5 ms·

Handy 4-channel digital oscilloscope for $159

66 points by sasvari 16y ago

proee 16y ago
Title is misleading. This is not a 4-channel oscilloscope in the classical sense. Should be called a 2-channel oscilloscope + 2-channel logic analyzer. Nonetheless, it's perfect for small hobby projects and the price is right.
axiom 16y ago
Only 7.5MHz bandwidth, and actually only 2 channels. Still $200 is a damn good price.
- phaedrus 16y ago
  According to the page it's 72 MHz, not 7.5 MHz.
  - proee 16y ago
    Actually, it's specced out at 72MHz max sample rate. The actual bandwidth spec is usually higher and is dependent on the ADC. Would be nice for the OEM to spec out the two separately. See: http://www.bitscope.com/adc/?p=3 http://www.bitscope.com/adc/?p=3
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - juiceandjuice 16y ago
      Yeah, actual (acceptable) bandwidth is probably close to 1/4 the sampling rate. They're fudging terms around here. It's probably somewhere close to 20mhz analog bandwidth.
derleth 16y ago
Why is this interesting enough to have gotten 22 points?
- zdw 16y ago
  A few reasons: Their stuff is hackable - the previous 2 channel oscilloscope they made got incrementally more features in it's firmware revisions, and they published the code- see here: http://code.google.com/p/dsonano/ http://code.google.com/p/dsonano/ They're a startup, based in Hong Kong (last I checked). Seeedstudio makes neat stuff, and they're part of the whole electronic hobbyist renaissance (along with sparkfun, Make magazine, etc.) They offer neat stuff, at good prices.
  - bigiain 16y ago
    Agreed. I've got one of their other super-inexpenside LCD scopes, this one: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/digital-storage-oscilloscope-with-panels-p-514.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/digital-storage-oscilloscop... It's perfect for what it's intended for. Audio frequencies and sub 1MHz signals (so I can watch servo outputs and PWM signals from Arduino or RC gear, but not RF or processor bus stuff). I'm not _quite_ interested enough to save ~$50 by being a beta tester, but if the early reviews turn out positive and it seems this'll let me watch signals on 16MHz microcontrollers I'll happily fork out $200 for one later. Perhaps this isn't "web startup/entrepreneur" relevant news, but it's _certainly_ "hacker" news...
  - X-Istence 16y ago
    They have been, and still are located in Shenzhen, China: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/contact_us.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/contact_us.html
    - zdw 16y ago
      Ah, thanks for the correction. The last time I ordered something, it came via Hong Kong Post.
      - 16y ago
mikeknoop 16y ago
Nearly all engineering instrumentation is expensive. Why? Is it disruptable?
- juiceandjuice 16y ago
  Specifications and reliability. Industrial vs. commercial spec parts, wire wound resistors, temperature compensation devices, 5ppm oscillators, lots of reasons. Some of the old tektronix wiring really is a thing of beauty. The tektronix 360 modules are so lovely.
  - tesseract 16y ago
    And low volume.
  - mechanical_fish 16y ago
    A few years back I managed to buy a cheap digital voltmeter that was actually wrong. As in: consistently off by 20% or more when measuring voltages in the range of volts. (!) Ever since I've been trying to figure out how much to spend to get a voltmeter that is guaranteed not to suck. I figure it probably still needn't be very much, but I still haven't chosen one, because I've managed to spook myself. I tell you, on the day after you catch your test equipment giving you egregiously bogus misreadings it is hard to resist the impulse to spend the money on a Fluke or Textronix.
    - blacksmythe 16y ago
      >> Ever since I've been trying to figure out how much to spend I have had pretty good luck buying voltmeters for $10 on eBay.
    - bcl 16y ago
      You really can't go wrong buying Fluke.
      - tesseract 16y ago
jim_h 16y ago
This is BETA. Just remember that when buy it. They also have their DSO Nano, which is an older model. It's also half the price if you just need something basic. http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-nano-v2-p-681.html?cPath=174 http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-nano-v2-p-681.html?cPat...
gallerytungsten 16y ago
I'd like to see a video of the display. I'm wondering how laggy the display is, (if that's the case) compared to a regular scope.
nuriaion 16y ago
I don't understand why they only have 4KSamples Storage per channel. The ARM chip should be able to handle more RAM. Specially for the Logic analyzer part. If you want to analyze some serial protocol (Serial, SPI, I2C etc.) you are really limited with only 4k. I use now the Logic Analyzer from http://www.saleae.com/ http://www.saleae.com/ It's a dumb device and everything is done on the PC. But for simple applications it works fine.

