Do I really need a new oscilloscope?

[ivan747]

Hello again.
I was wondering if I should get a Rigol DS1052E, replacing my current Velleman HPS10 oscilloscope. My current oscilloscope isn't really a good scope. Some might even call it a toy. It is single channel, up to 10Msps, and the that isn't any good. I don't know if I should order it right now or wait until I really need one when I get stuck in a project. But then I would have to wait like 2 weeks to get it because it is quite expensive and I don't have that money under the pillow. Also, international shipping takes a while.

I mostly do microcontroller stuff. Just to give you an idea of what I do most of the time I will tell you that I recently designed a quad motor controller board using I2C, I am interfacing infrared sensors (like the ones on TV's), doing some communication with a computer, I want to get into battery powered stuff, specially Li-ion, switching regulators, linear power supplies (there is one on the way), maybe a transformerless power supply with an opto-isolated interface for TRIAC interfacing, but that last one is not an application for the Rigol but for a floating-ground scope (like my current battery powered scope).

Here's a link to some info about my current scope:
http://www.tequipment.net/Velleman_HPS10.html

Thanks

[saturation]

a deal breaker is the frequency response you'll worth with, the HPS10 is ~200kHz or ~ 20kHz for a good square wave.  The 10MHz sampling is with repetitive sampling, the native sampling rate is 2 MHz.  I use an HPS40 for troubleshooting devices were a floating ground scope is a safer option for both me and the bench scope.

[EEVblog]

10MSPS is very limiting for much stuff. I doubt you'll ever regret getting a better performance scope. Dual channels, higher bandwidth, higher sample rate, more sample memory, external trigger, etc are very valuable features, many would say essential on any good general purpose scope.
Keep your HPS10 for floating work.

There are people who have a 1052E and ask the same question. But to them it's often "not really", but to you I'd say almost certainly yes. The 1052E would be a big and valuable step up from what you have.

Dave.

[ivan747]

Thanks to both of you. You both pointed out the advantage of having floating ground. That's one of the reasons for me to keep the scope, apart from the low resale value.

Do you think I should order the Rigol right now or when I need it and wait like 2 weeks for it? Have you ever had to delay a project for a month because of not having the right tools, equipment or PCBs?

[dimlow]

Sound to me like your really want a new scope, go ahead a treat yourself, i give you permission!!!!

[EEVblog]

Do you think I should order the Rigol right now or when I need it and wait like 2 weeks for it? Have you ever had to delay a project for a month because of not having the right tools, equipment or PCBs?

Yes, countless times.
That can kill your enthusiasm for a project.
Buy the scope!

Dave.

[saturation]

If you have the money, go for it. If you're in the USA go to an authorized dealer.  I got mine from tequipment.net and it took only a few days, not 2 weeks, to get the scope, mention Dave and eevblog, it could get you a discount and feedback for Dave's advertising.  If you order one, go through the 'chat box' sales rep on the sidebar, and ask if Evan can give you a better deal than what was listed.   One eevblog poster got it down to $350 delivered. 

I don't see the prices dropping anytime soon due to the economy [ cost of shipping out of China]  and the rising labor costs in China.

Thanks to both of you. You both pointed out the advantage of having floating ground. That's one of the reasons for me to keep the scope, apart from the low resale value.

Do you think I should order the Rigol right now or when I need it and wait like 2 weeks for it? Have you ever had to delay a project for a month because of not having the right tools, equipment or PCBs?

[EEVblog]

If you have the money, go for it. If you're in the USA go to an authorized dealer.  I got mine from tequipment.net and it took only a few days, not 2 weeks, to get the scope, mention Dave and eevblog, it could get you a discount and feedback for Dave's advertising.  If you order one, go through the 'chat box' sales rep on the sidebar, and ask if Evan can give you a better deal than what was listed.   One eevblog poster got it down to $350 delivered. 

Yes indeed.
All of my advertisers like to know people are hearing about then from the blog, and will likely do you a deal if you mention the blog.

Dave.

[ivan747]

Sound to me like your really want a new scope, go ahead a treat yourself, i give you permission!!!!

Thanks! 

[dimlow]

Your Welcome!

[Simon]

if you have the cash go for it. I bought a rigol much to my dad's disgust for spending so much (I did go into the red a bit) but i told him that I needed it and that I could afford it now but that once I had my house and a mortgage I would not be able to guy it. not long after buying it, it became very popular and i was able to hack it to the 100MHz model. So for £240 I got a scope that now is worth nearly £500 

Of course don't just look at Rigol, I've heard of other similar priced units that may overtake rigol, have a good look around first.

[ivan747]

if you have the cash go for it. I bought a rigol much to my dad's disgust for spending so much (I did go into the red a bit) but i told him that I needed it and that I could afford it now but that once I had my house and a mortgage I would not be able to guy it. not long after buying it, it became very popular and i was able to hack it to the 100MHz model. So for £240 I got a scope that now is worth nearly £500 

Of course don't just look at Rigol, I've heard of other similar priced units that may overtake rigol, have a good look around first.

I like the Rigol because may people have it. I have had all kinds of stuff like cellphones, MP3 players and some other stuff that isn't the "hackable model". As a result I bricked a cellphone installing a firmware onto it, ended up with a worthless 2nd gen. iPod (they didn't add any of the cool stuff in the new OS so no one wants it), bough one of the first netbooks with a 4gb SSD that cannot be upgraded and bough a PIC programmer that uses the serial port (then my old computer dyed leaving me with no serial port).

Now I have some kind of fear of going for the cheap and ending in some situation like this, specially with test equipment that can be hacked for 100Mhz and is supposed to last many years of service (will the software and firmware get updated? Will replacement parts be available?).

Ivan

[Simon]

who said other makes of oscilloscope are not hackable ? as this is not a casual buy but something you need i suggest you get something that your happy with out of the box, then see what you can make of it

[ivan747]

who said other makes of oscilloscope are not hackable ? as this is not a casual buy but something you need i suggest you get something that your happy with out of the box, then see what you can make of it

What I mean is that I like things with a huge community. If I ever run in trouble I hope I don't have that model no one knows about.

[Simon]

well from memory, no bricked Rigol has been recovered, so be careful anyway

[dimlow]

well from memory, no bricked Rigol has been recovered, so be careful anyway

Lots have been recovered, including my one, see the dark side of the Rigol hack thread

[Simon]

oh right well that's good news, I've not followed all of the stories closly i admit