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Rigol MSO4024

5.0

Worth the money. By comparison to other companies, this scope is a great bang for the buck. It has many features that are as good or better than other much more expensive scopes. The one thing that I found that I wish was better is the noise in the channels. With no probe the noise is about /- 1mV which is fine, however when you plug in a 10 to 1 probe, now the noise is about /- 10mV (That's 20mV of noise give or take). For my purposes I can work around this but it should be known before you buy. All in all, I do think this scope is worth the money and am very happy with the purchase, especially with the 2 free upgrades that are/were going on when I bought it (upgrade to 350 MHz and all of the complete serial decode package).

Verified Purchase Tony Composto on Dec 15, 2017 I found this helpful (0)

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Rigol MSO4024

5.0

A really fine digital scope! Excellent craftsmanship with intuitive controls and menu options. Menu options provide all standard control functions (and quite a few more...MANY math/measurement options available!). The ability to quickly hide the menu lists and add/remove banner-type displays of real-time measurements as needed makes great use of the rather large display screen. Plenty of room on the display to show 'stacked' channel displays (4 channels). Sensitivity and time scaling appear to be very accurate. "Auto" display button makes stabilizing the trace display a snap. The Record/Playback functions make analysis of complex or fast-changing waveforms a LOT easier to accomplish. Plenty of memory for this function, but you do need to set sampling depth appropriately for the amount of recording you want. Menu system makes this easy. Finally, the (free) downloadable manual and the built-in Help system are READABLE, complete and USEFUL. Overall, I am well pleased with the MSO4024 and would strongly recommend it. A refreshing example of really fine products from China....

Todd on Dec 01, 2017 I found this helpful (0)

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MSO4024 review

5.0

My first 4 channel scope, so still learning the intricacies of this amazing device. Firstly, the display is beautiful, and large enough to provide detail, even with multiple channels displayed. Standard scope features, plus an amazing array of additional features make this a real professional instrument. The menu driven system is intuitive and easy to use, and the built-in help system seems fairly complete. Initial setup, as well as upgrades, were easily accomplished. Instrument seems to have excellent sensitivity and resolution. Quality of workmanship is excellent, even with accessories. So far, I'm very pleased with my MSO4024!

on Oct 27, 2017 I found this helpful (0)

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Good value in a professional scope

4.0

This scope is a very good value. It compares well to scopes at twice the price. I have not used the LA part much except to verify that the signals all wiggle, so this will focus on the scope. I got the BW upgrade to 350 MHz and the serial decode option, neither of which I have yet tested, as my work is at about 100MHz and under to analog and digital signals. The vertical amplifiers are reasonably quiet, with just a count or two of noise showing up in the traces at higher gain settings. I am pleasantly surprised by the DC offset capabilities, which seemed to exceed the spec, which gave 12 volts above 250mv, but turned out to have that same offset at 200 mv as well. This was good, as I needed to synthesize a differential signal under 10 mv with around 10 volts of DC offset. I was able to do that with the math functions. The result was noisey, but using the measure and statistics I was able to get a reasonable indication of the current in through the sense resistor. The display is bright and easily read, relatively uncramped for the amount of information available. The time base is easily set, and the trigger is reliable, with all modes available from the front panel. Both 0 and 50% functions are available for quick setup. The memory depth makes up for some of the things lacking in the trigger capabilities, like alternate trigger for the delay sweep trace. The acquisition system is relatively simple, with averaging and anti-aliasing the only features beside memory depth. The memory depth is awesome, but the controls for it are not so flexible. It is set up as though you always want to zoom into an event. I would like the option to vary the sample rate manually to record long time traces before the trigger, but the sample rate is tied to the horizontal time base, with no manual control. Tere is no equ-time sample mode on this model, so no resolution enhancement for repetitive high rate signals. This is a four channel scope with two samplers, so 1 and 2 share one sampler and memory and 3 and 4 share the other. With only one channel per sampler you get upto 4 Gsa/s and 140M points. With the second channel in the group active, you fall to 2 GSa/s and 70M points. At 2ms time base you get a total trace length of 35 ms. I would like to be able to turn down the sample rate to get a longer trace time before or after the trigger.. You can sort of do it provided you can still get the right trigger but turning up the time base, but I would prefer some flexibility in the settings in this area. The reason for not 5 stars - the user interface and manual. The user interface is clunky at time. It can be difficult to use the vertical position knobs to get a precises offset, and you have to turn forever the dial it in. There is a nice fast-slow interface knob, but it is usually not available to set positions except for the horizontal system. It should be more easily used for other settings. Also, setting parameters and then pressing the everything knob it is easy to change the setting by one. I also find myself dialing in the setting and then pressing the button instead of the knob. Sometimes the button enters the setting, but it usually changes the setting. Finding things can be a bit challenging as well. Additionally, the precision of the knob sensing seems sloppy. The manual is sparse, at best, and difficult to search, as the terminology is decidedly non-standard in places. Sometimes certain operations leave cruft on the display that is not properly cleared. I found that by accident by playing with a video trigger on a noise signal. There is also a bug in the delayed sweep that will stop waveform updates at greater than 10,000:1 zoom settings when the sample rate is 125M or 50M and the full memory is in use and anti-alias is set in the acquisition menu. This latter I have reported to Rigol support, so we will see how they respond to that. They seem interested, at least. Generally speaking this is an exceptional value, especially with the bandwidth upgrade and serial decodes added in for free. I now that I bought my scope, I see teq has knocked another 500 off the price.

