Rigol's New DHO800 Oscilloscope unbox & teardown

[TurboTom]

I (and others) have been wondering about why the DHO900 series have these two additional RAM chips attached to the Zynq while a single one should suffice for 16 digital channels.

The answer may be rather simple: The second memory chip provides the sample memory for the optional AWG module! Since the AWG module only contains the hardware from the DAC to the signal output, all the digital stuff has got to be happening inside the Zynq, including storage of the waveforms (and I'm pretty sure that basically all the waveforms, including the "standard" ones are just "played back" from memory as if they were arbitraries -- this should consume the least hardware inside the FPGA).

It's probably fast enough -- for the user not to notice any delay -- to calculate the "wavetables" in the ARM section of the Zynq and store them to RAM, maybe even with modulation, sweep and what not (there's no external modulation option which simplifies things a lot). We may be certain of this if we observe a short signal interruption every time a wavefrom parameter is changed, like frequency or so...

I'm already impatiently wating for the first reports on the built-in AWG and also the Bode plot function, especially regarding its speed (or lack thereof...  ).

[KedasProbe]

cut front panel is easy, soldering bga is risky for me... so i'll leave it like that.. better not having LA than loosing the whole DHO...

I can't really imagine that there could be people who, in order to "save" 200 bucks(DHO804-->DHO914), would tinker with their scope by cutting holes in the case and soldering around the circuit board.

Yeah I just ordered the DHO914S it will already be buggy enough while you are not messing with it.

Cheap and has a nice HDMI out and web interface good enough for me
Scopes with those bigger screens just put more on it in smaller font like MXO4, my eyes can't handle that!
So the small screen is good since I will not use it much anyway.

This may be the last scope for me before they all go 4k on us and I'm doomed (no more scaling up)

[Fungus]

What is your take on Rigol's responsiveness in addressing bugs? If those bugs fixed "recently" in the DHO1000 are indeed the pretty glaring ones described by Serg65536, are you impressed?

I don't know how "glaring" they are. Dave didn't see them and neither did many, many other people.

[Fungus]

Rigol EU have a firmware dated "2023-08-24". I don't know if that fixes anything.

What version are the latest 'scopes being supplied with?

https://www.rigol.eu/SUPPORTS/software-firmware-download.html

[Fungus]

It's really buggy in the stop mode. Waveform frequently disappears all the way through. It's hard to move and analyze signal.

What firmware version do you have?

[LEECH666]

Dumb question. Do you think the arbitrary waveform generator on the DHO914S is worth the extra money charged. The price difference is about 300€ vs the DHO804 where I live. I am comparing these two models because of the hackability. I don't currently own an AWG only a simple old tone generator which is not having the best output waveform fidelity.

[Martin72]

I would say no.
Almost any external (current) AWG is superior to a built-in one.
Which I think is a shame:
Rigol has the useful Bode Plot function only on models with internal AWG, an external one is not supported.
If you do not need this function, then you can safely go to the 800 model and get a new external AWG.

[duckduck]

<SNIP>
What version are the latest 'scopes being supplied with?
<SNIP>

My DHO804 (bought new from Rigol N.A.) showed up with firmware version 00.01.00

[DaneLaw]

It's really buggy in the stop mode. Waveform frequently disappears all the way through. It's hard to move and analyze signal.

What firmware version do you have?

Serg mention it in his post 1.00 which matches the latest 23-08-2023.

Firmware version 1.00 .  // https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/rigols-new-dho800-oscilloscope-unbox-teardown/msg5088133/#msg5088133

[Epictronics]

Has anyone tried the PC software for it?
When you take a measurement, does it appear in the software immediately or is there a lag like with the 1054Z?
Does the software mirror the control settings on the scope or do you have to change the settings in the software too like on the 1054Z?
Thanks

[EEVblog]

Rigol DHO804 DHO800 random lines BUG
Frequency 188.1 kHz, increasing the time scale until random lines appear in the waveform window. Further timebase increase leads to waveform disappearance.
Firmware version 1.00. Roll mode off.

I could not reproduce.
And I have created a new thread here for bugs: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/rigol-dho800900-oscilloscope-bug-reports-firmware/

[Warhawk]

Dumb question. Do you think the arbitrary waveform generator on the DHO914S is worth the extra money charged. The price difference is about 300€ vs the DHO804 where I live. I am comparing these two models because of the hackability. I don't currently own an AWG only a simple old tone generator which is not having the best output waveform fidelity.

External signal generators are relatively affordable. For 400 eur you already get a decent one. I asked and Siglent with the bode plot option supports external AWGs. This is important for me. I patiently wait for Siglent's upcoming 1000 HD series.
PS: I go through the same thinking process now.

[Fungus]

What firmware version do you have?

Serg mention it in his post 1.00 which matches the latest 23-08-2023.

There's two more digits in the number, eg. 1.00.19

[DaneLaw]

What firmware version do you have?

Serg mention it in his post 1.00 which matches the latest 23-08-2023.

