EEVblog #37 - Rigol DS1052E Oscilloscope Teardown

[fingerboy18]

That's interesting. That DIP looked to be rotated to about 15-30 degrees. Awesome!

[smithyduk]

Does anybody know if rigol have sorted out all the software bugs yet?

[banzie74]

@EEvblog, great review and tear-down.

A n00b query. Would you recommend this scope for someone looking to work with some sensor network projects using MCU's with clock freq upto 60MHz (72 DMIPS), and some ISM band RF work (315MHz-2.4GHz), involving encoder/decoder IC's etc. ? All using TTL / CMOS logic.

This is just for hobby++ level work. Also, can I expect it to double up as a 2 channel LA ? This is really for a very budget constrained situation.

[mrmatz408]

@EEVblog what is your opinion of the screen? I saw some reviews on websites saying that the screen isn't very good. I couldn't find any information regarding this in the comments for this video. Great vblog by the way!

[EEVblog]

@mrmatz408 The screen in terms of brightness is awesome, almost too bright. Still only QVGA resolution though.

[CDMCSD2]

For the CPLD, It is very likely to be put there to off-load FPGA's buffer current to

prevent GroundBounce and ElevatedGround effect (since I believe 90% of the flip-flops inside it must be ticking, so they have enough problem with elevated ground there). Better to let the CPLD drive the clocks, and perhaps help them simplify the

board design (using less vias, less layers by letting some of the not-sensitive signals go through the CPLD).

[4hodmt]

How are you supposed to remove the bracket around the C14 connector? It's tightly jammed behind the plastic case.

[TheEPROM9]

The answer could be in part of the firmware and some minor component values such as resistors and capacitors. Its worth looking at if you haven't already.

[catatung]

@TheEPROM9 I second the firmware notation. Perhaps the hardware is capable of 100Mhz and it is just enabled by software so they could sell more to people who couldn't afford the 100Mhz.

[DanFrederiksen]

there is also this 250$ Atten 60MHz scope: cgi. ebay. com/ATTEN-ADS1062C-60-MHz-2-Ch­annel-Digital-Oscilloscope_W0Q­QitemZ180588753205

would be nice to see a review of that too.

[DanFrederiksen]

I just ordered one off ebay for 335 plus 60$ shipping from china to denmark

[Jesus10741]

I'm about to buy one scope, but I don't know which one choose. I may buy one of these: Or Rigol DS1052E or, for a bit less, an Owon PDS5022S.

For me, I feel more comfortable with the Owon user interface, but the Rigol has better features. I'm a begginer and I won't use it for high frequencies, and of course, I don't need too much precision.

Please, help me choose.

Lots of thanks ;)

[crippled82]

Does it make sense to replace these chips with 100MHz ones?

[EEVblog]

@crippled82 None what so ever. It's the same silicon.

[crippled82]

Maybe these headers are  for a digital data probe?

[yanava]

Could it be that Agilent's lower priced scopes are also overclocked? Can't you disassemble one of the Agilent's DSO1000 series Dave?

Best regards!

[joeles69]

i got one of these of deal extreme... at 360USD.. freeking bargain!

[EEVblog]

@joeles69 Yeah, it's incredible what value these scopes give you for the money these days.

[DaveSpart1]

Hi Dave,

Great set of vids BTW.

I bet I know what those unused headers are, though: think DS1000D. You know, the one with the *logic analyser*, cough... I bet if you crack open one of those babys that "IDE" header are where the probes attach, and one of the other headers are for the extra buttons on the front panel.

And I bet one could load the D's firmware onto an E.

Give it a go? (I've just ordered an E, so can't do it yet ;-)

Cheers,

-matt

[fourbarposer]

No mention of the capacitors. Are they Japanese brand? The china/taiwan brands aren't commanding much respect lately and from reading about faulty oscopes and other electronics it always seem the electrolytics are the first to fail assuming there's no user abuse or environmental abnormality. Were there much surface mount caps? Because those are also high risk AFAIK and not so nice to replace.

[Tda7000]

@fourbarposer Exactly. They do not have a Rubycon or Panasonic vent shape for a start, and the vent looks too deep to be a Nichicon. I suspect they are some piece of junk.

