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Where is the 300Mhz upgrade?

4.0

I would give this instrument five stars, as it has done everything I've asked of it, and done it very well, with a raft of features I look forward to exploring and exploiting over time. However, I specifically selected this scope with the understanding that it could be upgraded to 300Mhz at a future date. Well, friends, it's coming up on its third birthday, so I guess it's time to ping Rigol again. This time I'll ask if it turned out they couldn't boost the bandwidth because of a technical limitation or whether it is the more likely marketing decision causing them to RENEGE. I WILL NOT buy another Rigol oscilloscope if I can't upgrade this unit (even 150-200Mhz would be acceptable!).

Tequipment Reponse: Thank you for your feedback This series has never had a bandwidth upgrade option available. These options are only available in their higher end scope series.

Verified Purchase Peter Soper on Apr 24, 2018 I found this helpful (0)

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Great scope for the price

4.0

Despite its various shortcomings I absolutely love this scope! In my humble opinion this is the best scope you can buy for this price! Pros: Price! 500uV/div resolution on analog channels Deep memory Working on both digital and analog domains at the same time on the same screen / cross domain triggering User friendly and an overall okay user experience Cons: Limited decoding functionality Very limited measurement facilities for the logic analyzer functionality (Pretty much nothing but manual cursors here!!) Limited to only 2 analog channels Various minor software issues

Verified Purchase Farzad E. on Jan 23, 2017 I found this helpful (0)

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Good for the price

4.0

A decent scope for the price. It was in stock and shipped quickly. Only 3 negatives to note: -The latching probe tips are poor. -The fan is much louder than it need to be. -There is a problem with the on screen decode labelling when using the DSO. Rigol has been aware of this issue for more than 2 years now. A recent update has helped but does not cure the problem.

Verified Purchase Dave Dillabough on Oct 12, 2016 I found this helpful (0)

Logic analyzer function

1.0

The decoding fails if the memory setting goes beyond 1.4MPoints or if the sampling rate is set to low values which renders this function and the deep memory entirely useless.

The timing interface does not allow a setting of the sampling frequency which is bizarre

When downloading the LA data, no command is provided to receive the Logic Analyzer sampling rate and it cannot be determined from the Analog Signal sampling rate

Over all the logic Analyzer is very poorly implemented and not worth the additional $400.-. Rigol is aware of the decoding issues since over a year and hasn't fixed them.

Rigol Response:
The decoding is done entirely on the displayed data. You only decode what you see. The deep memory is not used for decoding.
The sampling rate is set primarily by the time per division and the number of active channels. In the context of decoding you simply want to make sure you can view the serial data stream clearly on the screen.
You can use the :WAVEFORM:XINCREMENT? command to query the time between samples. Simply set :WAVEFORM:SOURCE to D0 (or other Digital channel) and query the Xinc value in seconds. The value here also depends on the waveform mode. So, you get the time between samples you are about to receive. That time is higher if you are about to view the displayed data than if you ask for the deep memory.

Rigol is constantly making improvements and has released a number of recent firmware versions that improve decoding usability and features, but architecturally we only decode the data on the screen. The deep memory can be pulled from the scope for further analysis offline, but real time analysis is about what you can view on the screen. That is the best way to use the digital capabilities of the MSO2000A series.

Verified Purchase Anonymous on Jul 10, 2015 I found this helpful (0)

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Excellent Build Quality, good feature set

5.0

Very good build quality.

A scope is a lot like a computer in that a poor quality keyboard or display can destroy the experience. The buttons and screen on this are top notch and the feature set more than what 20k would have bought years back.

I've always spec'ed Tektronix scopes for our R&D and production labs but decided to avoid them from now on due to the whole DCMA/gag order they filed recently. These scopes make that transition easier.

wingee on May 04, 2015 I found this helpful (0)

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Really good performance at an affordable price

5.0

This is an awesome scope for the price. The memory depth is huge and you can configure how much you use which means you can find those difficult glitches by scrolling through a capture window.

There are options to add decode functions such as I2C and SPI or to increase the bandwidth, it comes with 300 MHz probes and the screen layout is very intuitive.

