If it is within your budget, go for 4-channel 200MHz. You will find a need for it one day.

Within a series like Rigol DHO800, or Siglent SDS1000X-E (SDS1104X-E), they all seem to have same guts allowing hack to up the capabilities. But almost all the forum threads seem to show issues after hacking.

SDS1104X-E is currently being bundled with their SDS1000X-E-FG and SDS1000X-E-16LA (free $230 value), so for $500 you get $730 worth.

I am not 100% of all of the options, capabilities, differences, between models and brands, so it's hard for me to choose which. Start with the low-cost DHO804 and try and hack it to 100MHz? Or go DHO1074 with the sale going on and hack that up tp 200MHz, or SDS1104X-E with the free bundle?

 

Within a series like Rigol DHO800, or Siglent SDS1000X-E (SDS1104X-E), they all seem to have same guts allowing hack to up the capabilities. But almost all the forum threads seem to show issues after hacking.

SDS1104X-E is currently being bundled with their SDS1000X-E-FG and SDS1000X-E-16LA (free $230 value), so for $500 you get $730 worth.

I am not 100% of all of the options, capabilities, differences, between models and brands, so it's hard for me to choose which. Start with the low-cost DHO804 and try and hack it to 100MHz? Or go DHO1074 with the sale going on and hack that up tp 200MHz, or SDS1104X-E with the free bundle?

The horror of good choices.

 

Normally I use the WEB interface if I need interactive control while I'm programming a project while also debugging that project with the scope. A big touch-screen would cause a lot of unnecessary body movements to operate it IMO.

You can use a mouse directly with touchscreen display. The delay is less than web iface, However, web iface lets you grab screen pics for faster use in email or posting, etc. Pros & Cons.

The DHO1074 has attractive specs, but the footprint is a bit large for me. I need to decide, 1074 or an 804. I would then later decide to apply some hacks as needed to up bandwidth. The price of 804 is very attractive for hobby/diy user.

 

I notice the 4ch 800's don't have EXT trigger. Can it be set so that Ch1 will trigger on say Ch4 ?

And is my math correct, 1.25Gsa/s with just 25Mpts capture depth, you can only nab 20msec , one full wave of 50Hz ?

 

Pros and Cons for sure. I'm usually very interactive with the scope as a software debugger. Having one mouse keeps my focus on the computer.

 

I notice the 4ch 800's don't have EXT trigger. Can it be set so that Ch1 will trigger on say Ch4 ?

And is my math correct, 1.25Gsa/s with just 25Mpts capture depth, you can only nab 20msec , one full wave of 50Hz ?

Yes, any channel can be the trigger. The capture depth is auto adjusted or it can be fixed.

 

they all seem to have same guts

Apparently they do, and then they want to charge extra to unlock them as an "upgrade".

 

I know it can for the Siglents which have options available to "upgrade" their bandwidth after paying for the upgrade key.

Well, yes and no.
You can install unofficial license keys that give the exact same results as official license keys.
They are one and the same.

Now the algorithm has been discovered and incorporated into an online Python script improving many Siglent models is a breeze.

 

Well, I am leaning 804, and I know the 1104 has a better front end.
It's probably not the best match-up, SDS1104X vs DHO1000 is probably the better compare set.

DHO804 (70MHz), or, SDS1104X-E (100MHz)

804 can be upgraded to 100MHz, the 1104 can be upgraded to 200MHz.
Which would you pick?

Both on sale now for sub $500, 1104 bundle is +$125 over the 804. SDS solo (no bundle) is +$100.

The actual breakdown:
SDS1104X-E + SDS1000X-E-FG + SDS1000X-E-16LA ($475 promotion bundle)
DHO804 ($349)

The SDS promotion seems weird, they are running that for 8 months. 1Nov2023 to 30Jun2024, seems like they want to reduce that inventory, my guess is like mentioned earlier, new product that has the SG built-in.

 

Siglent does that often. When I bought mine, it had 2 freebies unlocked. Also, all of their addons (except bandwidth) are already installed in the scope with a limited 23? uses to try it out and see if you want it. As Tautech pointed out, there are other ways to unlock them as well as the scopes max bandwidth. Never used a Rigol but have seen vids of others using them and they look nice.

