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

[Wuerstchenhund]

You can never go wrong with Agilent.

Oh, believe me, you can. BTST.

[grego]

It's under the Acquire menu (which I didn't leave up in this since it was single shot).  Basically, bring up the Acquire menu and one of the buttons shows the sample rate.  I upped the timebase until it read 10MSPS and then single shot it.

Nice... any chance you can do the exact same thing one more time in 'dots' mode (no interpolation)? I know, I know, I'm keeping you from your kid's soccer - or Iron Man 3 - but it won't take too much more time 

Attached.  Interestingly at the lower timebase it looks like its connecting the dots -- I included two so you can clearly see it's in dots rather than vectors.

[Hydrawerk]

Wuerstchenhund
Oh, I know. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/agilent-u1272a-crappy-soldering/
Or do you have another bad experience?

[marmad]

Attached.  Interestingly at the lower timebase it looks like its connecting the dots -- I included two so you can clearly see it's in dots rather than vectors.

Thanks for taking the time, Greg. Though I'm not 100% sure I'm understanding whats happening: are you saying it's displaying the dots until you go below a certain time base setting - and then all of a sudden the interpolation comes back on again? If so, that sounds like it might be a bug - there would be no logical reason for having the firmware override your settings.

[grego]

Attached.  Interestingly at the lower timebase it looks like its connecting the dots -- I included two so you can clearly see it's in dots rather than vectors.

Thanks for taking the time, Greg. Though I'm not 100% sure I'm understanding whats happening: are you saying it's displaying the dots until you go below a certain time base setting - and then all of a sudden the interpolation comes back on again? If so, that sounds like it might be a bug - there would be no logical reason for having the firmware override your settings.

That's what I'm saying - those two pictures above were the exact same capture, the only difference is the time base setting I zoomed in to.  I can't think of anything else that's happening there since it's a continuous line in the 200ns image.

[Wuerstchenhund]

Or do you have another bad experience?

Yes, unfortunately with gear that's a bit more expensive. As mentioned in another thread, we had quite a lot of problems with our Agilent Infiniium scopes (54800A Series, the first gen running Win95/98, and also with some 86100As which suddenly stopped recognizing plugin modules). 'My' not that old DSO9404A at work has already had two repairs, luckily enough covered by warranty but still not great.

Of course these could have been all just Monday morning lemons but it's still not great. At the end of the day, just because product made by a manufacturer are great doesn't mean another product from the same manufacturer is, too. Generally Agilent makes really good and reliable kit, but like other manufacturers they have their fair share of problems, too.

Therefore I think saying you can't go wrong with Agilent is a bit naïve.

[marmad]

That's what I'm saying - those two pictures above were the exact same capture, the only difference is the time base setting I zoomed in to.  I can't think of anything else that's happening there since it's a continuous line in the 200ns image.

Strange - I'd pass that along to the GW-Instek folks you've been in contact with. As I said, it seems like a bug since the main point of turning off interpolation is usually to zoom in and examine the actual sample points.

Of course, you could test the parameters easy enough (you don't even need a signal - zero volts input works just the same) by just stopping and zooming into various time/div settings. Maybe there is a particular factor that invokes it.

[grego]

I passed the dot/vector thing along to Instek yesterday.  In the meantime (this morning) I was notified of a new firmware release (fast and furious from these guys):

The V1.14 update history includes
 
-          Enhance EXT Channel Trigger Stability
-          Fixed „Measure display all" issue
-          Fixed Horizontal Line display error
-          Fixed Search issue
-          Fixed bus decode issue
-          Fixed FG setting issue on default

[Electro Fan]

It's called "terror of the unknown".

I'm trying to find some time to do some follow-up work - marmad had a couple of questions he PM'd me and I know there's interest in the LA module so that'll likely be my next effort.  I just have to get one of my dev kits set up to provide some RS-232 and I2C and such so I can demonstrate it.

If I ever get off my butt I may do a teardown as well.

Ah, if only I didn't have a job and a family and had unlimited funds this would be so much easier!

Thanks for the thumbs up.

Hi grego,

Just a nudge to say whenever you get a chance to do a review of the LA functionality (especially for I2C and maybe SPI?) it would be great to get your impressions!  Thanks!

[grego]

Yeah I know - I've been planning on getting to it for a week or so now just haven't had time.  Darn kids and their soccer tournaments.  And Mother's Day!  Like they need a day for themselves.  Sheesh!

