Home Made Osciloscope

[djradu]

I guess that once one gets more knowledge in electronics,the need for more equipemant is bigger , but why pay some over rated company product when you can have it yourself done.I have an 10 MHz osciloscope but i need one for the road, a portable one so i kindly ask for your advice and knowledge what kind and how to build one ! Sorry if i posted in the wrong place !

 

[BobK]

You could probably build a scope with a bandwith of about 100Khz using a microcontroller, a few opamps and an LCD display. Getting over 1Mhz would be much more difficult.

Bob

 

[djradu]

Thanks bob,guess it is a good start,a good thing fo audio measurement,wen repairing audio at neighbours or at frinds , relatives on the road. For start lets begin with the display,wath kind would you recomend and what woluld be the circuit for it,sorry about my english !

 

[amidis86]

Have you try this arduino osciloscope?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Oscilloscope-THE-EASY-WAY-DIY/step3/Programming-Processing/

some people success make it work, but im fail ;(

 

[djradu]

amidis86 Thank you,i have never tried it and its kind of expensive for me now , i understand you tried it and failed well why dont you give it another go ?

 

[CDRIVE]

Entry into microcontrollers the cheap and painless way.

http://www.picaxe.com/

Chris

 

[wingnut]

Entry into microcontrollers the cheap and painless way.

http://www.picaxe.com/

Chris

What do you think of the PICkit 3?

On the subject of free oscilloscopes, Winscope works OK (turns the pc into an oscilloscope).

 

[CDRIVE]

What do you think of the PICkit 3?

On the subject of free oscilloscopes, Winscope works OK (turns the pc into an oscilloscope).

I'm not familiar with it but CC or Bob might be. I definitely know that CC is into Pics.

Chris

 

[BobK]

So is Bob

The PICKIT 3 still seems to be plagued with problems. I don't have one, I am still using my PICKIT 2 that I have had for about 5 years now without any problems. The only problem with PICKIT 2 is that it does not necessarily work with the latest PIC chips. If you need one of these newer chips, the PICkit 3 will be necessary, especially if you need debugging.

Bob

 

[wingnut]

Thanks Bob

I did not realise the PICkit 3 had teething problems.
I am wanting to upgrade from my old PIC programmer which does not have in circuit programming nor does it take modern PIC's. I will probably just stick with Arduino Uno for now.

 

[CocaCola]

As everyone will attest the PICKIT3 has issues, and you can pick up a 'bootleg' PICKIT2 cheap enough that will still work just fine for a vast majority of the chips...

My primary 'stand alone' or 'in circuit' PIC programmer is the Melabs U2

http://store.melabs.com/cat/u2.html

But, for most of my stuff I program using the on board programmer on either the

QL200 developer platform
http://www.pic16.com/en/wzcapi/ql200.htm

or the

Mikroe EasyPIC developer platform (they also have dsPIC and PIC32 versions)
http://www.mikroe.com/easypic/

As for a DIY osciloscope, look at the DSO Nano, I have the version 1 back when it was in a recycled MP3 player housing, the new version is much cleaner... It's open source so if you really want to you can tweak the firmware to your needs or just use it as is... It's nothing fancy but for under $100 it's a neat little pocket device...

 

[BobK]

I really like my in circuit programming, because I break a lot fewer pins that way.

Bob

 

[CocaCola]

I really like my in circuit programming, because I break a lot fewer pins that way.

That is why I do a lot of the development on the larger developer boards above, that way I can program in circuit with the built in programmer without a hiccup... I also replace the stock cheap socket with ZIF sockets on the developer boards, even easier and less pin damage...

 

[djradu]

So it is a start,a simple to use,simple to program uC to start something,lets gather some stuff here that my be usefull to all !
lets start with this one http://www.picaxe.com/Hardware/PICAXE-Chips/PICAXE-14M2-microcontroller/,any one has an ideea how to build a programer for it ?

 

[CDRIVE]

Read the Picaxe data and download the free software. Picaxe doesn't require any programmer hardware other than a serial cable and a couple of resistors and a diode.

Chris

 

[djradu]

CDRIVE Thanks,but since im not so much into uC could you help out with a schematic,thank u !

 

[CocaCola]

CDRIVE Thanks,but since im not so much into uC could you help out with a schematic,thank u !

If you want to see how the in circuit programing of the PICaxe works just visit their site they have it all clearly documented... The advantage they leverage is that they use the computer as the programmer vs an external device, this is possible due to the fact that the PICaxe has a pre-installed bootloader installed when you purchase it, that allows for this type of in circuit programming without additional hardware... You can do the same with normal PICs as well but you will need a hardware programmer to first load the bootstrap/bootloader into the chip, after that it can be reprogrammed without the need of the hardware programmer, PICaxe does this initial loading for you...

 

[CDRIVE]

CDRIVE Thanks,but since im not so much into uC could you help out with a schematic,thank u !

Ditto to what CC said but what schematic are you talking about?

Chris

 

[djradu]

@COCA COLA and @CDRIVE Thank you,i mean the programer board schematic !

 

[CocaCola]

@COCA COLA and @CDRIVE Thank you,i mean the programer board schematic !

As I said it's all documented on their site, no need for me to copy and paste it here just go there and read it...