$124 B&K Function Generator at Grainger.com

[saturation]

Another steal deal for those in the need.  I got this notification but can't use it.  Hopefully you can. 

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/BK-PRECISION-Sweep-Function-Generator-2LUW2?Pid=search


Whomever gets it, review it for us please.

[alexwhittemore]

Oh no, not this again. I DON'T HAVE $130, stop it!

But in all seriousness, thanks for the heads up!

Oh hey, while we're at it again, 40MHz BK bench DSO for (!!)$250. http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/BK-PRECISION-Bench-Oscilloscope-2LUY5?Pid=search

I'm going to need to set up a grainger clearance test equipment RSS feed or something.

[Mechatrommer]

Oh no, not this again. I DON'T HAVE $130, stop it!

save $5 of beer, or cigarette a month. the next 2years, you'll be able to afford it

[alexwhittemore]

save $5 of beer, or cigarette a month. the next 2years, you'll be able to afford it

That was my logic for getting a rigol. Then the U1253a deal came along

[saturation]

Its not bad if you need a function generator.  But look clearly at the specs, its worst that the Instek SFG 1003, but has more features and higher frequency limits, in some waveforms.

However, mechatrommers Hantek software has made the Hantek 3x25 quite competitive for general purpose function generators.

[Mechatrommer]

That was my logic for getting a rigol....

you need to save a couple of beers a month then. dont wait until Rigol come up with FW 2.06

...Hantek 3x25 quite competitive for general purpose function generators.

i still struggling with ±3.5Vpp . but for general LV use, it serves its purpose well.

[saturation]

ah, mecha, you can't have everything! 
But recall the Hantek 3x25 uses LVCMOS logic, which is uses only 3.6Vcc.

That was my logic for getting a rigol....

you need to save a couple of beers a month then. dont wait until Rigol come up with FW 2.06

...Hantek 3x25 quite competitive for general purpose function generators.

i still struggling with ±3.5Vpp . but for general LV use, it serves its purpose well.

[EEVblog]

That's cheap again.
Another run-out model?

Tequipment have a special on the Instek one at $153:
http://www.tequipment.net/InstekSFG-1003.html

Must get one of those for review.

I plan on doing a beginners tools video soon, and that one will probably be the recommended low cost model, unless anyone knows of any better bang-per-buck?

Dave.

[Mechatrommer]

saturation must be sad as he no (or lesser) need for the 1003 review. well, talking on behalf of him i guess

[saturation]

Oh no! But actually, I'd welcome another person's point of view.  Look at the Hantek 3x25 thread, your input and dajones showed something I would have overlooked, and we are all now the better.

I can also confirm things Dave finds too. 

saturation must be sad as he no (or lesser) need for the 1003 review. well, talking on behalf of him i guess

[Excavatoree]

I notice the square wave doesn't have much harmonic content - there is considerable overshoot even in the kilohertz range.

It's been a while, but I think that my 100 MHz scope should be adequate to display a 1 kHz square wave, so I'm thinking the problem is the function generator.   On clearance, it was cheaper than the Instek DDS generator I bought, but I would have been disappointed if I'd paid full price.

[saturation]

Hi Ex,

You mean the Instek SFG 1003?  Yes, if so, yes, from the main output, the square waves begin to noticeably roll off edges from 1 MHz up.  However, you can get clean square waves, maybe a ring if your impedance aren't fully matched, through the TTL output; it has very sharp edges at 5-7nS rise times to 3 MHz.  Its clearly the FG's output filter causing it.

In this thread, we were comparing the frequency response of cheap eBay scope probes.  The signal source is the Instek 1003, the yellow tracing is the eBay no-name probes, and the Rigol 1052e shipped probes are blue.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=2289.msg31749#msg31749

I notice the square wave doesn't have much harmonic content - there is considerable overshoot even in the kilohertz range.

It's been a while, but I think that my 100 MHz scope should be adequate to display a 1 kHz square wave, so I'm thinking the problem is the function generator.   On clearance, it was cheaper than the Instek DDS generator I bought, but I would have been disappointed if I'd paid full price.

[Excavatoree]

This is embarrassing.

I meant to say that the BK generator didn't seem to be doing that well for a square wave - I thought it was poor quality.  However, I don't have a BNC to BNC patch cable, so I had to cobble something together, and I messed up the ground connection.  When I fixed that the waveform looked good.

The Instek may be a bit better, but I was having a difficult time comparing them.   

The BK has a sweep function, but the Instek is easier to use.   I haven't had to look at the Instek manual at all - the user interface is intuitive.  If I can change the "adjusted digit" on the BK, I can't figure out how. 

[saturation]

No worries, Ex, it sounds like you have both!  Most excellent.  Time saving features are great in production, but for lab design clean signals are best.  If you have a Rigol or any scope with an FFT, push sine wave from the BK to the FFT and it should show a single peak in voltage mode throughout the frequency band.  Any other peaks are harmonic distortions.  The Rigol can only resolve to about -50dB, IIRC, but the BK specs suggests it has harmonics in the 30-40dB range. they might be visible. 

On the Instek, its clean to the limits of the Rigol 1052e I own.

If you have a high stability frequency counter, you can check the drift of any signal, I have an B&K counter accurate to 4ppm, and the output of the Instek is solid to the limits of the counter.

The Instek is very easy to learn to use, I never considered that.  The manual is very well made, but there's hardly anything in there you can't figure out, except maybe the limits of the adjustments ... something you can play with to find out.

If I wish for one thing on the Instek, the keyboard I prefer laid out like a telephone keyboard.  Its laid out in a straight line in 2 rows.  There is so much space to move about on the faceplate they could have easily done that without sacrificing any controls or jacks!

Its suprising similar to this no-name Quakko brand, but the Quakko has features of the model just above this Instek, the one with the voltmeter built in; I wonder if they are from the same ODM, and Instek just rebranded it.  Similar price, ~ $150.



http://www.mastechpowersupply.com/function-generator/3-mhz-dds-function-signal-generator-sfg-2003/prod_54.html



Super sized photo with details:

http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/ev/evan2002/SFG2003a.jpg

This is embarrassing.

I meant to say that the BK generator didn't seem to be doing that well for a square wave - I thought it was poor quality.  However, I don't have a BNC to BNC patch cable, so I had to cobble something together, and I messed up the ground connection.  When I fixed that the waveform looked good.

The Instek may be a bit better, but I was having a difficult time comparing them.  

The BK has a sweep function, but the Instek is easier to use.   I haven't had to look at the Instek manual at all - the user interface is intuitive.  If I can change the "adjusted digit" on the BK, I can't figure out how.