In the case of GDS, some scopes have an 'A' ending while others have an 'E' ending. For example, 2204A vs. 2204E.
The 2104A has a rise time of 3.5ns while the 2204A, 2204E and 2304A has a rise time of 1.17ns. In general, is 3.5ns fast enough?
For GDS, I consider 2102A, 2104A, 2204A and 2204E. Cannot find GDS-2000E on their website. Which is the latest and greatest? I need external trigger function (e.g. press a button and different devices start working) and usb storage of data for plotting in EXCEL or Matlab. Experiments last about 10-30 seconds, no more than a minute or two.
In general, is 3.5ns fast enough?
2304A has a rise time of 1.17ns.
In the case of GDS, some scopes have an 'A' ending while others have an 'E' ending. For example, 2204A vs. 2204E.
Simple. 'A' was the previous generation, the current one is the 'E'.QuoteThe 2104A has a rise time of 3.5ns while the 2204A, 2204E and 2304A has a rise time of 1.17ns. In general, is 3.5ns fast enough?
For GDS, I consider 2102A, 2104A, 2204A and 2204E. Cannot find GDS-2000E on their website. Which is the latest and greatest? I need external trigger function (e.g. press a button and different devices start working) and usb storage of data for plotting in EXCEL or Matlab. Experiments last about 10-30 seconds, no more than a minute or two.
Frankly, I get the very strong impression that you have actually no idea what you want or what you need. What's more frightening is that it looks you don't even seem to know what exactly you want to do (motors and actuators actually make only for a small part of robotics). Which simply makes it impossible to give you a proper recommendation.
Considering all that, maybe the best option for you is really to get a Rigol DS1054z and use that until you know the basics and understand better what you want to do and what you need.
In the case of GDS, some scopes have an 'A' ending while others have an 'E' ending. For example, 2204A vs. 2204E.
Simple. 'A' was the previous generation, the current one is the 'E'.QuoteThe 2104A has a rise time of 3.5ns while the 2204A, 2204E and 2304A has a rise time of 1.17ns. In general, is 3.5ns fast enough?
For GDS, I consider 2102A, 2104A, 2204A and 2204E. Cannot find GDS-2000E on their website. Which is the latest and greatest? I need external trigger function (e.g. press a button and different devices start working) and usb storage of data for plotting in EXCEL or Matlab. Experiments last about 10-30 seconds, no more than a minute or two.
Frankly, I get the very strong impression that you have actually no idea what you want or what you need. What's more frightening is that it looks you don't even seem to know what exactly you want to do (motors and actuators actually make only for a small part of robotics). Which simply makes it impossible to give you a proper recommendation.
Considering all that, maybe the best option for you is really to get a Rigol DS1054z and use that until you know the basics and understand better what you want to do and what you need.
Can you elaborate more on what projects will you use your scope?
I've been using a 100MHz scope throughout my 4 years college career, and I do quite some robotics things, and I feel 100MHz is more than enough.
Common frequencies:
PWM carrier for PWM DAC: 1~2MHz
PWM carrier for power modulation: 0.05~1MHz
SPI: 1~20MHz
I2C: 0.1~3.4MHz
Timer interrupt driven IO: <10MHz (depending on MCU core frequency and ISR entrance/exit latency)
I2S: <12.288MHz (192ksps, stereo, 32 bit, no TDM)
Crystal oscillator (fundamental): <50MHz, usually <35MHz
So, unless you are into communication or you need to do signal integrity analysis, it is highly possible that 100MHz will be more than enough.
When you feel what you are doing calls for a 1GHz scope, it is almost certain that you make more money than what's needed to get a new scope, by then, you can either keep your current one or sell it.
I recommend get a cheap one as your first scope, then keep it even if you decide to get a better one later. God knows when or if you will need a second scope.
Another recommendation is to get used scopes. You lose almost no money buying and selling an used scope. If you buy a new one and sell it as an old one, you lose money.
Thank you for the comments. Most likely I go for either GW Instek or Keysight. Are they quiet? I cannot stand noisy equipment.
