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Author Topic: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service  (Read 276 times)

K5XS

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Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« on: July 02, 2021, 07:09:32 PM »

I inadvertently broke one of the fold-down feet on my Rigol spectrum analyzer, and went to the Rigol USA website hoping to find a parts form and order one.

I found a customer service email address, sent a request for how to buy the part, and prepared for a pandemic-induced wait.

An hour later I had a cheerful email from Rigol asking for a mailing address. Six days later a pair of feet arrived at no charge.

It's so nice to see the quality of Rigol's customer service is at the same excellent level as my experience with the quality of their test equipment.

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KA4WJA

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2021, 11:43:18 AM »

Bernie,
That's a cool anecdote to share!  Thanks...

And, while I haven't yet needed repair / parts, my ~ 10 year experience now with Rigol has also been great!
See my post here:
https://www.eham.net/community/smf/index.php/topic,134040.0.html


73,
John,  KA4WJA
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VK6HP

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2021, 07:47:07 PM »

John, Bernie

I'm also very happy with the performance per dollar of my Rigol gear, including a new RSA3015-TG spectrum analyser I bought to replace a well-used DSA-815.  I have a couple of other Rigol items and, in general, find the equipment functions well with pretty good ergonomics.  Emona, the local Australian agents are efficient to deal with but I frequently find myself on the North American site to access the best curated information (including FAQs, application notes etc).  In my experience it's fair to say that North American Rigol are carrying a big load in terms of practical global support.

The not-so-good news is that Rigol International are hopeless in responding to technical queries, with most communications apparently ending up in the bin.  It's also apparent that the local agents are at the end of a long chain, despite doing their best to be helpful.  Brought up on the old-style HP manuals, I find Rigol manuals to be barely adequate and, in particular, there are no block diagrams of the instruments - even at the highest level.  All this combines to leave in the dark the user trying to use the gear in anything other than the basic modes.  Mind you, even new Keysight manuals are not the equal of the old manuals in this regard.

In general, experienced users can set aside some of these concerns and just get on with it.  However, with the RSA3015 in particular the integration of the real-time and sweeping analyser functionality is very poorly described, with gross features such as the step in displayed noise floor around 13 MHz not even mentioned.  And don't even think about looking for the origin of low-level (but within spec) spurs, or the use of the trigger out! (Hint: it doesn't work as described in the manual). 

I have the feeling that Rigol would be much better off engaging the North American company as the global support service and perhaps engaging engineers affiliated with that company to produce some decent documentation.  I get the strong feeling that the main aim of the international company is to fill shelves associated with automated testing etc.  It seems to escape them that the poor quality of manuals and explanations is a real impediment to "sophisticated end users" who stretch the gear.  Of course, these users are just the ones to cultivate for continuing product development.

73, Peter.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2021, 07:58:42 PM by VK6HP »
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KA4WJA

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2021, 02:15:40 PM »

Peter,
Sorry to hear that Rigol support is lacking overseas!  :(

As for the 13mhz noise floor issue?  I haven't seen that in my RSA-3030N...(I've only had it about one month)
But, I did notice an issue with it in standard sweep mode (not real-time) when using the tracking gen to sweep some cables....I noticed a "bump" in the TG sweep in the lower HF range (~ 5mhz, if I recall), but only when sweeping the whole span (0 - 3ghz), when I narrowed up it looked ok...

I didn't bother to inquire about this, yet....as I've got the DSA-815-TG, which works fine, and I have little need for anything above 1ghz anyway, except for looking at some cellular/mobile sites' signals.

But, I will look harder at the 3030-N this next month, and see what's what.  :)   
Thanks for the heads-up!

73,
John,  KA4WJA
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VK6HP

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2021, 06:05:25 PM »

Hi John

I would be hesitant to call the noise floor behaviour an issue but it certainly is a feature that deserves prominent commentary in the documentation.  I assume it's part of the transition/integration between the RSA FFT section and the general purpose sweeping analyser.  The analyser amplitude calibration is preserved across the step at ~13 MHz but it does affect tracking generator measurements if the user doesn't do the proper "reference" spectrum prior to inserting the DUT.  So, the TG measurements are fine in the end - just make sure you use a "through" connector and do a reference spectrum first.  By the way, Emona were able to replicate the issue/feature in their demo unit and did verify with Rigol that it's real, but apparently of no consequence in their thinking.

The "N" models with the VNA capability are very nice and I was severely tempted in that direction.  But, for my purposes, I was loath to give up some of the hard-core advanced communications options which, unfortunately, are mutually exclusive with the "N" line.  I think you'll be very happy with the RSA analyser when you put it to work - if Rigol international support and documentation were half as good as the hardware, there'd be no stopping them.

One thing you've no doubt discovered with your earlier DSA unit is that while dynamic range is good for the price, for decent IMD results maximum mixer signal levels need to be lower than in the old favourite HP/Agilent/Keysight units.  My observation is that this is even more true in the RSA3015 analyser - I was very concerned about spurii in the 50 and 80 MHz region until I realized I was misreading the tiny mixer level vs internal IMD plot contained in the sales brochure - but not replicated in the manual! With a bit of thought, it was clear my input signal levels in the particular experiment were 10 dB too high and my unit now sports a small label reminding me to not exceed -20 dBm at the mixer.

All of this, and much more, would have been so much easier with a couple of pages of informed commentary written by an engineer familiar with the industry - not to mention a decent block diagram of the instrument.

73, Peter.
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VK6HP

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2021, 03:51:45 AM »

Just for the sake of completeness, and hopefully to steer any interested readers in the right direction, I notice that Rigol have now acknowledged the presence of the noise floor step:

https://rigol.force.com/support/s/article/TG-and-noise-floor-discontinuity-at-around-12MHz-in-RSA

Their advice is the same as my earlier suggestion: don't be tempted to skimp on measurements using the tracking generator, but do a proper reference spectrum. (Maybe I'm the "some customer" referred to in the note, or maybe there's an introduction lost in translation).

Another thing they (unhelpfully) don't say is that if your analyser shows a genuine amplitude error in measurements straddling the step, do a user alignment (aka internal calibration) of the instrument via the System/Alignment/... menu. I found my analyser had a 2 dB measurement error which had somehow crept in over time - possibly after a firmware update. You'll still see the step in the noise floor and still have to do the proper tracking generator reference spectrum, but the all-important absolute power measuring accuracy of the instrument will be preserved across the step for general measurements. 

73, Peter.
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W9IQ

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2021, 04:29:05 AM »

Thanks for the follow through, Peter. I recently acquired a 3015N for the lab and will check it out per your suggestions.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

VK6HP

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Re: Rigol Test Equipment Great Customer Service
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2021, 04:42:40 AM »

Very interesting, Glenn.  I'm sure you'll be generally happy with the 3015N and will look forward to hearing your impressions. I should have noted that my unit is actually an RSA3015E-TG model, the "E" signifying some compromises in a few areas (such as real-time bandwidth expandbility).  However, from the Rigol note re the 12 MHz step it looks as though it's common to the family.

73, Peter.
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