning how components and circuits work and building circuits and repairing stuff.  And now that he knows electronics he has earned the right and Lol the Money to buy top notch equipment.  That's the way you do it, not the other way around  :-//  The other way around typically means you learn nothing!
« Last Edit: August 20, 2013, 11:58:19 pm by Dread »
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Offline VL

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #160 on: August 21, 2013, 12:22:30 am »
Hi! Anyone noticed the false voltage readout around 29:30 in the video? CH3 shows 0.404V while it was clearly set to 5V 1A... What's going on there?

I'm a software guy, and I'm pretty much an amateur when it comes to electronics, but probably because of these, I had a few questions forming in my head.

The display is actually a color one, only the display themes are monochrome. It could show colored warnings (the color theme selection screen shows different available colors, so it clearly isn't a monochrome LCD and an RGB backlight), so why not then? For example it could flash the background red on a channel (when the color theme isn't red), to indicate a problem on that channel (overload, short, whatever). The segmented GUI on the "higher end" model looks stupid, true, but a touch of color would be nice on this one.

If this power supply is software controlled and measures the output voltage and a maximum current can be set, why it can't dial up (or down) the output voltage to the set value while the output's power consumption is still below the set limit? It would have required only a few lines of code and it would supply 10.000V bang on.

I think I was expecting a bit more from a product like this, but keep in mind, I don't have a programmable power supply, and I don't even have a decent soldering station. :)
Btw. this was my first comment, although I'm a long time fan of Dave's videos.
 

Offline c4757p

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #161 on: August 21, 2013, 12:30:24 am »
Hi! Anyone noticed the false voltage readout around 29:30 in the video? CH3 shows 0.404V while it was clearly set to 5V 1A... What's going on there?

Ohm's law says it can't deliver both 5V and 1A at the same time unless the load is 5 ohms, so it delivers the maximum it can manage without exceeding either limit. The total resistance of the multimeter's sense resistor and the probe wires must have been 0.404 ohms.
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Offline FrankBuss

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #162 on: August 21, 2013, 05:02:27 am »
Interesting review. It has a lot of features which I don't need, but a better power supply than what I have could be useful (currently some wall warts and a cheap EUR 50 "Digi30-5"). The programming manual of the Rigol looks good if I want to implement more complex sequences.

A question for the experts: What cheaper devices can you recommend (<EUR 200 would be good), maybe with just two outputs, a simple display and maybe OCP and OVP? Precision is not important, I can live with 2 or 3 digits. But with a PC interface to set voltage/current limits and measure the voltage/current if I want to implement some test sequence. And should not overshoot at power-up, because I like to leave anything connected and then just turn on anything with the big mains switch when I start working.

And another question from a newbie: Why do you need such high precision for a power supply? It looks like the Rigol doesn't have some additional high impedance feedback wires, so if you draw more than a few milliampere, the contact and cable resistance will result in a much bigger voltage drop than the precision of the device.
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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #163 on: August 21, 2013, 05:38:25 am »
I got way too many things on my plate to sit around and debate what I said because it's just a fact.   In the old days aka the 1980s and before, people used their Brains and minimal equipment because real lab equipment was for corporations or the super rich engineers (an Oxymoron).  Today most of you guys just sit around just playing with the equipment and checking out features and Bling and have no idea how to Fix anything or design anything unless as some one said before you can feed it into a ADC and work with it in software.  Unfortunately Daves Video reviews just keep stroking this passion and really don't help any of you to get more into electronics itself but instead turn you guys into equipment aficionados.

Some people like test equipment, what's the problem with that?
If you don't care about test equipment, you don't have to watch the test equipment videos, nor read the threads that are specifically about test equipment.
If you have nothing useful to contribute to this test equipment thread, then why are you here complaining? Why waste your time?
 

Offline Fraser

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #164 on: August 21, 2013, 10:05:30 am »
Dave,

I would just like to thank you for your videos and the excellent content over the years. Since watching your Video Blog and reading the Forum I have completely updated my labs test equipment at least twice  :o  I have purchased some equipment new, and some used. The result is that I have a very capable lab that can handle most real world scenarios. It all started with the Rigol DS1052E, way back. I wanted a DSO and your insight helped me decide on the model to purchase. A decision I have never regretted. Not your fault, but my bank balance has been suffering ever since discovering your Blog and Forum  :palm: BUT I have learnt a lot  :-+

