Rigol DS1102E worth $50?

[MacMeter]

Met a temporary worker on recent job that said he bought 2 Rigol DS1102E scopes (used I assume), and would sell me one for $50. As he went on vacation for a week I don't have anymore details on it yet, other then a photo he texted me. I read all the old posts here about 7-8 years old now and had a few questions.

First, I've never owned an oscilloscope before, and don't have the electronics background or education to make an educated opinion on them. My thoughts were that since this model was well regarded in its day, and is still being sold new for approximately $300, that if it's in good working condition, it might be a good value at $50, to learn with.

As of this writing I'm not sure if the original test leads are supplied, but it seems the originals or updated leads can still be purchased, I've read it's important to match the leads with the scope, so I assume original or matching leads are a "must"?

I'm also totally ignorant on how to test if an old digital scope is still accurate, and if not if there is an inexpensive option to have these discount Chinese branded Rigol scopes recalibrated?

Does buying this OLD model scope for $50 make sense to learn on and do simple measurements seem like a good idea?

Thanks for the help!

[gnavigator1007]

Definitely worth the $50. I won a bunch from the auction and have sold them with p6100 probes and power cable only for $160-$250 depending mostly on cosmetic condition. It is definitely a decent enough beginner scope as long as it does work.

[dimkasta]

50$ is suspiciously low
Are they in good working condition? Or does he sell them "as is"? Do you trust him?

Keep in mind that they tend to have bouncy encoders. If this is their only problem, you can replace those yourself easily.

[MacMeter]

Definitely worth the $50. I won a bunch from the auction and have sold them with p6100 probes and power cable only for $160-$250 depending mostly on cosmetic condition. It is definitely a decent enough beginner scope as long as it does work.

Assuming I don't have to buy leads, how can I test if it's still accurate or needs calibration?

[MacMeter]

50$ is suspiciously low
Are they in good working condition? Or does he sell them "as is"? Do you trust him?

Keep in mind that they tend to have bouncy encoders. If this is their only problem, you can replace those yourself easily.

I only trust that a new person looking to get into the work field I'm in would NOT attempt to rip me off. He simply said he does not need two of them, and I assume he got them both at such a good price that he is willing to sell me one to help me get started with scopes. Even if I had it in my hands, knowing nothing about them, makes me a poor judge.

[rstofer]

Definitely worth the $50. I won a bunch from the auction and have sold them with p6100 probes and power cable only for $160-$250 depending mostly on cosmetic condition. It is definitely a decent enough beginner scope as long as it does work.

Assuming I don't have to buy leads, how can I test if it's still accurate or needs calibration?

You can start with the User Manual.  You should be able to remove all probes and do an auto-calibrate.
There is a 1 kHz probe compensation output and if you probe it, you should get a square wave with a frequency of 1 kHz at 3V peak-to-peak.  Pick a convenient V/div and Time/div and see how the waveform looks.  You can also use the Vp-p and Freq measurement capability.

[beenosam]

Definitely worth the $50. I won a bunch from the auction and have sold them with p6100 probes and power cable only for $160-$250 depending mostly on cosmetic condition. It is definitely a decent enough beginner scope as long as it does work.

Assuming I don't have to buy leads, how can I test if it's still accurate or needs calibration?

Assuming you have the probes, you could just do a quick look at using the test signal on the scope. Just make sure that looks acceptable and change a few settings here and there to see if everything works as expected.

Page 18 here has some info:
https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/Users+Guide+DS1000E.pdf

[MacMeter]

Thanks everyone for the SUPER Quick responses. I have to wait a week till the seller is back in town, but I'll report back when I get it. Figure I don't have much to lose at the price for my first scope, even though I'm sure there has been many improvements over the past 7-8 years in scopes, but hopefully I'll be able to learn with it, and do some basic stuff.

