[Oscilloscope] Price comparison between 1054 and 1052

Using Arduino General Electronics
1

Hi;
I'm a visual designer with an interest in analog and digital electronics. I mainly work with Arduino and RaspberryPi but i also like to dabble with old school circuitry.

I've made some research on entry level oscilloscopes and it appears that ds1054z is the way to go. Here in my local market it is sold for $550. I also found a slightly used ds1052e for $350.(has warranty)

Now i know ds1054 is the newer and better version of the ds1052 but does it justify the $200 price difference? Mind you that i'm a beginner who wants to learn "what is going on inside the stuff"

I am also planning to get a bus pirate and use it as a logic analyzer.

I know ds1054 and 1052 talked here extensively but i couldn't find a similar situation like i am in.

Thanks in advance.

PS: I've also posted this on eevblog forums.

2

If you're going to get a simple logic analyser as well I would just stick with the dual channel version. Have a look at Siglent offerings as well.

Russell.

3

The difference is 4 channels versus 2 channels - that's a major difference in function, and twice the
internal sampling hardware basically...

4 channels is nice to have, but not vital (especially if you have a separate logic analyser for digital stuff).

Bandwidth is more useful - consider 100MHz rather than 50MHz as the place to sink your money into
if you are going to work with high speed signals.

[ Can one get scope-probe switch boxes? Would be handy for extending two-channel 'scope ]

4

MarkT:
[ Can one get scope-probe switch boxes? Would be handy for extending two-channel 'scope ]

Haven't seen one but it shouldn't be too difficult to make. Just need to keep the stray capacitances under control and re-calibrate the probes to compensate.

Russell

5

Aerovisual:
Now i know ds1054 is the newer and better version of the ds1052 but does it justify the $200 price difference? Mind you that i'm a beginner who wants to learn "what is going on inside the stuff"

The 1054 is more like a cut down 2072 than an upgraded 1052. The larger screen with higher resolution, more memory, more trigger options and the many upgrade options, would convince me to pay the extra. When I was last in the market for a scope I paid significantly more for the 2072, rather than put up with the smaller screen of the 1052. Had the 1054 been available, I would have bought that. Then again it depends on how much you want to keep the 200 bucks in your pocket.

6

Thanks for the replies. I'll hunt for a cheaper 1054. If i can't find it i'll settle with the 1052.

7

you can't buy from other suppliers ?

here

or here

8

There is a difference, more than just 4 channels.

Dave Jones of EEVBlog did a comprehensive review of the 1054z and comparison with the earlier model:

A summary of his review:

9

I've got a 4-channel 'scope on my bench at work, but I don't remember ever using more than 2-channels. 90% of the time, I'm only using one channel and in fact, I've only got one probe connected at the moment.

I'm not saying you'd never use 4-channels, I'm just saying it's not needed that often. (I've seen my boss using all 4 channels occasionally.)

10

I have a DS1052E and really like it. Generally only one probe connected although I do occasionally have both in use. The menu is a bit quirky (one of the neat features it has is the ability to do a screen capture to a USB flash drive as a bmp that you can then take elsewhere - takes a bit to figure out how to do it in the menu though). I really wish it had battery backup so I could take it out places easily, but that is not often that is an issue.

11

I have the DS1052E. It is SO much easier to troubleshoot some problems on a DSO vs analog. Saturday friends came over and we observed the different voltages of a power supply coming up and confirmed what I had suspected, that the voltages came up with too much time between and it was roasting a $25 ADC chip.

I am strongly considering replacing it with the DS1054Z and donating my DS1052E to my local makerspace.

If you go to EEVBlog and look up the thread, and ask for TEquipment's discount code for EEVBlog users, you can get a discount from the TEquipment website. $399 and free shipping, and I think the discount is 10% off.

12

DVDdoug:
I've got a 4-channel 'scope on my bench at work, but I don't remember ever using more than 2-channels. 90% of the time, I'm only using one channel and in fact, I've only got one probe connected at the moment.

I'm not saying you'd never use 4-channels, I'm just saying it's not needed that often. (I've seen my boss using all 4 channels occasionally.)

Different people have different needs.

At work, I regularly use 2 x 4-channel oscilloscopes at the same time.

We have recently started buying 8-channel oscilloscopes, but they actually cost more than two 4 channel ones!