Much of the test equipment that you have reviewed has been very interesting. This power supply equally so, but for a different reason. It is like Marmite (Yeast Spread) in the UK, you either love it or hate it ! I fall into the latter category for reasons that I have mentioned (I love Marmite though). BUT there will be those who love the high tech front panel and display so they may buy it. From my perspective, there are test equipments that are necessarily complex in terms of front panel layout and displays, others need not be. I have always considered a lab power supply to be a simple device containing a decent transformer/SMPSU and a variable voltage and current regulator. No need for the front panel to be too fancy, just functional. My concern with the Rigol is that it appears as if Rigol are deliberately trying to make their humble power supply appear as complex and 'whizzy' as a spectrum analyser ! This appears to me to be just a marketing ploy. Well good luck to them but I am more impressed by performance than flashy front panels. There is a place for radical user interface design, usually at the Motor shows and inside Citroen cars  :-DD but on the test bench ?  As has been stated.....where is this 'precision' power supplies 'Sense' input  :-// Without such it is missing the point of precision voltage and current completely !

It is good that your video has extracted the views of so many technical bods, maybe that will influence designers who read the blog ?

I wonder if Rigol carry out UAT (User acceptance testing) before production ? Maybe they could let you test prototypes before full production. You knowledge and that of the forum could significantly improve their products user interfaces. Maybe they could engage you as a consultant ? That might knacker your independent review status though ?

Keep up the good work, and I hope you feel better soon.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2013, 10:16:45 am by Aurora »
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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #165 on: August 21, 2013, 10:19:36 am »
As has been stated.....where is this 'precision' power supplies 'Sense' input  :-// Without such it is missing the point of precision voltage and current completely !

Whilst I agree that's an important feature for a precision PSU, I don't think it's essential (on a low end one like this) nor does it make your precision supply useless without it.
Precision current for example is still going to be valid in the majority of usage scenarios. And the precision voltage is still very handy for when you have a very low impedance path between your PSU and DUT.
0.05% at 12V for example is 6mV, which would allow for say 6 miliohms at 1A to still give you a handy precision 0.1% tolerance.
 

Offline xchip

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #166 on: August 21, 2013, 10:25:06 am »
Some people like test equipment, what's the problem with that?
If you don't care about test equipment, you don't have to watch the test equipment videos, nor read the threads that are specifically about test equipment.
If you have nothing useful to contribute to this test equipment thread, then why are you here complaining? Why waste your time?

I think what he means is that people focus too much on having super cool test equipment rather than on fully utilizing it... If you look at blogs or the 'show off your projects' subforum you wont see any projects that really require a 20Mhz oscilloscope or a decent power supply.  There are a couple of guys working on some RF, but the rest of us would be ok with just a USB oscilloscope and a PSU power supply..

But take our 'complaints' actually as a compliment :) We tell you all this just because we think you are great! In reality what we mean is:  Dave, please push the limits of the hobbyist edge, show us your tricks, projects we never thought of, make us jealous, show us what are we missing out for not having such scopes! As a side effect you'll be plenty of content for your videos :)

But this is just an opinion of course, you don't have to take it of you don't want to, but if you want to that would be awesome :)

Cheers!

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #167 on: August 21, 2013, 10:27:38 am »
I think what he means is that people focus too much

No such thing as "too much" if that's what your interest is.
No one should be telling anyone what they should focus their interest in.
 

Online EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #168 on: August 21, 2013, 10:30:02 am »
In reality what we mean is:  Dave, please push the limits of the hobbyist edge, show us your tricks, projects we never thought of, make us jealous, show us what are we missing out for not having such scopes! As a side effect you'll be plenty of content for your videos :)

Sure. How about no videos for the next 6 months whilst I work on something "awesome", ok?

But then of course, I could spend 6 months working on some cool project to have a whole bunch of people (rightly, because they aren't interested in it) go "meh".
 

Offline robrenz

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #169 on: August 21, 2013, 10:41:07 am »
As has been stated.....where is this 'precision' power supplies 'Sense' input  :-// Without such it is missing the point of precision voltage and current completely !

Whilst I agree that's an important feature for a precision PSU, I don't think it's essential (on a low end one like this) nor does it make your precision supply useless without it.
Precision current for example is still going to be valid in the majority of usage scenarios. And the precision voltage is still very handy for when you have a very low impedance path between your PSU and DUT.
0.05% at 12V for example is 6mV, which would allow for say 6 miliohms at 1A to still give you a handy precision 0.1% tolerance.

