I have one of the Rigol MSO1104s. It has both the scope and the logic analyzer. It is fantastic for everything except decoding long bitstreams. It loses its place when you zoom and shift the time base too far. It is not a hindrance to my work. I will say the menus for things like saving are a little strange, but I got used to that quickly. So, I would buy it again in a second.
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Hi all
So sorry for the delay in getting back to everyone - an unexpected bit of chaos (corona scares and job reorg!) stole most of my attention, and 1 day away turned 2… into 3… eventually into many as I dug through the pile of todo’s that accumulated during my absence. Suffice to say I’ve read everything (via mail to keep the notifications here to follow up) and have been doing some thinking during my absence.
… mobile just now, hopefully back at the keyboard soon!
@maxsimmonds1337 - cheers mate; looking at the photos, I reckon I might be able to squeeze something i - I had the same idea as @nickb suggested in going higher, and adding a second shelf (which has the added benefit of more storage space for component boxes etc)
(for the record, the workbench i have is 720mm x 380mm and @nickb at the moment i’ve stripped it down to just have my bench supply (which takes up 120mm away from the 720mm - so adding another layer would actually be good to increase the available space)
@ToyBuilder - what do I plan on using it for? (which is a great question and one i should have included in the first post). initial need is low speed TTL up to a few hundred hertz, standard interfaces like I2C, SPI, UARTs. Other than that, my daily is going to be embedded cellular IoT boards similar to the CE ABC but I also have an iMX6UL SO-DIMM (like the Variscites) which might need some interfacing work. Additionally i have an 8 year old showing some engineering tendencies and having something for him to explore basic circuits would be good (I should add that my first scope was a slightly crusty Hameg 10Mhz CRO i picked up cheap second hand as a student, and indeed how far we’ve come since those days! The AD2 does have the ability to be dropped in a drawer out of the way when not in use as well though… but you are right, the new DSOs are much more compact - as maxsimmonds1337 clearly demonstrates)
@ChrisGammell - yes I had suspected that the low bandwidth of the DSO Nano would be an issue for all but a few of my projects as i describe to @ToyBuilder above; it was grasping at straws a wee bit; the idea of skipping the AD2 and going to the Rigol is an interesting thought that I have been thinking over along with the advice from many other Rigol owners in this thread
@KVK - I had a Pico many years ago, leant it to a friend and never saw it again (though to be fair, if memory serves me correct we did a trade, so i didn’t lose out!) - i don’t ever remember having any major issues with it. In Sweden (and this is a common note here) pricing and availability tends to push the pico’s out of the conversation compared to other options like the AD2
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@DefProc (@dale) - yep, had a look at the Bitscope, also saw a project Ben Heck did with one; They are available at a decentish price, but support doesn’t appear to be there any more, and a few bad reviews arounds the place
@rclott glad the thread helped, what is the driving factor for a physical scope over the AD2? (since you have both and we seem to have similar needs, your experience here seems valuable!)
@steveg i’d love to have a MSO, but $$$ 
(though this is why the AD2 is so tempting)
once again, thank you so much to everyone above for stopping by and adding your $0.02, it’s very appreciated; The many people who mentioned skipping the AD2 and going for the Rigol, nickb, ToyBuilder and maxsimmonds1337 particularly made me think, with enough creativity, there is more than enough room on the bench (p.s nickb i’m intrigued by the setup you have, can you post a few pics? the rack sounds very interesting). Lastly, I will add here that in Sweden, where I am located, pricing and availability is a bit tougher than the US. So! with all the above said and done, this is what I have in front of me, and I would love a vote/recommendation
(n.b all prices are converted to USD from SEK)
Rigol DS1054Z : asking price between $473.09 and $631.54
Siglent SDS1052DL+: $344.22 (from what I can read, this 50MHz scope might be upgradable to 100MHz same as the Rigol; there was a post of EEVBlog*)
Siglent SDS1102CML+ : 459.15
ADALM2000: $286.77 (@ShawnHymel)
PicoScope 2204A: $182
BitScope: $217.14
AD2: $217 (CE Pricing)
Budget wise, I can stretch to the Siglent SDS1052DL+, but that would be the absolute max I think. So it’s a toss up between the AD2 and the Siglent I think… I am leaning towards the AD2 due to the extra flexibility with the logic analyser (I am thinking a wall mounted monitor or laptop on a raised shelf, will solve some space issues) - what does the Jury think of the above options?