66 points by sasvari 16y ago

proee 16y ago

Title is misleading. This is not a 4-channel oscilloscope in the classical sense. Should be called a 2-channel oscilloscope + 2-channel logic analyzer. Nonetheless, it's perfect for small hobby projects and the price is right.

axiom 16y ago

Only 7.5MHz bandwidth, and actually only 2 channels. Still $200 is a damn good price.

phaedrus 16y ago
According to the page it's 72 MHz, not 7.5 MHz.
- proee 16y ago
  Actually, it's specced out at 72MHz max sample rate. The actual bandwidth spec is usually higher and is dependent on the ADC. Would be nice for the OEM to spec out the two separately. See: http://www.bitscope.com/adc/?p=3 http://www.bitscope.com/adc/?p=3
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - juiceandjuice 16y ago
    Yeah, actual (acceptable) bandwidth is probably close to 1/4 the sampling rate. They're fudging terms around here. It's probably somewhere close to 20mhz analog bandwidth.

derleth 16y ago

Why is this interesting enough to have gotten 22 points?

zdw 16y ago
A few reasons: Their stuff is hackable - the previous 2 channel oscilloscope they made got incrementally more features in it's firmware revisions, and they published the code- see here: http://code.google.com/p/dsonano/ http://code.google.com/p/dsonano/ They're a startup, based in Hong Kong (last I checked). Seeedstudio makes neat stuff, and they're part of the whole electronic hobbyist renaissance (along with sparkfun, Make magazine, etc.) They offer neat stuff, at good prices.
- bigiain 16y ago
  Agreed. I've got one of their other super-inexpenside LCD scopes, this one: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/digital-storage-oscilloscope-with-panels-p-514.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/digital-storage-oscilloscop... It's perfect for what it's intended for. Audio frequencies and sub 1MHz signals (so I can watch servo outputs and PWM signals from Arduino or RC gear, but not RF or processor bus stuff). I'm not _quite_ interested enough to save ~$50 by being a beta tester, but if the early reviews turn out positive and it seems this'll let me watch signals on 16MHz microcontrollers I'll happily fork out $200 for one later. Perhaps this isn't "web startup/entrepreneur" relevant news, but it's _certainly_ "hacker" news...
- X-Istence 16y ago
  They have been, and still are located in Shenzhen, China: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/contact_us.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/contact_us.html
  - zdw 16y ago
    Ah, thanks for the correction. The last time I ordered something, it came via Hong Kong Post.
    - 16y ago

mikeknoop 16y ago

Nearly all engineering instrumentation is expensive. Why? Is it disruptable?

juiceandjuice 16y ago
Specifications and reliability. Industrial vs. commercial spec parts, wire wound resistors, temperature compensation devices, 5ppm oscillators, lots of reasons. Some of the old tektronix wiring really is a thing of beauty. The tektronix 360 modules are so lovely.
- tesseract 16y ago
  And low volume.
- mechanical_fish 16y ago
  A few years back I managed to buy a cheap digital voltmeter that was actually wrong. As in: consistently off by 20% or more when measuring voltages in the range of volts. (!) Ever since I've been trying to figure out how much to spend to get a voltmeter that is guaranteed not to suck. I figure it probably still needn't be very much, but I still haven't chosen one, because I've managed to spook myself. I tell you, on the day after you catch your test equipment giving you egregiously bogus misreadings it is hard to resist the impulse to spend the money on a Fluke or Textronix.
  - blacksmythe 16y ago
    >> Ever since I've been trying to figure out how much to spend I have had pretty good luck buying voltmeters for $10 on eBay.
  - bcl 16y ago
    You really can't go wrong buying Fluke.
    - tesseract 16y ago

jim_h 16y ago

This is BETA. Just remember that when buy it. They also have their DSO Nano, which is an older model. It's also half the price if you just need something basic. http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-nano-v2-p-681.html?cPath=174 http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-nano-v2-p-681.html?cPat...

gallerytungsten 16y ago

I'd like to see a video of the display. I'm wondering how laggy the display is, (if that's the case) compared to a regular scope.

nuriaion 16y ago

I don't understand why they only have 4KSamples Storage per channel. The ARM chip should be able to handle more RAM. Specially for the Logic analyzer part. If you want to analyze some serial protocol (Serial, SPI, I2C etc.) you are really limited with only 4k. I use now the Logic Analyzer from http://www.saleae.com/ http://www.saleae.com/ It's a dumb device and everything is done on the PC. But for simple applications it works fine.