DreamSourceLab DSTouch DS4T1012 150 MHz Oscilloscope Review/Teardown

[@cncdavenz]

The potential for this company is massive with the addition of a larger screen this would be a fantastic benchtop scope and would blow the opposition out of the water. Thanks for an excellent review.

[@henryD9363]

Wow! This is fantastic for the price, size and convenience. And the UI is the best I've seen in a portable scope. Thanks!

[@Runco990]

Great review! Yes, if it had intensity grading it would already be in my shopping cart. It is a hard requirement for my needs. Very impressive package!

[@boots7859]

Kerry, really hope you can do a Rigol 800 review. Everyone has seen Dave EEVblog, however I just can't press the buy button unless I get your take on it.

[@jimquinn]

Agreed. Maybe also the Maker Hawk oscope. Thanks

[@KerryWongBlog]

I'd love to review it if I can get my hands one one.

[@OneBiOzZ]

I have used a DSLogic logic analyzer for years and i absolutely adore it, the software is awesome and it functions exactly as one would expect with nice microcoax probes with a neat connector im not surprised they went above and beyond with their DSTouch

[@ahmedlazreg6373]

Nice review. thanks. Maybe the additional components near channel 1 are for the signal generator output ?

[@JeffinTD]

Great video. That seems like quite a capable tool for its size and price. Edit: Their USB offering also looks impressive. I’d like to see them offer a tablet.

[@wenyanwang219]

Thank you for the review. I just ordered it from Amazon.

[@_droid]

Did they ever say what the deal is with the pulse capture? If they do in fact have some sort of bandwidth compensation I wonder if that's what cause the problem. It looks like it captures the waveform normally but the vertical offset is messed up like it's offset by a large amount then slowly returns to normal..

[@KerryWongBlog]

I did share this finding with DreamSourceLab and they told me they are doing some analysis and I am hopeful this can be addressed in a future firmware update.

[@gregandark8571]

@@KerryWongBlog Today is Feb 28 2024. Any news regarding this issue? Thanks.

[@KerryWongBlog]

​@@gregandark8571I have not heard anything yet. I will ask and see if there is any update.

[@gregandark8571]

@@KerryWongBlog Thanks for your reply.

[@chaiyeer]

Knowing there is more and more innovative scopes in the market, the touch screen capability is a nice touch! Looking to see if you will do more oscilloscope reviews in the future haha! such as the Hantek TO1000 series / TO1254D tablet styled scopes

[@tweedeldee8122]

Another excellent one Kerry! Thank you!

[@Sentinel-1]

Great review, as always! Thank you for helping to save our time and money. 👍

[@TYGAMatt]

Kerry, please stop these excellent reviews. You are going to bankrupt me! 😂 The wife is not happy with you 😊

[@chuckvoss9344]

Excellent. I never heard of these people before.

[@jaro6985]

Theyve been making the best budget logic analyzers for years.

[@nikwakem]

Great review - so just bought one :-D

[@johnwest7993]

Can the sig gen run while you look at the result on the scope?

[@KerryWongBlog]

Yes, it runs independently of the scope.

[@migsvensurfing6310]

Rubberrized... gets sticky in 5 to 6 years. I wish they would not use that.

[@gorak9000]

Depends on the quality of the material used. Some rubberized things do not go "sticky" even after a very long time (like good brand DMMs). When it goes "sticky" it's the plasticizer coming out of the plastic actually!

[@ivolol]

Nice, an FFT that isn't just a toy. If this gets a few firmware updates it could be an underdog banger of a scope. A great pity that they've made the battery so hard to replace. Do I really want to be buying a new scope in 3/4 years just because current one won't last for more than 15 minutes any more?

[@BaronDWilliams]

There should be laws against designing products with batteries that can't be replaced. It becomes useless in a few years without a powered cable and the battery will swell, potentiality breaking the device. Such a shame. I would buy this in a heartbeat if the battery was replaceable. I will not buy anything with non-replaceable batteries ever again. That's why this doesn't sell well.

