Hameg HMO2024 evaporating data

[majbthrd]

I've been using a Hameg HMO2024 oscilloscope for nine months now.  I bought it in part based on some of the positive feedback on this forum.

It has its positive points, but it also has quirks that annoy me to no end.

One aggravates me so much that I felt compelled to post about it.

The Hameg HMO2024 erases waveform data from the screen whenever one 1) adjusts the horizontal position, 2) changes the time base, or 3) activates its memory zoom feature.  Effectively making all those controls off-limits really handicaps the user.

I've used various Tektronix and Agilent digital storage storage scopes over the years, and my recollection is that when one repositions the waveform, the display continues to show the data from the most recent trigger.  I would expect this to be true of all scopes.  However, this is not true of the Hameg HMO2024. 

(At least some scopes also have the nice feature of decreasing the intensity of the existing waveform when changing the trigger level so that one can continue to see the waveform but be made aware that it was acquired under trigger conditions different from the current one.)

Here's how the Hameg drives me to agony.  I see something interesting in the waveform and make a slight adjustment to move it (away from the grid lines, for example) and POOF it has completely disappeared.

It might not be much of an issue when the trigger condition happens many times a second, but if the trigger condition is reasonably rare, it is darn annoying.  You've finally found the hard to find condition and NOOOOOOO.... it is gone.

The HMO2024 has optional serial protocol decoding and so one might expect to be able to scroll to see the decoded data.  Serial means consecutive in time.  The horizontal axis is time.  That would imply scrolling horizontally, right?  Ha!  Good luck with that (see #1 above).

The habit that I've had to train myself to do since buying the Hameg is to hit the STOP button immediately after I see the condition I've been looking for.

However, that too has issues.

The scope has a (not really good enough) pseudo DPO functionality that, in normal (not single) trigger, combines several triggers into one waveform.  It seems to be an undocumented "feature" that persists even when persistence is off.

However, operate any of the three controls listed above and everything but the most recent trigger EVAPORATES from the screen.  The waveform looks one way, and you make the slightest touch to the controls and it completely changes.  ARGHHH!

If they would eliminate these vanishing tricks, it would be a MUCH better scope in my opinion.

[majbthrd]

Trying to think of positive things to say about the Hameg HMO2024 for some counterbalance...

a)   It seems quieter than other scopes in its price bracket (such as the Tek DPO2000/MSO2000 series).
b)   It boots faster than the Tek DPO2000.
c)   It has nice arithmetic functionality.  Want to annoy yourself with the Tek DPO2000?  Select "mean" when it is using deep memory, and then go take a coffee break.  It might still be crunching when you get back.