Siglent SDS2000X Plus - Bugs / Missing Features / Feature Requests

[KungFuJosh]

If I remember it right, the full data content will be saved.

I would need to keep swapping the probe channel correct?

Yes, so my thoughts.
Now it is a little late (22h44) to check it for me, maybe tomorrow early evening - or you try it first.

Unfortunately, that method didn't work for me at all. I ran plots on CH1 and CH2 separately, and then tried recalling the data. It only shows one at a time for me, alternating back and forth.

It's only capable of showing the list of test points from 1 channel at a time, and the cursors can also only do one channel at a time.

It gets more tedious because switching channels on the plot config forgets load and amplitude (likely other things too). More steps to forget the parameters for good comparison. Did I measure high or low impedance at 3Vpp or 5Vpp? Who knows, the scope won't remember for me. 😉 Edit: it might have been exiting and reentering bode plot to setup the channel settings to match, since I couldn't do that within the bode plot universe. Either way, it needs to remember settings better.

I copied and pasted the saved data into my Excel template, and here's how it's supposed to be:

[KungFuJosh]

I dunno if this is a bug exactly, but...

My old Default key settings had CH1 set to a 1x probe. My probe in CH1 is an auto-sense 10x probe. Pressing Default set CH1 to 1x ignoring the auto sense. I obviously changed the default to 10x to avoid future nuisances, but it seems odd to me that hitting the Default key would ignore the auto-sense feature of the scope/probe(s).

[Electro Fan]

Missing Feature / Feature Request

Maybe already suggested/requested:

10 MHz In, 10 MHz Out

Would be nice to take clock from GPSDO

Maybe on the next version:  SDS2000X Plus MkII ?

[KungFuJosh]

Feature Request:

Ability to change the number of divisions.

For example, instead of 8 div vertical scale, we could change it to 10.

[krasimir.k]

Hi,
I tried to use the mask feature with saved mask file : does not work. After the loading of the saved xxx.smsk file, the vertical range is reset to the minimum and the small part of the mask is visible on the top of the screen.
Used FW version : V1.5.2R1
Used scope : SDS2104X Plus

I tried to load the mask file from python - the loading is not happen at all.

Code: [Select]

import pyvisa
#https://siglentna.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/04/SDS-Series_ProgrammingGuide_EN11D.pdf

rm = pyvisa.ResourceManager()
inst = rm.open_resource("TCPIP::10.35.89.136::INSTR")
print(inst.query("*IDN?"))

inst.write(":MTESt ON")
inst.write(":MTESt:MASK:LOAD EXTernal,\"local/mask.smsk\"")
inst.write(":MTESt:OPERate ON")


Kind Regards,
Krasi

[KungFuJosh]

Used FW version : V1.5.2R1

Latest FW is 1.5.2R3. I dunno if the bug exists or not, but you should try the latest firmware anyway.

[krasimir.k]

Thanks for the advise, but unfortunately the FW ver 1.5.2R3 does not fix the problem.

[phecap]

Has anybody else noticed that Video Sync as a trigger option is not working as expected ?

I've set the trigger to PAL, on line 1 field 1, but it seems that at different timebases triggering happens at either field 1 or field 2 randomly; and sometimes on both field 1 and field 2.

Recently I got the Siglent SDS2104 with free 200 MHz uprade.
The PAL video triggering is very poor indeed.
The line numbering is not correct at all, in the odd field it should count from 1 - 313 and the even field from 314 - 625. The line setting does not exceed 313. In the even field it starts again at 1. The count is also incorrect, if you choose line 24 you will see line 22. It is also very difficult to get a stable image.
These are serious bugs. I hope Siglent will solve these problems.
My old Tektronix TDS2024B triggers very well and I also have an old PM8917 video line selector, which still works fine.
Now I don't need video triggering that often anymore. In the past I developed teletext inserter boards for local TV channels and good video triggering is very important for that.

[pcee]

The built-in VNC server seems to be very finicky.  If I try to connect to it via one client, the VNC server crashes and refuses connections until the next reboot.  Other VNC clients simply report a problem connecting.  I don't see anything glaringly obvious with a quick VNC packet capture and dissection.

Does anybody know how I can still get to a Linux shell to look at the logs or look at which version of libvncserver they're using?  My firmware is 1.5.2R3.  (It also happened with 1.3.9R12.)

[knudch]

VNC buggy

Strange....haven't used this feature for a longer time
Now it gave just a black screen on both PC and Scope....only the webpages HOME, LAN CONFIG, SCPI where correct.
Both WEB server and VNC server gave black screen

Then I entered the Display menu on the scope, looked a little around in different sub menus but did not change anything.

Now it works ok ?

