Oscilloscope

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An oscilloscope (often abbreviated o'scope or scope) displays signal voltages as a 2-D graph, usually as voltage (vertical axis) as a function of time (horizontal axis).

The probe of a o'scope is held against, or is clipped to, the metal wire carrying the signal of interest.

A dual-trace o'scope has 2 probes, so 2 different signals can be seen -- so not only the shape of the signal can be seen, but also the exact time from events on one signal to events on the other signal.

Contents

[edit] Techniques

Sometimes one wants to look at a 8-bit data bus -- typically one uses a "logic analyzer" to look at lots of time-aligned digital signals. For a given number of signals to look at, oscilloscopes (which show the true analog waveform) are much more expensive than logic analyzers (which only show if a digital waveform is hi or low, above or below the logic threshold). Many people buy both a (dual-trace) o'scope and a 16-trace logic analyzer, which together have a total cost less than one true 8-trace o'scope.

... more techniques ...

[edit] Open Source Oscilloscopes

Of course, you have to already have a working o'scope in order to build and test another o'scope, making this the same sort of chicken-and-egg problem as the RepRap project, the GCC project, and other projects David Cary finds interesting.

[edit] PC Oscilloscopes

[edit] Open Hardware for PC Oscilloscopes

[edit] Bitscope

  • $575 BS100U: 2 analog inputs + 8 digital inputs, optically isolated, from BitScope Designs (MetaChip Pty. Ltd.) [1]; review by Endolith
  • $695 BS325U: 2 analog inputs + 8 digital inputs, optically isolated, from BitScope Designs (MetaChip Pty. Ltd.) [2]
  • $1595 BS442: 4 analog inputs + 8 digital inputs, ethernet connection, from BitScope Designs (MetaChip Pty. Ltd.) [3]
  • $475 BS50U: 1 BNC analog input + POD (2 analog or 8 digital inputs), usb powered, from BitScope Designs (MetaChip Pty. Ltd.) [4]

[edit] MultiAnalyser

Some people on the PIClist have been discussing designing an open-source oscilloscope.

[edit] XMEGA Xmegalab Development Kit and Oscilloscope

  • $249 The Xmegalab is a development board for AVR XMEGA microcontrollers, a dual channel oscilloscope, an arbitrary waveform generator and a scientific calculator. Xmegalab. Alpha version of the firmware (mostly in C) has been released under the GPL. Serial port; SD Card with FAT File System support, etc.

[edit] Closed, COTS Hardware for PC Oscilloscopes

  • For low frequencies, pretty much any external sound card with a line input will work. External card line inputs generally have a range around 0-1 V whereas onboard microphone inputs only have up to about 50 mV, which just isn't enough sensitivity. The Virginia Tech Lab-in-a-Box recommends the Behringer UCA202. To use a sound card oscilloscope on a regular basis, a circuit with variable attenuation is recommended (i.e. 1x and 10x). Compensation for the hardware and software gain can be done as part of the attenuator circuit or in software.

[edit] PC Oscilloscope Software

[edit] Free Software

  • Sourceforge: xoscope is a digital oscilloscope for Linux that uses input from a sound card or EsounD and/or a ProbeScope/osziFOX and will soon support Bitscope hardware. The sound card device is hard-coded but instructions for modifying it are on the VTLUUG wiki.
  • Baudline GPL version is a signal analyzer designed for scientific visualization, using input from recorded data files or from a sound card. For Linux / Solaris. The source code is expensive and it is intended for qualified corporate or institutional buyers.
  • Miniscope v3 is a digital oscilloscope for Windows. It connects to device using external dll. Available libraries to connect with sound card, Microchip MCHPUSB Generic HID Demo and custom AT91SAM7S64 hardware.
  • Digital Soda is a simple GTK+ frontend for the DSO-2250 USB oscilloscope for Unix/Linux.
  • Osqoop is an open source software oscilloscope. Osqoop project features an arbitrary number of channels and long acquisition durations. Signal processing and external peripherals control is possible through a plugin architecture.
  • oscilloscope pic microcontroller demo oscilloscope PC based oscilloscope embedded system parallel port LPT.

