Need urgent advice on which scope to buy to record waveforms

[rstofer]

Before I gave up on the Siglent, I would read about the History functionality.  I have no idea what it does but it seems to be a step in the right direction.

I am far from an expert with the RECORD feature of the Rigol DS1054Z but it seems to work.  I chose to record just one frame and then ran the FFT on the stored waveform.  It would be better to post a new thread requesting user experience with RECORD.

Anyway, here is the waveform and FFT:

[rstofer]

OK thanks everyone, I ve just did everything with my analog discovery 2 - did not know it has a recording mode.

Still would be happy to buy a great scope as this occasion made me unhappy about my entry level siglent - it was useless for me. I definitely made a wrong choice when I bought it, shame on me for not doing any due diligence.

So I am still interested what is the best scope on the market these days, with the recording feature, with the ability to run the FFT on the fragment of the recorded wave etc.

Best?  Probably one of the $150,000 Keysights!  Just guessing...

Bang for the buck?  Probably the Rigol DS1054Z.

Better scopes abound but they start at 3x the cost and go up from there.  I would drive a stake in the ground for price or you will get replies from entry level to top-of-the-line.

[dimbmw]

Before I gave up on the Siglent, I would read about the History functionality.  I have no idea what it does but it seems to be a step in the right direction.

I am far from an expert with the RECORD feature of the Rigol DS1054Z but it seems to work.  I chose to record just one frame and then ran the FFT on the stored waveform.  It would be better to post a new thread requesting user experience with RECORD.

Anyway, here is the waveform and FFT:

I do not see the Y axis on the FFT part, ho do one knows what the levels are? Is there a way to turn the X cursor on the FFT screen and see the levels?

[rf-loop]

What was carrier frequency, real carrier level and modulation frequency and depth % in previous Rigol example?


Here:

Siglent SDS1102X(+)
Input 50ohm, signal 5kHz sine carrier level -6dBm, AM with 1kHz sine and modulation depth 50%.

Scope run normally and stopped for looking history buffer and there was 93 last horizontal sweeps. (biggest number is last acquisition) Displayed here frame 37 (56 back from stop moment. FFT.   FFT level Ref -3dBm. 10dB/div.  Horizontal 2kHz/div. (manually moved center for 7kHz)

For low frequency (audio) FFT analyzing I will recommend - just sound card and some good software. (if your signal is suitable for these)
For RF analyzing. Real SA.

If use scope what have limited processing power for FFT and very limited data length for FFT there is other way. If in hobby use  one have time and time is not money, as it is in profession works. I do not know how in other scopes but with Siglent, just insert USB stick and save waveform .CSV. (Or transfer using PC with EasyScopeX) Then use what ever suitable software for FFT (or what ever kind of analyze) (Warning: 14Msample .CSV file is - huge.  Look your software limits)



if push "Math" button there can see FFT current settings. Cursors can use for FFT (selecting cursor source Math instead of CH1 or CH2 or Ref A or Ref B).  In this image level is dBm, scale 10dB/div and Reference (top) level -3dBm.

[dimbmw]

What was carrier frequency, real carrier level and modulation frequency and depth % in previous Rigol example?


Here:

Siglent SDS1102X(+)
Input 50ohm, signal 5kHz sine carrier level -6dBm, AM with 1kHz sine and modulation depth 50%.

Scope run normally and stopped for looking history buffer and there was 93 last horizontal sweeps. (biggest number is last acquisition) Displayed here frame 37 (56 back from stop moment. FFT.   FFT level Ref -3dBm. 10dB/div.  Horizontal 2kHz/div. (manually moved center for 7kHz)

For low frequency (audio) FFT analyzing I will recommend - just sound card and some good software. (if your signal is suitable for these)
For RF analyzing. Real SA.

If use scope what have limited processing power for FFT and very limited data length for FFT there is other way. If in hobby use  one have time and time is not money, as it is in profession works. I do not know how in other scopes but with Siglent, just insert USB stick and save waveform .CSV. (Or transfer using PC with EasyScopeX) Then use what ever suitable software for FFT (or what ever kind of analyze) (Warning: 14Msample .CSV file is - huge.  Look your software limits)



if push "Math" button there can see FFT current settings. Cursors can use for FFT (selecting cursor source Math instead of CH1 or CH2 or Ref A or Ref B).  In this image level is dBm, scale 10dB/div and Reference (top) level -3dBm.

So in your example - is the FFT run on just one frame or entire waveform?