With a modern digital scope, you get an accurate frequency counter and time interval meter built in, and on-screen display of time and voltage values without having to count divisions on the screen.
Not quite true. Tektronix' TDS210 / TDS220 where real game changers that put 1Gs/s realtime sampling scopes on the desk of electronics engineers as a true replacement of analog oscilloscopes.
And designed to a low price point as well. The whole board is like the size of 2 credit cards. I have not seen any of the low cost Chinese brands achieve such high levels of integration.
Agreed. Tektronix still knows how to make good oscilloscopes. And they are not the only ones who have been milking old architectures.
My Lab is almost equipped with instrumentation from Rigol (DS1054Z and soon HDO1074), Siglent (SDG2042X & SSA3021X), GW Instek (GDS-2072E), if you ask me would say thanks God, China came in this sector otherwise things would have been a lot different, with some rusty & smelly anchor boat on the desk.
Skip the X-U series, they have been designed down to a price point.
There is simply nothing about an old analog that can compete with a DSO.
Buy the Siglent SDS1202X-E for $399 and call it even. You will be happy you did!
https://siglentna.com/digital-oscilloscopes/sds1000x-e-series-super-phosphor-oscilloscopes/
With a modern digital scope, you get an accurate frequency counter and time interval meter built in, and on-screen display of time and voltage values without having to count divisions on the screen.
I don't know if SDS2202X-E is on sale anywhere, but that one goes to 350 Mhz (more in reality) and would show 432 MHz without problem...
I've only speed-read this thread, so sorry if someone has already made this point. If you are a radio amateur (like me), at some point you will probably use your 'scope to view your outgoing signal. This is a trivial task for an analogue scope, but for DSO's it can be a difficult job and it will start aliasing and you'll not get the familiar 'AM envelope' display. The way around this is to get one with plenty of screen memory (ie it can store lots of 'points'). My Rigol has 14 million points and will show a good AM display on 160m (1.8 MHz) and up to maybe 10 MHz or so, but beyond this it looks worse than my old Tek analogue. So when you are inspecting the manufacturer's boast-sheets, look for the 'Memory Depth' spec and aim high. Hope this helps, it had me befuddled for ages....
I am not sure what you are doing wrong, but my DSO has no trouble at all displaying a typical AM signal. Here is a photo of a 29 MHz (10 meters) signal modulated by 1 kHz at 50%:
(Attachment Link)
Agreed. Tektronix still knows how to make good oscilloscopes. And they are not the only ones who have been milking old architectures.
They are still milking, it's enough to see how many active 8bit DSO they do have (shamlessy) in catalog with 20kpts @ over 1K USD/EURO.
I am not sure what you are doing wrong, but my DSO has no trouble at all displaying a typical AM signal. Here is a photo of a 29 MHz (10 meters) signal modulated by 1 kHz at 50%:
That's interesting, Baldurn. How many points is the trace memory? As I said, things improve with more memory. My Rigol has 14 M points, which was a decent amount when I bought it, but these days scopes tend to have a lot more.
QuoteSkip the X-U series, they have been designed down to a price point.for the price its still a very capable scope,for some of us the budget is very limited.
QuoteSkip the X-U series, they have been designed down to a price point.for the price its still a very capable scope,for some of us the budget is very limited.Then make a spreadsheet of features on both series -E and -U. Then compare what you can't do with the -U now or forever into the future and see if the savings are worthwhile.
When you can get a nice 2 channel 200 MHz scope with an abundance of features for $399, it's pretty hard to complain about the price. SDS1202X-E - Remember, we got along with 2 channel scopes for a very long time.
The SDS1104X-U matches the price at $399; you give up 200 MHz for 100 MHz but gain 2 more channels.
It would cost another $100 over the -U to get the SDS1104X-E which is only 100 MHz but can be unlocked to 200 MHz (details elsewhere, check them out, don't rely on my memory). This is the way I would go but that's just me. I want 4 channels above everything else. 200 MHz would be nice but I still have that old 350 MHz Tek 485 for the higher BW requirements.
It gets to be a bit confusing...
Then make a spreadsheet of features on both series -E and -U.
When you can get a nice 2 channel 200 MHz scope with an abundance of features for $399, it's pretty hard to complain about the price. SDS1202X-E - Remember, we got along with 2 channel scopes for a very long time.
The SDS1104X-U matches the price at $399; you give up 200 MHz for 100 MHz but gain 2 more channels.
It would cost another $100 over the -U to get the SDS1104X--E
QuoteThen make a spreadsheet of features on both series -E and -U.no need,think its on siglents own website, theres a comparison table
If anyone buys a used scope, please make sure you get the proper probes for the particular scope.
When I buy a used scope, the High-Z probes that come with it go into the bin unless they are new in a sealed package. Nobody gives away perfect probes with a used scope. IMHO used probes are like used underwear. Really special, expensive probes are a different thing though but these are usually well cared for and nobody has driven an office chair over the cable or let the dog chew them up.
Beyond -say- 100MHz feeding a signal directly into an oscilloscope using a 50 Ohm coax is a good idea if you want to have something on screen that resembles the actual signal.
IMHO used probes are like used underwear.
QuoteThen make a spreadsheet of features on both series -E and -U.no need,think its on siglents own website, theres a comparison tableQuoteWhen you can get a nice 2 channel 200 MHz scope with an abundance of features for $399, it's pretty hard to complain about the price. SDS1202X-E - Remember, we got along with 2 channel scopes for a very long time.
The SDS1104X-U matches the price at $399; you give up 200 MHz for 100 MHz but gain 2 more channels.horses for courses,i dont have much use for 100Mhz,let alone 200,4 channels is much more use for the sort of stuff i tinker withQuoteIt would cost another $100 over the -U to get the SDS1104X--EAbout £70 difference in the uk,So are you going to give me the extra £70? or do i put off buying for another 6 months until i can afford one,meanwhile the money has slowly been nibbled at and/or the prices have gone up
I would say that in addition the physical form factor, and accessories to hook it up to things like grabbers, are a major factor. I don't think the old 5mm probe tip size with an alligator clip for ground works very well on SMT boards unless you have test points for all the nodes you want to measure. I quite like narrow spring-loaded tips like the Lecroy PP005 probes. Are those available on the cheap Ali-special dime-a-dozen probes yet?