GDS-2000A series New economic oscilloscope by GW Instek comes to market

[grego]

Have you seen this competitive datasheet DPO2000B vs. GDS-2000A?

Marketing speak.  Honestly, Tek needs to get their crap together and come out with something people really want.  They are getting killed in the lower end scope ranges.

Notice (not that this is the only real point of comparison mind you) that they don't even mention wfm/s?  That's because the Tek is only 5000 wfm/s max whereas the Instek is 80,000.  That's not a metric you want to highlight.

[Hydrawerk]

Well, Tektronix DPO2000B can have active probes (that are bloody expensive). But that is not a big advantage for a hobbyist.

[echen1024]

Well, Tektronix DPO2000B can have active probes (that are bloody expensive). But that is not a big advantage for a hobbyist.

I don't think their target market is hobbyists. I think they are targeting the 1000 unit/order, institutional type.

[Yaksaredabomb]

... I think they are targeting the 1000 unit/order, institutional type.

I wonder who would possibly have a need to order 1000 scopes at once?  Maybe if all the universities in a state (or several states) all got together and decided on one?

Not meaning to be critical or take you too literally - it just provoked my imagination and now I'm wondering.

[echen1024]

... I think they are targeting the 1000 unit/order, institutional type.

I wonder who would possibly have a need to order 1000 scopes at once?  Maybe if all the universities in a state (or several states) all got together and decided on one?

Not meaning to be critical or take you too literally - it just provoked my imagination and now I'm wondering.

I don't know either. Just a random figure.

[Hydrawerk]

There is new firmware for this scope that fixes a lot of stuff apparently:
http://webfile.gwinstek.com/ftp/GDS-2000A/GDS2K_V1.17.upg
Will go install it now.

So is the scope better now? Was the intensity grading feature improved?

[Hydrawerk]

Now GW Instek published their firmware directly on their website. That's good. http://www.gwinstek.com.tw/en/product/productdetail.aspx?pid=3&mid=7&id=1349
Go to the Download section. Then go to the Software section.
Also please download the Firmware upgrade guide.

[Yaksaredabomb]

Now GW Instek published their firmware directly on their website. That's good. http://www.gwinstek.com.tw/en/product/productdetail.aspx?pid=3&mid=7&id=1349
Go to the Download section. Then go to the Software section.
Also please download the Firmware upgrade guide.

Sweet!  That is good news - thanks!

[marmad]

Sadly I'm still swamped and haven't had a chance to try out the update myself.  We'll see about this weekend.  I hope the knob sensitivity adjustment smoothes out the knob action.  The enhanced SW and VPO performance also sounds great - maybe someone will be clever enough to find a way to measure the performance improvements?

How about a report on the waveforms per second rate when you have the DSO set to AUTO record length? Using the tiny 1k SHORT length (which is how they measure their 80k wfrm/s) is a serious drawback for getting decent sample speeds at most timebases - so I'd like to see an honest chart reflecting the wfrm speeds when using a reasonable record length size.

[Hydrawerk]

And what do you think about the Trig Out signal? It has a very low level. Kiriakos wrote:

c) The Trigger-Out has an voltage range not higher than 200 mV AC, which varies significantly depending the time base of the scope and usually ranges from 120 mV to 5 mV and even less than that.

http://www.ittsb.eu/GDS-2102A%20Wfms%20measurments.html
But he was wrong with waveform update rate measurement...

[digsys]

Any updates on the GDS-2304A ? TM have a "show special?" at ~OZ$1770 (no options).
What was the comparison consensus / outcome? Thoughts?

[Hydrawerk]

New videos. Well, GW Instek guys should buy a HD video camera.