[edit] Non-Free Software

  • "Multi-Instrument"converts a PC into multiple test & measurement instruments such as oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, signal generator, spectrogram, distortion analyzer, network analyzer, data logger, LCR meter, vibrometer, etc. Besides sound cards, it supports many other ADC/DAC cards. Free Trial with full functionality for 21 days.
  • Baudline gratis download (dual licensed, see Free Software entry).
  • Zelscope Converts your PC into a dual-trace storage oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer. It uses your computer's sound card as analog-to-digital converter. Windows trialware.
  • BitScope DSO is a digital oscilloscope logic analyzer for Linux and Windows. It works with BitScope hardware and is distributed as freeware.
  • Zeitnitz Souncard Scope and function generator. For Windows but runs under Wine.

[edit] Non-PC Oscilloscope Projects

[edit] Uncategorized

Epanorama has many links related to o'scopes and o'scope accessories [6].

[edit] Oscilloscope Design Discussions

[edit] some low-cost oscilloscopes

some low-cost oscilloscopes, in no particular order. ... it would be nice to mention sampling rate, # of analog input channels, # of digital input channels, whether it can be used under Linux, does it have output channels ... price should (?) include 2 analog probes, ... is it open hardware? ... anything else?

  • price name comments
  • $50 JYETECH Oscilloscope and frequency counter, 1 input, 1MHz analog bandwidth, LCD screen, serial port screen capture [7] available here: [8]
  • $50 Usbscope.eu, low cost 2 channel (4 channels available soon), 40 kHz sample rate, 10 bit, 200 samples/channel. [9]
  • $150 (?) VELLEMAN HPS10 Hand Held Oscilloscope 10MHz sampling rate, LCD: 128x64 pixels [10]
  • $349.95 VT DSO-2815H,1x150MHz or 2x75MHz,sophisticated trigger functions, a wide range of gain selection, 1kHz squarewave output, with a Multi-Instrument Standard software license, which converts a PC into oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, multimeter, signal generator, data logger...it also supports sound card (both MME driver and ASIO driver), NI DAQmx cards, etc. [11] The software can be downloaded for 21-day fully functional trial with at least sound card at [12]
  • $299.95 VT DSO-2810H,1x100MHz or 2x50MHz,sophisticated trigger functions, a wide range of gain selection, 1kHz squarewave output, with a Multi-Instrument Standard software license, which converts a PC into oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, multimeter, signal generator, data logger...it also supports sound card (both MME driver and ASIO driver), NI DAQmx cards, etc. [13] The software can be downloaded for 21-day fully functional trial with at least sound card at [14]
  • $250 VT DSO-2810F,2x100MHz, with a Multi-Instrument Standard software license, which converts a PC into oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, multimeter, signal generator, data logger...it also supports sound card (both MME driver and ASIO driver), NI DAQmx cards, etc. [15] The software can be downloaded for 21-day fully functional trial with at least sound card at [16]
  • $150 Poscope basic 2 from PoLabs PoLabs, 2 analog channels, 16/8 digital channels, PC USB oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, chart recorder, pattern generator, logic analyzer, PWM/ square generator
  • $206/$328 PicoScope 2104 and 2105, 1 channel handheld oscilloscopes from Pico Technology [17]
  • $262/$371/$387 PicoScope 2200 range from Pico Technology, 2 channels, 1 output [18]
  • $667/$1002/$1332 PicoScope 3200 range from Pico Technology, 2 channels, 1 output [19][20][21]
