No.122 - Rigol DHO800 & 900 Series Oscilloscopes - VESA Mount Review

The new Rigol DHO800 & 900 series oscilloscopes have a VESA mount on the rear of the units. I thought this was a great idea and went about testing six mounts with a DHO914 kindly supplied by Telonic UK (Rigol UK Dealer).
Telonic UK (Rigol UK Dealer):
DHO800 series - ooo.ai/rigoldh...
DHO900 series - ooo.ai/rigoldh...
VESA Stands:
Grifema Fully Adjustable Monitor Stand, Model GB2003-1
Bontec Full Steel Gas Spring Monitor Mount, Model GDM01
Invision Ergonomic Gas Assisted Monitor Arm, Model MX200
Amazon Basics Single Monitor Stand - Height Adjustable Arm Mount, Model n/a
Bontec Full Motion Articulating TV Wall Mount Bracket, Model 237
Huanuo Wall Monitor Arm, Model HNWSS1
EEVblog DHO800 Full Review:
• EEVblog 1566 - Rigol D...
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[@IanScottJohnston]

UPDATE: I did mention in the video that standoffs can be fitted to aid airflow underneath the VESA plate, 3off the mounts I demo’d did actually supply 12mm spacers in their boxes.

[@technofeeliak]

Thanks for the video. I purchased the: HUANUO Single Monitor Wall Mount for 13 to 32 Inch Computer Screen, Monitor Wall Mount Arm Holds up to 17.6lbs, Height Adjustable Full Motion Gas Spring Wall Monitor Mount - VESA Mount 75x75,100x100.

[@sdgelectronics]

Looks really good. Might use one of these mounts for my picoscope to aid cable management

[@stevenwilliams6258]

I'm using a table-mount computer monitor MountUp brand and am satisfied so I gave a wall mount MountUp a try for the DHO914 I got at the Rigol Clearance site (note the much-reduced warranty). I mounted it to the outside of my equipment rack so it wasn't taking space inside the rack/table area. The scope can be swung completely out of the way to the side, set at the corner for use or extended out for use. Cables were tied to the arm to avoid stress on the scope connectors and route along the rack, out of sight. I can remove the scope easily as I used velcro cable straps. Extra weight was needed as Ian mentioned even after adjusting the arm to its minimum tension setting. I used a roll of enamel coated wire for now with wire ties. The only issue I had with this mount was that it sloped to the left while looking at the scope. There is some play in the head area. I adjusted the mounting to angle it upwards at the scope end. I checked the VESA mount and there is clearance in the mounting screws and VESA plate but sitting on the screws was good. I got it close to level. After using it a few minutes, changing scope position and changing scope settings found this to be a convenient mounting method and it freed up space on my small, 5-foot-wide rack.

[@PIXscotland]

I'd be putting some spacers behind that vesa to aid airflow.

[@jonathanhendry9759]

The RIGOL I got off eBay came without the rear plastic cover, so what I did was I bought a plate of aluminum about the right size and put holes in the plate that matched some threaded holes on the back of the scope, and also some holes that matched a VESA mount.

[@TelonicInstruments-rn9tz]

Great little video demo highlighting the benefits of using a visa mount on these new high resolution 12 bits scopes from Rigol. We will give the Grifema GB2003-1 mount a go, struggled with our Invision MX200.

[@KGBot]

love your scottish accent, reminds me of my time at Agilent South Queensferry, wonderful scots there.

[@Homer19521]

To save bench space you could mount the base to the shelf above. 👍

[@fredflintstone1]

A nice selection of VESA mounts and review🙂 oh and merry Christmas incase you do not release any repair videos before the 25th

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

I perfer to have my test equipment on a shelf above the bench at about eye level. Scope and DVMs in the middle and signal sources to the side. I don't as you say like to learn in to adjust things. This looks ok but will the mount resist the button pressure without moving. I don't want to have to hold it while pressing buttons.

[@IanScottJohnston]

Button pressing not a problem, the mounts don’t move that easily. Stiction we used to call it.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

@@IanScottJohnston that's good I've hated equipment that lighter than the button pressure. So you end up pushing it around the bench. or giving it blu-tak feet. Also used to think of stiction as the thing that stops you pulling something out that just slid in easy. now no dirty thinking here this is an engineering comment 🙂

[@SaeligCoInc]

VESA is a great feature! We're selling these like hotcakes at Saelig!

