Affordable 12bit DSOs

[tk@halmi]

After trying three different 8 bit DSOs in different price ranges I almost gave up on them, but then decided to try a 12 bit DSO. Owon makes a few that can do 8 or 12 bits depending on the sampling rate. Most 12 bit scopes cost several thousand dollars, but the Owon XDS2102a and XDS3062a are in the $400 range.

Yes, there is a huge improvement over the 8 bit ones! The scope looks a works a lot more as an analog scope when you are on 12 bits. Added bous are a number of measurements it does at the same time as displaying the signal. Finally something decent in the DSO world for audio work that can be had at the same price range as analog scopes of past.

 

[Gold]

The Diligent Analog Discovery 2 is a 14 bit scope. You need a windows/mac/linux machine but it's only $279.00. I haven't tried it but I plan on. There is a thread below on it.

I was looking at all in one digital scopes too. I've been told that the all in one scopes are basically windows or linux machines in a nice box. That got me thinking that the Diligent makes financial sense even if you have to buy a computer. A little 10" screen laptop is sub $200.

 

[tk@halmi]

Lots of good stuff out there. Standalone operation was a distinct need for me.

 

[Tubetec]

I'm quite happy with REW covering most of the extra things a digital scope does,I think  Im gonna settle for an older tektronix analog scope as soon as I find one.

I did check out the AD2 ,
It does seem to deliver the goods in terms of processing power , but the hardware is a bit cheap and flimsy looking , fair enough you are getting access to the software which probably accounts for the lions share of the price .  But as previous contributors have mentioned the typical RTA/spectrum software packages are hard to live without nowadays ,even if you do happen to have a super duper scope ,your still going to want something like REW on hand .

The point was raised about Analog discovery 2 not being able to interface with REW , there really isnt any satisfactory USB audio signal probe on the market , I'm having reasonable  success with a modified centrance axeport  as a front end to REW , but thats long since discontinued , and there isnt much in the way of inline usb interfaces that can do proper 24/96 , one that seems to fit the bill could be Pyle's Microphone to usb adapter , a humble enough 39.99 US$,  might be worth a look but asio drivers are  unknown and input would need modification to get to 1 meg . I'll probably keep an eye out for an original mic port pro  just as a quick and easy balanced input to usb for test purposes. 

 

[tk@halmi]

There really aren't any good all-in-one solutions for both signal troubleshooting and spectrum analysis unless, again, you are doling out big bucks. I use TrueRTA when I need it.

Yeah, device driver hell is just one of the reasons I don't want a PC based DSO. I have a box full of electronics to take to Goodwill that have no functioning drivers anymore.

 

[Tubetec]

Have you seen Micsig ,
looks quite good and portable
similar money to what you might pay for a Rigol ,not sure how it measures up for processing power ,math functions though.


 

 

[Gold]

Yeah, device driver hell is just one of the reasons I don't want a PC based DSO. I have a box full of electronics to take to Goodwill that have no functioning drivers anymore.

The reason my friend suggested a PC based scope was because a stand alone digital scope he had couldn't run the latest software they offered due to a hardware issue. Something like an old mother board couldn't run the newest software.

He moved to a PC based scope so that wouldn't happen again. If I get a PC based scope I would dedicate a PC to it. PC's are so cheap it makes sense. If worst comes to worst I'd just freeze the setup where it is and use it as is. I don't think National Instruments is going out of business any time too though.

I would take the flimsy looking interface and mount it in a more robust box with connectors on it.

 

[volker]

I've used the Red Pitaya for a couple of days, because one of my colleagues bought one for appointments at clients outside the lab and similar stuff. It doesn't need a driver, it runs a webserver which you can access via the browser. So in that respect you would be safe using it in the future... until there are no more ethernet jacks  . But I must say I appreciate a dedicated hardware interface with knobs to fiddle around much more than having to point and click in the browser.

 

[mrclunk]

TK, did you buy the Owon DSO in the end?
Interested to see how you got on, just about to get my first DSO..
Over on the EEBlog forums Owon's don't get much love.

Looking at the Owon XDS3102a, Siglent SDS1104X-E and the MicSig ST01104C.

I'd get the MicSig as it's the newest design, decent specs and has a touch screen but it looks like a toy. Not sure how long it would last...

Also, would having 4 channels be advantageous for us guys?  Not much more money..

Frankly all these scopes are probably far more powerful than i need anyway.

 

[ruffrecords]

Old thread I know but 12 bit DSOs seem to have come on in leaps and bounds. They now sport touch screens with a 1025 x 800 resolution and they can be connected to your network and controlled from your PC via a built in web page.

https://telonic.co.uk/product/sigle...gsa-s-12-bit-hd-high-resolution-oscilloscope/

and all for a mere £355.

