New Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscope

[SimonD]

Until now they have a new version in software section. Ultra Scope Software_00.01.01.07

http://int.rigol.com/Support/SoftDownload/2

Probably they have fix some problems and now works ok with 1054z instead the problematic previous version !

[bitseeker]

It seems Rigol has given up on updates and bug fixes. We were promised to get the new update by end of January. Anyone knows about any upcoming news?

Better late than (more) buggy. 

[Daruosha]

Well, right. Let's hope for good.

[morind79]

Hi all, I just entered to the family of DS1054Z !

I just received it today and after looking at the system info I see I have board revision 0.1.4 with software version 00.04.03.SP2
I tried to find the firmware version history but I saw nothing.

Should I upgrade to the newest firmware (I saw people speaking about SP4) ?
thanks.

[frozenfrogz]

Hello morind79,

my DS1054z has the same board version and was shipped with 00.04.03.SP2. There is a 00.04.04.SP1 to be found here.
I could install it without problems. This Version got pulled from the Rigol site, because some older boards had issues (possible bricking).

One of the major updates wit 04.04.SP1 is the full-screen option in X-Y mode.

Release notes:

Code: [Select]

v00.04.04.00.07  2016/07/19
     - Added the full-screen display in the XY mode
     - Modified the Trace data of average sample mode
     - Fixed the bug of system halted for wave persistance in the Zoom mode
     - Fixed bugs about Measure
But there »should« be a new firmware coming in the next time.

Hacktivation with Riglol still valid in 04.04 (though I used Riglol on 04.03 and then upgraded to 04.04).

Have fun with your new scope!
Frederik

[Stonemull]

Picked up my first Rigol last week, 0.1.4 board with 4.04.04SP1

It found it can't decode a longer 8n1 RS232 115.2k baud packet without incorrectly setting the data length to 7 bits.

I asked on reddit and the 4.02 software has no such  issues it seems. The baud rate is set correctly, the probe is compensated correctly despite the images. This is an FTDI module with a fairly long USB cable, packet sent using realterm. After a few more experiments it seems it is the sample rate the scope is using.
I can for instance decode 100Kbaud, 200Kbaud or even 400Kbaud. However 115200 is nogo, 11520 is nogo and even 1152 baud is no go.

Images at

http://imgur.com/a/e3tUG

Is this a known bug or a bug list I can add this to, I would like to use 115k as that is my most common debugging speed.

[Karel]

It found it can't decode a longer 8n1 RS232 115.2k baud packet without incorrectly setting the data length to 7 bits.

Is this a known bug or a bug list I can add this to, I would like to use 115k as that is my most common debugging speed.

Works fine here. Keep in mind that:

A. The scope does the decoding in software (not in hardware!) and uses the display memory, not the internal memory of 12 (or 24) Msamples.

B. The number of samples in the display memory is 1200. So, if you want visualize ten characters, then there are roughly 12 samples per databit available.

C. The trace, visible on the screen must start at a point before the startbit of a character and after the stopbit of a previous character.
   Violating this rule causes the decoding to produce garbage.
   
If you have a packet/frame of multiple characters, zoom in in such a way that there are no more than four characters visible (and obey point C above).

If you have any doubts, double check with DSRemote which can do the RS-232 decoding on your pc using the full memory of 12 (or 24) Ms.
Select the Wave Inspector option in DSRemote. That way you don't need to obey point C above and scrolling and zoom in/out goes much faster.

[Stonemull]

Yeh, I was aware it had limitations and used the screen data, I just found it odd that it appears older versions of the firmware seem to have no issues, I googled around and did not find much in the way of suggestions for use.
I only came across the issue as I had a benched GPS DJI serial output module and wondered what the baud rate was, then I figured I might as well use the scope to have a quick look at the data since it was already connected. 12 bits samples per data bit should be more than enough, even 1 should be sufficient in reality, a PIC uses 3 and a voting system.
Personally I think the sample rate is aliasing with the bit rate.

I will just stick with plugging serial into a USB-serial I think

[rondlh]

Where can I find the faq of th Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscope?

[ebastler]

Where can I find the faq of th Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscope?

The very first post of this long thread is a good starting point. It gives a good overview, and links to a number of detailed discussions. The original poster, rolycat, has updated this post regularly.

[rondlh]

Thanks for the reply, right on the first post I found the comment that there should be a FAQ, but I cannot find the link. There are many links there, but I didn't find a link pointing to the FAQ.

[ebastler]

Thanks for the reply, right on the first post I found the comment that there should be a FAQ, but I cannot find the link. There are many links there, but I didn't find a link pointing to the FAQ.

The FAQ section mentioned in that post refers to the subsequent paragraphs, right below the red headline. They are not "frequently asked questions", actually, but rather "frequently looked-for answers". 

[rondlh]

Oh I get it, right under my nose, just not in the shape I expected it to be, thanks!

[k8943]

Been using for a couple of days and delighted.