[gnavigator1007]

$50 is much cheaper than most of them went for in the ITT Tech auctions and buyers were not able to test units before bidding.  I was extremely lucky, but most of the resellers on eBay that acquired these from the same auction are making much less profit than one might expect. My word of caution would be that of the 23 I won, aside from a few with some cracked/missing knobs and another bent external trigger bnc, a single unit had an intermittent fault with the display. Was glad I always test a second time before shipping. Hope it works out for you 

[ebastler]

Assuming you have the probes, you could [...]

At $50, I would not be surprised if it comes without probes. Actually, I would be surprised if probes were included. $50 would still be a favorable price, even for the bare scope. Probes are easily available via ebay etc., either used or low-cost Chinese no-names.

[MacMeter]

Assuming you have the probes, you could [...]

At $50, I would not be surprised if it comes without probes. Actually, I would be surprised if probes were included. $50 would still be a favorable price, even for the bare scope. Probes are easily available via ebay etc., either used or low-cost Chinese no-names.

I won't know about the leads for a week, but from what I've read, the leads are supposed to MATCH the scope, not sure in what ways though. The reviews from years a go, indicated the included leads were not great, but at the price point were at least OK. I figure for $50 for just the scope, I could attempt to find new original leads, or buy better ones if I knew how to source better compatible ones, REMEMBER, I know zero about this topic, but do want to begin my education.

[mtdoc]

No need to match probes to the scope. Just get a $10 pair of p6100 probes from eBay and you'll be all set.

[Fungus]

Does buying this OLD model scope for $50 make sense to learn on and do simple measurements seem like a good idea?

Yes!

$50 is a bargain for a working DS1102E. It's easily worth two or three times more than that.

I won't know about the leads for a week, but from what I've read, the leads are supposed to MATCH the scope

Not true for basic oscilloscopes like this.

For 100MHz you can buy $10 eBay probes, no problem.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/pos-ebay-%27scope-probes/

(or spend more if you want)

[james_s]

$50 is a good deal for just about any working oscilloscope, except for perhaps some old low end boat anchors or <20MHz analog scopes. Even most of the little toy DSOs that are under 1MHz bandwidth cost more than that.

I've never bought a scope that came with probes. A good set of probes can cost as much or more than the scope. A lot of the cheap Chinese probes are junk and do not perform anywhere near as well as specified. A good quality probe can make the difference between frustration and pleasing to use, trustworthy measurements.

[MacMeter]

$50 is a good deal for just about any working oscilloscope, except for perhaps some old low end boat anchors or <20MHz analog scopes. Even most of the little toy DSOs that are under 1MHz bandwidth cost more than that.

I've never bought a scope that came with probes. A good set of probes can cost as much or more than the scope. A lot of the cheap Chinese probes are junk and do not perform anywhere near as well as specified. A good quality probe can make the difference between frustration and pleasing to use, trustworthy measurements.

Thanks, if it does not come with probes, I'll do more homework, as well as read the link provided in the previous post. Just wanted to make sure I was not locked into finding original ones for compatibility reasons, of which I have NO experience, hence coming here first!

[mtdoc]

A lot of the cheap Chinese probes are junk and do not perform anywhere near as well as specified. A good quality probe can make the difference between frustration and pleasing to use, trustworthy measurements.

The ubiquitous  Chinese p6100 probes are actually quite good. They are just fine up to 100 MHz and maybe beyond.  They have been discussed here before and their performance verified . See HERE.

[james_s]

If you're just starting out, you can get by with a cheap probe to learn how to use the scope. When you start wanting to take trustworthy measurements beyond a few MHz and are relying on the thing though you may want to start looking around for a deal on something from a reputable brand. Probes that have inadequate bandwidth can lie to you about the rise time and peak of fast rising signals or cause ringing that is not otherwise present in the circuit you are probing. In a pinch you can make your own probe that will work, maybe not great but you'll get a signal into a scope. Some applications don't even use a probe, it's possible (with care) to couple signals directly into the scope. Probes and probing technique is a whole new can of worms that could fill a book.

Edit: Those P6100 probes mentioned above do look quite good, but just be careful because there is a lot of junk out there. Sometimes you get clones of clones and not all are created equally. That's the biggest problem with the generic Chinese stuff, the quality is so variable, you might buy an item that is excellent and then buy another apparently identical item and find out that it's trash.

