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Best Hobby Oscilloscope


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#21 JonnyBoats

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Posted 31 March 2011 - 10:57 PM

You are getting lots of good advise, but unfortunately you didn't really say what you wanted to do with an Oscilloscope. beyond perhaps "Gee, wouldn't it be fun to have...".

There is a reason that a top end Agilent scope costs $10,000; it will do certain things that a cheaper scope will not.

To learn more about oscilloscopes I recommend you check out the EEV blog: http://www.eevblog.c...g/oscilloscope/

There was also an interesting short video on checking out the clock oscillator on an Arduino at http://www.adafruit....with-fet-probe/

On the low end, I have one of these http://www.nkcelectr...pe-diy-kit.html. I rate it good value for the money, but it would never do what a Agilent would.

Also a key factor is do you want to look at analog, digital or both? For analog only go buy a good used analog only scope from a top manufacturer, you can easily get one for low dollars (way less that $100). For digital what you may want is something more than just an oscilloscope. You may want a logic analyzer (which better digital scopes will have built in or available as an option) or perhaps a protocol analyzer. The reason for this is if you are hooking something up to the SPI or I2C bus for example your are probably more concerned with "Is the proper data being sent and received at the correct time?" than "What does the trailing edge of the waveform look like?" or "is there ringing on the line?" which are also important and the kind of thing that a scope would show but a logic analyzer would not.

Hope this helps ;-)

#22 JonnyBoats

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Posted 01 April 2011 - 10:52 PM

Make Magazine just put up a nice, short intro video on Oscilloscopes here:

http://blog.makezine...cilloscope.html

#23 Stefan

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 10:34 AM

I got myself a cheap old scope for 40 euros (http://www.radiomuse...lloscope_c.html). I know one of 400 euros would be much better but to spend money you first need to have it, and it's only for a hobby. It has two channels of 20 MHz and it looks really retro. I already love it :D
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#24 Mario Vernari

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 10:43 AM

That's good! Have you any chance to inspect it before purchasing or is it "as-is"?
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#25 Stefan

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 10:44 AM

That's good!
Have you any chance to inspect it before purchasing or is it "as-is"?

The seller comes to my house tomorrow, to prove that it works. He lives nearby.

He said it works, it only lacks one button (Sweep time/div) I noticed on his photo, but that's easly replaced.
It's the same button as for Volts/div, so I just take one of them as example to the local button store ;)
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#26 Mario Vernari

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 11:54 AM

Good move! You should also check the screen, since is a CRT. Scopes suffers a lot of phosphore burning other than the old TVs. You should check if there's anything dark-shaded (i.e. burn) on the screen face. That would be a failure, but 40€ is absolutely an honest price (in case make him offer you a beer!) Another interesting check. Connect both the probes to any circuit so that the signals will appear on the screen. Now with some tool hard-but-not-so-much (e.g. wood) try to hit gently the scope everywhere. Especially on the handles, switches and connectors. The screen must show the signals without any problem. If not, that means there is something dirty, oxid (how to write in english?) or similar. Could be a good move, in case, to use a contact-cleaner spray. Anyway, before any decision, let have some practice! Cheers
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#27 Stefan

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Posted 06 April 2011 - 05:37 PM

Just bought it, it's in a perfect state as far as I can judge! http://twitpic.com/4hnsq3
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#28 Mario Vernari

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Posted 06 April 2011 - 06:06 PM

Yep, it seems almost brand-new... Now you may try to peek at the SPI. Ciao
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#29 Nevyn

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Posted 10 April 2011 - 07:09 AM

Whilst reading the internet (will I ever get to the end?) I came across this scope. Now I have an excuse to buy an iPad 2, just got to get my wife to understand the need :)

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#30 Chris Seto

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Posted 10 April 2011 - 11:18 PM

Only problem is that most/all of those scopes are just toys and are unfit for real work. Besides, that thing's $300, another $100 more and you are in Picoscope territory, and out of the toys.

#31 terrorgen

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Posted 11 April 2011 - 02:38 AM

what I don’t like about that ipad 2 “dongle oscope” thing is that it has only one analog channel... wtf?

#32 Nevyn

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Posted 11 April 2011 - 06:21 AM

Besides, that thing's $300, another $100 more and you are in Picoscope territory, and out of the toys.


The Picoscope would be cheaper as I wouldn't have to buy the iPad :)

BTW: following earlier recommendations I finally went for the Picoscope and the Saleae.

Regards,
Mark

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#33 pengl

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Posted 05 March 2012 - 10:18 AM

My experience is 100% positive with PCE Instruments and their products. Wide price range but always good quality. http://www.industria...cilloscopes.htm Have fun!!!

#34 mHammer

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Posted 18 June 2013 - 04:53 PM

For consideration.  What are the limitations of one of these:

http://www.gabotroni...a-xprotolab.htm

 

I think I'm most interested in analyzing serial comm and PWM signals to know what is going on that I can not see with a multimeter.



#35 hanzibal

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Posted 18 June 2013 - 06:40 PM

Hi! The logic sniffer seems ok for UART and PWM analyzis but not as an oscilloscope: The analogue bandwidth of 200kHz is way too low and makes it pretty useless The display is tiny, mine is many times bigger and I still wish it was a lot bigger Buffers are very small, you can only see small fragments at a time I think these kind of gadgets are rather cool but don't qualifiy as oscilloscopes. It's like they thought "We got this tiny piece of hardware, let's see if we can make an oscilloscope out of it". It would be better if they'd thought "hey, let's design an oscilloscope and choose whatever hardware meets the requirements". No, I would put my money on something else.




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