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

Hi, Ian. This was very valuable! I have to say I hadn't considered the lower weight limit being an issue, so I'm glad I saw this before getting an arm for my DHO814! Just wondering whether you will be doing an.. erm... unofficial upgrade to your 'scope? There's no point with mine, I don't think, but yours will go up to 250MHz.

[@IanScottJohnston]

Glad you found this of some value! Doubt I will upgrade anytime soon.......maybe when it's rock solid with no side-effects! I haven't look into any of this yet, just saw that chat online about it.

[@TheDefpom]

I am worried about the mount blocking the airflow, having all of the vents in the mount position is a fail from my point of view. Some mounts will completely block the vent.

[@sdgelectronics]

You can always use some standoffs. They normally come with the mounts, but looks like they aren't in this case.

[@IanScottJohnston]

⁠Yep, I mentioned in the video about using standoffs if there’s any concern, but I also wonder if it would make that much difference as the heatsink swirl design is from the centre and out in all directions. I might do some testing and look at the airflow and temps.

[@electronash]

(posting my reply for the second time. It got auto-culled before, probably because I mentioned a certain seller site in China.) @IanScottJohnston Thanks for the vid, Ian. I just got my 804 last week. I'll probably get the first mount you showed. I can't easily drill through the desk, but the desk clamp should work fine. What I will say about the heatsink is... I was resting the DHO804 near a cloth earlier, but it tipped back too far, and a cloth blocked more of the vent holes. Within about 6 minutes, I realized the back of the 'scope was almost too hot to touch. The entire heatsink gets very hot within a surprisingly short amount of time if there isn't enough airflow. Even the BNC for the Aux port felt like it was nearly 80C. :o So yeah, i would definitely recommend adding standoffs on the VESA mount, if the plate doesn't allow much (or any) airflow through the middle part. A few nylon standoffs maybe 8-10mm could be good? (I really wish they had just used a larger diameter fan. It's not as loud as my old DS1102E fan, by any means, but it could have been way quieter on the new one.)

[@electronash]

I did one of the "hacks" already, but only the one which enables 100 MHz bandwidth, vs the original 70 MHz. That was using the patch software from the eevblog forum. I really want to get up to 200 MHz (ish) bandwidth if possible, specifically to help reverse the LVDS protocol of modern DMD chips. But, I think the hack which patches it to the 900 series still has a few issues, mainly some small DC offsets, which isn't ideal. I'm sure in a few weeks, most of that will be sorted, and a new patch released.

[@IanScottJohnston]

@@sdgelectronicsjust looked, 3 of the 6 mounts came with 12mm spacers.

[@FlyingShotsman]

I think the killer solution for that scope would be a dual-monitor arm, with a monitor mounted above the scope, connected via the scope's HDMI port.

[@IanScottJohnston]

Nice idea!

[@TheDigitalAura]

I'm planning on making some videos soon as I recently got a DHO814, figured I didn't need the 914 etc as I have a Logic Analyzer on my Rigol 5000 series. I'm going to cut an ipad matt screen protector to reduce the reflections and also VESA mount mine next to my pc monitor. Was wondering whether to drill extra holes in the mount for airflow or not, need to watch temps.

[@sdgelectronics]

I think I used the logic analyser on my previous rigol a total of about 3 times. The cable harness makes it all a bit unwieldy.

[@markgreco1962]

Asking Santa for that scope

[@andymouse]

Sorry off topic but do you have a video or can point me in the direction of a quick and dirty method to log data of a frequency from a 34401A please ?....cheers and a Merry Christmas to you and yours !!

[@IanScottJohnston]

WinGPIB, see the Metrology section in the EEVBlog forum.

[@andymouse]

Thanks !@@IanScottJohnston

[@osgnuru]

A great feature.

[@alien8r33d]

Doesn't the VESA mount bracket obstruct the fan to some extent?

[@IanScottJohnston]

I guess it does, but of all the brackets I tried, 3off them came with 10mm spacers which are designed to offset the mount and allow for airflow.

[@ExaltyLucRL]

i cant move it up and down can u help me??

[@bruceboeke7489]

What size screws does it use???

[@IanScottJohnston]

M4x20mm if using a 12mm spacer. 3 out of the 6 VESA kits I tried had 12mm spacers.

[@joseph1257]

Never buy it... it has overheating problem... it can't work continuously... Siglent SDS814x is best and reliable.

[@ghydda]

Mine doesn't. Isn't that odd.

[@nandorszabo6757]

Not true!