[EEVblog]

FYI
Goodwill are sending me a GDS-2000A direct for teardown.

[grego]

FYI
Goodwill are sending me a GDS-2000A direct for teardown.

Hooray!  I knew if I kept pestering them they'd get around to it sooner or later!

[Hydrawerk]

FYI
Goodwill are sending me a GDS-2000A direct for teardown.

That's great... I am looking forward to a comparison with DSOX2000 or Rigol DS2000.

[Yaksaredabomb]

Marmad pointed me to your video [grego] and I have to echo everyone else in saying nice work for a first video!  It was a very helpful first introduction to the scope for me, and I'll be eagerly waiting with the others to learn more in your future videos (when life allows)!

[edit - somehow forgot to mention who I was writing to!]

[Hydrawerk]

Dave or grego, could you please make a comparison table of GDS-2000A like this?
Kiriakos already made a table, but the results look strange. http://www.ittsb.eu/GDS-2102A%20Wfms%20measurments.html

Regarding the Table No 2 and those 140,000 wfms/s in those low Time base settings, my measurements are all correct, and totally repeatable.

Those readings it can possibly cause some confusion when it comes to direct comparisons, mostly because this increase of wfms/s is totally undocumented in the specifications of the GDS-2102A. 

? ? ? ?

[Hydrawerk]

Thanks for the video, grego.

Well, I like the permanent clock on the screen. It has even seconds.

[Hydrawerk]

Another video made by GW Instek guys.

[Teneyes]

Another video made by GW Instek guys.

   I think the Instek Demo Guy is incorrect in commenting at the end of the demo about the Overshoot and Under-Shoot, which I think are just Sin(x)/x interpolation effect like the one shown below.

[marmad]

   I think the Instek Demo Guy is incorrect in commenting at the end about the overshoot and Under-Shoot, which I think are just Sin(x)/x interpolation effect like the one shown below.

But he does highlight a problem with the Brand X-2000: on the DS2000, you can go all the way down to 2ms/div without the sample rate dropping below 2GSa/a - and I think on the Instek you can go down to 50us/div.

[mike1305]

FYI
Goodwill are sending me a GDS-2000A direct for teardown.

Any news on this front, Dave?

[Hydrawerk]

I finally watched the video.  Well, that's no new information that GDS-2000A has longer memory. But you can buy a memory upgrade for DSOX2002A (or someone should hack it). GDS-2000A doesn't have longest memory in its class, it's rather Rigol DS2000 (unless you need 4-channel scope.) GW Instek guys should buy a better camera IMHO. I wonder what's the waveform update rate of GDS-2000A at timebase 10ns... Probably about 500 waveforms per second or so??
Why does the GW Instek guy talk about brand X oscilloscope? The video looks amateurish anyway...

[EEVblog]

Any news on this front, Dave?

It is sitting right next to me.
Might do a rough  unboxing and "first impressions" video today.

[Hydrawerk]

I am looking forward to it!

[marmad]

I finally watched the video. 

You posted it here but didn't watch it?

Well, that's no new information that GDS-2000A has longer memory.

New for who? I doubt the video was made for EEVBlog members. 

But you can buy a memory upgrade for DSOX2002A.

But obviously he is making a comparison of base models - not options you need to spend extra money on.

[Electro Fan]

Hi Greg,

Just a couple more requests for when you get to testing/reviewing/reporting on the Instek LA capabilities

1. Here is a question/comment from an earlier poster:
"Does the digital channels also work in Roll display mode, Tek scopes don't. And if they do how far does the bus decode display lag behind the channel signals, on my Agilent the decoded signals be it I2C or parallel bus the display falls behind like they are runners on a track but will "catch up" smoothly if I press stop."
- Please let us know how the Instek fares along these lines.  Thx

2. Here is a link to a youtube video. 


It happens to show an Arduino clone but more interesting toward the middle end of the video it shows an admittedly very expensive Tek MDO (mixed domain) scope in operation that has some pretty nice LA / analog (RF) signal integration including decoders.  I realize the Instek doesn't do RF signals (although those could be a proxy for other wired analog signals) but any chance you might take a peek at this and share and thoughts regarding how the Instek's capabilities might compare and contrast?

Mostly interested in how well the analog and digital signals on the Instek stay synchronized and if the decodeers work as nice as the RS232 decoder showed in the video.

Thanks!