* eevblog forum is down; here is a link to the cached post though: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Y_qk54hr9GIJ:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglentsds1052dlsds1102cmlhack/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=se
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My vote would still be for the AD2 (if you can find one) for the added logic analyzer and portability. I’ve got an AD2 and a good 200 MHz scope. I still use the AD2 90% of the time, unless I need to measure something in that 50-200 MHz range.
@ShawnHymel yes, that has been my gut feeling all along, as well. I have limited budget so trying to get it right first. The AD2 is back though!
I notice the AD2 is only 30MHz, how often are you needing the extra 20Mhz (or 170Mhz in your case!) in practice? Doesn’t sound like much - though there is of course more to choosing a scope (and a DSO in particular) than just bandwidth - doing some reading on rigol vs siglent and the AD2 limitations
Space is definitely one of your biggest challenges. Here’s my rack setup:
I wish more equipment came in rack mount format. I find it very convenient. I can find lots of decent bench top supplies for several hundred dollars, but a rack mount PS is thousands. (I build the PS in the photo myself ~1997)
Scope: Rigol DS1054Z.
Meter: Fluke 77 with 3D printed mounting brackets.
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The rack doesn’t move. It’s not fastened down, but with everything in it, it doesn’t move. It spent 4-5 years in one spot at my last house and almost 2 in this spot here.
The scope is just sitting there leaning on some sticky rubber feet to prevent it from sliding backwards. The meter pops out, but I have a nicer meter to carry around with me. The 77 went on the rack as a quick standby when I need to check something. I have a smaller, portable power supply I can take with me if I need to, but it’s not as capable. The workstation came out to go to a Makerspace LAN party in 2019. It’s about 20kg. Good thing it has handles.
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@ClubmanPlus850 Woot! That’s awesome it’s back!
Honestly…rarely do I need the extra MHz (also, keep in mind the AD2 is only good to about 10 MHz without their “BNC adapter board”). Almost everything I need the scope for is debugging I/O lines and simple protocols like I2C, SPI, etc. The only thing that came up recently was last week when I was learning about the Raspberry Pi Pico’s PIO, I wanted to check the maximum switching speed, and I needed something that could handle 125 MHz (so, I used my “big” scope).
That 100-200 MHz is a weird range to me. I might need it with fast (~100 MHz) 32-bit microcontrollers to check I/O speeds, but it won’t help me with things like USB (for those, I would need 500+ MHz scopes, and we start talking $1000s). RF is still black magic to me, so I’ll let someone with more experience talk about what’s needed there 
I love having the AD2 on my desk plugged into a USB hub all the time. I find it easier to just throw a jumper wire on one of the connectors than to go get or uncoil a good scope probe. Yeah, it’s not as accurate, but I generally don’t need that level of accuracy for most of my work. The Waveforms software works pretty well, and I like having it on my screen next to my IDE, as most of my work is in firmware (my scopes mostly exist to help me debug firmware).
I’m finding myself in “paralysis by analysis” mode I think… I’m sure I’ll one day want a bigger scope… then I’ll upgrade and still want a bigger scope!
The rigol is double the money, so I’ll rule that out; and I’m not sure the extra $130 is worth it (and lose the logic analyzer function)…
(Also note the CE bundle has the BNC adapter included)
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I think the AD2 wins the features:size and features:cost ratios by a large margin.
I was faced with a similar decision when I needed a logic analyzer for a job. While I’d love to have a big scope with the builtin functions, or a standalone analyzer, I couldn’t justify the cost just for that job. I got a Saleae Logic 8, and it worked out great.
@nickb you have a habit of reading my mind it seems… indeed that was the conclusion I came to as well, the flexibility of the AD2 at the price point and form-factor is hard to beat. It will probably cover 90% of my use cases (@ShawnHymel has the same opinion here) and get me through for a while; in the event i need something more I do have access to labs with more advanced equipment, so it’s not the end of the world. I figure that one day when I want/need to move up, if it’s in the next few years, then the AD2 will do well for the kids as well.
Hope this thread helps a few people as well, and it is great that the AD2 is available again, and especially the CE bundle, so hats off to @ChrisGammell for getting that set up
I have several tools that fit different need profiles.