Dave, please take another look and tell us what brand capacitors are in the PSU!

I know if I bought one of these I'd want to replace all the capacitors with Rubycon.

[vineyardst1]

Do you think 50 to 100 MHz trick works for RIGOL 1062D that I own. Can you point out to any firmware models that will work with it. It has an analog bandwith of 60MHz but the sample rate is only 400MHz.

[darrenhello2]

I can't understand something... If the ADCs are running at 100MHz, how it is possible that it has a sampling rate of 1Gs/s? Sorry if this may seem a silly question..

[ubuntututorials]

@darrenhello2 The ADCs are staggered so each receives a 100 MHz input but it's shifted slightly. This means the overall rate (if the ADCs are accessed sequentially) is 1 GSa/s.

[19Danyele87]

hi dave, yesterday i received my new Rigol DS1052E...i'm very happy for this new instrument on my minilab (at home) :P.

I've only used this for calibrate the probes whit the square signal of it, and i had measured the Vpp of 3.08V...i know that many oscilloscope have the calibration signal of 1Vpp...is this correct for your oscilloscope or no?

Now i have measure the amplitude of the test signal and is of:

3.08V

and 1 Khz

bye :)

[aeore101]

Thank you, interesting review!

Greetings from Odessa, Ukraine

[zanak]

great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge !!

greetings from Casablanca

[Vlakpage]

could it be also that they sort the ADCs and put worse in 50MHz version and the better into 100MHz?

[EEVblog]

Possible, but that's not cheap to do. I think it's more likely they have simply done extenisve R&D to determine it works fine and then perhaps periodic checking to make sure everything is ok.

[wendeltech]

Atten copies Rigol. Actually I was told by Rigol that LeCroy sells Atten Oscilloscopes as Low-Cost. LeCoroy actually seems to sell a customized copy sof a Chinese scope, crazy! Well, Rigol told me they try to sue Atten, and the actually have! In May I had been visiting Rigol in China, very impressive, nice company!

[combatwombat71]

Dave - given these are now 300-odd Aussie $ on Ebay, new, is it possible they are copies of the original Rigol? Is it known for a low-priced manufacturer to be ripped off? I've seen all the Icom radio copies etc. that come out of China, so is it possible the $300-odd scopes are copies of the quality scope we see in your video? Cheers - Rob

[EEVblog]

Someone used to rip off Rigol scopes years ago (hence their paranoia of rubbing off the chip numbers) but that hasn't happened for years. The prices have progressively dropping over the last 12 months, to the point where it's almost half what I paid for mine. So the aussie prices are on par with the US and china direct prices. No inkling of any rip-offs, so you are pretty safe.

[EEVblog]

But see the EEVblog forum for the odd report of some less than quality construction that I found in mine. But still no inkling of a rip-off, just variable production quality by the looks of it. Probably using a different assembly house trying to keep up with the high demand.

[tronplayer]

Dave, Did you ever find out what the difference was between the Rigol 50mhz scope and the 100mhz version? You said the internal components looked identical. I'm getting the 50mhz version and would be willing to attempt a 100mhz mod if possible. I wonder if it could possibly be just a variation in the software version?

[EEVblog]

Nothing yet I'm afraid, although I've hardly worked on it at all. A few people over at the EEVblog forum are looking into it, but nothing concrete as yet.

[emactan]

Got a DS1102E earlier this year. I feel so much better you gave it a two thumbs up. I've come to expect "Made in China" to be synonymous with low quality and fake. But my budget didn't allow for an Agilent or any real good brand.

Great vblog. More please!

[circuitdotlt]

There are actually a lot of minor software bugs that drives people crazy.. I own Rigol DS1022CD.. I can't stand some of the bugs, but can't do anything about it, as there are no firmware updates and support does not bother to answer any of my emails.

[sirhannick]

Just bought one because of your review. Thanks Dave! I will let you know how it works out for me and my automotive applications.

[wowcolors]

I would assume the ADC's run at 200Mhz for the 100Mhz model

[EEVblog]

No, the 100MHz model runs at the same 1GS/s rate, so 100MHz per ADC.

[conoba]

Nice to know I got my money's worth.

[123cyr]

I think the 40pin header is for a logic analyzer daughterboard for the MSO models.