I have properly 1 or 2 firmware updates before used this function last.....maybe some setting need to be refreshed

Knud

[knudch]

After approx 20-30sec screen goes black both PC and scope, return to normal if I click on the scope area

Have they introduced a screensaver ?

Upss...Found it was set to 1min

Don't remember  I did that 

Knud

[phecap]

In the menu "Utility => System Setting" you will find the settings of the screensaver.

[KungFuJosh]

I dunno if this is a bug exactly, but...

My old Default key settings had CH1 set to a 1x probe. My probe in CH1 is an auto-sense 10x probe. Pressing Default set CH1 to 1x ignoring the auto sense. I obviously changed the default to 10x to avoid future nuisances, but it seems odd to me that hitting the Default key would ignore the auto-sense feature of the scope/probe(s).

This is clearly a bug, and appears to affect the HD model too. Hitting Default ignores the auto-sense probe and that's no good.

[mathstudi]

I dunno if this is a bug exactly, but...

My old Default key settings had CH1 set to a 1x probe. My probe in CH1 is an auto-sense 10x probe. Pressing Default set CH1 to 1x ignoring the auto sense. I obviously changed the default to 10x to avoid future nuisances, but it seems odd to me that hitting the Default key would ignore the auto-sense feature of the scope/probe(s).

This is clearly a bug, and appears to affect the HD model too. Hitting Default ignores the auto-sense probe and that's no good.

Same problem here with an SDS2354X Plus with Siglent SP2035A 350 MHz probes. CH1 ignores that it is an auto-sense 10X probe even after pressing the Default button. With CH2 to CH4 it works mostly quite well.

[MathWizard]

I used a 32GB (or 16 or 64, icr) flashdive, formatted to FAT32, to up-date the firmware on my 2104Xplus when I got it a month or so ago. And then yesterday, I popped in that FD to print/save some screen shots on the scope. But then when I plugged it back into my win10 PC, it said I had to reformat the drive again. It's a new FD, and I haven't used it between the firmware up-date and yesterday.

Does that sound familiar to anyone ??

[pcee]

In the V1.5 firmware, Siglent added the ability to read/write measurement types used by Power Analysis, including:

• PFACtor Power Factor
• RPOWer Real Power
• APOWer Apparent Power
• RPOWer Reactive Power
• PANGle Phase Angle

Bug report: They use RPOWer for both Real Power and Reactive Power.  As a result, you can't specify Reactive Power via SCPI.

Additionally, the above measurements are **** until you turn on Power Analysis, and there's no way to control Power Analysis via SCPI.  I think all of the other options can be controlled by SCPI, so this seems like an omission.

Feature request:  Add SCPI commands to control Power Analysis, at least to turn it on.  That way I could configure the scope to display power measurements entirely via SCPI.

For now I can simply script VNC to click on the right spots ("Analysis" then "Power Analysis" then "Test State" on), but it would also be nice if it wouldn't reset everything when I do.

Nice to have: Ideally there would be UI for configuring measurement display of power analysis rather than just SCPI.  (For example, a "Power" tab in the "Measure select" window could let you select Power Analysis measurements.)

Nice to have: It would also be nice to have RMS() be an available math function in the function editor. Right now I can define F1=C1*C2 and display RMS(F1), but real power is RMS(C1)*RMS(C2).

[gf]

It would also be nice to have RMS() be an available math function in the function editor. Right now I can define F1=C1*C2 and display RMS(F1), but real power is RMS(C1)*RMS(C2).

Real power is neither RMS(C1)*RMS(C2) nor RMS(C1*C2).
If C1 and C2 are voltage(t) and current(t), then the real power is the (cycle) mean of C1*C2.
(Or if you mean instantaneous power, as a function of time, then it is simply C1*C2.)

[blurpy]

Nice to have: It would also be nice to have RMS() be an available math function in the function editor. Right now I can define F1=C1*C2 and display RMS(F1), but real power is RMS(C1)*RMS(C2).

Something like this is possible, even though it's a bit awkward to use:

I asked about this in the main thread, but didn't get any replies, so I assume this is not possible in the current firmware. Consider these as feature requests.

...

2. Would be nice to be able to display watts, and perhaps the formula editor could be the way to go. I can't see any way of using measurements in the editor however. Is it possible to enter something like this? RMS(C1) * RMS(C1) / 8
Ideally it would be a custom "measurement" since it doesn't need a trace, but I can't see a way of doing that.

Well, to quote myself again here, it seems #2 is sort of possible:



Wish it was possible to base it on the RMS measurement instead, but better than nothing.

This is what it looks like:



The Pk-Pk(F2) measurement is watts into 8 ohm.

...

Still hoping for some improvements here.

[Martin72]

Hi,

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds2000x-hd-missing-features-and-bugs/msg5175306/#msg5175306

Same here..

