Which oscilloscope?

[gktamps]

Thanks, Xtian. Is there a preferred brand? I see there are several out there nowadays in this type.
Cheers,
Greg

[martin manning]

This is worth the extra $75: http://www.amazon.com/Rigol-DS1102E-Osc ... N6GVW0P2D6

[gktamps]

Thanks, Martin.
Greg

[bradicusmaximus]

I picked up the Rigol DS2072 a few months ago and have really liked it. It has better resolution on the screen and a few more features than the 1000 series. It's a bit more expensive, but depending on your needs, desires, and budget it may be worth exploring.

http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital ... a/ds2072a/

[xtian]

Yeah, I'd probably go with Rigol, too, and they have a cheaper 50MHz one.

[gktamps]

Besides the better resolution, what are the additional features you found most helpful compared to the 1000 series?
Thanks.

I picked up the Rigol DS2072 a few months ago and have really liked it. It has better resolution on the screen and a few more features than the 1000 series. It's a bit more expensive, but depending on your needs, desires, and budget it may be worth exploring.

http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital ... a/ds2072a/

[Phil_S]

Don't know much, but at 50MHz, you save a few dollars:
http://www.tequipment.net/RigolDS1052E.html?v=7401

[bradicusmaximus]

Besides the better resolution, what are the additional features you found most helpful compared to the 1000 series?
Thanks.

I picked up the Rigol DS2072 a few months ago and have really liked it. It has better resolution on the screen and a few more features than the 1000 series. It's a bit more expensive, but depending on your needs, desires, and budget it may be worth exploring.

http://www.rigolna.com/products/digital ... a/ds2072a/

The 2072 has a larger memory buffer, which allows for a larger view for recorded data. This is good for collecting and then analyzing in an off-line way. The 2072 is also the base chassis the other 2000 series scopes are built off of, so it has inherent processing advantages for triggering and math functions.

As part of my day job, I do digital forensics and data recovery, so the higher frequency capability of the scope can often help as does the built in signal decoding for various protocols. That's a HUGE overkill for what we do here though.

On the audio side, I've come to really like the built in analysis tools. So far I've been a little too cheap to buy a real spectrum analyzer, so the built in Fast Fourier Transform function is kind of a poor-man's substitute for getting some very rough harmonic profiles. Honestly though, I LOVE the display on this unit. It's very crisp and clear and feels like a much more expensive unit in many respects. Also, if you tend to be adventurous, the 2072 is well known for being hackable to much higher bandwidth and many, many features of the $2000 - $3000 scopes in the same series.

I know there are some youtube videos out that do a great comparison between the two scopes and really highlight some of the features.

Edited to add a link to the comparison video I mentioned above. This one does a much better job of pointing out the differences than I have: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TSr9nFN1GU

[gktamps]

Thank you for the additional info and insights!