I have an old “luggable” (nee portable) Tektronix 2220 scope for the bang around occasions - if it dies, I won’t weep. 20 Mhz. I already fixed it once (blown sweep driver, iirc - fun debugging a scope without a scope). Old but I love it because it is almost bullet-proof.
I use a Salae Logic-16 LA for PC connected work. It’s great for debugging logic(ish) circuits. My lab has several PCs and I may get an LA for each one since it’s a pita to move. As long as it can do around 10MHz, has 8 channels, decodes the usual suspect protocols and does continuous buffering (to be able see what happened before the trigger), I’m happy. I have never needed more than 8 channels. I could never get sigrok PulseView to work with it. (Or perhaps I should say I simply didn’t try hard enough - PulseView config is kind of a mess.)
And I have a Siglent SDS 1104X scope that doesn’t require a PC. While I like the Salae, there are often times where a PC is an inconvenience. The SDS 1104X has 4 channels and decodes I2C, SPI and Async (maybe more), iirc. Was about $500. You really need 4 channels if you are going to use the decoders. If you go the scope route, make sure you have good quality probes. That is one area where the manufacturers tend to cheap out.
Was chatting with @ChrisGammell overnight and there’s been a change in pricing for the AD2 - student price is up from $217 to $306 which is then putting it pretty much equal with the siglent sds1052dl+ which changes the “bang for buck” calculation somewhat
in driving the kids to school, and contemplating… the conclusion is still the same - although the price increase puts in the same price bracket as the entry bench top DSOs reducing the “bang for buck” i still get the same spread of functionality in one tool but with obvious drawbacks to the standalone scope - but the function comparison remains the same, and so still represents the best value for money…
… and putting the order in… it’s another $60 in shipping 
… you can’t win! so, we’re up to $362… and I fear I will have to pay import duties on top of that… which based on previous experience will push me close to $400 all up (nearly double the original CE price of $217 I had calculated on) … and that changes the calculation significantly!
I can get the ADALM2000 locally for $289 delivered which is looking to be my best option (i have not been able to find a better deal in order to get a scope and logical analyzer for the price)
During the AD2 scarcity, 4 months ago, I used a buying hack for craigslist.
Over the years, I have found odd items or great deals using this. In Google search “site:craigslist.org analog discovery 2” to find all listings across CL. I picked up the AD2 plus accessories from a college student (austin, tx) for $150. Other ways exist on facebook marketplace also using the 50p miles search radius.
My favorite find with this technique was a Kurta calculator for $300 a few years ago.
Cheers, Steve
Cheers @skatsaros - unfortunately it’s the curse of not being in the US… 
It’s sometimes a little surprise, you have no idea you need to pay import fees (or how much they will be) until it’s too late; case in point digikey won’t tell you, but ups does after it’s arrived in the country; and oshpark - the import fees were more than the boards themselves… I have the same with Adafruit, sparkfun… mouser… etc
Looking at a couple old digikey receipts, and doing the math, my back of the envelope says the AD2, by the time I get it will be nearly $500!
I have been on the other end of the import fee BS. About half of my customers are international (i.e. not in the USA). When I ship with the US Postal service, there are no brokerage fees (maybe taxes, though). It is slow - some of my packages take 3 weeks though most are around 10 days.
But shipping UPS (and I assume FedEx), there are some nasty surprises. Brokerage fees and Taxes will add up fast. The last item I sent via UPS (to Ireland), the broker added 22 Eur (about 26 USD) “Tax” on a 46 USD item along with a 15 Eur brokerage fee. There is a 20% VAT but that didn’t seem to be applied. So, I no longer ship via UPS - their Irish broker is a thief and I suspect this is true of all other countries.
So, the lesson - if you can get things shipped via US Postal service, it will get to you slower but a lot cheaper.
Import and duty is a complicated beast. The cost of shipping is often included in the basis for calculating whether your package meets the minimum threshold for duty – some countries like Canada has a very low threshold - 20 CAD - while the U.S. has a $800 threshold. Ireland is 150 EUR. Go above the amount and your shipment gets slowed down for processing, is assessed the duty, and also the customs brokering fee. The particular HTS code associated with the shipment will also affect what the rate will be.
Carriers will charge the brokering fee even if there is no duty due if the particular importation requires an entry to be filed. National mail services (in my experience) do not charge for handling entry.
This might be useful: https://www.easyship.com/countries
(p.s. sorry for the hijack/tangent)