PDS5022S vs DS1052E | O-scope advise plz

Thread Starter

tw34kd

Joined Jul 17, 2010
8
Hello Everyone,

I signed up recently and finaly decided to buy an oscilloscope and thought i should get some opinions on my purchase first.

After a bit of looking around on the internet i have narrowed it down to what i believe to be 2 good choices. The PDS5022S 25MHz and the DS1052E 50 MHz (can be changed to 100MHz from what ive seen). Im mainly looking for any complaints about these scopes or possible better alternatives.

Both can be see here (top left and right)

http://www.saelig.com/category/PSBEB100.htm

My intended budget is to stay at or below $400.

Thanks for any input!
 

zxsa

Joined Jun 11, 2010
31
I do not have any experience with these specific oscilloscopes, but I can offer you a little advice:

With a 25MHz scope, you won't be able to see a good representation of signals faster than 2-4MHz.

If you are limited in budget, why don't you consider used oscilloscopes? I'm sure you'll be able to pick up an older model from someone that's replacing it with the latest and greatest model.

You could tell us what you are planning on using the oscilloscope for, and perhaps someone can recommend the best type of scope for your application.
 
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Thread Starter

tw34kd

Joined Jul 17, 2010
8
I am a lifetime long electronics lover but only recently in the past year or so have i made the switch to digital and the desire to learn alot more. This is a excellent website by the way. I have often fantasized about having a o scope to further my knowledge of circuits and electronics practice but until recently it was not in the budget.

From what i understand the DS1052E 50 MHz model can be easily hacked to run at 100 MHz by only changing the model number via serial cable command.

Im leaning more towards this scope at its 400 dollar price range and ability to be made to double its speed with a simple modification but am still curious if anyone has any comments regarding any pros and cons of my choice.
 

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
25 MHz is a bit too low really. You're approaching the clock speed of some micros at that point. You're going to "out grow" it very quickly. 100 MHz, even 50 MHz, will have you set for a while. Note that 25 MHz is not the absolute maximum frequency: you could probably measure as high as 60-70 MHz on a 25 MHz scope, but only signals with a high amplitude. The Rigol scope also features an FFT feature. This can be very useful. I'm not sure about the other one.
 

Thread Starter

tw34kd

Joined Jul 17, 2010
8
Thanks for the input I really appreciate it.

Both scopes seem to feature FFT and the Rigol 50MHz model is hardly more expensive than the 25 MHz owon, and with the option of being hacked to 100 MHz it seems it will be the one i am soon to purchase.
 

Grandpa7

Joined Feb 7, 2013
1
Having used two of the Rigols DS1052E's that I modded to 100 MHz, I can say thay have been utterly reliable and a delight to use. Build quality seems at least the equal of the Tek cheaper scopes.
 
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