Best oscilloscope right now under 500$

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
Haha yeah true but you would have thought they could have gone to 6M with no issues on a 6000 count meter. Now it’s in my garage to test my mains and car battery
 

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
They should get rid of the 113 and start with the 114. Much better for about the same price. I'll have to look at mine again... the selector on mine looks like a 114 but has the restricted resistance range...
 

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
This encapsulates what you are paying for, and it's not just labeling, it's trustworthy:

View attachment 175165
Very true and I do trust my Fluke, I know it's built with safety factor and not only will be protect me but it will survive and keep ticking.

What I don't understand is that there is no law to prohibit manufacturers from making false claims of CATIII/CATIV and NEMA ratings. It just shouldn't be allowed!
 

rsjsouza

Joined Apr 21, 2014
383
What I don't understand is that there is no law to prohibit manufacturers from making false claims of CATIII/CATIV and NEMA ratings. It just shouldn't be allowed!
There are some regulations, but the problem is 100% on enforcement. Five, six years ago it was already difficult to track with so many models and re-branded meters, and about two years ago the problem was only compounded by so many newcomers. Add to that the sheer amount of direct offers from China's outlets and you have something very difficult to enforce.

Another problem is the relevance: the market of professional tools is quite small when compared to, say, consumer - that certainly reduces the priority of the enforcement agencies. I consider much more serious the flood of very cheap and dangerous chargers in the marketplace - something that is used to power a much larger number of end-user devices, with some verified fatalities among the general population.

I have meters that do not have the ridiculous claim for CAT III/CAT IV slapped on its front. I have full respect for these models, given that not everyone works on high energy systems.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
While you guys have been bickering and measuring scopes that sell for under five hundred bucks, I ordered an amazing $20 dlls ultra-miniature digital scope boasting an impressive (at least on paper) 1 MHz bandwidth and a beautiful 1.75" (diagonal) screen ... :):D


Anyway, the thing's so small that it fits right in your pocket, and it's perfect for quick on-the-field machinery diagnostics such as encoder readings and RS232/485 monitoring ... it's a rather pretty (and useful) toy, and I don't care who hears me saying it ... :D:p
My little toy just saved the day... last week I had a customer call me with an emergency who's located in the region of Sonora (which is about a 2 hr flight from where I live) and as an afterthought, I packed the little midget along with my MM, device programmer, soldering station, and some other standard tools and spare parts.

Anyway, the machine's problem was so spurious that I would've never been able to trace it with just an MM. After a few minutes of connecting the scope's probe here and there, I finally found the culprit when I tested the output of an MCU's particular pin. In the end, it turned out that the problem had nothing to do with electronics, but rather a couple of lines of assembly code that sporadically broke havoc with the MCU's internal memory and made it misbehave. All I did was a little code editing and the problem completely vanished.

The right tool for the right job, as one of my childhood tutors liked to say. ;)
 
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DraxDomax

Joined Apr 5, 2019
52
I don't remember the last time I read a whole thread (not just the first page and last two pages)!

Since I am not travelling to work anymore, I got a bit more spare cash and decided to get me an oscilloscope.
I did a lot of research and found, independently, that the two most popular serious-entry-level scopes are the sds1202x-e and ds1054z. While trying to find a comparison of these, I saw this thread and got hooked.

Of course, the modern problem of choice kicks in :)
If a person has choice - they are confused, frustrated, hesitant and scared to make the wrong choice
Even though we seem to have two options that are somewhat above the rest, now it's a bit of a ping pong on which to choose.

But I also think there's a real consideration here, as these two aren't 1:1 comparable. One of them has 4 channels, the other has more bandwidth...

I am mostly interested in studying waves. The math involved is so cool... I don't like digital system as much.

Therefore, my kinda thinking is that with the Siglent sds1202x-e, I'll be able to see phenomena in waves in more detail.
Do I understand correctly that the main profit of having more channels is that one can track a bigger system of waves?
For example: ChA - Transmitter clock, ChB - Transmitter data, ChC - Receiver clock, ChD - Receiver data
... Kinda see if they all "match" and debug problems?
This sounds more like a digital systems problem that I might not be interested in, for now...
 

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
For example: ChA - Transmitter clock, ChB - Transmitter data, ChC - Receiver clock, ChD - Receiver data
... Kinda see if they all "match" and debug problems?

Sounds like you need a logic analyzer. These you can get even more channels... put all your I/O on them as well!

