[time-nuts] Chinese Scopes (was: Re: LORAN-C at MIT)

[J. Forster]

>
> jfor at quikus.com said:
>> Going through layer after layer of ever more obtuse menus is just not
>> 'user
>> friendly' to me. Maybe it is to the designers, because they are used to
>> a
>> 10,000+ character alphabet?
>
> How much of that is because you want to use fancy features that didn't
> even exist on older scopes?

Older 'scopes didn't NEED to re-allocate memory, or use "peak" modes to
avoid sampling artifacts.

> Here is an example:  The switch from small/fast to big/slow memory is
> buried
> deep in a menu.  That's better than cluttering up the box with another
> button.
>
>
> My Rigol DS1102E has 6 knobs, 17 dedicated push buttons, and 5 menu
> buttons.
>
> One of the knobs is trigger level.  2 are horizontal scale and position.
> 2
> are vertical scale and position.  The 6th knob is for the current menu
> item.
>
> The vertical knobs are shared by both input channels.  If you want to
> adjust
> the other channel you have to poke a button first.  Sure, I'd prefer 2
> more
> knobs.  I can live with this.  It's not obvious how to fit in 2 more
knobs if you did decide that was important.  Making the box an inch
wider looks like the obvious way.
>
> Glancing at my old Tek 465, the thing that I think I would miss most is
> the
> AC/DC coupling switch on the input.  I won't miss the Focus knob. :)
>
> Neither scope has an optional 50 ohm terminator on the inputs.

All Tek 'scopes have AC/DC/GND,and some have trace identify. 50 Ohm is
easy with a throughy terminator.

-John

===============
>
> -----------
>
> I think there are 2 patterns for using a scope.  One is chasing a glitch.
> The other is collecting data.
>
> When I'm chasing a glitch, I occasionally have to wander around in the
> menus.
>  Yes, it's annoying.  Part of the problem is that I sometimes don't
> remember
> how to get where I want to go so I make a few false starts.  Overall, it's
> not a lot more time than it took me to setup the hardware.  (I remember
> having to find a pair of coax cables with matched length.)
>
> It would be fun to hack the firmware to record all the button/knob
> actions.
>
> Once I have things setup, collecting more data is as simple as watching
> the
> screen or poking Enter on my PC.
>
> ----------
>
> If you want to be critical, I see two weak areas.
>
> One is the documentation and/or firmware for remote control.  It's good
> enough, at least if you are stubborn, but far from good.  (I haven't tried
> their software: no Windows boxes here.)
>
>
> The other is the probes.  Good probes are still expensive.  The Rigol unit
> came with old big/clunky probes.  Why would anybody want a 1x/10x switch
> on
> their probe?  (I guess it might be interesting if you were working on
> small,
> slow signals, but I haven't done that in a long time.)
>
> For probes, there is a knee in the curve somewhere around 200 MHz.  With a
> bit of care, you can get reasonable pictures up through 100 MHz.  Beyond
> that, you have to really pay attention and good/small probes help.  They
> also
> help with modern surface mount parts.
>
>
> --
> These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.
>
>
>
>
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