TDS 3054 Replacement

[TaylorD93]

Hi Everyone,

Currently I have a Tek TDS3054B scope on my bench, but I'd like something with a bigger screen. Other than that my TDS3054 is overkill for my needs really.

I rarely use all 4 channels, 2 will probably do, but I have been toying with the idea of buying a new Siglent SDS2104X plus, then hacking it go 500MHz BW (if that is still possible)

Granted I don't need the full 500MHz BW but it's nice to have access too.

I'm curious to hear the general concensus if I'm better sticking with the older Tek scope or perhaps replace it with the newer Siglent.

Thanks,
Taylor

[Njk]

As a previous owner, the only advice I can give is think twice before start thinking about a replacement. It's still a very good instrument. Nothing revolutionary has happened since that time. A new thing of that class will cost you a fortune and I'm afraid it will not last so long. Don't listen to propaganda from a greedy instrument trolls. If you need some special functionality, much better way would be to buy a special plastic box as an augmentation tool. These are cheap now. So as long as your scope is working, use it and be happy with it.

[bdunham7]

It's not a lateral move and would probably take some adjustment.  Whether it is a good choice or not depends a lot on how you use it. 

The SDS2000X+ main pros would be the larger screen, low-noise front end with 10-bit mode, much more memory (200M vs 10K), all options included or hackable (power analysis, FFT, advanced triggering, etc etc),. Others may suggest features they think are important as there is much, much more.  The cons, relative to the Tek TDS3054B are (again, IMO, YMMV) the lower sample rate, no TekProbe interface and a bit more obtuse AI and general setup.  My main gripe is the way that MATH channels are set up and that the ERES and AVG function are only done in separate MATH channels--of which there are only two. 

If you think the Tek is 'overkill' for you and you don't need 5GSa/s and TekProbe, then the SDS2000X+ might offer you some advanced features that are useful.  The 200M samples allow you to capture at incredibly slow rates and still zoom way in.  To be specific, you can capture at 10ms/div and zoom in to 1ns/div/. 

The TDS3054B is still a very nice scope and there's a reason they still sell for big bucks on eBay.  A more 'fair' comparison based on class and price would be the Siglent SDS5000X series. 

Maybe give some specific examples of how you use the scope and you might get some more informative comments.

[coromonadalix]

unless going in the tds 5k tds7k series ?? but they are old too


pls take into account calibration and servicing if needed

yes  sds2k   series seems promising

Micsig  scope tablet ??

hantek  usb scopes ??  other brand too ??

[alm]

The SDS2000X+ main pros would be the larger screen, low-noise front end with 10-bit mode, much more memory (200M vs 10K), all options included or hackable (power analysis, FFT, advanced triggering, etc etc),.

All software options, including advanced triggering and FFT, are also unlockable on the  TDS3k, although admittedly less advanced

[nctnico]

Micsig  scope tablet ??

Those are a nice option as well. Big screen for relatively low cost.

[tautech]

Hi Everyone,

Currently I have a Tek TDS3054B scope on my bench, but I'd like something with a bigger screen. Other than that my TDS3054 is overkill for my needs really.

I rarely use all 4 channels, 2 will probably do, but I have been toying with the idea of buying a new Siglent SDS2104X plus, then hacking it go 500MHz BW (if that is still possible)

3054B is just 5" display is it not ?
Maybe the often overlooked 2ch 200 MHz SDS2202X-E convinced to be SDS2352X-E could be adequate for your needs ?
If you really want the 10" touch screen experience with luck you might find some remaining from the big promotion of Nov and Dec however not still at that great price but they were also offered with a free options bundle.
We have some coming that will have that leftover and we also stocked up large on the then really cheap MSO offering.
You've got a couple of Siglent dealers in the UK so go knocking on their doors and see what they might do. 

[bdunham7]

All software options, including advanced triggering and FFT, are also unlockable on the  TDS3k, although admittedly less advanced

Yeah, I forgot about that.  I wish I could get hold of one of those now-unneeded option keys so that I could reprogram it to "TPS2PWR1" for my TPS2024. 

[james_s]

IMHO there's nothing on the market that is a decent replacement for a TDS3000 for under about $10k. There's a VGA interface available to drive an external monitor, it has been reverse engineered so duplicating that functionality is not too hard.

[tautech]

IMHO there's nothing on the market that is a decent replacement for a TDS3000 for under about $10k. There's a VGA interface available to drive an external monitor, it has been reverse engineered so duplicating that functionality is not too hard.

Suggest you look hard at SDS5034X @ $6k. The 350 MHz SDS5034X is $3700.....you can nearly buy 3 for $ 10k ! 

I'd still have my SDS5054X converted to SDS5104X if the SDS6000A models weren't available.

[james_s]

Suggest you look hard at SDS5034X @ $6k. The 350 MHz SDS5034X is $3700.....you can nearly buy 3 for $ 10k ! 

I'd still have my SDS5054X converted to SDS5104X if the SDS6000A models weren't available.