There's two more digits in the number, eg. 1.00.19

Its the Latest V00.01.00 from 23-08-2023, there is no other Firmware for the DHO800 series with 1.00 as per se, otherwise, Serg would have emphasized that in his post #1233
https://www.rigol.eu/SUPPORTS/software-firmware-download_1.html

[Nokeshas]

hi,
Sorry for stupid question, but can Rigol DHO series 800 show/display laser rf signal correctly tike in example photo?
this thing is kind a challenge for some of digital oscilloscopes...


Thanks

[Martin72]

Hi,

At the moment, only a few members have a DHO and I doubt that any of them have looked at an eyepattern signal.
But maybe I'm wrong.
I imagine the display is difficult, after all, with a laser pickup for a CD player, for example, you want to see how the fokus is.
An interesting question, let's see if I can recreate this.

[Serg65536]

The easy way to reproduce the bug. Rigol DHO804 DHO800 oscilloscope waveform disappear in stop mode:

Press Default, set roll mode OFF, change trigger level to some reasonable level, 500 ms/div, 200 mV/div, do SINGLE waveform capture.
When capture is done, change horizontal to 1 s/div, enable Vernier (press horizontal nob), change horizontal to 1.2, 1.3 s/div.

[Mortymore]

hi,
Sorry for stupid question, but can Rigol DHO series 800 show/display laser rf signal correctly tike in example photo?
this thing is kind a challenge for some of digital oscilloscopes...


Thanks

Now that you talk about it, I don't know about the DHO800 and even about the DSO I currently have since I never tried, but I couldn't get a proper eye pattern display in the Tek TDS210 I had years ago.

[mikeselectricstuff]

hi,
Sorry for stupid question, but can Rigol DHO series 800 show/display laser rf signal correctly tike in example photo?
this thing is kind a challenge for some of digital oscilloscopes...


Thanks

Any modern scope with an intensity graded display/decent update rate should be able to handle this

[Serg65536]

Waveform distortion in stop mode bug. Rigol DHO804 DHO800 oscilloscope
Capture any fast signal with a large memory, stop acquisition, increase the timebase until the artifacts are displayed.

https://youtu.be/WK8EEvo7V-Y

[tszaboo]

I really don't think the bigger models are worth it. There are better models at the same price, or just slightly above. The price all adds up.

Which competing model(s) with logic analyser and /or signal generator would you consider?

Plus this thing is tiny, I would much rather have a bigger scope with bigger screen and more buttons and features.

The portability is a plus for me; I do travel with the scope occasionally. For use at home I would add an external touch screen, 14" or so,  if I find the display too small. I have not run into missing features with my DS1xx4 over the years, hence am not concerned on the front. (But might not know what I am missing...)

Price wise, a bunch of Siglent 1000 and 2000 series, sometimes with external probes are cheaper. Consider, you have to buy the logic probe, than it's a 1200 EUR scope. And then there is the Rigol 5074 which is almost perfect for what I'm looking for in a scope (upgraded), sans the lack of 50 Ohm termination inside.

It's good that you like the form factor, they should make different products for different use cases.

[Nokeshas]

i see that rigol DS 1054z can view laser eye pattern. (attached photo - someone did it on youtube) so i just wondering how about DHO800 series, since i would like to get rid off my cheap hantek dso5102p that cant show laser rf.

[Fungus]

hi,
Sorry for stupid question, but can Rigol DHO series 800 show/display laser rf signal correctly tike in example photo?
this thing is kind a challenge for some of digital oscilloscopes...

Yes, just turn on display persistence.

(and probably heat map as well)

[Dacian]

The easy way to reproduce the bug. Rigol DHO804 DHO800 oscilloscope waveform disappear in stop mode:

Press Default, set roll mode OFF, change trigger level to some reasonable level, 500 ms/div, 200 mV/div, do SINGLE waveform capture.
When capture is done, change horizontal to 1 s/div, enable Vernier (press horizontal nob), change horizontal to 1.2, 1.3 s/div.

I can confirm this bug on my DHO804 but not the first one with the 188.1kHz signal.
I tried the 188.1kHz and even around it with just some some slight alias at 187.5kHz.  The 500ms and 1s when you tested at 188.1kHz you just did not waited enough to have the signal captured as Roll was OFF so you need to wait 10 second to see a signal on 1s/div.

[Nokeshas]

i see that rigol DS 1054z can view laser eye pattern. (attached photo - someone did it on youtube) so i just wondering how about DHO800 series, since i would like to get rid off my cheap hantek dso5102p that cant show laser rf.

from manual, hantek dso5102p has persistent view mode, you should be able to see your laser rf you've shown with that. if you dont have ability to understand your scope, no brand can give what you want if "reading mind" is one feature you are expecting. http://www.hantek.com/Product/5000P/DSO5000P_Manual.pdf

as i said not all digital oscilloscopes can show laser rf... Just because there is persistence options it doesn't mean, that device can show laser rf correctly.


my question was if someone tested DHO 800 series in that kind of use case and can confirm that it can show laser rf correctly