[Hydrawerk]

GW Instek GDS-2000A is now sold rebranded as Texio DCS-9700 Series.
DCS-9700??
http://www.texio.co.jp/en/03prod_01_03_DCS-9700.html

[AndersAnd]

GW Instek GDS-2000A is now sold rebranded as Texio DCS-9700 Series.

http://www.texio.co.jp/en/03prod_01_03_DCS-9700.html

Good Will Instrument Co., Ltd. [a.k.a. GW Instek] is now the owner of Texio [formerly Kenwood TMI] according to Texio's website:
Company: http://www.texio.co.jp/en/02comp_02.html

Shareholder   Good Will Instrument Co., Ltd.

History: http://www.texio.co.jp/en/02comp_03.html

2012
...Established TEXIO TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION affiliated of GOOD WILL INSTRUMENTS CO.,LTD
Power supply and electric measuring instruments business have been transferred to TEXIO TECHNOLOGY from NIKKE TECHNO SYSTEM...

[Hydrawerk]

A review by Kiriakos.
http://www.ittsb.eu/GDS-2102A%20Mini%20review%20.html

[Hydrawerk]

As Dave mentioned before, the VPO performance is not good at GDS-2000A scopes.

This is how it should look like.
http://youtu.be/_TSr9nFN1GU?t=12m20s

[Hydrawerk]

Other examples of good VPO performance.

[Prismattery]

Fast question. This GW instek GDS-2072A vs RIGOL DS2072A. Which one to choose?

Will be used for hobby projects and some more advanced power electronics projects.

[Yaksaredabomb]

Fast question. This GW instek GDS-2072A vs RIGOL DS2072A. Which one to choose?

Will be used for hobby projects and some more advanced power electronics projects.

For 70 MHz, 2 analog channels, and no digital channels most will probably agree the Rigol is better.

I wanted more bandwidth (200MHz) and 4 channels, though, so I went with the Instek as it was far more cost effective than anything else with the same specs at the time I bought it.  Plus there was a great deal on the 8-channel LA option at the time (slightly over 50% off) so I went for that too - which wouldn't have been a possibility with the Rigol.  Sadly I *still* have yet to use it much so I can hardly say anything about how well I like it.  There are several hobby projects I was pretty excited about but the rest of life keeps getting in the way.

Good luck!

[Joel_l]

Hi,

I'm thinking about returning the Siglent SDS1204 I just bought ( not very happy with many aspects of it ) and trying the GDS-2204A. I see that there has been several FW updates since the lack of a fine adjustment on the vertical scales was brought up and fed back to Instek. Does anyone know if fine vertical adjustment been added?

Thanks

Joel

[Hydrawerk]

I do not think so... Fine control was not added IMHO.
It seems that this scope is suitable for you if you need quite cheap four channel  scope and you do not need good VPO performance or high waveform update rate. Also the search function might be useful. You have probably seen Dave's video, have you?


Note the crap function generator. Nowadays you can buy Rigol DS2000 with arbitrary generator.
On the other hand, GW Instek will last longer IMHO. It does not have such a powerful hardwware, but it should be durable.
And I think that even that expensive GDS-3000 series has no fine vertical control.
Contact your authorized dealer for more info.

[Joel_l]

I did watch parts of Dave's video ( a lot of skipping ahead ). What I want from a scope I thought was basic, stable display of simple wave forms and reasonably accurate measurements. I get neither from the 1204. It would also be nice to have independent control of timebase and sample rate within the abilities of the scope and memory depth. On paper the GDS -2000A's look interesting.

Joel

[Hydrawerk]

Oh, was it so bad with that Siglent? They sell the same model as LeCroy WaveAce, I think. http://teledynelecroy.com/oscilloscope/oscilloscopemodel.aspx?modelid=6886&capid=102&mid=504

[Joel_l]

I did hear back from Siglent on my issues and they said they were addressed in the latest firmware. Now I waiting to hear why FW x.12 (on their website) is later than FW x.33 ( on my scope ). In the end, if the issues are addressed, I will be happy with the 1204. To keep things on topic in this thread, see my thread SDS1204CFL to track progress on this issue if you are interested.

Joel