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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

What do you think of this OScope?






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I think the bandwidth and sampling rate are very low and may seriously limit its capability depending on what your target use is.

10x BW = minimum sampling rate, so I'd only trust this guy up to 25MHz. I have a 40MHz scope and I find 40MHz to be way too low. If I was in the market for a NEW oscope I would be looking for 200MHz minimum bandwidth.

It doesn't have any filter selection on the trigger, like HF reject, LF reject, AC reject, DC reject, etc. These can be incredibly useful (mostly DC reject and LF reject).

It is only 2 channel, which is the bare minimum you need, ideally you want 4channel, or 2channel with a differential probe. The reason being that if you need to take a differential measurement (VERY useful in mains-live equipment or in signal mixing) you have to add two channels and invert one of them to do it. If you have only two channels then you can't watch two waveforms at once. If you have a diff. probe or 4 channels you can watch two waveforms though.
 

ARG

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4 channels and 200Mhz would be nice, but really I don't need that much at the moment. I'm really just looking for something more on the budget side to last me 5 years until I graduate and get a job.

Cyparagon suggested I buy the Rigol DS1052E, which looks more promising. Little more money than the one above, with far better specs.
http://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/Data Sheet DS1000E.pdf
 

Zeebit

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I've been eyeing the DS1052E for a while now. I'm just getting into electronics and I thought it'd be nice to have all the basic equipment ready before I start out.

I've found a seller on aliexpress that sells the 1052e for less than $300. This store also has a lot of other scopes as well.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/oscilloscope/612888_251763658.html

Edit: Its still around $350 because the shipping is expensive. Might as well get it from DX or somewhere else.
 
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Ya, those rigols are solid. I would have bought one if I had the money, but I think I priced it out to over $400. I nabbed my analog scope for $100.
 
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I got my Rigol from DX. It works pretty good, but I use it so little that in some ways I wish I hadn't bothered buying it. Oh well, there will probably be a time where I simply must use a scope and no other tool will do.

If you're in school, you could always bring your stuff to the lab and use those scopes. Kind of a pain when doing personal projects though.
 

ARG

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If you're in school, you could always bring your stuff to the lab and use those scopes. Kind of a pain when doing personal projects though.

I have been doing that, and it works great most of the time, but the labs are not always open. Plus the scopes they have in the lab have everything but the export to CSV file option, which would really help out in my personal projects.
 

ARG

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Well I ended up buying the DS1052E. Got it for $350 US shipped, not much more than the saelig scope I was considering :p

Thanks for the advice guys!
 
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djQUAN

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You can't go wrong with the Rigol. Been using mine on and off since 2010 without major issues (have minor software glitches like occasional flickering screen but doesn't affect operation)

Teardowns of the Rigol shows only the best namebrand parts inside no unknown quality parts.
 

ARG

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^ That's part of the reason why I got it ;)

I hate firmware crippled devices. The arbitrary function generators in the lab at school don't have the firmware to create arbitrary waveforms :crackup:
 

djQUAN

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I wanted to update the firmware but since I'm not too technically inclined with that stuff, I fear I might just brick mine.
 

benmwv

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Unfortunately I haven't gained access to the EE labs at my school yet. I have access to the CS labs but those are just a bunch of linux computers. Once I take my first EE class I'll get those locks added to my keycard. I suppose I could go talk to a professor and get in if I really need to. Im excited to see what kind of cool stuff they have in there and especially the IC fab cleanrooms! Although im sure you can only use the cleanroom for a few specific projects in a certain class.

I need to get a good scope that can satisfy all my projects, like 1ghz bandwidth. It will have to wait until I have a job though. Im stuck with my 20mhz crt dso until then.
 

ARG

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I need to get a good scope that can satisfy all my projects, like 1ghz bandwidth. It will have to wait until I have a job though. Im stuck with my 20mhz crt dso until then.

What projects do you do that need 1ghz bandwidth? :p
 
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High end logic systems need super high bandwidth, but as far as analog stuff goes there is always EMC testing. One of the issues presented to newcomers and hobbyists in power electronics is that the Vds and Vgs parasitic oscillations are in the tens to hundreds of MHz range. Generally a 500MHz scope is the minimum for EMC testing of power electronics. The highest frequency my 40MHz analog scope can really resolve is 4MHz, so signals that look clean to me might actually be full of ringing.
 




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