I compared this to Keysight and Tektronix scopes and this Rigol holds its own in side by side tests. Check out the review on eevblog.com

Verified Purchase ted @ mbelectronicdesign . com on Apr 19, 2015 I found this helpful (0)

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Great value for the money

4.0

I've had the MSO2072A for about a week now and have been very impressed by it's capabilities.

The scope comes with several optional software controlled features temporarily enabled (for about 2100 minutes). You may want to hold off powering it on until you have some free time to play with it since the countdown starts with first power up.

The MS02072A is internally the same scope as the MSO2102A/MSO2202A/MSO2302A and is upgradable to any of these devices via a software feature key purchased from Rigol. This will keep you from outgrowing your scope if your needs change over time - but it's not cheap. I've used the I2C decoder trial feature to debug an intermittent problem between my Raspberry Pi and a DV-MEGA dual band transceiver shield running on an Arduino. Cool beans.

As you might expect, there are hackers are working on circumventing Rigol's software feature rationing if you're into that sort of warranty voiding activity. I'm content with what I got for what I paid.

The analog probes that come with the scope are fixed at 10x. I've read that the 330 MHz rating is a bit of a stretch, but I seriously doubt that's a problem below 70MHz on my scope. You fellow hams out there might appreciate the option to selectively and independently change the analog channel's input impedance from High-Z (1M Ohm) to 50 Ohms.

Finally, the scope comes with software that I've yet to evaluate that allows one to capture screen shots and control the scope using SCPI. Reading the EEVBlog forums I've noticed that there are other open-source SCPI-based applications that can be customized for this purpose. It's worth noting that the MSO2072A also has a LAN interface but it's dormant unless you buy the SW upgrade from Rigol to enable it.

Overall, Rigol has done a very good job on this scope - especially at this price point. If I could make a few suggestions, it would be to add an automatic 10x/1x sensor for third-party switchable probes that provide a pin for this purpose. As others have observed, the fan is quite noisy. This is apparently a common complaint across the Rigol product line from what I've read. Rigol can do better there. Finally, Rigol should consider pricing the software enabled features more aggressively. People buy Rigol gear for the value it brings. Pricing on the options just doesn't deliver that same value proposition to the non-commercial hobbyist or amateur radio operator. Perhaps consider an educational/non-commercial license as an alternative.

SB from CO on Mar 29, 2015 I found this helpful (0)

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MSO2072A

5.0

It's hard to believe what you can get for your money today in high tech electronics. I'm very pleased with the build quality and functionality. Great piece of equipment at an affordable price.

Verified Purchase billg on Nov 22, 2014 I found this helpful (0)

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Excellent MSO at a great value

5.0

Exceptional value! The MSO2072A is the sweet spot. It has the great features of the well reviewed DS2072A, but with additional 16 digital channels at 1 to 2 Giga-samples per second. This allows many people to get by with the cheaper 2-channel 70Mhz version for analog work, instead of the more expensive 100Mhz/200Mhz versions or 4-channel scopes.

TEquipment shipped it fast and it arrived in perfect order. I calibrated the analog probes and had it up and running in just a few minutes.

The scope works great, has lot of features, and is nice that it comes with 2x 330Mhz probes and the 16-channel digital probes. Incredible value at this price!

My only complaint so far is the fan is indeed loud, but I was expecting this from other Rigol reviews. It does not bother me too much when I am working, but I really notice when I power it off that my ears are a bit fatigued. I don't know what anyone can do. The high-performance FPGAs inside radiate heat and need to be cooled. I think at this price, it is worth it.

skcolorado on Oct 31, 2014 I found this helpful (0)

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Great scope for the money

4.0

I looked at a couple of scopes before settling on the MSO2072A. I am very happy with my purchase. The scope performs perfectly for my needs as I'm just learning analog circuitry. This has allowed me to peek into circuits that I've never understood before. With the logic analyzer, I have been able to watch digital traffic on my own boards and on some other boards I've played with.

The only issue I have with this scope is that *occasionally* if I have the logic analyzer working with decode options, sometimes the scope will lock up. It has only happened to me twice however, so it really hasn't impacted me that much, but a word of caution to someone that may rely on this scope much more than I.

Verified Purchase mscreations on Sep 21, 2014 I found this helpful (1)