I am thinking to buy a Digital Oscilloscope, but oscilloscopes are insanely expensive.
I would really appreciate if someone would guide me in selecting the an inexpensive but with good value.
I am using it for general stuff.
What have you looked at so far?
Blackmon:
I am thinking to buy a Digital Oscilloscope, but oscilloscopes are insanely expensive.
Hah! Try pricing out a multi-GHz 4 channel Tek scope if you want real sticker shock!
Basically - for a new digital scope - there are few nice options for under $500.00 USD (Rigol and Owen - mainly); dual-channel, 50-100 MHz, somewhat "hackable" (if you're into that), lightweight.
Then you have the slightly cheaper "Pocket DSOs" that float around out there (most for under $200.00 USD).
Finally - there are the USB scopes (BitScope and the like) - some of them are quite nice, and not really super expensive...
What do you mean by "Digital Oscilloscope" ?
Do you mean a 4-8 multi-channel Digital Storage Oscilloscope? Or an oscilloscope with an LCD flat screen?
I am using it for general stuff.
You can buy used pretty good Tektronix Analog scopes on eBay for a pretty good value.
A better option may be a logic analyser, rather than a scope, depending on your application.
oscilloscopes are insanely expensive.
I don't know what you are looking for but reasonable scopes these days are insanely cheap, for $400 you can get something that would blow the socks of a scope that would have cost as much as my first house 30 years ago.
Logic analysers cost almost nothing now but they were just a dream, even for a small company.
Compilers are free, they used to be $100s of even $1000s.
Debuggers cost $50, you used to need a second mortgage.
Yeah I know, "when I were a lad", I'm in grumpy old man mode but really, the entry costs for electronics these days is lunch money.
Of course if you want a scope with 1 GHz bandwidth I will agree with you 
Rob
Graynomad:
oscilloscopes are insanely expensive.
I don't know what you are looking for but reasonable scopes these days are insanely cheap, for $400 you can get something that would blow the socks of a scope that would have cost as much as my first house 30 years ago.
....Yeah I know, "when I were a lad", I'm in grumpy old man mode but really, the entry costs for electronics these days is lunch money.
......
I totally agree!
Our electronics section was cleaning out the old instruments recently, and some of the scrapped cathode ray tube oscilloscopes had cost several months pay when they were bought.
Now the same task was solved on a small handheld instrument at a fraction of the cost.
Hand held calculators were so expensive once, that acquiring them at the department of Physics had to be approved by the Head. And they were registered as scientific instruments upon arrival.
..... and the first handheld GPS receivers we got in the army! The size and weight of a brick, the price of a family car..... but they were pure magic!
(Where is the porch? I'm ready to sit in the sun with Graynomad and sip a single malt!)
You guys are funny - next we'll be hearing about how you had to walk to school, in the dark, uphill both ways, in the snow, carrying your book & a piece of chalk, to a one room school house, where you'd study by candlelight ...
candlelight!! you were lucky...
Oh let's not start another Four Yorksiremen thread
Rob
And still no word from OP on what he had looked at.
CrossRoads:
And still no word from OP on what he had looked at.
Guys, I highly appreciate your reply.
I've looked at those on Ebay, but cannot decide which to buy. At the moment, Rigol DS1052E seems to be most tempting to me.
Atten Digital Oscilloscopes 40MHz ADS1042C
ATTEN ADS1022 DIGITAL STORAGE OSCILLOSCOPE 25MHz
SIGLENT SDS1022C 25MHZ Digital Oscilloscope
OWON Digital Oscilloscope PDS5022S 25 MHz
Rigol DS1052E.
cr0sh:
Blackmon:
I am thinking to buy a Digital Oscilloscope, but oscilloscopes are insanely expensive.Then you have the slightly cheaper "Pocket DSOs" that float around out there (most for under $200.00 USD).
I also looked at a DSO201, ?Scope and DSO Quad. I like the look of the dso quad, the dso201 doesn't really get my interest since it seems to be a single channel. There are times i've needed at least 2 channels at the same time. I see people on Amazon calling them "Hobbyist Scopes". I'd like to get a DSO if it has reasonable automotive use.
If are you going to look at clock related signals, the 16 MHz clock or the 8 MHz max speed SPI clock, then go for the highest bandwidth you can.
http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/ds1000e/ds1052e/ 50 MHz
http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/ds1000e/ds1102e/ 100 MHz
At the same time, a Saleae Logic analyzer for $149 can use clock in those same SPI signals and analyze the data stream for you
and do timing measurements too.
Doesn't do analog tho.
It 1M samples is its lowest setting - it goes up to 10 Billion samples! So you can catch a lot of stuff going on over a long time span.
How's this look as an alternative to the free-standing scopes?
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/hantek-dso-2250.html
Made by Hantek apparently.
- YouTube Looks like it has good response.
Hantek desktop unit
If you're on an insanely small budget like I was, look on Ebay for Tektronix 22xx series scopes. Got a 2236 (100MHz) for $100 (with free shipping) and works like a top.
look on Ebay for Tektronix 22xx series scopes. Got a 2236 (100MHz) for $100 (with free shipping) and works like a top.
Yes, this is a good approach.. My 2235 has done me well for years....
An Big Iron like 7934's are sometimes cheap because no one wants to lug them.
Thank you for all the help.
Someone said Rigol DS1052E is the best entry scope. I finally received one for about $300.
Will start to tinker with it.
Personally, I think a better entry scope is a used Tektronix on eBay (like a 2445A).
You can get one for 1/3rd the price, with 3x the bandwidth, and 2x the number of channels (4ch vs. 2ch) vs. the Rigol.
Of course, it doesn't have a fancy LCD display, and cursors and things like that. But it will also teach you the basics of how to read the scope without relying on automatic readouts.
vasquo:
You can get one for 1/3rd the price, with 3x the bandwidth, and 2x the number of channels (4ch vs. 2ch) vs. the Rigol.
All of which is overkill for most people doing Arduino stuff, especially a beginning scope user.
There's also the fact that you never really know what you are getting via Ebay on a scope deal - how calibrated the scope is, whether the focus works or not, etc; a lot of things that are better - when buying a used scope - to try out (or have a knowledgeable friend try out) before you purchase the scope.
...and - if that scope doesn't come with probes - you might end up spending a good amount of money on a quality set of probes to match the bandwidth.
I'm not knocking on getting a used scope - but I wouldn't do it without being able to "hands-on test" it myself (which requires some knowledge about how a scope works, of course). It's just too easy to buy a pig in a poke otherwise. I have two scopes that I purchased used; I was able to test both before I bought them: one came from Craigslist - a Tek 2213 (which would actually be a great beginner's scope), the other was a Fluke PM3380B combiscope (which is a pretty neat scope all on it's own).
The thing about the Rigol and similar low-cost DSO scopes is that you are getting something new and calibrated, sight unseen - if you have no way to test a scope (or knowledge, or a friend) - it's probably the better way to go.
Slightly off topic perhaps, I have a 50 MHz tektronix which has served me well for years.
I need a 300 MHz occasionally but would particularly like something that would allow a screen capture to a pc or stick, any suggestions please ?.