Modern oscilliscopes are amazing. I found a $240 Hantek DSO5202/ 2chn 200 MHz and so far it hasn't let me down. Those Siglents are great with all the functionality in them. I might have to save up for one in the future but I will go for 4 channel and a little higher end. I do not regret my purchase. It has been very useful.
 

tautech

Joined Oct 8, 2019
383
I don't remember the last time I read a whole thread (not just the first page and last two pages)!

Since I am not travelling to work anymore, I got a bit more spare cash and decided to get me an oscilloscope.
I did a lot of research and found, independently, that the two most popular serious-entry-level scopes are the sds1202x-e and ds1054z. While trying to find a comparison of these, I saw this thread and got hooked.

Of course, the modern problem of choice kicks in :)
If a person has choice - they are confused, frustrated, hesitant and scared to make the wrong choice
Even though we seem to have two options that are somewhat above the rest, now it's a bit of a ping pong on which to choose.

But I also think there's a real consideration here, as these two aren't 1:1 comparable. One of them has 4 channels, the other has more bandwidth...
Despite that there are even more differences, the SDS1202X-E has real 500uV/div sensitivity, 1 Mpts FFT and free decoding capability.
I am mostly interested in studying waves. The math involved is so cool... I don't like digital system as much.

Therefore, my kinda thinking is that with the Siglent sds1202x-e, I'll be able to see phenomena in waves in more detail.
Do I understand correctly that the main profit of having more channels is that one can track a bigger system of waves?
For example: ChA - Transmitter clock, ChB - Transmitter data, ChC - Receiver clock, ChD - Receiver data
... Kinda see if they all "match" and debug problems?
This sounds more like a digital systems problem that I might not be interested in, for now...
Another recent model to throw into the mix is the 100 MHz 4ch SDS1104X-E or SDS1204X-E which sounds like 4ch big brothers to SDS1202X-E but are even more advanced with Bode plot capability (with external signal stimulus) and WiFi, AWG and 16ch MSO options, all of which make them a DSO you can grow into as skill grows or as need arises.

Good luck with your hunt. :)
 

Thread Starter

Teljkon

Joined Jan 24, 2019
267
Glad you found this post interesting, it never fails to amaze me how many times this post has been resurrected. I hate to report I still don't have one yet. Its far on the back burner behind three remodels. A beer brewing fridge and probably a shed.
:(
Enjoy yours though and its great to see some one positively charged about electronics. LoL
:) I'm living vicariously for now on your excitement.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
Glad you found this post interesting, it never fails to amaze me how many times this post has been resurrected. I hate to report I still don't have one yet. Its far on the back burner behind three remodels. A beer brewing fridge and probably a shed.
:(
Enjoy yours though and its great to see some one positively charged about electronics. LoL
:) I'm living vicariously for now on your excitement.
You'll better hurry... a good shed is never complete without a decent scope in it... ;)
 

DarthVolta

Joined Jan 27, 2015
521
If you are starting out- you can buy a good used top brand analog scope like Tektronix on Ebay, use it for a year and re-sell it for what you paid.

A Tektronix 2236 can be found for $300.00
That's what I did, got a nice analog scope, and a nice early DSO. The only thing's I don't like about them, the DSO weigh's a ton, and the lack of parts, but I guess that's the same for new ones too, but at least with the old ones you can find the schematic's.
 

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
the new DSOs: mine's so light and small it lives on top of my sig gen. I don't miss lugging around my old Tek.

1586444007028.png
1586444037685.png

These oscilloscopes have been hacked... there are many years of forum posts documenting everything:
buy a 70 MHz and unlock the 200 MHz, requiring removing a couple caps internally for the full bandwidth as well as a firmware update and changing the internal file structure.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hantek-tekway-dso-hack-get-200mhz-bw-for-free/

While it's not for everyone thought someone might find it interesting. I just bought the 200 because it was a great deal. I might hack mine so i can change the boot screen :)
 

DarthVolta

Joined Jan 27, 2015
521
I'm getting the SDS1104X-E very very soon. That's going to rock. I'll still keep my analog scope, but I should release my DSO, back to ebay from where it came.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,084
I'm getting the SDS1104X-E very very soon. That's going to rock. I'll still keep my analog scope, but I should release my DSO, back to ebay from where it came.
Nice! My part of the CV check is buying a SDS1202X-E so I don't have to haul my other scopes around the house for projects
 

tautech

Joined Oct 8, 2019
383
Nice! My part of the CV check is buying a SDS1202X-E so I don't have to haul my other scopes around the house for projects
Consider the SDS2202X-E and although it has the same BW it's got a few features the 1202X-E hasn't. Unfortunately it's a chunk dearer too. :(
 
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