"USB" Mixed-Signal Scope vs. Digital Storage Scope

[[email protected]]

I'm getting into building various hobby projects using
microcontrollers (specifically, the Pic32) and need something to help
me debug the hardware.

Am I better off getting a USB mixed-signal scope, such as this one:
http://www.bitscope.com/product/BS442/

or getting a more traditional digital storage scope, such as the
Tektronix TDS2014B?: http://www.radarinc.com/cgi-bin/wspl.sh/prodinfo.p?itemnum=TDS2014B

 

[David L. Jones]

I'm getting into building various hobby projects using
microcontrollers (specifically, the Pic32) and need something to help
me debug the hardware.

Am I better off getting a USB mixed-signal scope, such as this one:http://www.bitscope.com/product/BS442/

or getting a more traditional digital storage scope, such as the
Tektronix TDS2014B?:http://www.radarinc.com/cgi-bin/wspl.sh/prodinfo.p?itemnum=TDS2014B

The Tektronix scope is MUCH better than the Bitscope, but it depends
upon your exact requirements and budget as to which one is best for
you.

The Bitscope is only 40MS/s, that gives an effective single shot
bandwidth of around 4MHz (don't get fooled by the 100MHz analog
bandwidth figure, you can't capture a single shot 100MHz signal with
this). But the bitscope has 128KB of memory, the Tek only has 2.5KB,
but the Tek is 1GS/s.

There are fairly cheap name brand mixed signal bench scopes available
which are well worth looking at. e.g.: Rigol:
http://www.rigolna.com/products_ds1000.aspx

Dave.

 

[[email protected]]

There are fairly cheap name brand mixed signal bench scopes available
which are well worth looking at. e.g.: Rigol:http://www.rigolna.com/products_ds1000.aspx

I'm skeptical about any stand-alone scope that's not either a Tek or
an Agilent... Are these any good? I have concerns buying something
like this from a company only ten years old and headquartered in the
PRC.

The price of the Rigol 100MHz machine is only around $1.5K, which
compares very well with the Agilent 100Mhz mixed-signal scope at >$8K.
I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for", however, so is this
Rigol box worth taking a risk on, or am I likely wasting my money?

Are these scopes reliable? Are they well supported?

 

[David L. Jones]

I'm skeptical about any stand-alone scope that's not either a Tek or
an Agilent... Are these any good? I have concerns buying something
like this from a company only ten years old and headquartered in the
PRC.

The price of the Rigol 100MHz machine is only around $1.5K, which
compares very well with the Agilent 100Mhz mixed-signal scope at >$8K.
I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for", however, so is this
Rigol box worth taking a risk on, or am I likely wasting my money?

Are these scopes reliable? Are they well supported?

Yes.
The low end Agilent oscilloscopes like the 3000 seires are actually
designed and manufactured by Rigol. The only differences used to be
slight firmware changes and the badging, but these days they differ
somewhat in the look'n'feel stuff. Thus Rigol scopes benefit from
Agilent's design input and quality control etc. The exact same Agilent
scope can be had cheaper with the Rigol badge.
Rigol design and manufacture their own front end A/D's too.

The $1.5K is not in the same class as the $8K Agilent, the only
similarity is that they are mixed signal. Look under the the hood and
there are massive differences, hence the price difference. Agilent at
present do not offer a low cost mixed signal scope.

If analog bandwidth is not a major concern to you then the 25MHz Rigol
mixed signal scope can be had for well under $800:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Rigol-DS1022...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247
Bargain.

Dave.