Oscilloscope for beginners

[Mc-Q]

8xx and 9xx
same pcb in them - same software.
the first digit (8 or 9) is the base model.
8 is entry and 9 is faster and has hardware options.
second digit is bandwidth related from 70MHz to 250MHz
3rd digit (2 or 4) is the number of inputs - obviously you want 4

so about the 9 series,
the "s" has a built-in signal generator on an extra board.
all 9 series have the socket on the front for the logic analyser
or a ripoff of it https://climbers.net/sbc/clone-pla2216-logic-probe-analyzer/
and extra ram - but nobody has worked out yet if it's for the generator or the analyser

in short:
you can get a 70MHz 4 channel version and hack it to 250MHz like the 900 series but you cant have the signal generator unless somebody clones the board,
and you cant have the logic analyser without soldering the socket and cutting a slot in the case.
and one of those options needs 2 extra rams soldered in.
that £400 btw for the 804 model

or you can get the 150MHz 914 and hack it to 250MHz and it already has the analyser socket installed.
that is £600 for the 914.
if you want the sig-gen version it's about another £100

i dont personally care about generating waveforms - i can already do that,
i'm waiting on info about the extra ram before deciding if i want the 800 or 900 base model.

 

[offset]

The Rigol DHO914s and 924s look interesting over the MSO line (12bits instead of MSO 8bit). I'm guessing that the DHO914/24s line is similar to the MSO line but higher bitrate (12 vs 8) and bandwidth as they also support logic analyzer with decoding. Not sure if the "s" features are what you get after the hack, or if the "s" models have different hardware, those eeblog hack threads are massive and I don't want to read through 60+ page threads

Leaning toward the DHO914 with hack if you gain the bandwidth and decoding of the DHO924s.

Ended up buying the Rigol DHO924s. The 914s was $769 on Amazon and TEquipment (https://www.tequipment.net/Rigol/DHO924S/Digital-Oscilloscopes/) had the 924s for around $799, so figured the better probes on the 924s more than made up the difference in cost for me (and I don't need to worry about hacking the 914s).

Picked up the cheaper PLA2216 clone from eBay ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/225976884739 ), works well enough for my needs (5v tolerant). I think the real PLA2216 can handle up to 40v, but I can't think of anything I will do with a logic analyzer that is above 5v.

Video of dho924s with clone pla2216 -

 

[Mc-Q]

nice,
you should have said you where going to buy from TE, i think you can get a discount by being a member of eevblog forum!