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] open source oscilloscope: BitScope

  • $550 BS100U: 2 analog inputs + 8 digital inputs, optically isolated, from BitScope Designs (MetaChip Pty. Ltd.) [1]. ("Scopal" third-party software is available[2]). (open hardware).

[edit] open source oscilloscope: the MultiAnalyser

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

[edit] are these open-source?

(FIXME: get sampling rate and resolution)

Epanorama has many links related to o'scopes and o'scope accessories [4].


[edit] Oscilloscope Design Discussions

[edit] some low-cost oscilloscopes

some low-cost oscilloscopes, in no particular order. ... it would be nice to mention # 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
  • $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. [5] The software can be downloaded for 21-day fully functional trial with at least sound card at [6]
  • $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. [7] The software can be downloaded for 21-day fully functional trial with at least sound card at [8]
  • $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. [9] The software can be downloaded for 21-day fully functional trial with at least sound card at [10]
  • $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
  • $420 PicoScope 2202 from Pico Technology([11])([12])([13])
  • $200 Hantek DSO-2090 USB PC Oscilloscope [14]
  • $380.00 DSO2250 100MHz PC-SCOPE 250MS/s [15]
  • CAN 219.99 Syscomp Electronic Design DSO-101 [16] (Syscomp supports the "The Open Instrumentation Project" [17])
  • EUR 427 ETC s.r.o. M520 Oscilloscope [18]
  • $222 ANT8 : 8 Channel Logic Analyzer (EasySync)[19]
  • $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.
  • under $200 : Carl's Electronics has some stand-alone and PC-hosted (parallel port?) oscilloscopes for under $200.[20]
  • $170 HobbyLab USB oscilloscope [21]
  • $500 DS1022C : 2 Channel, 25 MHz Rigol Technologies Inc.[22]
  • $999 CS320A Cleverscope [23] (has a discussion forum[24])
  • $167 DrDAQ "data logger" (parallel port) from Pico Technology [25]
  • $970 NI USB-5132 : USB digitizer from National Instruments [26]
  • $139 Parallax USB Oscilloscope 2 analog inputs + trigger; 1 MS/s [27]
  • $170 PC USB Oscilloscope DiSco (HobbyLab, LLC). 2 analog inputs ( 200 KHz ) + 16 digital inputs (or 8 digital inputs + 8 digital outputs). [28]
  • $150 ST16B 10 MHz stand-alone oscilloscope, 2 analog inputs [29]
  • $190 VEPCS100 ( PCS100 ) - PC Based Oscilloscope; 1 analog input ( 12 MHz ); optically isolated from PC [30]
  • $950 DSO-8502 USB Oscilloscope, 2 analog inputs (250MSa/s) + external trigger; 1 digital output (trigger out); buffer: 512K points/ch.[31]
  • $799 DSO-8202 USB Oscilloscope, 2 analog inputs (200MSa/s) + external trigger; 1 digital output (trigger out); buffer: 128K points/ch.[32]
  • $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 [33]
  • $249 S2X100 USB Oscillloscope, 2 analog inputs (100Ms/s) with 8 bit resolution, buffer: 64K samples [34]
  • $495 ELAB-080 [35]
  • $745 USBee AX-Plus, 2 analog inputs (Max 16 MS/s ?) and 8 digital inputs [36]


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

Test Equipment Solutions Today, Inc.[38] 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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