Cheers

Ian

 

[mrclunk]

TK, did you buy the Owon DSO in the end?
Interested to see how you got on, just about to get my first DSO..
Over on the EEBlog forums Owon's don't get much love.

Looking at the Owon XDS3102a, Siglent SDS1104X-E and the MicSig ST01104C.

Update on where i got too with dso.
I bought the Owon XDS3102a,
interface and software was awful. Got rid of it and bought the Siglent SDS1104x. Easier to use, worked well. i didn’t really use any of the fancy features.
Just sold that, i’ve one of the new Siglent 12bit SDS800x HD on the way.
I really don’t need it but off work so fancied a new toy…
Look incredible for the money.

 

[tk@halmi]

Five years on, I still own and use the Owon. I agree the interface is cumbersome, and the settings are not intuitive to say the least, but I got used to it. Otherwise it has been useful, reliable, and saves a lot of bench space compared to the CRT unit it replaced.

I just bought an Owon signal generator that has a perfectly matching retarded interface. ...

 

[Walter66]

Hantek was my choice ten years ago. Its just 8 bit. If you have a reason for 12 bit vertical, get a good one with high resolution monitor, too.
Rigol has some nice ones, too.
Mostly they don't state vertical resolution in the prospects, as it's not as much important as you think.
As an amateur, I have no problems with 8 bit resolution. Its much sharper than the analog ones I owned before.

 

[Gold]

I just bought a Rigol 12bit scope. I've tried to like the AD2 over the last few years but having to change settings on the screen was too cumbersome. I like the Rigol. I find the interface to be easy to get around on. The trace is crisp and it doesn't feel cheap to me. I'm now using the AD2 on the output of my AP P1 for FFT monitoring. It woks very well for that. I'll probably pick up a cheap 24bit sound card to see the noise floor more clearly now that I'm not trying to use it for multiple functions.

 

[Matador]

I love my Rigol (8 bit), and recently got a Siglent SDS1102X which is the cheapest 100MHz and 1GSa/sec scope they sell. It has been great as well.

However even the lower end 12bit scopes (like the SDS814X HD) seem to blow it away with the clarity and detail of the display. Obviously tube amps aren't going to really stress any digital scope of even modest bandwidth, however the new realm of 12 bits scopes just appear crisper, cleaner, and the displays update faster. It's just a whole new user experience.

 

[Gold]

I love my Rigol (8 bit), and recently got a Siglent SDS1102X which is the cheapest 100MHz and 1GSa/sec scope they sell. It has been great as well

I noticed that the Siglent SDX800 will do bode plots with models that have a build in signal generator. For much less than a Rigol.

I was wondering if it’s possible to sync that to the AP Portable One generator. The issue with doing sweeps with the P1 is that the display is tiny and cumbersome to look at.

If I was to get a dedicated Waveform Generator could I sync it to a scope for bode plots?

 

[Gold]

I took a closer look at the SDX800 and it looks like with the appropriate Siglent waveform generator doing bode plots is possible. there needs to be a USB connection between the two. You can then control the generator from the scope.

I'm getting the feeling it's probably not possible to have the Portable One trigger the scope for bode plots.

 

[Walter66]

I just bought a Rigol 12bit scope. I've tried to like the AD2 over the last few years but having to change settings on the screen was too cumbersome. I like the Rigol. I find the interface to be easy to get around on. The trace is crisp and it doesn't feel cheap to me. I'm now using the AD2 on the output of my AP P1 for FFT monitoring. It woks very well for that. I'll probably pick up a cheap 24bit sound card to see the noise floor more clearly now that I'm not trying to use it for multiple functions.

Which 12 bit model, please?

 

[Gold]

Which 12 bit model, please?

DHO804. 70MHz 4 channel. The DH802 is the 2 channel version.

 

[Gold]

It's looking like the Siglent SDX800X scope and the SDS1032 waveform generator might fill in all the holes I have in my setup. For about $700. Although the AP P1 does frequency sweeps the display leaves much to be desired. It's a small LCD screen. This scope and waveform generator will do bode plots of frequency over amplitude. The display should be crisp and I can print directly from the scope or save the file. The scope/generator has a noise floor of about -60dBu. Not terrible and not great. For low noise and distortion measurements I can still use the AP P1 but for most frequency sweeps it will be fine. It will be fine for many amplitude sweeps too. The generator can have maximum output of +19dBu. I could beef that up with a THAT1646.

It has all the advantages of being a scope with a 1M input impedance I can measure inside the box instead of just at the input and output. It may even be able to do the bode plot math after signals are captured. I can't quite tell from the manual but I think it will. That would allow me to use to low distortion generator from the AP for sweeps. Record the output of the generator and the output of the DUT and do the bode plot math after capture.