EEVblog #1146 - New Rigol MSO5000 Oscilloscope

World Exclusive!
A teardown and quick look at the new lower cost mid-range 70-350MHz Phoenix chipset based Rigol MSO5000 mixed signal oscilloscope, to be release on the 13th Nov. Stating at US$909.

How does it compare to the 7000 series scope just released 5 months ago?

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[dvtm]

i want a stainless steel version so it matches with all my kitchen appliances...

[HSPalm]

Let's think of four easily distinguishably colors for the input channels! Yellow Blue Pink Blue, yeah that should do it.

[Spirit]

The verdict is: Wait until the riglol hack is available to upgrade the cheapest version to the most expensive version.

[Tool-Meister]

Regarding the HIGH RESOLUTION mode: High Resolution mode is accessed via the Acquisition settings. Here’s what the manual says;
“High Resolution: This mode uses an over-sample technique to average the neighboring points of the sample waveform. This reduces the random noise on the input signal, generates a much smoother waveform on the screen and improves the vertical resolution. This is generally used when the sample rate of the digital converter is greater than the storage rate of the acquisition memory.
Note:
⚫ The "Average" and "High Res" modes use different averaging methods. The former uses "Multi-sample Average" and the latter uses "Single-sample Average".
⚫ In"HighRes"mode, the signal bandwidth does not exceed 1/32 of the sampling rate.
⚫ In "High Res" mode, the highest waveform refresh rate mode is not supported.”

[edgar]

Finally I bought one. So it's time to watch your video again. Thanks Dave.

[ijskolibrietje]

Dave and his ideas about what is "low cost"

[John_Smith__]

That model in particular is a 4000$ oscilloscope ... for 350MHz the specs versus price is really not that impressive at all.

[Tool-Meister]

I know this intro to the MSO-5000 is 2 years old. However, consider that in the $999 configuration, you do get FOUR probes. If you value the probes at $35 ea., you’re only paying $30 for the 4-channels vs 2-channels capability. Also, it’s now well known this scope is hackable making it a huge functionality bargain. Personally I purchased the 5074 model with a 10% discount coupon then applied the hack so I have a fully configured MSO-5354 for $899.10! Hard to beat even with its list of faults.

[todayonthebench]

Rounding up my own thoughts about the unit:

It seems to have "decent" performance, the front end is simple enough, but could just be a high bandwidth analog mux with an inbuilt selectable amplifier, would kinda give the same expected circuit for the front end.

All the software options seems to be a ripoff, paying 300$ for the extra two channels that costs 90$ up front is nothing but a scam.

HDMI output is a welcomed addition in my opinion.

The color scheme seems like it has gotten a dose of the "gamer" marketing idea from the general PC world. (Should we expect RGB lighting and Noctua fans in the future? (Though, Noctua fans are though pricey and generally superb quality (not to mention practically silent) so that I wouldn't mind seeing.))

"intensity graded waveforms" suffers the same exact problem that all scope manufacturers have. Non of them seem to know the difference between fading to background color, and fading to 0% opacity. (Yes, the trace color should be static, it is the transparency that should change. (This can easily be checked by generating the 1KHz 100% AM modulated 1MHz signal on channel 1, and have a 90 degree offset 1KHz waveform on channel two. The second channel should then be visible in the faded regions of channel 1. (something it isn't on any scope I have ever seen. Except on analog scopes using the traditional electron beam.)))

10x probe sensing seems like the cheapest and easiest feature to add to a scope, after all, it is mostly just checking for continuity on the connection to see if it connects to ground, if it does, then it is a 10x probe most likely. (Only cost is to have a small PCB for the front of the unit, and literally 4 wires jumping over to the main board, here one can just use a typical 4 pin Fan connector used on most PC motherboards, mostly since it is a cheap and a well established connector.) So why doesn't all scopes have it? (Penny pinching is the answer, until someone wants market differentiation for their cheap scope.)

The inconsistent UI of this scope seems like it could get confusing rather fast. But the scope seems to be a bit lacking in its performance, I generally don't like working with an instrument that takes time to just react on my inputs to it. That it needs time to sample and such is totally fine, but clicking around in menus and such should never have an appreciable amount of lag. (Though, even Tektronix haven't really understood that yet....)

And now yes, this is too long and no one will really read it.

[Robbie]

You are probably too young to remember this but some Tektronix cro's had this feature in the late 1980's the 7000 series I think, it was only operational with Tektronix probes and was switched with a link to the x1/x10 switch on the probe via a special BNC input with an extra connection ring around the outside.

[NICK-uynl]

Those complaining about boot time, all modern ASIC based scopes are slow since huge amounts of code (firmware) must be downloaded and initialized to various ASICs on board. Minute and 15 seconds isn't really that bad, Dave Jones just being sarcastic I suspect ...

[wombatillo]

So basically they designed a $999 scope in order to not sell even the lowest tier models at a loss and everything on top of that is just (supposedly justified) software feature unlocks. That's all great and everything, if you get a one of the $999-$2000 models, but such low build quality in the $5000 model is absurd. This business model actually reminds me of the state of the video game industry in 2018 and having to buy a bunch of DLCs to unlock the interesting content for your games.

[superdau]

It really irks me that you can't see "through" the intensity graded traces. They should at least show the divs on top of the trace, if they can't manage to do proper alpha grading.

[supersat]

It might be interesting to keep the serial port hooked up while testing/reviewing it and see if there's a crash dump or anything

[yaghiyahbrenner]

the software on this thing is terrible for the price point, oh the irony...this was the company that forced other companies to re-think low cost.

[trickyrat]

Looks like Rigol's CEO still has his kids "designing" the UI.


Maybe next time, Rigol. Maybe next time.

[BunkerSquirrel]

5:23
That's a weird way of saying "$1000 and about an hour firmware hack".

[lusher]

You helped me buy my first Rigol scope. I can still hear you “Rigiol, quality shit mate!”

[Richardincancale]

You’re spot-on about bring less $ than an iPhone or even a Samsung! It’s an interesting step-up for hobbyists above the 1054 etc. to get MSO features if hackable. Please compare with Siglent to show competition and with (say) Tek to see why they cost 5x more?

[nRADRUS]

in 40 minutes it would be possible to show more features of functioning and ergonomic controls.