The SDS5034X is only 350MHz, the TDS3000 is 500MHz, that's a big difference if you need the bandwidth. The lack of TekProbe interfaces is a big negative for me too, but less important for those that don't already have probes that make use of it.

[tautech]

Suggest you look hard at SDS5034X @ $6k. The 350 MHz SDS5034X is $3700.....you can nearly buy 3 for $ 10k ! 

I'd still have my SDS5054X converted to SDS5104X if the SDS6000A models weren't available.

The SDS5034X is only 350MHz, the TDS3000 is 500MHz, that's a big difference if you need the bandwidth. The lack of TekProbe interfaces is a big negative for me too, but less important for those that don't already have probes that make use of it.

Got that covered:
https://siglentna.com/products/accessories/probes/probe-adapters/

Anyways, lots cheaper than the $10k you previously offered.

[bdunham7]

The SDS5034X is only 350MHz, the TDS3000 is 500MHz, that's a big difference if you need the bandwidth. The lack of TekProbe interfaces is a big negative for me too, but less important for those that don't already have probes that make use of it.

This is the replacement dilemma.  Often newer and generally better products don't have everything the older ones do.  There's always something missing.  My 2465B can do dual-B-sweeps and you can look at an expansion of the rising and falling edge of the same pulse simultaneously.  It has Z-axis blanking for vector graphics.  I'm sure there's more.  But it sits under my bench because those aren't the features I commonly need.  If the OP isn't using any of the specific extraordinary capabilities of the TDS3054B, then there's not much point in passing up the much-expanded other capabilities of a newer scope.

But there's no need to argue.  I'd prefer to have both.

[TaylorD93]

Hi All,

Thanks for the comments, Im not bothered about the touch screen itself, just the larger display, if i could ive always fancied a Tek MSO3054 (although it is quoted as 2.5Gs/s) as the display is much larger and i had the opportunity to use one at work at a previous job and absolutely loved it. But they are still out of my budget.

Granted the TDS3054 does the job very well, as i said in the OP the display is a bit on the small side, other than that i do wonder how long its going to last (already replaced the PSU and the DALLAS battery). Perhaps i should stick with it until it does actually fail.

In the mean time i will see if i can get my hands on an SDS2000x+ for an hour or so and see how it behaves.

Cheers,
Taylor

[tautech]

,Thanks for the comments, Im not bothered about the touch screen itself, just the larger display,......
In the mean time i will see if i can get my hands on an SDS2000x+ for an hour or so and see how it behaves.

Some ppl aren't and TBH I hardly use it however the mouse capable part of the touch display is more valuable than you might imagine, so much so I always connect a mouse now. Even adjusting some settings using the scroll wheel or tapping an input box to bring out the virtual keyboard makes for more efficient use than needing to do any inputs with the front panel controls.
I think after a few hours with one you'll be impressed.

[zrq]

I had used a DPO3054 for a while at work, it indeed have a big screen, but the resolution is just WVGA so I wasn't really impressed. Ours got a half-broken multipurpose knob, and we had a "great" time fighting with it.

[alm]

Got that covered:
https://siglentna.com/products/accessories/probes/probe-adapters/

Reports on compatibility do not seem very positive however: auto detection of scale factor and impedance are not working, offset control is limited to only 20% of the voltage range and there is no offset function for probes that do not support an offset via pin 5. Based on this, I would recommend against buying it unless you verify that the specific probes you want to use with them are not affected by these problems, so it has an offset control independent of the scope. For example the Tek ADA-400A:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/help-needed-siglent-tpa10-tektronix-tekprobe-offset-not-working/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-tpa10-i-want-to-get-off-mr-bones-wild-ride/

[richmit]

Hi Everyone,

Currently I have a Tek TDS3054B scope on my bench, but I'd like something with a bigger screen. Other than that my TDS3054 is overkill for my needs really.

I rarely use all 4 channels, 2 will probably do, but I have been toying with the idea of buying a new Siglent SDS2104X plus, then hacking it go 500MHz BW (if that is still possible)

Granted I don't need the full 500MHz BW but it's nice to have access too.

I'm curious to hear the general concensus if I'm better sticking with the older Tek scope or perhaps replace it with the newer Siglent.

Thanks,
Taylor

I was in the same position a couple years ago.  I had a TDS3054B with all the options, but was looking a more modern scope.  I got the SDS2000X+, and have been happy with it.  That said, I still have and use my Tek!  Sometimes it's for the increased sample rate of the TDS3K, but usually it's some feature the SDS is missing (for example XY-mode features like Z input, tracking cursors, phase cursors, angle measurement, etc...).  The SDS is on my bench all the time, and the Tek comes out once a month or so.

If I were buying a TDS3K replacement today, didn't care about MSO, and could live with 200MHz...  I would consider the Rigol DHO1K or DHO4K.  Oh, and the fan on the DHOs are super loud, so you should feel right at home as a TDS3k owner.

[smps]

Hello, do you have data dump of TPS2PWR1? thanks

[bdunham7]

Hello, do you have data dump of TPS2PWR1? thanks

IIRC, the entire data written to the EEPROM of the TPS2PWR1 key module is..... "TPS2PWR1".