EDIT: Looked at Siglents ad and have no idea what the "Free Analysis Option" actually is. Is it their MSD/Digital add on? @tautech In order to use that option you also need the cable kit which is $335USD from Siglent or a generic one from eBay for much less but still ~100USD.

 

I think you might miss the standalone HDMI display capability of the DHO800. I've been using it as a glitch monitor for some networking software with 5S persistence/color over 4 channels. The direct monitor connection makes it much easier to see slight variations in real-time. TP1 is the trigger on channel 2

/*
* microsecond busy wait delay, 90 seconds MAX
* if we have no core timer it
* uses wdtdelay in a cpu loop so it must be calibrated using delay_freq
* for each different type of compile feature and option
*/
void delay_us(uint32_t us)
{
    TP1_Set();
#ifndef NO_CORE_TIME
    CORETIMER_DelayUs(us);
#else
    // Convert microseconds us into how many delay ticks it will take
    us *= delay_freq;
    wdtdelay(us);
#endif
    TP1_Clear();
}

#define SCA3300_CHIP_ID_DELAY        10000    // ID command repeat delays in usec
#define SCA3300_CHIP_SWR_DELAY        10000    // chip software reset delay
#define SCA3300_CHIP_MODE_DELAY        100000    // chip G mode setup delay
#define SCA3300_CHIP_CS_DELAY        11    // CS high min duration between toggles

/*
* see if we can get the correct ID response in rbuf32
*/
bool sca3300_getid(void * imup)
{
    imu_cmd_t * imu = imup;
    bool angles = false;

    if (imu) {
        if (!imu->run) {
            delay_us(SCA3300_CHIP_ID_DELAY); // sca3300 ID command spacing
            sca3300_imu_transfer(imu, SCA3300_WHOAMI_32B);
            if ((((imu->rbuf32[SCA3300_REC] >> 8)&0xffff) == SCA3300_WHOAMI_ID) || (angles = ((imu->rbuf32[SCA3300_REC] >> 8)&0xffff) == SCA3300_WHOAMI_ID_SCL)) {
                if (sca3300_check_crc(imu, SCA3300_REC)) {
                    if (angles) { // SCL3300 detected
                        imu->angles = true; // SLC3300 mode
                        imu->device = IMU_SCL3300;
                        imu->acc_range = imu->acc_range_scl; // set to SCL ranges
                        sca3300_imu_transfer(imu, SCL3300_ANGLE); // enable angle data
                        delay_us(SCA3300_CHIP_MODE_DELAY);
                    }
                    imu->online = true;
                    imu->rbuf32[SCA3300_REC] = 0;
                    imu->crc_error = false;
                    sca3300_getserial(imu);
                } else {
                    imu->crc_error = true;
                }
            } else {
                imu->online = false;
            }
        }
        return imu->online;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

/*
* enable sca3300 CS and set run flag that will be cleared when the buffer interrupt
* happens or the disable function is called manually
* we only use one gpio CS line on this board for either type of IMU device
*/
bool imu_cs(imu_cmd_t * imu)
{
    if (imu) {
        switch (imu->cs) {
        case 0:
        default:
            delay_us(SCA3300_CHIP_CS_DELAY); //
            imu->run = true;
            IMU_CS_Clear();
            // set SPI receive complete callback
            SPI2_CallbackRegister(imu_cs_cb, (uintptr_t) imu);
            break;
        }
        return true;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

/*
* force sca3300 CS disabled and clear run flag
*/
void sca3300_cs_disable(imu_cmd_t * imu)
{
    if (imu) {
        switch (imu->cs) {
        case 0:
        default:
            imu->run = false;
            IMU_CS_Set();
            break;
        }
    }
}

/*
* SPI interrupt completed callback
* disables sca3300 CS and clears run flags
*/
void imu_cs_cb(uintptr_t context)
{
    imu_cmd_t * imu = (void*) context;

    if (imu) {
        switch (imu->cs) {
        case 0:
        default:
            IMU_CS_Set();
            imu->run = false;
            break;
        }
    }
}

It's important to keep at least a 10us delay between SPI transfers on this device using chip select toggles. Tlh is met by using the SPI complete interrupt callback to trigger the delay in the code.