For GDS, I consider 2102A, 2104A, 2204A and 2204E. Cannot find GDS-2000E on their website. Which is the latest and greatest? I need external trigger function (e.g. press a button and different devices start working) and usb storage of data for plotting in EXCEL or Matlab. Experiments last about 10-30 seconds, no more than a minute or two.
I just measured the rise time of an Arduino Uno PWM signal as 4.0 ns. Some part of that is my scope (3.5 ns) and some of it is my crappy probe (just a garden variety 100 MHz probe, not Rigol probes) so, even after getting the magic rise time measurement on my scope, I have no idea where the Arduino rise time really comes out. I'm actually surprised it is that fast!
I should buy one decent 500 MHz probe to eliminate probe effects from the measurements.
I always got access to the expensive scopes at well funded research labs. I only used them. I did not have to know the detailed specifications of the scopes. Now I have to buy my own using my own money.
I just checked the specs of a scope I used many years ago. It had 4 channels, 200MS/s sampling rate at 2 channels and 100Ms/s at 4 channels, equivalent sampling 20Gs/s, sensitivity 1mV/div to 5V/div, 5ns/div to 50 s/div, sweep time of 120k word (2 channels), 56k word (4 channels). 2M word max recording length, 150MHz.
the Rigol more bandwidth and memory with asuccessfulsimple hack.
I cannot stand noisy equipment.
I just try to get a general purpose, future proof scope.
I just try to get a general purpose, future proof scope.
Another recommendation is to get used scopes. You lose almost no money buying and selling an used scope. If you buy a new one and sell it as an old one, you lose money.
I got involved with recommending a used Tektronix on another thread a couple of weeks ago. What a mistake! The buyer got burned with a scope that doesn't function properly. I felt really bad about promoting the idea.
Buying a used one requires time and luck. My 2 scopes are all bought from this forum, and both works fine.
The first one later died, but KS offered me free service including a new acquisition board and cal cert. Since then, I happily bought 3 years of extended warranty. It was passed on to another forum member at a lower price, but I lost only ~30% of the value for owning it for 1.5 years.
Buying ridiculously old and cheap gears are bound to have trouble. If you buy a <5years old used scope, it is very likely it will be just fine and run strong for another 5 years.
I just try to get a general purpose, future proof scope.Forget about that. How long do you drive around in the same car? Now let me tell you test equipment depreciates even faster than a car.
Just saw a brand new and unopened Keysight MSOX3104T which was manufactured just three months ago sell on eBay for around five grand when the list price is about three times that amount.
I got my all option enabled MSOX6004A for $8.5k, which is 1/6 the full price (base unit, BW upgrade and all options).
But for a low end scope like DS1054z, you do not really get any lower since the scope is pretty sold at BOM plus a thin margin.
The third top prize winner of Scope Month decided to cash his scope, hence I got it. Drove 13 hours to his place, then drove back during the night. Slept in service area for a couple of hours.
I am concerned about some of the issues mentioned in the video:
Have those issues been fixed?
As far as I recall, somebody in the forum mentioned that for Keysight oscilloscopes, the seller might be able to enable more functions for free since they are all software based. Am I correct? What about the GDS-2204E? If they can only enable a few functions, what functions would be good to get?
As far as I recall, somebody in the forum mentioned that for Keysight oscilloscopes, the seller might be able to enable more functions for free since they are all software based. Am I correct? What about the GDS-2204E? If they can only enable a few functions, what functions would be good to get?
Apparently, decoding is a standard feature for the GDS-2204E. I couldn't find anything that indicates that decoding is an extra-cost item.
Unless there is a promotion, like the current MSO for DSO pricing, I wouldn't expect Keysight to do much of anything for the buyer of one oscilloscope. Buy a hundred or perhaps even as few as a dozen and they might talk. One scope? Not much chance...
http://www.keysight.com/main/facet.jspx?cid=x2015004&pageMode=SO&cc=US&lc=eng&cmpid=20801