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Recommendations for an Oscilloscope

interested1

Hello Everyone,

  I am in the market for my first oscilloscope.  I have used oscilloscopes before but not really taken to writing down the specs of the device or constructing exactly what I want in a scope.  To date I have gotten by without the device, but I now am in a good financial spot and the purchase of a sub-$500 'scope is reasonable provided I obtain some guide.  My requirements are rather vague, but can be generalized as a desire to purchase a scope that provides enough data sampling for robotics projects --I currently work with the Raspberry Pi and the Beagle Bone Black.  I am confident that the previous curtailment didn't reduce the field all that much, so I reiterate, I am willing to spend ~$500 on a scope, so please no suggestions of thousand dollar scopes.  I want something, which in the breadth of product offerings is probably quite basic, but nonetheless I would like to be able to have a scope to test my robotics and embedded Linux boards with...

 

A friend of mine suggested that I purchase something akin to the Instek GDS-1052-U Digital Storage Oscilloscope, 2 Channel, Color LCD, 50MHz, 250MS/s with USB or a less expensive USB Oscilloscope - MSO-19 Considering his knowledge of what I might be using the scope for, likely an intimacy more than I am expressing in my description for usage, I remain inquisitive for advice.  I mention these products and provide links only to better aid my previously vague explanation for my prospective usage.

 

As a final curtailment, I would really love to get a scope that I could use with Linux rather than Winblow$ as I really only use Linux or OSX boxes these days.  I am confident there are products that are not Winblow$ only, but the two scopes my buddy suggests both seem to urge my adoption of a OS that I want not part in!

 

Thank you for your responses and if I can better explain what I hope to accomplish with a scope please explain to me what I can provide to better resolve the specification I (unwittingly) desire in a scope.  I apologizes again for being less than committal or precise, but you have to begin from somewhere and my point of departure is that I would like a scope... thanks for working with me on a request that is perhaps an incomplete formulation.

 

David

 

P.S. I did try to search for a discussion on this topic; however, I couldn't find anything within the last year or two.  I figure this is a question that everyone has at some point and so why not posit the issue and revisit.

  • If cash is limited how about scoring an old analog  scope from an auction site.

    Use it play with it work out if the tool is for you and what you would want in a more expensive scope then buy that  much better informed about your wants and what  you can do with a given scope

    I'd keep the analog scope but if you wanted you could probably then sell it for the same price you paid

  • in reply to Problemchild

    If you can afford it then go for the Rigol, it's not a bad scope and there are a lot of them about.

     

    I wouldn't go for a second hand analogue scope unless cash is really tight (stuff on UK Ebay looks very old and not that cheap - eg there's a Scopex horror currently at £89 - I remember buying one new more than 20 years ago and it was pretty awful then).

     

    I still have several analogue scopes but I very rarely use them - a halfway decent digital is better for almost anything (the exception being low speed and very noise sensitve things).

     

    MK

  • in reply to michaelkellett

    I think the market varies imensely both in terms of availability but also quality and price I've seen some good ones and yet again some awful trash.

    It's probably best not to base the entiremarket  on one item.

  • Ditto what Nermin said about the SDS7102.  It may be the best overall value in the around-$400 price range.  He mentions the 50MHz Rigol DS1052E, and as Drew observed, the 100MHz DS1102E now sells for under $400 in a lot of places.

     

    Regarding this statement: "General consensus there is that USB scopes are crap and should be avoided."  Whether or not that's the general consensus on EEVblog or anywhere else, there are plenty of excellent USB scopes on the market, and they would be preferred for some applications.  Pico Technology is one example among many makers of high-quality USB scopes.  Picoscopes are used in starter scope applications, university R&D, aerospace and other industries.  Pico is one of the preferred scopes for vehicle diagnostics world-wide.  Pico just released a pair of 16-bit, 20GHz sampling oscilloscopes which sell in the range of $13,000 to $17,000 and change.  This is not to promote a USB scope for your purposes, just to put a different spin on a way-too-broad generalization.

  • Sorry for digging this old thread up, as I have watched this forum for quite some time but only recently taken to posting. If you have not purchased yet, an extra $85 gets you a Rigol DS1074Z, which comes with plenty of extra features, such as a larger display, 12Mpts standard memory, optional serial decode and triggering,  30k wfm/s, as well as the all important 4 channels. I have done 2 videos on it and they can be found on my channel, which is the same as this forum username. In general though, the cheap USB scopes should be avoided, even though i would not hesitate to recommend a Pico.

  • in reply to Former Member

    Eric did you buy one of those Rigol scopes,if so how did you find it ?

  • in reply to Problemchild

    I do own one, and I purchased it from Tequipment.net, which offers a 6% discount for EEVBlog members as well as free shipping. You can also buy Rigol direct at rigolna.com, but they charge $15 shipping.

  • Hi David!

     

    For selection of oscilloscope the most important aspect is bandwidth. Please check the maximum frequency content of the signal that you are going to measure. The bandwidth should be double of that. Lower bandwidth creates distortion of the signal. Unnecessary high bandwidth adds to cost and random noise. I love Agilent. But it is a bit expensive.

  • in reply to malamitra

    Have you looked at used scopes?  Like almost everything, you pay a price for new.

  • in reply to saeligdan

    Hi there! If you're interested in finding the best digital-oscilloscopes on the market, I'd recommend checking that link: www.directindustry.com/prod/b-k-precision/digital-oscilloscopes-18583-1021431.html. It really help me chose the ideal solution for my place.