Rigol's New DHO800 Oscilloscope unbox & teardown

[tautech]

the keyboard will not do anything in any menu.

Not really surprising.

Ya think !

Really any touch display DSO should support mouse and keyboard without issue.
Even with virtual keyboards one gets tired of them before long.
Even any of the cheapest wireless USB pairing from Asia should work without issue.

[akkk44]

The good news is that I used the first batch of DHO804 img image packages to write to the TF card and successfully started the machine. Although there is an offset, it disappears after calibration. Then I replaced vendor.bin with 924 successfully. And there is no offset, even when calibrating again.

I tried to reproduce this method today: after flashing the tf card the offset does appear and can be calibrated, but then replacing the 924's vendor.bin the offset is still there!
May I ask which firmware version should I see after flashing a tf card?
Thanks a lot.

[Nx-1997]

I can confirm same thing happend to me. As soon as the vendor.bin was replaced, the vertical offset came back. I ran both the self cal and the extended self cal (accessed by tapping on the about menu). The offset was still there. @hubertyoung's upload image has a firmware version of 1.00.

[akkk44]

I can confirm same thing happend to me. As soon as the vendor.bin was replaced, the vertical offset came back. I ran both the self cal and the extended self cal (accessed by tapping on the about menu). The offset was still there. @hubertyoung's upload image has a firmware version of 1.00.

I thought I'd summarize what I've tried:

Push the 924's vendor.bin directly:
The scope identifies itself as DHO924 (max bandwidth 250M) with firmware 00.01.00, at this point, there is an offset on all channels that calibration cannot remove.

Flash the DHO800_DHO900_Update.GEL (I call it OLD.GEL) sits in the scope's file system :
The scope identifies itself as DHO804 (max bandwidth 200M) with firmware 00.01.00, and no waveform display.
Push the 924's vendor.bin again, the scope identifies itself as DHO1074, and no waveform display.

I used build_gel.sh to back up the current version of firmware before everything mentioned above was done. (I call it NEW.GEL)

Flash it and push the 924's vendor.bin:
The scope identifies itself as DHO814 (max bandwidth 100M) with firmware 00.01.06(?), at this point, there is an offset on all channels that can be removed for calibration.

photos can be found here:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mk9uaXJK62KCiBlWOMd4-EZoAnFZniq1?usp=sharing

[Fungus]

I can confirm same thing happend to me. As soon as the vendor.bin was replaced, the vertical offset came back. I ran both the self cal and the extended self cal (accessed by tapping on the about menu). The offset was still there. @hubertyoung's upload image has a firmware version of 1.00.

So... it seems like there's some sort of coarse calibration done on each one at the factory?

[Fungus]

Even with virtual keyboards one gets tired of them before long.

But it's nowhere near as tiresome as using a twisty knob for everything...

[tautech]

Even with virtual keyboards one gets tired of them before long.

But it's nowhere near as tiresome as using a twisty knob for everything...

You need....touch, mice, keyboards and knobs .......all to work or you've been sold a pup.

[Warhawk]

I like using RTB with one of those small keyboards with touchpad from logitech. It makes my work way easier. This RTB is nice but i clearly can see how Siglent is more polished with attention to the detail.
PS: This SDmicro card inside gives me nightmares 

[dreamcat4]

if it's based on some older android build then my suggestion would be simply to try a different keyboard. However if you can get debugging console / cmdline then could watch the system logs or something. And see if there is some error message printed when the usb identification fails... that might tell you the actual reason. Whether the keyboard is not powered (not enough juice from the USB port). Or no driver / not supported. Or something else (for example usb 1.1 versus 2.0 versus usb 3.0 negotiation failed on the host usb port, or that HID profile wasn't loaded properly, or any other such reasons).

[edit] because while I think it's reasonable to hope Rigol will keep the base android version updated... it probably won't? Or otherwise it might, but it's not as reasonable for Rigol to support all random peripherals (to varying degrees of compatibility) with their fixed scope hardware. When their firmware team needs to spend more of it's time fixing actual scope firmware / software issues. I would rather prefer they used their time for that instead... you know: to make the actual scope part better.

[TomKatt]

[edit] because while I think it's reasonable to hope Rigol will keep the base android version updated...

In my albeit more limited experience of Android based gear, it seems very rare for the manufacturer to maintain the Android OS unless some critical bug is found that affects operation of the device.  For many products this is not an issue, but for network connected products security may be something you need to keep in mind over time.  Of course, you should always be operating on the assumption that a network device may be insecure.

Edit - but I would not expect a manufacturer like Rigol to keep providing Android OS updates just to offer new features in future OS versions for example.  The OS in the product you buy is likely to to remain the OS running the product for it's lifetime.  There is a lot of work customizing the Android OS for a hardware product - AND QC testing it, and typically little incentive to invest additional programming for a released product vs investing in future products.

[EEVblog]

Did you change the trigger to the active channel as well?

Peter

I just tested now and yes I have 25Mpts available if I enable the trigger to the single enabled channel.
Not sure why that will be needed as I can stop the acquisition without using a trigger especially if it is a repetitive signal.
In any case is good to know. Is that similar on other oscilloscopes ?

I discovered this quirk as well, it's in my review.

[Fungus]

Push the 924's vendor.bin again, the scope identifies itself as DHO1074

 

[Fungus]

You need....touch, mice, keyboards and knobs .......all to work or you've been sold a pup.