[blurpy]

Hoping for a fix to the request posted by Martin72 above, as it will increase usability of the parallel probes quite a lot.

I have some more requests as well, related to the user experience. All of which can be seen on the 1 screenshot below.

1. Can the modal "saved to file" dialog you get after taking a screenshot be dismissed automatically after a timeout? It never goes away unless I click the X in the corner, which seems unnecessary, and it's always in the way of something. The good thing is that it's dismissed when taking another screenshot, so you normally don't see it when taking multiple screenshots in a row. But the last one must be manually dismissed.

2. Can the mouse cursor hide automatically when taking screenshots? Can't really see any reason to have the mouse cursor in the screenshot, and I find it distracting. It takes the focus away from what I'm trying to capture.

3. Can the mouse cursor hide automatically when the mouse is idle? Like when watching a video on YouTube, the cursor hides after a few seconds unless you move it. Not as important as #2, but would still be a nice improvement to keep the user interface focused on what's important.

4. The axis labels used to have 4 or 5 decimals, and now it varies a bit. On some instances, like shown here, it's 3 decimals. Is it necessary? I would prefer 2 decimals to keep the interface cleaner and more focused on the content.

[ebastler]

Realistically, do we think there's much hope of another feature release for this scope series? The most recent release which added new features worth mentioning was two years ago, according to the release notes. Is there any indication from Siglent that they will invest time into another feature upgrade?

I have just ordered the 2000X+ but don't have hands-on experience yet. From what I have read, two things high on my wishlist would be:

• Ability to send part of a captured waveform to the AWG, e.g. using the cursors. I understand that the only thing you can do so far is to replay the whole screen width of a captured signal -- which will almost never be an exact period of the signal, since you also don't have a horizontal vernier. Seems like such an obvious feature for a scope with an internal AWG.

• Enable support for WiFi dongles. It seems that the Realtek driver is still part of the firmware, but Siglent removed the interface for configuring WiFI -- which is present in the smaller 1000X-series siblings. Is there a known technical reason for this? If not, can we please have this functionality? (Yes, I know that you can use a mini-router. But it will either need its own power supply, or a cable round to the front USB ports, which is just messy.)

[Martin72]

@blurpy:

1. This annoying thing has already been fixed on some models (you can then set whether and for how long), including my HD - I think this will also be included in the next update for the plus.

2. Simply move the pointer briefly to the side or corner, then it disappears from the screen, then press print, a matter of seconds. I tried this earlier and it works wonderfully.

3. See 2nd, simply push into the corner.

4.

Is it necessary?

I think that's well thought out.
From 1V/div it is two digits, from 10V/div it is one digit, at 500mV it is three digits.
Alternative: Switch off the scale.

[blurpy]

1. This annoying thing has already been fixed on some models (you can then set whether and for how long), including my HD - I think this will also be included in the next update for the plus.

Nice, can't wait

2. Simply move the pointer briefly to the side or corner, then it disappears from the screen, then press print, a matter of seconds. I tried this earlier and it works wonderfully.

3. See 2nd, simply push into the corner.

Well, it's a sort of a workaround. I do that already, except when I forget, or when I take a screenshot in a hurry. And I see the annoying cursor in the screenshot on my computer when it's too late
I think it's ok for #3, but not for #2.

4.

Is it necessary?

I think that's well thought out.
From 1V/div it is two digits, from 10V/div it is one digit, at 500mV it is three digits.
Alternative: Switch off the scale.

Sure, it's not too bad, but I can't see the usecase for the 3 digits. I usually use measurements if I need more accuracy, and the labels are there just for a ballpark as it's difficult to judge the accurate value anyway.

[ebastler]

2. Can the mouse cursor hide automatically when taking screenshots? Can't really see any reason to have the mouse cursor in the screenshot, and I find it distracting. It takes the focus away from what I'm trying to capture.

I could see the mouse cursor actually being useful in a screenshot, to point out some feature (or problem) in a trace. Hence I like the option to have it in the screenshot, or manually move it out of the way when I don't want it.

I think that's well thought out.
From 1V/div it is two digits, from 10V/div it is one digit, at 500mV it is three digits.
Alternative: Switch off the scale.

In my view, the axis labels in blurpy's screenshot all have two redundant zeros. These take up extra space, increase the likelihood of obscuring some trace detail, and actually make the numbers harder to read because the significant digits are less obvious.

Using up to three digits in the 500 mV range and below might make sense. But if all axis labels are even numbers, with only zeros in the trailing position(s), they should be shortened in my opinion to remove the redundant zeros.

[Martin72]

It has been worse before...


https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds2000x-plus-bugs-missing-features-feature-requests/msg3686440/#msg3686440