[MacMeter]

A lot of the cheap Chinese probes are junk and do not perform anywhere near as well as specified. A good quality probe can make the difference between frustration and pleasing to use, trustworthy measurements.

The ubiquitous  Chinese p6100 probes are actually quite good. They are just fine up to 100 MHz and maybe beyond.  They have been discussed here before and their performance verified . See HERE.

Thanks, will check those out, as it probably doesn't make sense to spend more then the cost of the used scope on probes, as long as they are equal to the task. I've finally learned the importance of leads when I bought the EEVBlog BM235 meter.

[mtdoc]

As can be seen in the thread I linked to in my post, the bandwidth and performance of those probes is more than adequate for that scope.

[MacMeter]

As can be seen in the thread I linked to in my post, the bandwidth and performance of those probes is more than adequate for that scope.

I assume since the scope is two channels and originally came with two sets, I'd need TWO, if the scope does not come with any, or they made need replacement anyway, so these seem to fit my starter package:

https://www.amazon.com/Sumnacon-P6100-Sensitivity-Oscilloscope-Probe/dp/B00XJH2M02/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491438377&sr=8-2&keywords=p6100+probe

[mtdoc]

Yep, those look fine.

[tautech]

As can be seen in the thread I linked to in my post, the bandwidth and performance of those probes is more than adequate for that scope.

Exactly.
Most have no idea where P6100 probes come from as their manufacturer is somewhat obscure and doesn't push their own barrow however they are one of the largest Asian probe manufactures and specialize in scope probes so have a pretty good idea what they are doing. There range is quite large too.

As can be seen in the thread I linked to in my post, the bandwidth and performance of those probes is more than adequate for that scope.

I assume since the scope is two channels and originally came with two sets, I'd need TWO, if the scope does not come with any, or they made need replacement anyway, so these seem to fit my starter package:

https://www.amazon.com/Sumnacon-P6100-Sensitivity-Oscilloscope-Probe/dp/B00XJH2M02/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491438377&sr=8-2&keywords=p6100+probe

Yep, that's the probes BUT they are rebrands, not the original brand. See my post above.

[MacMeter]

Slowly down the rabbit hole I go, just watched an old Dave video in one of the linked threads on test leads, the one about low bandwidth in the "1x" mode. Since I never owned or used a scope, not sure how often one uses the 1x setting compared to the 10x setting, but it's sure a big difference in bandwidth compared to the scopes 100MHz rating, if it's important?

Here is the spec on the Amazon cheap leads: "Bandwidth: X1: DC- 6MHz ; X10: DC- 100MHz". COST $14.00

Specs for Rigol PVP2150: 1X/35MHz, 10X/150MHz, one/two Probes Kit. COST $35.00

I could certainly spring for the Rigol leads if the difference between "6MHz", and "35MHz" in the 1x mode is an important consideration?

Thanks again folks for all the help!

[tautech]

Slowly down the rabbit hole I go, just watched an old Dave video in one of the linked threads on test leads, the one about low bandwidth in the "1x" mode. Since I never owned or used a scope, not sure how often one uses the 1x setting compared to the 10x setting, but it's sure a big difference in bandwidth compared to the scopes 100MHz rating, if it's important?

Here is the spec on the Amazon cheap leads: "Bandwidth: X1: DC- 6MHz ; X10: DC- 100MHz". COST $14.00

Specs for Rigol PVP2150: 1X/35MHz, 10X/150MHz, one/two Probes Kit. COST $35.00

I could certainly spring for the Rigol leads if the difference between "6MHz", and "35MHz" in the 1x mode is an important consideration?

Thanks again folks for all the help!

What's more important to know is the difference in capacitive loading on the circuit (DUT) between 1x and 10x and how this might effect a measurement. For now all you need to know is it's preferable to always use 10x unless higher resolution measurements are required.

By all means get a better set of probes if you think you need them but get 10x fixed ones and use the cheapo's for everyday knock around work.

[EEVblog]

Absolute bargain at $50!