The Rigol scopes are a really good offering, build quality is excellent (have two of them myself), but of course price tag is another league (~300 Euros and up) than the PCB Scope. Worst case, if at some later point you find out you want to go for a "big" scope not much is lost learning using the tiny PCB scope, I would consider it a good way of learning the basic functions and usage of any oscilloscope. Whitespace, what you are looking for should indeed be possible to handle with the PCB Scope. The PCB Scope is simply a bare-bones version, by using surface mount components and omitting "real" probe connectors and the housing I was able to greatly reduce cost. Hello, here is the creator of the PCB Scope / DPScope SE speaking (there is no difference in functionality or performance between these two, they also use exactly the same software. Logic Analysers like this one, can be had much more cheaply - but careful research is required, as to which analysis software can be used with them - and which Operating Systems they run on. In real terms, that is much cheaper than the Topward was and has far more functionality. My current pride-and-joy, is a Siglent SDS 1052 DL - which currently retails at ~£230. Eventually, I upgraded/downgraded/changed to the Hantek 6022BE, which as mentioned earlier, being PC-based, was quite awkward to use. ISTR it was less than £300, but allowing for 30 years inflation, that was still a lot of money. My personal oscilloscope journey started with the Topward 7021, when Maplin started selling them in the late 1980's. It is I find it so much easier to twiddle with physical knobs and switches, than it is to hunt for the mouse and start interacting with a virtual version. You always get what you pay for, of course, but I found one huge difference between PC-based 'scopes and real ones - and that is in usability. That probably fits the bill for your ADC readings, but for the other examples you gave (Serial, IR PWM etc), a Logic Analyser might be more suitable. Of course that was also mainly true for traditional analogue 'scopes, but it's rather easier to "confuse" yourself with the subsampling artefacts of a digital scope.Ĭlick to expand.For working with Analogue signals, that vary with time, you need a 'scope - any scope, being better than no scope. Secondly, it is a rather slow "Sampling" 'scope which means that for "higher" frequencies (potentially not far into the kHz region) it needs a "periodic" (continuous) waveform and a reliable sync / trigger signal. Unlikely, particularly for typical PICaxe projects, but it could be a very expensive mistake. Since it connects directly to your computer (USB connection for data and power) there is a slight risk that you might "destroy" the PC if you do something really bad. There are probably other advantages but I had better mention a few disadvantages: Also, as it uses your computer's screen, it's easy to take a screenshot (Print Screen), the "User Interface" is quite good and it has a storage / persistence capability for slower signals. It has several strengths and weaknesses: Firstly, it has two channels (plus an External Sync capability) it's amazing how often a second (displayed) channel is useful and sometimes it's absolutely essential. For example, I used it for a forum thread HERE (end of post #1). Personally, I have the original "DPScope SE" which uses identical software and is basically the same, but built inside a "box" with connectors for 'scope probes, etc. I reduced the delay until I could see the desired effect above. The scope showed that on my first pass, the delay was too long, running over into the next half-cycle. The program delays for a decreasing time before firing the triac to provide a "soft start" to a (simulated) A.C. Running at SETFREQ M16, "PAUSE 1" takes 317 microseconds incrementing to PAUSE 2 adds 250 microseconds. This screen shot from DPScopeSE shows that the triac on-time (red signal) was ramping as desired after being triggered by the zero-crossing trigger (blue): I like that it's so tiny, especially compared to the 70-pound used monster I had 40 years ago.Ī few days ago I wanted to look at the timing of an AC "cycle slicing" program which was attempting to capture a zero-crossing trigger of a 60Hz (North American) AC signal (tested using a 12V AC wall plug transformer) to fire a triac for an increasing period within the 8.33ms half-cycle time (120 half cycles per second). I don't need to use my DPScopeSE very often, but it's illuminating when I do.
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