[@vuhuy8952]

hope they include pd charge/ power on plug to portable model...

[@cctvhj8888]

Hi Kerry, love your review. What more economical digital oscilloscope type and model that has both current and voltage unit scaling selection switch, just like on this DreamSourceLab's DS4T1012? Thanks.

[@qwaqwa1960]

5 nanosiemens per div. Love it.

[@qwaqwa1960]

500us. What's "us"?? Junk.

[@qwaqwa1960]

kelvin•hertz-huh?

[@recursoseninternet]

I have a general question about oscilloscopes because I am in the phase of choosing one to start with: what is the recommended minimum sensitivity value? I mean, I have seen oscilloscopes with 10mv/division or 2mv/division and there are even more expensive ones with 500uv/division, and I am confused about this and do not know what would be the recommended minimum value to use in electronics

[@sha_s7343]

Less is better! I have an oscilloscope with 125 uV divisions, but only before 1.2V in this mode.

[@fjs1111]

wow, I wasn't expecting a Spartan-6 FPGA

[@АлександрГресев-т3н]

For DSTouch DS4T252 - "Input sensitivity range: 1mV/Div to 5V/Div".

[@trevorvanbremen4718]

While the LAYOUT of components between the Ch1/Ch2 inputs definitely differ, it still SEEMS to be the same circuit?

[@gorak9000]

it looks like it's mirrored - the extra pads on the PCB surrounding the BNC jacks is also mirrored (presumably for some kind of active probe! That's pretty impressive to have on such a small scope)

[@simontay4851]

I like that you can change the colours of the channels. Ive never seen that on any other 'scope. I don't like the default colours on bench scopes. They're too similar. They should be contrasting colours. Who ever thought yellow and light green or pink and cyan are a good combination needs sacking. On a 4 channel 'scope, i would choose red, yellow, blue and white.

[@Runco990]

LeCroy scopes can customize the colors. Of course..... they cost a ton!

[@danielegger6460]

Wow, that device I totally didn't know existed (I actually do have a logic analyzer from DreamSourceLab so I'm familiar with the company). I disagree with your analysis of the hardware though: You said the snappiness and bootup time can be attributed to the Spartan-6 which is not the case, all of the operation and UI (and most likely also the bootstrapping of the FPGA) is done by the STM32H750 which is a *very* fast MCU. I am very (positively) surprised that DSL went out of their way to write a whole MCU based oscilloscope software (which is a rather heavy engineering task) in this quality rather than going the usual route of using a pedestrian CPU and slapping a stripped down Linux on that; which is the main reason for dozen of seconds boot time.

[@KerryWongBlog]

Yes, the UI is done with the MCU not the FPGA.

[@vuhuy8952]

It should a beast on portable segment. But if include the all size oscilloscope then 100$ we can buy a siglen 800x hd mode .

[@javiergs7498]

Hello, I am a fan of your work, impeccable!! One question, I'm looking to get a good quality/price oscilloscope. This oscilloscope really me. It was very surprising, would you recommend it to buy it? Is it the best there is in its price range or are there even better things, what have you tried? Because the To1154d hantek, owon Hds202S... The new Rigol800/900 is in that range... What is your opinion and recommendation? Thank you so much!

[@KerryWongBlog]

Thanks! You do pay a premium for the form factor of the DS4T1012. TO1154D is considerably larger. OWON HDS series are also larger than this one in size. If you are flexible with the form factor, you have a lot of choices. I should be getting a Hantek TO series next month so I will let you know how well it works. But the TO series is much larger compared to the DreamSourceLab one.

[@MichaelBen-Yehuda]

The Rigol 802 base is the only cost comparable model at 299. It has 12 bit vertical resolution but is only 70 Mhz BW. So 5ns/div. No sig generator, Shared ADC. You might be able to hack it to 100Mhz and overclock too. Of course it's a 7" touch DPO display so it's really a different class instrument, for a different use case. It's powered via USB C though so it's very portable and can be battery powered. The Rigol has much better connectivity.. LAN and HDMI and USB. You can connect a large touch screen monitor and the screen scales up and touch and mouse works. It's really what suits the needs not just specs. You can't toss it into your tool bag like this 150Mhz

[@EngineeringAllAround]

Why avalanche pulse generator test is not terminated!?

