Oscilloscope on a shoe string

[idris]

I've been toying with the idea of an oscilloscope, and although I know you can pick up an old one on ebay for not very much, I just don't have the space to store it for the rare occasions I'd want it. So I was wondering about the handheld or PC based versions.

I'd only want it for simple projects (and I haven't even bought any components yet) so if it's much more than £40 it's probably not worth it.

Any thoughts?

http://www.bestofferbuy.com/DS0201-...ce=gbase&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=gbase_uk

http://www.coolcomponents.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=499

http://www.virtualvillage.co.uk/2-c....html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shcomp

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ARM-DSO-Nano-..._Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item27bc737387

 

[poor mystic]

I think you can probably get some sort of scope for your £40 if you're not too fussy

 

[idris]

But are they any use at all, or just a pile of *****?

 

[Smithy49]

I haven't tried these before - and my knowledge of electronics isn't very high, but I have got a couple of oscilloscopes - one quite a bit better than the other.

Co-incidently, the one which is better (more accurate, more control, more inputs, etc) is more expensive.

Therefore, I wouldn't expect these to be very accurate or have many features - if they were, then the oscillopes worth thousands of pounds would be useless to most applications.

Saying that, I'm sure if you're just wanting to look at waveforms - without the need for great accuracy, then they should be fine.

For the sake of a few pounds, why not give one a try and review it on the forums?

 

[daddles]

I haven't used one of them nor the PC-based scopes, so I can't comment on them. However, I've been using scopes for a long time and I know I'd never be satisfied with one of those small scopes, at least for working at a bench (perhaps doing field work where one had to travel with the gear might change my mind). I want the usual knobs and buttons on the control panel. I recently was sent a scope to write a bit of code for (it's not on the market yet); it's the B version of an existing scope. It's substantially smaller and more powerful than the existing A version digital scope and would cost new what I paid for my used HP scope I bought on ebay about 6-8 years ago. This new scope isn't a heck of a lot larger than a loaf of bread and with its features, I suspect I'd be quite happy with it if I were to buy it. If I could only have two electrical tools, they'd be my DMM and a digital scope; both of them simply wouldn't take up very much space. Thus, I can't recommend what's best for you, but I know I would never buy a scope without a traditional integral control panel and display.

 

[Smithy49]

Agreed Daddles - the best bit of a 'real' oscilloscope (for me anyway) is feeling and hearing that cool 'clunk' when you turn the knobs.

All the buttons are cool too!

 

[poor mystic]

Yes, Star-Trek effect is fun, but for me the big thing is how well the scope can trigger on complex waveforms.
With digital waveforms where you might want to trigger on an interrupt pin going high for example, triggering is not a problem and a cheap scope is no worse than a good one. However where complex raster waveforms in analogue TV sets are to be observed you need good triggering. You don't need very flash triggering for audio work or for most hobby work.
As far as I know, the goodness of the triggering circuitry pretty much determines the price of an analogue scope.
For radio work, where you need to measure high frequencies, scopes get dear for another reason..

 

[idris]

.... You don't need very flash triggering for audio work or for most hobby work. ... For radio work, where you need to measure high frequencies, scopes get dear for another reason..

Sounds like a cheap piece of junk will do me fine then

 

[poor mystic]

Yes. Go for a 10 MHz scope or even 5 Meg will do for lots of work. People spend a lot of unnecessary money on trying to look like Star Trek I think.