RIGOL DS1054Z 50MHz OSCILLOSCOPE Unlocked 4 Channels up tp 1GS/s 7 In" WVGA 12Mpts Memory Digital Oscilloscope 30,000wfm

Product Information

I need a 4-channel scope mostly when debugging protocols and mainly never use more than 2-channels for just analog use. Having used Tek scopes for over 40 years as a professional electronics engineer I am now a retired amateur and can no longer afford their prices! I'm not sure how looking at dots tells you anything though. It's like looking at the pixels in a zoomed image and telling me you know the detail in between them.

Multi-function knob too sensitive – difficult to press to select without rotating enough to change selection.

From there, it’s basically looking at datasheets and drawing a schematic of the circuit; inputs go at the left, outputs at the right, ground is at the bottom, and positive rails are at the top. It’s harder than it sounds – most of [Dave]’s expertise in this area is just pattern recognition. It’s one thing to reverse engineer a circuit through brute force, but knowing the why and how of how the circuit works makes things much easier. You get a lot of oscilloscope for the money, however it suffers from a triggering issue when using delays of 5 uS or multiples of 5 uS. AC coupled triggering is also unstable. Build quality seems sturdier than other models I have used recently, for a similar price. Apart form extra channels, many other additional features. This is by far one of the most excellent services I ever seen, although I bought this product privately and not with my professional status. So far I’m using https://ds1054z.readthedocs.io/ to read data file from the scope and octave to analyse it, but it is slow – transferring full 24 Mpoints takes over 10 minutes.

Overall, a well built and value for money device. However, some of the optional accessories and software upgrades seem expensive in comparison.The only reason for giving four not five stars is that some functions are only temporary and lapse unless you pay extra. Rather mean spirited. The multimeter (UNI-T 33D) is fine as a free gift but isn’t anything to write home about, the 10A range isn’t even fused and battery access requires removing the self tapping screws so it’ll probably fall apart after a few changes.