Mark on Oct 26, 2017 I found this helpful (1)

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President

5.0

This instrument is more than I expected. It is incredibly easy to use. The controls are well organized and color coded with the trace on the screen. Triggering is easy with their auto trigger and if you have to change it is very simple. The dynamic menus make it very simple to configure and change. When I first receive my instrument I was setting it up on a Saturday. I wrote a question to tech support and received an answer a few minutes later on a Saturday! They really go out of their way to support their instruments.

Verified Purchase Chip Wingate on Jul 31, 2017 I found this helpful (0)

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Great Value and Features, with very few complaints

4.0

This scope was purchased to replace a Tek MSO4032 because some recent work I took on demanded 4 channels, and the Tek 4 channel scope was out of my price range. That combined with the promo of a free bandwidth upgrade let me buy the 200 MHz version and end up with 350 MHz. Featurewise, the Rigol stacks up to the Tek very well, but it is not executed as seamlessly as Tek. The display quality is good, but not as sharp, The measurement features match up well, but are a little harder to use. All-in-all, though, the Rigol a a very adequate scope at very reasonable price. Price is the only reason to prefer Rigol over Tek (in my opinion), but price was enough for me to buy this scope. My biggest complaint is with the hook clips on the probes. They are slippery (round polished wire), and the retention springs are very weak. They also did not retract smoothly until the hook wore down the plastic a little. They just aren't very secure and a huge step down from the Tek probe mechanics. It may sound like a nit, but I interact with the probe tips probably more than any other scope feature. When they slip off, it's not just frustrating but could actually damage the circuit I'm testing. It would be great if a third party made compatible hook tips for these probes.

Verified Purchase Rick Miller on Jul 14, 2017 I found this helpful (1)

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Rigol DS/MSO4024

5.0

As an analog engineer I have used scopes for more than 30 years. I am retired now and electronics is still my hobby. I want to learn micro controllers so I needed a better scope than what I had. I also wanted a scope that I wasn't going to outgrow any time soon. I searched and reviewed scopes for a long time before buying this one. I made the right choice. There is no better bang for the buck than this scope especially with the free bandwidth and serial decoder upgrades.

Verified Purchase Anonymous on Oct 26, 2016 I found this helpful (1)

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Great Oscilloscope

5.0

This is my first digital scope (came from two old analog scopes). So far its been a great scope, easy to use (taught my 10 yr old daughter how to use parts of it) Have absolutely no dislikes at this time (been about 2 months using it). Serial decoding came in pretty handy. I had a really good experience with ETquipment as well when I had some issues with the initial scope I chose before ending up with this one.

Greg on Jun 11, 2016 I found this helpful (0)

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Like the scope.

4.0

Have had the MSO4024 now for a few months and I am getting to like it more and more. Bought this unit for personal use and it takes some time getting used to switching between a Tek scope at work and the Rigol. Purchased the I2C/SPI decode software and it has helped solve a couple of I2C problems quickly. Setting up bus decoding is quick and easy. I use a Tek MSO4032 at work and I can capture more data with the Rigol. Only thing that I have not really been pleased with is the Rigol scope tips. The Tek scope tips seem to be a little more of a refined design and are made from a flat metal and tend to grip what you have clamped on to better than the stock Rigol probes. The Tek probes also are a little smaller profile. Overall though I am pleased with the purchase.

Verified Purchase Dan on Feb 17, 2015 I found this helpful (3)