Love your first impressions videos, would be nice if many would relax and realize that is what they are.  I like the features of the 832 but also wish the front panel were not so bizarre.  What is sad is that Rigol is using the marketing ploy of excellent banner accuracy percentages 0.05% for V and 0.15% for A with large added offset 5mV  and 5mA.  looks great at first glance and sadly most do not do the math to see what the real percent of value errors are.  10V is 0.1% max error 3.3V is 0.2%max error, 1.0V is 0.55% max error. Still good performance but far from that banner 0.05%

Thanks for all your great work Dave :-+

EDIT: corrected values. I initialy used the programming accuracies, the readback is slightly better specs
« Last Edit: August 21, 2013, 03:01:43 pm by robrenz »
 

Offline rf-loop

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #170 on: August 21, 2013, 10:50:15 am »
As has been stated.....where is this 'precision' power supplies 'Sense' input 

It is now classified as "High-End" power supply by Dave.

High-End power supply  do not need any senses... oops and High-End power supply can first destroy your connected things when it boots up but still it is "High-End" power supply.
Well... it is good to know that term "High-End" have newly specified to cover all stuffs.
I'm "old school people" and I hope this term use very carefully...

If Dave call this High-End....well I do not know what to think.
(Video, starting 41:37)

How about regulation, noise level, regulation response times for step changing loads, accuracy and so on... ?  I think there is lot of quaestion before can use term "High-End"... but I'm happy he did not tell it is "state of art"...

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Offline tinhead

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #171 on: August 21, 2013, 10:50:49 am »
As has been stated.....where is this 'precision' power supplies 'Sense' input  :-//

i'm not sure if the "high end .... precision power supply" statement in Dave's first impression video (between 41:38 and 41:55) was
related to "832 as low end 832A as precision high end" or i he simply revised his initial opinion (note the title: first impression video!):

Whilst I agree that's an important feature for a precision PSU, I don't think it's essential (on a low end one like this)


« Last Edit: August 21, 2013, 10:52:41 am by tinhead »
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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #172 on: August 21, 2013, 11:21:07 am »
It is now classified as "High-End" power supply by Dave.

Why play silly verbal semantics?
IMO any precision/programmable PSU can be classed as "high end" compared to a dumb knob based standard supply.
And the 832 at the $400 price point is at the very bottom cheap-arse "low end" of that precision/programmable market.
 

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #173 on: August 21, 2013, 11:30:32 am »
What is sad is that Rigol is using the marketing ploy of excellent banner accuracy percentages 0.05% for V and 0.2% for A with large added offset 10mV  and 10 mA.  looks great at first glance and sadly most do not do the math to see what the real percent of value errors are.  10V is 0.1% max error 3.3V is 0.2%max error, 1.0V is 0.55% max error. Still good performance but far from that banner 0.05%

Of course, but if you think of it in terms of counts (10 in this case), it's essentially no different to the Fluke 87V for example in 4.5 digit mode which has the same 0.05% +10 count spec.
 

Offline ElectroIrradiator

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Re: EEVblog #509 - Rigol 832 Lab Power Supply
« Reply #174 on: August 21, 2013, 12:14:14 pm »
I think what he means is that people focus too much on having super cool test equipment rather than on fully utilizing it...
Well, I at least wasn't going in quite that direction, if that is the case. Cool test equipment is cool. 8)

For the record: I don't have any issues with Dave's video, how it was presented or what was said. I just saw it as an entertaining video, showing Dave's first impressions right as he unboxed the DP832.

What I am making noises about, is:

*) The direction Rigol & Co. appear to be taking, with adding lots of inexpensive bells and whistles, sometimes seemingly at the cost of core performance.

*) The confusion this can create among beginners, as they may struggle to understand which features are or are not important, and what gear they may (not) need when getting started.

*) Obscuring through careful marketing and other means exactly which - potentially expensive to implement - core parameters are considered important for a given type of gear. Which would you rather want: A gazillion extra GB of sample point storage in a DSO, or 300 MHz of extra bandwidth for a total of 500? Remote voltage sense in a high current PSU, or a beautiful LCD color display?

*) The potential risk of obfuscation of the important parameters and features these bells and whistles may create, when the community talk about a given piece of equipment. It is easy for everybody to talk about the front panel layout of the DP832. It may be a bit more difficult and time consuming to explain to a beginner, why I have chosen to pay good money for an E3644A for my home lab.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2013, 12:16:38 pm by ElectroIrradiator »
 


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