One thing haven't figured out.

When looking at, for example, the step pulses to a stepper motor driver which are 1-2us duration with intervals of sometimes a 400-500us.... well the pulses are next to impossible to see on the screen (unless you zoom in really close). In this situation it's nice to see a number of pulses and watch how the spacing between them varies.

Reason being is that the rise and fall trace of the square pulse is very very very faint and the top of the pulse is vanishingly small.

All of this is even worse if you happen to be on Ch3 or Ch 4 (the colour).

Apart from turning up the brightness to Max, anyone got any suggestions for making such pulses show up more clearly???

(If I hadn't noticed the trigger icon flashing would have thought there was nothing happening on the channel at all. There was never a problem on my excellent lab-nation USB scope which just makes everything bright!!).

[alsetalokin4017]

Hmmm... yes, that's a difficult one. But if I turn my Intensity up fairly high I can see what's happening well enough, at least on CH3.

(By the way... referring to another thread... here's an ideal situation for the old DP101 pulse generator ! My ElCheepo DDS FG can't do duty cycles that small, but it's no problem for the DP101.)

Trigger icon flashing? What? Not on my "simulation" using the pulse generator. If the trigger is properly set and the signal is steady the Trigger indicator should remain on steadily, I think.

EDIT: It doesn't look too bad on CH4 either. Maybe I'm not understanding your problem.

[Fungus]

Apart from turning up the brightness to Max, anyone got any suggestions for making such pulses show up more clearly???

Turn up the persistence as well.

[alsetalokin4017]

If the signal is stable, I see no effect of more and more persistence time until "infinite" persistence is selected, at which point the pulses are slightly brighter. However, if the signal is varying in pulse width and/or frequency, interesting effects are obtained with increasing persistence. Does this make the signal easier to read?

Effect of slightly varying frequency with persistence set to 10s:

[JPortici]

peak detect might be of help too

[alsetalokin4017]

Peak Detect makes no difference that I can see. However, setting Mem Depth to 12k instead of Auto does make the pulses slightly brighter. And turning the Grid Brightness down improves the contrast so the pulses stand out better.

[k8943]

Thanks guys.

Hadn't seen that it's possible to dim the grid without turning it off. Nice.

I think it would help a lot if I could turn down the room brightness as well

btw. what principles does the scope follow when AUTO setting memory depth ?

Is it worth, on average, leaving it on a manual setting?

ps alsetalokin4017 in your first post certain screenshots channel 4 appears at two levels of time scale on the same screen. How does one achieve that?

[Sredni]

You gotta press those knobs! 

BTW, regarding brightness, I have the opposite problem.
Anyone knows if it is possible to turn down screen brightness as a whole?
Not just the traces or grid - the whole thing.

[ankerwolf]

Gray filter? 

[alsetalokin4017]

Thanks guys.

Hadn't seen that it's possible to dim the grid without turning it off. Nice.

I think it would help a lot if I could turn down the room brightness as well

btw. what principles does the scope follow when AUTO setting memory depth ?

Is it worth, on average, leaving it on a manual setting?

ps alsetalokin4017 in your first post certain screenshots channel 4 appears at two levels of time scale on the same screen. How does one achieve that?

Yes, there are two ways to enter the "zoom" mode. You can press the Horizontal Scale knob like a button to enter/leave the zoom mode, or you can press the Horizontal "menu" button and then select "Delayed" > ON. For some reason Rigol calls this "zoom" mode "Delayed", which seems very strange to me. Once in this mode you can of course move the zoom "window" around with the Horizontal Position control -- but you might be surprised at which direction the trace moves when you turn the knob.

I have noticed with the latest firmware that a very quick press of the Horizontal knob sometimes does nothing. You have to slow down, press and hold the knob for a fraction of a second to get it to work.

[alsetalokin4017]

As far as using a manual Mem Depth setting as opposed to Auto... there is a complex interaction between the timebase setting, the memory depth, the sample rate, the number of channels in use, and the relationship between the total memory buffer size and the screen display area. You can explore this for yourself by setting the Display Type to "Dots" and varying the Mem Depth and horizontal scale settings, and STOPping the scope each time so you can see the Dots easily. The scope's Sample Rate and the Memory Depth it is using are always displayed at top left next to the "H xxx" timebase setting indicator. The top center wiggly bargraph thing represents the total memory buffer size, and shows the screen display area as a portion of the total buffer. Watch how this bargraph changes as you set different Memory Depths. With the scope stopped, you can use the horizontal position control to scroll left and right to see where the memory ends, for each setting of Mem Depth. (You can only change Mem Depth when the scope is running.)

For example (note carefully the wiggly bargraph display at top, see how it represents the screen area, the buffer size, and how much of the buffer is displayed in the screen area):

[alsetalokin4017]

Also, you can get stuff like this happening. Both screenshots below are using the exact same input signal, the only difference is the Mem Depth, all other scope settings are the same.