[@KerryWongBlog]

My omission. I did retest and the results were similar.

[@EngineeringAllAround]

@@KerryWongBlog So it seems like nonlinear filters are applied to correct the frequency response. They shift the phase. It's a sad situation.

[@MichaelBen-Yehuda]

Damn this is one beautifully crafted product. An honest 150 Meg and scales to 1ns/div. When I saw the FFT was real and the Decode, I thought, WOW finally a tool bag portable with the 2 functions I really need. Kerry, I didn't see you mention math modes like X+/- Y or X x Y. Are they there? The two big disappointments are the sig gen which is way out of keeping with the rest of this hardware and the lack of all but rudimentary connectivity. So my hand came off the buy button. Why are they rushing this to market with so much great stuff and yet they are gong when the product is obviously unfinished. The 70 meg version is out there too. Do this isn't new. Just better. How much is it to drop an external display on the mini HDMI connector? Together with USB and an external touch screen monitor is easy. How much to put a better sig synth and vco on the board? A few dollars? Where is the matching dock? This is frustrating. So who else offers decode and real FFT in a small portable?

[@kellyanderson7115]

It's a cool unit for sure, but they lost me when I saw that you most likely would destroy the unit if it needed a battery. I like where some of the other manufacturers have gone with replaceable 18650's.

[@Sentinel-1]

I know that this is not a comparison, but Owon HDS2202S appeared in the video definitely won in terms of bang for the buck. 😏

[@javiergs7498]

Yes, its the better osciloscopio cuality/price

[@Sentinel-1]

@@khl6367 What tasks do you need more memory for?

[@isoslow]

$250 is just too much for this... You can have 12 bit(!!!) 1.25 GSa/s Rigol for not much more. And glued on case is just unacceptable. How are you supposed to replace a lithhium cell after it dies, huh. Basically there is no good scopes in the $100-$200 price range.

[@thomaskallmyr]

❤😂ESCARGENCY ❤

[@NoferTrunions]

36:08 SMD L10 is out of position.

[@gamerpaddy]

a bit late. their dslogic and dscope products were amazing but this one.. they could have used any ordinary 5..6 inch china phone display with fullhd, their quality is miles ahead of this cheap ips module. repairability.. yea.. and its too expesive if you look at the new rigol dho800 series, its more capable, has a better screen, more options. for about the same or better price once this one isnt discounted anymore

[@KerryWongBlog]

Sure the Rigol DHO800 is more capable, but it's not a fair comparison as the form factors are totally different. Specs apart, the form factor is what makes this DS4T1012 stand out in my opinion. The oscilloscope market is very competitive these days for sure. The more competition the better. And competition is what drives innovation.

[@gamerpaddy]

they could have made a Android version of DSView and make their DScope models work with it, it would have been the much more capable option in my opinion while still being a tiny handheld formfactor and even dual-use everyone got a phone with hardware thats much more capable than their stm32 frontend. and everything else gets handled by the fpga anyways

[@trevorvanbremen4718]

@@gamerpaddy IMO, the STM32 is quite appropriate! It doesn't have to do H.264 encode / decode etc, it just displays a waveform and reacts to touch / button inputs. (The HARD work is done by the FPGA!). The waveform update rate and input responsiveness already looks quite decent to me! Sure, they could have used an Allwinner / Rockchip etc CPU but it would only serve to increase the BOM cost! IMO, a far more VALUABLE feature would be to add Bluetooth and / or WiFi thereby allowing the 'finicky few' to establish a _wireless_ remote connection

[@boots7859]

@@KerryWongBlog If they could rev 2 it and add an HDMI out with touchscreen input like the DHO800, it might be the perfect enthusiast bench and portable combination. Seems like it has the cpu power, might need some extras for the HDMI+touch in/out like Rigol has. Really nice boot and update frame rate.