For less than $400? I think I've been sold a complete bargain...

if it's based on some older android build then my suggestion would be simply to try a different keyboard. However if you can get debugging console / cmdline then could watch the system logs or something. And see if there is some error message printed when the usb identification fails... that might tell you the actual reason.

Yep. The first thing we need to know is if this is a hardware thing or a software thing. The little DHO might surprise us yet...

because while I think it's reasonable to hope Rigol will keep the base android version updated...

It makes much more sense for companies to choose a stable version of Android that does what they need and stick with it forever.

(Are they even using a recent version of Android? I think somebody already mentioned it was an older one...)

[Fungus]

(Are they even using a recent version of Android?)

power up & about
it based on android 7.1.2 system.

Apparently not. 

[TomKatt]

(Are they even using a recent version of Android?)

power up & about
it based on android 7.1.2 system.

Apparently not. 

When it comes to Android controlled products like this, I'll take an older tried-and-true OS version over the latest and greatest (which really means just waiting for the next bug report).

As long as the OS does what the product needs it to do, you aren't missing anything.

EDIT - Android 7.1.2 aka Nougat last patch was released Oct 4, 2019.  That does seem to be a bit on the old side - I might have expected Android 8.1 at the least (current version is 13).  No doubt software development takes some time and I doubt Rigol just started working on the DHO800 series this year.  But as long as it works...

[Fungus]

Pricing has changed!

Looks like they rounded all the numbers to end in 99.

I don't remember what they were before but all the DHO900 prices have been rounded too.

[TomKatt]

Pricing has changed!

Looks like they rounded all the numbers to end in 99.

I don't remember what they were before but all the DHO900 prices have been rounded too.

2 channel DHO802 dropped $30, others went up $10.

While 4 channels are nice to have (especially in today's digital world), a good 2 channel scope can be plenty good for many tasks.  For $300 it looks like the DHO802 would be a great value.

I grew up on 2 channel scopes and now that I have a 4 channel DSO I've used 3+ channels perhaps 6 times (no denying that when you need them, 4 channels are indispensable). Although I have a dedicated LA I prefer using when it comes to serial protocol work or digital debugging.

[hubertyoung]

I can confirm same thing happend to me. As soon as the vendor.bin was replaced, the vertical offset came back. I ran both the self cal and the extended self cal (accessed by tapping on the about menu). The offset was still there. @hubertyoung's upload image has a firmware version of 1.00.

Is the version I uploaded 1.00? It may be confused with my own backup. I will confirm the file again.

[hubertyoung]

The good news is that I used the first batch of DHO804 img image packages to write to the TF card and successfully started the machine. Although there is an offset, it disappears after calibration. Then I replaced vendor.bin with 924 successfully. And there is no offset, even when calibrating again.

Could you please post the image somewhere? Is there a way to write the TF card without taking the scope apart? Thanks a lot.

I haven't found anything that can be done without removing the TF card. But for fragile stickers, you can use an air gun to heat them at 100 degrees. Use a knife to remove without damage.

Thank you, would you be so kind to share the TF image file of the first batch 804?

the first batch 804, and 924 vendor.bin
https://mega.nz/file/06VDFaBI#3pmlujrkarmJ63_5Vh9VDz-VOt_nxBVmmBv0GXrSxZo

I'm very sorry, especially because I uploaded the wrong file due to my negligence. I sincerely apologize. I re-addressed and uploaded. I hope I can help you. @akkk44

[dreamcat4]

I re-addressed and uploaded. I hope I can help you. @akkk44

So... is there new download link? (to download again?). Many thanks.

[hubertyoung]

The good news is that I used the first batch of DHO804 img image packages to write to the TF card and successfully started the machine. Although there is an offset, it disappears after calibration. Then I replaced vendor.bin with 924 successfully. And there is no offset, even when calibrating again.

I tried to reproduce this method today: after flashing the tf card the offset does appear and can be calibrated, but then replacing the 924's vendor.bin the offset is still there!
May I ask which firmware version should I see after flashing a tf card?
Thanks a lot.

[hubertyoung]

I re-addressed and uploaded. I hope I can help you. @akkk44

So... is there new download link? (to download again?). Many thanks.

Yes, I have removed the wrong link and changed it to the correct address. When clicked you will see the file name is DHO804.7z and the size is 436.5 MB

[akkk44]

Thanks a lot, I will try it later, no worries whatsoever!

[Dacian]

I seen there where more questions about the keyboard so I tested again and there are a few key that work.
The cursor key's select the top menus but hard to notice the selection so you can go from the bottom left start button to H, A, D, T and then all the apps that in that small window you can scroll trough them and the enter key works so you can select but after selection opens nothing else can be done the arrow keys still scroll trough the main menu.
None of the letter or number keys work in any menu you will expect.
And some of the function keys work like the volume control but controls media volume so not useful and the screenshot key works as usual in Andoid but not sure where those are saved as I do not have access from the scope menu to anything other than the so called C:\ drive that contains just the images and waveform you happen to save locally and then can copy those to an USB-memory.
So keyboard works is just not useful in the oscilloscope app. At most you can select the Stop/Run key and use Enter on Keyboard to toggle between Stop and Run.

[mwb1100]

A little disappointing - you'd think that with Android the keyboard support would come more or less for free.

Even so that wouldn't be a deal killer for me.