MSO option on the Siglent SDS1104X-E

[gsuberland]

Hi all,

First, thanks to the folks who maintain the fantastic scope spreadsheet. That thing is awesome!

I've already got an ancient Philips/Fluke PM3040 analogue scope (gorgeous but huge and unwieldy), a Picoscope 3206B (200MHz, 2ch), and an Open Workbench Logic Sniffer, but I'm looking for a lightweight desk scope that doesn't require an external PC, with the particular requirement of 8ch or 16ch digital inputs.

I was looking at the excellent Siglent SDS1104X-E that Dave reviewed in #1042, but I can't make sense of the options. There's SLA1016 which is the actual probe, and SDS1000X-E-16LA which is the software, but neither of those is useful without the other, so I'm confused as to why there are two separate addons with different (rather high) prices. From what I can see, the combined price of the two addons would be more than the original price of the scope! Is this really correct, or am I getting confused?

If this is the case, what's the most cost-effective method (other than half-inching one off the back of a lorry) of getting hold of a scope to the following specs:

• MSO with 2ch/4ch analog inputs and 8ch/16ch digital, with necessary probes and software.
• 70MHz or higher bandwidth
• 1GSa/s or more
• I2C, SPI, UART, CAN decoding support. DMX and I2S would also be handy, but I can break out my PicoScope for those occasions.
• Ability to save trace data to PC, via USB or SD card (or similar) would be helpful too.

Budget is fairly flexible but I'd like to keep it below 650GBP if possible. Any ideas?

Cheers!

[nctnico]

GW Instek MSO2000 series. You'll have to increase your budget depending on your bandwidth requirement but this scope will work as advertised out of the box and no external boxes for the function generator and logic inputs.

[gsuberland]

Oof, you're not wrong on the budget side there. The base model (MSO-2072E) is £1150. Any cheaper options, or is this wishful thinking?

[nctnico]

Maybe an older scope from Agilent but these usually don't come with the logic probes on the used market and may need purchasing extra options hacking to enable the decoding and MSO options.

[gsuberland]

I don't mind a bit of self-improvement on a scope, and second hand isn't a problem either. Older models are fine as long as the screen is decent - anything below SVGA is likely to annoy the hell out of me.

Any ideas on what models I should take a look for?

[nctnico]

DSO/MSO6000 series could be a good start. You'll need some patience and the courage to haggle the prices down though.

[tautech]

I was looking at the excellent Siglent SDS1104X-E that Dave reviewed in #1042, but I can't make sense of the options. There's SLA1016 which is the actual probe, and SDS1000X-E-16LA which is the software, but neither of those is useful without the other, so I'm confused as to why there are two separate addons with different (rather high) prices. From what I can see, the combined price of the two addons would be more than the original price of the scope! Is this really correct, or am I getting confused?

No you have it pretty correct based on the info we have for the MSO options to date.
We're all a bit shocked on the price of the options and they've not been seen in the wild yet.
As the MSO pod is not available yet it would be good to hold off for a bit and see what it's all about.
Mid Dec availability is what I've been told.

I'd like to see the MSO price revised as it's a bit OTT IMO.