Buying a new oscilloscope with most interesting unlock codes / firmware upgrades

[microvia]

Hi,

I have been working with a dual 100MHz Hameg (CRT display) and an economic digital Voltcraft DSO-1102D.
I would like a better digital model with :
- the possibility of monitoring FM and baseband video signals if I repair a VHS or an old FM tuner
- a better noise immunity
- an HD screen, hopefully tactile, and larger than the 17cm one of the DSO (which isn't HD)
- faster refresh rate
- smart zoom (like selecting a portion of the screen to monitor)
- accurate frequency measurement (even my cheaper multimeters are more accurate than the DSO)
- built-in signal generator (mostly to calibrate tape recorders)
- interesting cost savings with unlock codes / firmware upgrades

Optionally:
- decoding serial signals: RS232, I2C, remote control receivers, etc.

Although the question is broad, I wanted to know which models can allow saving significant money with unlock codes / firmware upgrades.
Thanks.

[microvia]

Any advise ?

[TUMEMBER]

Any advise ?

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/

[mendip_discovery]

Try in the test gear section of the forum if you want advise on scope purchasing.

[J-R]

Looks like this topic got buried once moved to the new board, so I'll bump it by asking: what is your budget?

[microvia]

Looks like this topic got buried once moved to the new board, so I'll bump it by asking: what is your budget?

I don't have a fixed budget at the moment because I'm more interested by what unlocks / firmware upgrades allow and how much they make you save, but consider anything up to 1500 $/€ to start.

[rusoaie]

Rigol MSO5074 fits the bill if:
- by "HD" you really mean HD (not full HD)
- you don't do precise measurements in the lower ranges  below 10mV/div (MSO5k is quite noisy there)
- an 8 bit scope is good enough

[microvia]

Thanks. What if I wanted full HD ?
I rarely measure at 10mV/div but happen to do so when I want to check audio noise. Depends what you mean by noisy.
Also, how far the MSO5074 can be upgraded / unlocked ?
Will full HD add a lot to the price ?

[coromonadalix]

you need to do your own search before purchasing, rigol and siglent are the prefered ones for options hack,  there are other brands but pricier, but you need to know wich ones

12bit seems to be the actual trend ..

and set your needs,  unlocking options can add value,  but you need a good base to work with, sensitivity and other things

you seems too focused on options,  than the true use of a scope, sensitivity,  triggering options, oversampling / acquisition speed ...

[rusoaie]

Thanks. What if I wanted full HD ?
I rarely measure at 10mV/div but happen to do so when I want to check audio noise. Depends what you mean by noisy.
Also, how far the MSO5074 can be upgraded / unlocked ?
Will full HD add a lot to the price ?

You can measure audio signals directly with the MSO5000 in the higher ranges >50mV/div, or by using an external preamplifier.
Rigol MSO5000 can be fully unlocked, see thread for instructions.

Oscilloscopes with Full HD resolution screen are in a completely different price-bracket (multiple thousands of money): Magnova, R&S MXO3/4/5, Tek MSO3/4/5, Keysight EXR/MXR, Micsig MHO3/6 etc - and they cannot be unlocked.

Maybe a compromise would be the Siglent SDS2000x HD, if you can find it used?

[Lunasix]

And what is the real value of unlocked options you never use and you don't need ?

[BillB]

And what is the real value of unlocked options you never use and you don't need ?

You must be new here.   

[Smepic]

An exotic option could be a Rigol MHO934 for 1000$ (maybe MHO954 for 100$ more to get 500MHz probes). Since this scopes support external touch display, if you want a great screen you can buy one in your desired size and resolution and connect it.

In addition this oscilloscope can be hacked to MHO984 (800MHz) and dual 100MHz waveform generator.

Of course it is more cumbersome and you have more junk in the way, but it's one of the best price/performance option on the market right now.

PD: Rigol DHO/MHO external touch screen video:

[Lunasix]

I'm not new !
But I don't think you will use the 1553 option, for example. I have worked with 1553 bus years ago and I will not at home !
I have unlocked every option when it was possible on many equipements, but doing simple addition of option retail prices doesn't mean anything.
I just received a MHO954 because my Tektronix MSO2024 recently falied (display), I will try to repair it later. I have a Saleae analyzer but a scope analyzer is different for me. And for some recent projects, the MHO954 bandwith (800MHz or 1GHz of course) is important. At that price, the choice is simple. Probes delivered with 954 are better than with 934. I will add a larger display and build the PLA226 clone. Given the price, not so bad, and no real other choice. I just discovered the Magnova, but I don't really need it, even if I can buy it.
But if you don't need the logic analyzer and a so large bandwith, there are other models. At work, I have a Rigol DHO1074 (upgraded, of course), and I appreciate the larger screen. Before, I used a GWIntek and then a Siglent SDS1104X-E (with logic probe, used only 1 time), but I never liked the Siglent... The MSO2024 was better.

[J-R]

The Rigol MSO5072 was definitely a popular choice for a cheap option with unlocking potential.  All MSO5k models are physically the same, so it just came down to licenses and included probes.  If you plan to unlock it to 500MHz, only getting the two included probes was fine and could provide a small amount of savings over the MSO5074 that you could use to buy high-bandwidth probes.  (Although frequently the MSO5072 and MSO5074 were the same price.)

The Agilent/Keysight DSOX 2000 and 3000 series were also popular for unlocking, although two channel models only had the parts for two channels and couldn't be upgraded to four, and some bandwidth upgrade jumps required a board swap or you could DIY some front-end SMD components (not easy).

In both cases, licensed options cost a lot of money, so theoretically you could claim quite a bit of bang for the buck.  But as mentioned, are you really going to get the value out of those options if you don't use them? Also, the built-in generator and logic analyzer functions are considered limited, so their value is somewhat reduced.

Both the Rigol MSO5k and Keysight DSOX 2k/3k models are getting old at this point, but whether that matters is up to each person's use case I'd think.  If they were good enough to get some serious work done when they came out, then they can still do that today.

[tautech]

I'm not new !
But I don't think you will use the 1553 option, for example. I have worked with 1553 bus years ago and I will not at home !
I have unlocked every option when it was possible on many equipements, but doing simple addition of option retail prices doesn't mean anything.
I just received a MHO954 because my Tektronix MSO2024 recently falied (display), I will try to repair it later. I have a Saleae analyzer but a scope analyzer is different for me. And for some recent projects, the MHO954 bandwith (800MHz or 1GHz of course) is important. At that price, the choice is simple. Probes delivered with 954 are better than with 934. I will add a larger display and build the PLA226 clone. Given the price, not so bad, and no real other choice. I just discovered the Magnova, but I don't really need it, even if I can buy it.
But if you don't need the logic analyzer and a so large bandwith, there are other models. At work, I have a Rigol DHO1074 (upgraded, of course), and I appreciate the larger screen. Before, I used a GWIntek and then a Siglent SDS1104X-E (with logic probe, used only 1 time), but I never liked the Siglent... The MSO2024 was better.

Yup the X-E are dated now that the newer SDS800X HD and SDS1000X HD ranges are available.
These both use the IMO quite ordinary SPL1016 LA active module whereas the SDS2000X Plus and above use the passive SLA2016 probe as these scopes have the internal space to accommodate the active circuitry.

These 3 ranges allow for 'improvements' to be applied.