Oscilloscopes
in [Design]
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From: miso on 8 Feb 2010 02:24 On Feb 7, 1:57 pm, D Yuniskis <not.going.to...(a)seen.com> wrote: > RogerN wrote: > > What's the best scope to get for the money for mostly digital circuits? > > I'll have some analog but nothing real high frequency, like analog > > But, your *digital* stuff *will* be "high frequency" (at least > considerably higher than the analog examples you mentioned) > > > connections to the microcontroller, maybe some SMPS circuits. I was looking > > at some microcontroller and fpga designs that you can get kits starting at > > less than $100 and going up with more speed and features. Also, I see on > > eBay you can get some nice looking Techtronics scopes for $350 or so, 4 > > channel digital, etc. Just wondering if something like the AVR scope would > > be a useful tool or if I would be wishing I went ahead and bought a nice > > used scope on eBay. > > You might look into an older logic analyzer "for mostly digital > circuits". Often, the cost of shipping is the biggest expense! :> > > Of course, it also depends on the types of problems you are > trying to troubleshoot with the device... If you get a used logic analyzer, make sure it has the "pods". I'm simply amazed at how the box and pods get separated.
From: D Yuniskis on 8 Feb 2010 03:17 miso(a)sushi.com wrote: > On Feb 7, 1:57 pm, D Yuniskis <not.going.to...(a)seen.com> wrote: >> RogerN wrote: >>> What's the best scope to get for the money for mostly digital circuits? >>> I'll have some analog but nothing real high frequency, like analog >> But, your *digital* stuff *will* be "high frequency" (at least >> considerably higher than the analog examples you mentioned) >> >>> connections to the microcontroller, maybe some SMPS circuits. I was looking >>> at some microcontroller and fpga designs that you can get kits starting at >>> less than $100 and going up with more speed and features. Also, I see on >>> eBay you can get some nice looking Techtronics scopes for $350 or so, 4 >>> channel digital, etc. Just wondering if something like the AVR scope would >>> be a useful tool or if I would be wishing I went ahead and bought a nice >>> used scope on eBay. >> You might look into an older logic analyzer "for mostly digital >> circuits". Often, the cost of shipping is the biggest expense! :> >> >> Of course, it also depends on the types of problems you are >> trying to troubleshoot with the device... > > If you get a used logic analyzer, make sure it has the "pods". I'm > simply amazed at how the box and pods get separated. Ah, yes. And, more importantly, any *micrograbbers* that might be attached to the pods! Otherwise, you'll spend more on *those* than the logic analyzer itself! :<
From: Robert Roland on 8 Feb 2010 04:11 On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:17:22 -0700, D Yuniskis <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >*micrograbbers* that >might be attached to the pods! Otherwise, you'll spend more >on *those* than the logic analyzer itself! Depending on your needs, these might work: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8391 They're not spectacular in quality, and they're too big for the really tiny applications, but they do work, and the price is not bad. -- RoRo
From: mike on 8 Feb 2010 04:29 miso(a)sushi.com wrote: > On Feb 7, 1:57 pm, D Yuniskis <not.going.to...(a)seen.com> wrote: >> RogerN wrote: >>> What's the best scope to get for the money for mostly digital circuits? >>> I'll have some analog but nothing real high frequency, like analog >> But, your *digital* stuff *will* be "high frequency" (at least >> considerably higher than the analog examples you mentioned) >> >>> connections to the microcontroller, maybe some SMPS circuits. I was looking >>> at some microcontroller and fpga designs that you can get kits starting at >>> less than $100 and going up with more speed and features. Also, I see on >>> eBay you can get some nice looking Techtronics scopes for $350 or so, 4 >>> channel digital, etc. Just wondering if something like the AVR scope would >>> be a useful tool or if I would be wishing I went ahead and bought a nice >>> used scope on eBay. >> You might look into an older logic analyzer "for mostly digital >> circuits". Often, the cost of shipping is the biggest expense! :> >> >> Of course, it also depends on the types of problems you are >> trying to troubleshoot with the device... > > If you get a used logic analyzer, make sure it has the "pods". I'm > simply amazed at how the box and pods get separated. > I asked that question once. Turns out that anything in a big box is an instrument. The other stuff goes in the wire recycle box. By the time it gets to anybody who cares about it, it's too late. Just look around the lab. Anything not in use has it's probes in a drawer somewhere. Another factor is that if the recycler does know what she's doing, she knows that probes get separated. The probes are much easier to sell and bring more profit than the main box. Bargain hunters will gladly pay $50 for a box and then another $200 on EBAY for broken probes, but they wouldn't pay $200 for the whole thing working. Simple matter of supply/demand/greed/frugality...
From: Rich Webb on 8 Feb 2010 08:53
On Mon, 8 Feb 2010 06:05:19 -0600, "RogerN" <regor(a)midwest.net> wrote: >Lot of good info there, thanks. I have a 10mhz leader single trace scope >that worked fine last time I tried it. Do you have any recommendations on a >used repairable scope? I've seen some recommend the Techtronics 465, since >a lot of what I plan to use it on is digital signals/communication, I >thought storage would almost be necessary. If you're interested in the information content of a data stream instead of (or in addition to) the waveform, then you'll get a lot more mileage out of a logic analyzer than a 'scope. The oscilloscope will let you check the rise/fall times, envelope, eye diagram, etc. The analyzer will let you read an I2C or CANbus conversation right off the screen without a lot of tedious bit counting. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA |