Buying an Oscilloscope

Wireless & IoT
21

Hey guys, my DSO-1200 just arrived and I thought I’d give you my first impressions.

First of all I’m really happy I paid extra for this model instead of a software-only. The user interface was generally pretty intuitive to learn and navigate around. There are definitely a few things I’ll be asking Hantek to consider for a future update, but overall I’m very happy with the usability of it.

I noticed that CH2 behaves a little strangely. When there are probes attached but not connected to anything AND the scope is plugged in to the wall, there is some really noticeable noise bleeding from the power supply I presume. Simply attaching the probe ground to something or removing the DC power and this goes away however, so I can’t really complain.

It’s a bit annoying that some settings don’t seem to save on reset, but it’s firmware so hopefully it will be fixed soon and it isn’t that big a deal.

There is about 1.5-2mV of ADC noise which I’m told is perfectly normal for this end of the market.

Anyway, I’m learning as I go so I may have missed something, but generally it’s worked on my basic tests (monitoring RS-232, SPI, ISO7816, some misc LFO sources).

I realise there aren’t any decent reviews of this sucker yet so if anyone wants me to try a quick test on it post it up and I’ll see what I can do.

Cheers,

ko

22

expatspain:
you must have a look at Pico Scope 5203 .

Nice, but $$$$$$$$$$$

23

I have a Tek 7904 mainframe, as well as a 7603 mainframe (storage scope). I pick up plugins at ham fests and on eBay.

Without doubt, the calibration stinks, and sometimes something fails. But, the total money spent is < $400. With the plug-ins I have, I’m limited to 200 MHz, although faster ones are out there.

Generally, looking at an RF signal to determine modulation problems is difficult (other than for modulation percentage of AM, which nearly no one uses). Would you use the scope simply to capture samples, and then follow with signal analysis on your PC?

Since the frequencies are low (13 MHz-ish), width is also low (< 2000 Hz?), maybe you could use a general coverage receiver and feed the audio into your PC for analysis. Many ham digital protocols are decoded this way, including some fairly sophisticated QAM schemes.

I agree, though, that there is absolutely NO substitute for a scope. An old, uncalibrated scope is vastly superior to no scope.

– Carl