Like normal after something is working perfectly, I'm optimizing until it breaks again.


NOTE: For sensor operation, time between consecutive SPI requests (i.e. CSB high) must be at least 10 µs. If less than 10 µs is used, output data will be corrupted.

 

EDIT: Looked at Siglents ad and have no idea what the "Free Analysis Option" actually is. Is it their MSD/Digital add on? @tautech In order to use that option you also need the cable kit which is $335USD from Siglent or a generic one from eBay for much less but still ~100USD.

The free bundle stuff is just two lics. Do still need to buy the external SG module and cable bundle for MSO. I was told in another forum that the free bundle (two lics) is kinda meaningless since you can unlock those features yourself. The SDS is however still only at $475, which is not a bad price for the 1104X-E. I only assume they are making way for like what you said earlier, they gonna build more all-in-1 models. The low end Keysight 75MHz 2ch (1200 model or something) is a all-in-1, but pricing is near $1500. It seems Keysight simply has the features enabled, no wrestling to "upgrade", etc. Keysight seems to just make a box and whatever it can do it does. I am not a fan of making 3 or 4 models that all have same guts and then put limits on the lower 3 via software, of which both Rigol and Siglent do.

After reading a lot about the 1104X-E and the DHO800 series, I like the SDS a lot, but I think for me needs I can go for the DHO804. It would be super neat if Rigol could add Bode into the firmware, since I already have freq gen's to use.

 

Looked at Siglents ad and have no idea what the "Free Analysis Option" actually is. Is it their MSD/Digital add on? @tautech In order to use that option you also need the cable kit which is $335USD from Siglent or a generic one from eBay for much less but still ~100USD.

Should be read as Options = licensing
For X-E you additionally need the SPL1016 and SAG1021I external modules where the free licenses give unlimited (permanent) use instead of just the 30 free trial uses these scopes are shipped with.
Both these are active modules that to my knowledge are not available from anywhere but Siglent.

More upmarket models use a generic LA probe and one that is also used by several other brands: SPL2016 that your SDS2104X Plus uses SamR.

 

Should be read as Options = licensing
For X-E you additionally need the SPL1016 and SAG1021I external modules where the free licenses give unlimited (permanent) use instead of just the 30 free trial uses these scopes are shipped with.
Both these are active modules that to my knowledge are not available from anywhere but Siglent.

More upmarket models use a generic LA probe and one that is also used by several other brands: SPL2016 that your SDS2104X Plus uses SamR.

I have a rebrand. Unsure what exact MSO probe and interface is used but I used Siglent software on the scope.
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/siglent-scope-with-sla1016.189860/post-1773227

 

I have a rebrand. Unsure what exact MSO probe and interface is used but I used Siglent software on the scope.

The MSO module is made by Siglent and branded LeCroy on the breakout cable but otherwise identical to SLA1016.
Have you checked it for the latest firmware:
https://int.siglent.com/upload_file/zip/firmware/Oscilloscope/SLA1016_8.1.16.zip

 

Does the DHO800 series have 50ohm input option in menu? And if so what's the max power it can terminate (watts or dBm units are ok).

 

Does the DHO800 series have 50ohm input option in menu? And if so what's the max power it can terminate (watts or dBm units are ok).

On a entry level scope, Nope. You will need 50 ohm feedthrough terminators.
My old TEK has that option but it's 400MHz+ BW.

 

Thanks for the info.
I didn't need 50ohm up until recently. I'll up my stash with some feed thru items.

 

A really cheap 1W version is about $20.
Pico Technology TA051 Coaxial Terminator, Feed-Through, 1 GHz, 1W, BNC (m-f)

 

Indeed are not expensive. I found a 2watt 2pk for $20, vswr to 1GHz looked good by some who had posted pics of their testing, but I will test them too before use. I'll test w/ and w/o a 1meg terminator on end of the feed thru.

@nsaspook, as a side note, did you happen to grab a -3db on your 814? I seen some vids where it's near 180MHz, but would be nice to see if you get the same.