Should I buy a Rigol or a Tektronix oscilloscope?

Question

The scopes for Rigol appear to be half the price of comparable ones from Tek. I have used both, and don't see an appreciable difference in quality.

The problem is I'd like to buy american. If I buy Rigol, it is a certainty that it was designed and manufactured in asia. On the other hand, I visited the Tek website. The only thing I could glean from it is a blurb about how to identify the country of origin from the serial numbers. So at least some of the stuff they make is outside of the USA. Anyway, I'm leaning towards the Rigol.

BTW, don't even mention LeCroy scopes to me. I do not like them. And Agilent scopes are even more overpriced than Tek.

Anyone oscope aficionados care to weigh in?

Answer 1

Tektronix certainly have a good name.



However. prices for spares are a ripp-off. The U.K. distributor was charging over £40 for a diode.



Be warned, Tektronix 'scopes, like Jaguar cars (I've got one of those too), cost a LOT to repair.

Answer 2

I'd lean towards Tek as well. If you can't afford new there are plenty of places offering re-furbs at reasonable prices. If not a Tek I'd go for an HP. Under 300MHz bandwidth I'd opt for an analog scope rather than a digital. You might want to look at PC add in cards as well.

Answer 3

First, full disclosure, I work for Agilent.



Having said that, I would encourage you to see what we are launching on February 15th. While we aren't as inexpensive as the Rigol scope, you will likely be pleasantly surprised to see the amount of scope you can get from Agilent for about the same price as Tek's TDS1KC or TDS2KC. For more info, go here:



http://app.oscilloscope.agilent.com/e/es.aspx?s=1593&e=2848&elq=0dd0f7e941984b4eaa92c5ab8f0197d2



Or check out our Facebook page:



http://www.facebook.com/agilent.scopes



Good luck with your purchase (whatever Scope you end up choosing)!



-Rich

Answer 4

Rigol Tektronix Oscilloscope

Answer 5

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Most modern oscilloscopes are digital. The prime specs that affect price are bandwidth in MHz or as rise time, sampling rate in Ms/s, resolution in bits, input sensitivity in mV/division and sample/memory/display length in samples. Other points of interest are the number of channels, and maybe fourier transforms (to display frequency spectrum), and how to get the data or display to your computer to publish waveforms. At this price range I would expect that 25-100MHz bandwidth (10%-90% rise time of 14 to 3.5ns) is available. The highest possible bandwidth is important if you are viewing logic circuits so you can detect glitches. Analogue TV requires at least 25MHz for a reasonable accuracy. Radio frequency circuits will be useful up to 50% of the bandwidth, remembering that even a 10 megohm probe has a low impedance (capacitive) at 50MHz. If it is just power supplies, audio, a 25MHz bandwidth will do. Otherwise 60 or 100MHz depending on price. The sample rate determines how many points are displayed at the highest frequency (fastest timebase). About 100 samples across the display is desirable. This helps with interpolation of the samples. Thus a 100MHz bandwidth should be 1Gs/s, so 100 samples at a timebase of 1ns/division. Vertical resolution may be 8 bits, limited to 6 bits at the upper frequency limit of bandwidth. Some lower frequency oscilloscopes are 12 bits, useful for analogue circuits like audio. Noise is another related issue. Input sensitivity is important for analogue signals. Ideally 1 or 2mV/division, where noise will start to be visible. Many are only 5mV/division, which is probably OK for logic levels. If you are viewing mains and similar voltage power supplies or inverters the input voltage rating and isolation may be important. Dual channel is desirable, because you often wish to compare two signals or view more than one signal at a time. For logic more than 2 channels may be useful. A long sample memory makes it easy to capture a relatively long event and then scan through it at a faster timebase to look for details. This is sometimes called delay time base or dual or A/B timebase. This is handy for analogue TV, data analysis etc. The fourier transform is not always so great because of the limited vertical resolution (dynamic range). Look up the brand Atten for an example in your price range. Another idea is a module that attaches to a PC using USB or ethernet interface. This can be cheaper, as the PC is used for control and display. Sometimes these have higher resolution than faster oscilloscopes but limited bandwidth or sample rate. They may also have other instruments built in like a multimeter, spectrum analyser (fourier transform) function generator etc. These are more likely to be attractive for lower frequency observation with analogue signals. It is best to have a dedicated PC if it is used a lot. Probably an older laptop or desktop PC will do though. The link below is a review of the Atten, and another brand to look at is Rigol.

Answer 6

I prefer Tektronix scopes and B+K (BK Precision) is my second choice.



Consider how and where you will get the scope repaired and calibrated. In my opinion due to their wide usage Tek scopes are easier to find 2nd party repair and calibration services for. Also a Tek scope will maintain a higher resale value.