Need help choosing my first Scope

Thread Starter

Tony3d

Joined Nov 26, 2013
4
Hi all, I'm new here, and plan to order my first scope within the couple days and have narrowed it down to these two.... An Owon sds7102, and a Rigol 1102E. I only have $450 to spend, and want something new so I have a warranty. Any help would be great. Thanks.
 

liquidair

Joined Oct 1, 2009
192
There's a ton of info out there about the debate on at least these two brands. EEVBlog is just one such source. According to that, the Rigol is the way to go.
 

bountyhunter

Joined Sep 7, 2009
2,512
Nobody has any input?
Yes, but you won't like it: buying anew $450 scope is like buying a Yugo. You get what you pay for. In recent years, I have bought used Tek scopes off ebay from good sellers (guaranteed calibrated with warranty) for about $250 and gotten good results. These are wide bandwidth analog scopes, not digital.

Rigol is not great for bandwidth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Opur1Xbvs

I am not a believer in cheap scopes because there is a world of things they can't do and you will outgrow them quickly. If you are sure the Rigol will do everything you need, it seems like a good cheap unit. This place sells it for $399 (free shipping too):

http://www.saelig.com/product/PSPC017.htm?gclid=CPblyZ7sg7sCFWZyQgodMl0AOg
 
Last edited:

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,710
A new digital scope is nice to have but if you are new to oscilloscopes it is not necessarily the best place to start.

Personally, I would get a used analog scope for under $100.
Learn to use the scope properly. With the experience gained (and money saved) you will be in a better position to decide for yourself which digital scope to buy.
 
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