  • $823 PicoScope 4224 from Pico Technology: 2x80 MS/s, 12 bit, 20Mhz BW, 2 input channels, includes 2 X1/X10 probes, USB cable, and carrying case. USB powered. [22][23]
  • $200 Hantek DSO-2090 USB PC Oscilloscope [24]
  • $380.00 DSO2250 100MHz PC-SCOPE 250MS/s [25]
  • (about US$400.00) GAO2250 100MHz 250MS/s USB PC Oscilloscope, Gaotek Inc. A Canadian source for the DSO-2250. 2 input channels plus trigger. Provision for ground and calibration. Windows only, AFAIK, no Linux. Gao's latest website doesn't quote a price, but when I got mine it came to about CAN$500, including US conversion and Canadian taxes. [26]
  • CAN 219.99 Syscomp Electronic Design DSO-101 [27] (Syscomp supports the "The Open Instrumentation Project" [28])
  • EUR 427 ETC s.r.o. M520 Oscilloscope [29]
  • $222 ANT8 : 8 Channel Logic Analyzer (EasySync)[30]
  • $200 PS40M10 : Swordfish Hand-Held Instrument (1 channel) USB (EasySync)
  • $220 DS1M12 : Stingray Multi-Function Instrument (2 channel) USB (EasySync)
  • under $600 : Jameco has some actual stand-alone oscilloscopes for under $600. So does www.tequipment.com - see Rigol 'scopes from China - good quality - also on eBay.
  • under $200 : Carl's Electronics has some stand-alone and PC-hosted (parallel port?) oscilloscopes for under $200.[31]
  • $170 HobbyLab USB oscilloscope [32]
  • $500 DS1022C : 2 Channel, 25 MHz Rigol Technologies Inc.[33]
  • $999 CS320A Cleverscope [34] (has a discussion forum[35])
  • $167 DrDAQ "data logger" (parallel port) from Pico Technology [36]
  • $970 NI USB-5132 : USB digitizer from National Instruments [37]
  • $139 Parallax USB Oscilloscope 2 analog inputs + trigger; 1 MS/s [38]
  • $170 PC USB Oscilloscope DiSco (HobbyLab, LLC). 2 analog inputs ( 200 KHz ) + 16 digital inputs (or 8 digital inputs + 8 digital outputs). [39]
  • $150 ST16B 10 MHz stand-alone oscilloscope, 2 analog inputs [40]
  • $190 VEPCS100 ( PCS100 ) - PC Based Oscilloscope; 1 analog input ( 12 MHz ); optically isolated from PC [41]
  • $950 DSO-8502 USB Oscilloscope, 2 analog inputs (250MSa/s) + external trigger; 1 digital output (trigger out); buffer: 512K points/ch.[42]
  • $799 DSO-8202 USB Oscilloscope, 2 analog inputs (200MSa/s) + external trigger; 1 digital output (trigger out); buffer: 128K points/ch.[43]
  • $108 LabJack U3 USB data acquisition and control device, 16 analog inputs ( 12 bit, 2.5 KSa/s at 12 bit resolution, 50 KSa/s at 8 bit resolution), buffer: 984 samples, 2 analog outputs, digital outputs [44]
  • $249 S2X100 USB Oscillloscope, 2 analog inputs (100Ms/s) with 8 bit resolution, buffer: 64K samples [45]
  • $495 ELAB-080 [46]
  • $745 USBee AX-Plus, 2 analog inputs (Max 16 MS/s ?) and 8 digital inputs [47]
  • $90 DSO nano, 1 analog input (1 Ms/s) with 12 bit resolution; buffer: 4096 Point; waveform storage on SD card [48]; review by Justblair
  • $249 MSO-19, 1 ch. 2GSa/s oscilloscope, 8 ch. 200MSa/s logic analyzer, 100MSa/s pattern generator and a TDR. MSO-19


FIXME: Measurement Computing has some wireless and USB analog DAQ instruments -- add to the above list.

FIXME: DATAQ Instruments, Inc. has some USB and Ethernet analog DAQ instruments -- add to the above list.

FIXME: DesignNotes.com, Inc. has some USB and handheld LCD o'scopes from Velleman: Velleman oscilloscopes -- add to the above list.

FIXME: Link Instruments Inc. has several USB o'scopes and "USB MSO" ("mixed signal o'scope"). Are they already listed above?

EasySync[49] is a distributor of RockyLogic's ANT8/etc products.

Test Equipment Solutions Today, Inc.[50] is a distributor of Rigol's DVM and oscilloscope products.

When you search eBay for oscilloscope, you might find some good deals.

[edit] Further Reading

[edit] External Links

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