Help on reviewing Rigol DS1102D features before purchase

[dashy1981]

Hi All,

I got my long due 1000$ from someone, which I had lost hope of getting it back
Could not think of a better way to invest other than buying an Oscilloscope for myself !!!!!!

Going through some threads in the forum and reading through the posts by Chris and Steve, I have decided to go in favour of Rigol DSO + LA (DS1102D).

http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/ds1000d/ds1052d/
http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/ds1000d/ds1102d/

But I have two confusions:
1. I do not know if Rigol provides an option for 50MHz(ds1052d) to 100 MHz(ds1102d) upgrade at later stage.
If thats possible then I'd like to go with 50MHz, as I can save some 200$.
2. Analog channels 2 vs 4
They have another one with 4 channels : mso1074Z(http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital- oscilloscopes/mso1000z/mso1074z/). So I am tempted to buy 4 channel one since unlike BW upgrade this one I suppose is not possible unless you scrap old one and buy a new one... hehehehe getting greedy !!!!

My applications : Mostly digital( microcontroller based circuits, serial protocols like i2c,spi,twi,can and sensors)

But Since I can not spend this much in near future, I would like to go with experts advice.

Cheers
Dashy

 

[Harald Kapp]

1) If you've got the guts, you can upgrade yourself (you'll loose warranty!).
2) There's no software hack for this. I'd estimate that I use only 1 or 2 channels 90% of the time. But if you need a 3. or 4. channel...

 

[dashy1981]

When I was talking about upgrade, I was talking about legal upgrade
Even I have never used more than two in my office... But would like to know in what situations may people need more than 2 channels if there are 16 logic channels are available.

 

[Harald Kapp]

Just one example: A circuit that measures analog input "voltage" and "current", computes power=voltage*current and outputs an anlof signal proportional to power . Voilá: 3 channels...

 

[dashy1981]

I had postponed plan due to a family vacation... but back again at work.
All the reviews and talks regarding buying an oscilloscope and suggestions seems way too old !!!! somewhere in 2009 - 2010 time frame.
Now in 2014 I guess the topic needs a revisit bu Gurus in this forum. There might be newer competitors to Rigol or newer models.
Could someone take time and provide some insights ? plzzzz

Budget: around 800 USD
Type: MSO
Brand: pls suggest
BW: signals max 10 MHz or lower in freq(but scope shd be able to measure upto 10 MHz just in case )

 

[JoeM]

I bought a cheap scope from China, via Ebay. It will do storage and save to a USB drive. I've seen it rebranded by B&K and some other big companies for much more money. I paid a few hundred for it, but it goes to 100 Mhz and only two channels. It was a bargain for me, and I have had it over a year now. I own a few other things made by ATTEN as well, and if you are on a budget, you might want to look in Ebay. It was all free shipping too. I have the Precision power supply 0- 30v 0 - 5A, it does constant current, constant voltage and does a pretty good job for $106.00 I have a 2 channel function generator that I love made by ATTEN. All bought on Ebay. The rest of my gear is Agilent, and you won't get much of it for $800.00.