Hello all,
Been lurking for a while now but now I really need help. Im going to be ordering a scope tomorrow after looking around for a long time.
I am in a situation right now where I can buy the scope but in about 3 months I will not be able to buy anything expensive anymore because where I'm moving to the shipping and import duties are extremely high, and my income is going to drop drastically
, so basically its now or never. No, moving was not my idea lol, but I have no choice. I'm already in the process of buying all the other things I think Ill need to set up a decent electronics lab: good multimeters, LCR meters, soldering stations, ESD mats, components, Panavises etc.
I'm studying electronics now but I'm actually a machinist and am going to be setting up my own machine shop in the beginning of next year. Right now I'm going to be using the scope to help me learn, but it is my intention that any electronics equipment I get right now be used to supplement the machining services in the future, even if I have to hire someone more experienced to deal with the electronics side of the business for me.
Since I do not know what the local market there will demand exactly (repairs, product development, etc.) I cannot say exactly how it will end up being used.
I do not know if I should get the DS2072A, the MSO2072A, or the MSO2072A-S. I have about $1500 to spend immediately. My original plan was to get the DS2072A and a Rigol DP832 power supply right now, then, in a month or so, a signal/arbitrary waveform generator and maybe, if I had the cash, a logic analyzer of some kind.
I read the manuals but I cannot tell, for example, if the logic analyzer built into the MSO2072A "shares the bandwidth" (not sure how to put this) with the scope. In other words, when using the Logic analyzer that's built into the scope, does that reduce the scopes bandwidth? If so, I think Id rather get a separate LA. And what about the waveform generator? Does that affect the usage of the scope itself?
The price difference between the DS and the MSO is $400. Is there a LA out there for $400 that is better than the one that comes in the MSO2072A? How about an arbitrary waveform generator for the $350 price difference?
I understand that its easier to answer questions like this when one knows exactly what they are going to be used for. However, in this case, by the time I finally find that out exactly I probably wont be able to get them anymore.