[@md.mostafakhan4529]

Good but the price is still high for the spec.

[@javiergs7498]

What its the better osciloscopio quality / price for you? Cheap, médium and low - High

[@patrickdemeyer2210]

i decided not to order , they even not answer emails .

[@javiergs7498]

Mee to

[@simontay4851]

Thats really good but i bet it ain't cheap. Probably several hundred $.

[@jaro6985]

$250, or there is a 70MHz model for $150

[@boots7859]

@@jaro6985 That price is too close to the Rigol 800 at US 299. Unless you need something portable/dc powered.

[@jaro6985]

Its like a dsonano on steroids.

[@tech29X]

Beautiful scope but it's too small and very hard to service, few years down the road when the rechargeable battery kicks the bucket taking this thing apart and then putting it back together... No, thanks, I don't need/want my scope to be another throw away smart phone. Would rather have something a little more bulky but serviceable with a 7 inch screen and couple more knobs on it. Nice scope, but no thanks.

[@illvllsllsl6]

What about printing a new case on a 3D printer?

[@sha_s7343]

Too noisy tract, noise can be seen even at the limit of 500 mv! And in general it is not clear how he displays low-level signals!

[@CopenhagenMusik]

hilarious how the amplitude increases with +30% from 50Mhz to 155Mhz.. 200 to 260mV Are we gonna see 10Gig bw entry scopes from China in the next few years with all that trickery. Why do you make these weird edits in your footage on interresting factors.. you try to explain to the viewers about the trickery, but then you obviously cut it out..- why mr Wong??.. seems weird, are you in cahoot with this chinese vendor who greased you with it and you desperately wanna push it, that even your own words, & explanation on what tactic is being used 16:44 is persona non grata.I hope not, as it should be your viewers interests that took center as they are the foundation for your platform. No thx.. a measurement device needs to be loyal, that amplitude got a will of its own.. what IPS screen are used (resolution?).. its looks kind of low res, and its not like this is a cheap sub 100 us device..?

[@KerryWongBlog]

Just wanted to set the record straight. I do not accept anything beyond the products themselves for my reviews and the terms under which I do these reviews are that I would publish my findings as is. If you have watched my other review videos you will see that I have no problem pointing out issues with the products sent in.. So no, I don't promote anything on my channel. I try to present all the facts and give my opinion on things. The clip you pointed out, I cut out some of my rambling and yes I do have my theories but at that point it was way beyond the claimed 150MHz bandwidth so it really doesn't matter.

[@CopenhagenMusik]

@@KerryWongBlog +30% amplitude increasement from 50Mhz to 155Mhz you have 200mV at 14:40 and 260mV at 155Mhz and it looks to go even higher? how does that actually stack up.? with a +30% gain in amplitude.. shouldnt it be linear or decrease? I dotn recall I seen that before... why such a massive amplitude increasement? And I have watch your videos for a while, and lately you do come acroos more slimey than previous.(sadly) but maybe its cultural differences and how you role, and you wanna push things on your viewers and be loyal to who'ever daddy is gifting you stuff, not leats when you have a financiel incentive to piggyback ride on your subscr. purses.. It does not look good, when your start talking about trickery on weird behaving products, and then its cut out.. hence info that could put the product in less favorable light. if vendord are using trickery to push up on specs, to decieve, like we have seen again and again from CN.. shouldnt it be something like that, that would be interresting to analyze for your subscr. who I guess Mr Wong is your most important factor, and not some sugardaddy in China that wants you down on all four while getting acces to your subscr. purses..?

[@ohboy4784]

All is nice but the price kills it . 250 $ is way too high ,half that and you are in the market...

[@gorak9000]

Can you provide a model that's portable, 2 channel, 150Mhz, and half the price?? There is the Zoyi ZT703S which is 2 ch 50Mhz and ~$80 - it just JUST came out - only a handful of people have them in their hands so far... still waiting for mine to arrive

[@jdmccorful]

Enjoyed! Thanks.