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Unread 22-11-2006, 15:02
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mluckham mluckham is offline
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FRC #0758 (Sky Robotics)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Rookie Year: 2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 116
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Re: Inexpensive USB Oscilloscope / Logic Analyzer (under $200)

When I looked at this product, I was aware of the low sample rate - but it seemed more than adequate for hobby use and the robotic sensors involved with FIRST.

I successfully used it to (a) prove that pulses were being output by the 2006 Gear Tooth sensors, and (b) measure the pulses, verifying that they were 25 microseconds and 90 microseconds respectively, as the gear turns in opposite direction.

After using the tried-and-true method of "fiddling with the controls" to get the proper voltage/time/zoom scale - the square pulses were seen. Moving the software trigger icon up out of the noise level and enabling the Trigger feature, the position of the pulse was 'locked' to a stable position on the screen for easy measurement. I could see that the pulse length and voltage amplitude did not seem to vary. Then I moved the measuring icons to mark the beginning and end of the pulse, and read the number of microseconds directly from a text field provided.

The unit answered all my questions - I'm happy!

Last edited by mluckham : 22-11-2006 at 15:09.