Buying my first oscilloscope soon, DS1000Z VS DS2000A VS DS1000B

[asgard20032]

Buying my first oscilloscope soon, DS1000Z VS DS2000A VS DS1000B...

Can someone help me found out what are the plus and minus of each of them... (not sure about the DS1000B).

Also, I live in canada, anyone here know where I may buy one? I heard tequipement give a special discount here, but does they chip for free in canada? If not, how may i buy one?

[echen1024]

Eliminate the DS1000B first. That is overpriced and is very old. It really depends on what you need it for. I have done some videos on the DS1000Z, but some general pros/cons are outlined below:

DS1kZ:
pros: 4 channels, cheaper
cons: less BW, less features, smaller screen

DS2k
pros: Larger screen, up to 300MHz, 50ohm, higher wfms/s, more intensity levels, more memory (56mpts vs 24), waveform playback knob
cons: only 2 channels, more expensive

it ultimately boils down to what the scope will be used for. If you plan on doing a lot of pure digital, wih serial decode necessary, a DS1000Z would be good for you, plus it's $300 cheaper. If you are doing general purpose analog work, the DS2000 with it's suprtior specs might be better. Just ask: Do I need the 4 channels?

[asgard20032]

But spi require at least 3 channel(clk, MISO or MOSI and CS)... And i tought that the ds2000 was more for digital, and 1000z was more analog...

[idpromnut]

Hi!  I have the DS2072A and do SPI debugging. What I have realized is that typically for decode the 'scope isn't all that great a tool for the job if you are really spending time probing what's going on and trying to decode an unknown protocol. Here a dedicated USB logic analyzer will be better I have found. Where the 'scope decode really shines is when you are trying to debug a SPI/I2C/RS232 signal and the signal itself is the problem, and not the contents of the encoded serial stream. Then, yes, perhaps having more channels would be easier, but I have so far been able to get by with 2 (scoping, for example, the clock and MOSI lines, then the clock and MISO lines if I have just a single SPI device).

[tom66]

But spi require at least 3 channel(clk, MISO or MOSI and CS)... And i tought that the ds2000 was more for digital, and 1000z was more analog...

That's the issue with the DS2000 for SPI, you can only see one side of the conversation. Master to slave or slave to master. So no analysis of a transaction involving a register pointer write, then reading data back.

With the DS1000Z, I was able to debug an I2C DAC. I could see the I2C data being sent on two channels, then shortly after the change in output voltage of the DAC. Incredibly useful to have those extra channels, even for 2-wire serial.