Review on Highly Accurate Rigol DS1054Z Digital Oscilloscope with Wide Bandwidth for Precise Measurements by Josh Reynolds

I'm using this to analyze the signals in some microcontroller circuits (Arduino AVR based) for a book I'm writing. I2C, SPI and RS232 triggering and decoding functions were important for this, but also many measurement functions. The DS1054 has more than enough bandwidth, sampling rate (even with all 4 channels running) and triggering. I am 70 years old and a retired electrical engineer. I used Tektronix analog oscilloscopes from 1966 through the early 1980's. Actually worked for Tektronix. Then, after about 15 years without oscilloscopes, I used Tektronix and Agilent oscilloscopes until I retired. This Rigol is actually the best scope I have ever used with few downsides. Everything was easy to use and the controls were responsive as long as you didn't yank at them too quickly. I would classify that as a design flaw. The vertical amplitude hits its limit too soon, so I can't scale the waveform as much as I'd like for general use, but that's fine for digital signals, which I'm particularly interested in. Poor quality sensors. I'll update this review later if it somehow let me down, but the experience out of the box (and I started using it right away) was great. Added after 6 months - still works great. The only drawback for me is the lack of an external trigger input (not uncommon), so that the input channel for the trigger signal has to be output. And it would be a lot easier to use if each vertical channel had its own controls. Another common downside is the cheap finish. By now I've probably used all the data analysis features except for some trigger modes, it has a gigantic feature set. They all work. Visit the Rigol website and download the user manual. This is the only way you can take full advantage of this area. Added about 1.5 years after the purchase: I had a USB memory interface freeze and also the entire scope freeze. Rare but annoying. The slow interface is annoying at times, but the money saved on top brand oscilloscopes is definitely worth it for the hobbyist. If I were still working I would certainly ask for something better. I could probably refresh the features because most are hidden deep under the menu and are easy to forget and even find.