5 ms·

Must be nice to have an oscilliscope.

joezydeco 15y ago
If you're doing simple digital work, you can get a hell of a lot of functionality for a lot less. I'm a huge fan of the Saleae Logic (http://www.saleae.com/logic http://www.saleae.com/logic). It does 8 lines of digital scoping @ 24 Mhz PLUS protocol decoding (I2C/SPI/CAN/Serial) for under $150. That's 5% of the cost of a Tek or Agilent scope. And the GUI is lightyears better than those other companies.
- rbanffy 15y ago
  A friend of mine recommended this: http://gadgetfactory.net/logicsniffer/index.php?n=LogicSniffer.LogicSniffer http://gadgetfactory.net/logicsniffer/index.php?n=LogicSniff... It's less "producty" but seems functional
- ableal 15y ago
  Looks very nice, and seems made by people smart enough to make the software multi-platform (Linux/Mac/Windows) and ship to (most of) Europe without customs hassles. Haven't fiddled with hardware lately, but I'm tempted to get one for old times sake (today came across the logic probe I made with a LED, resistor, plastic pen and sewing needle back in my student days ;-).
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    A nice touch is that you can download and play with the GUI (using faked waveforms) to check it out.
- tesseract 15y ago
  I just used one of the Saleae instruments for the first time the other week (I'd had my eye on them for quite a while before that) and it's great. Personally I sometimes want to look at analog signals, or signals that are a bit faster than what the Saleae can handle, so for me it is more of a complement to a scope (which I do already own) but for people with slightly different needs I can easily see how it could handle most everything they might otherwise use a scope for.
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    What really steams me is what companies like Tek charge for the protocol analyzer options on their scopes.
- ComputerGuru 15y ago
  Actually, they just released a new model, the Logic16 http://www.saleae.com/logic16/ http://www.saleae.com/logic16/ In addition to the existing 8 25MHz channels on the Logic, it adds two channels that can go up to a 100MHz and 4 channels up to 50MHz. At $300, it remains quite a steal.
theatrus2 15y ago
$600 buys you a good rigol
- logic 15y ago
  That's my next electronics-related purchase; Rigol seems to make very nice little units. If you're just a hobbyist, though, the DSO Nano v2 is actually a great little device: 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... It also has a newer replacement which is significantly more useful, the DSO Quad: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/preorder-dso-quad-4-channel-digital-storage-oscilloscope-p-736.html?cPath=174 http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/preorder-dso-quad-4-channel... I was given the Nano v2 as a present, and for quickie low-frequency testing, it's fantastic.
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    I still have my Micronta (Radio Shack) logic probe. 22-303. Works like a charm in a quick debug situation.

If you're doing simple digital work, you can get a hell of a lot of functionality for a lot less. I'm a huge fan of the Saleae Logic (http://www.saleae.com/logic http://www.saleae.com/logic). It does 8 lines of digital scoping @ 24 Mhz PLUS protocol decoding (I2C/SPI/CAN/Serial) for under $150. That's 5% of the cost of a Tek or Agilent scope. And the GUI is lightyears better than those other companies.

rbanffy 15y ago
A friend of mine recommended this: http://gadgetfactory.net/logicsniffer/index.php?n=LogicSniffer.LogicSniffer http://gadgetfactory.net/logicsniffer/index.php?n=LogicSniff... It's less "producty" but seems functional
ableal 15y ago
Looks very nice, and seems made by people smart enough to make the software multi-platform (Linux/Mac/Windows) and ship to (most of) Europe without customs hassles. Haven't fiddled with hardware lately, but I'm tempted to get one for old times sake (today came across the logic probe I made with a LED, resistor, plastic pen and sewing needle back in my student days ;-).
- joezydeco 15y ago
  A nice touch is that you can download and play with the GUI (using faked waveforms) to check it out.
tesseract 15y ago
I just used one of the Saleae instruments for the first time the other week (I'd had my eye on them for quite a while before that) and it's great. Personally I sometimes want to look at analog signals, or signals that are a bit faster than what the Saleae can handle, so for me it is more of a complement to a scope (which I do already own) but for people with slightly different needs I can easily see how it could handle most everything they might otherwise use a scope for.
- joezydeco 15y ago
  What really steams me is what companies like Tek charge for the protocol analyzer options on their scopes.
ComputerGuru 15y ago
Actually, they just released a new model, the Logic16 http://www.saleae.com/logic16/ http://www.saleae.com/logic16/ In addition to the existing 8 25MHz channels on the Logic, it adds two channels that can go up to a 100MHz and 4 channels up to 50MHz. At $300, it remains quite a steal.

theatrus2 15y ago

$600 buys you a good rigol

logic 15y ago
That's my next electronics-related purchase; Rigol seems to make very nice little units. If you're just a hobbyist, though, the DSO Nano v2 is actually a great little device: 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... It also has a newer replacement which is significantly more useful, the DSO Quad: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/preorder-dso-quad-4-channel-digital-storage-oscilloscope-p-736.html?cPath=174 http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/preorder-dso-quad-4-channel... I was given the Nano v2 as a present, and for quickie low-frequency testing, it's fantastic.
- joezydeco 15y ago
  I still have my Micronta (Radio Shack) logic probe. 22-303. Works like a charm in a quick debug situation.