USB DSO aka PC oscilloscope recomendations

[billbo911]

Hello all you gadget geeks!

I'm looking into purchasing a USB attached oscilloscope. These are sometimes referred to as USB DSO, or PC oscilloscopes.

Regardless of what you call them, they perform the data acquisition that is then sent to a PC for measurement and display.
I already own an ancient analog Tektronix scope without storage. I's big, heavy and does not allow post acquisition analysis.

The fact that I am a tight wad also means I would like to keep the cost down, way down!

So, I'm looking for recommendations.

Does anyone own either of these two, and would you buy it again?

Hantek 6022BE

SainSmart DDS120

Are there other USB DSO's you might prefer to these in a price range that is not too much higher?

[Mk.32]

Originally Posted by billbo911

Hello all you gadget geeks!

I'm looking into purchasing a USB attached oscilloscope. These are sometimes referred to as USB DSO, or PC oscilloscopes.

Regardless of what you call them, they perform the data acquisition that is then sent to a PC for measurement and display.
I already own an ancient analog Tektronix scope without storage. I's big, heavy and does not allow post acquisition analysis.

The fact that I am a tight wad also means I would like to keep the cost down, way down!

So, I'm looking for recommendations.

Does anyone own either of these two, and would you buy it again?

Hantek 6022BE

SainSmart DDS120

Are there other USB DSO's you might prefer to these in a price range that is not too much higher?

While not a USB one, a friend of me has one of these and loves it.

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso...ope-p-736.html

More portable and 4 channels.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by Mk.32

While not a USB one, a friend of me has one of these and loves it.

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso...ope-p-736.html

More portable and 4 channels.

I have one and I can't recommend it. The firmware/software is complicated to use and update. It's not bad or anything but it's not my goto scope. I picked up a Rigol DSO this season and am really impressed with it. Definitely out of the price range being asked for though. The Rigol can output to LabView, which is nice though I haven't used it yet.

I used to own a USB based DSO from Parallax that fit the description of what is being sought. It was very basic but it worked well for most of my college projects. Having something with protocol sniffing is nice these days though.

Honestly, for $70-$80, try one of them out and let us know.

[scottandme]

Maybe one of these guys? https://www.saleae.com/

Depends what you're trying to do with it, it started off as just a logic analyzer, they added the analog features recently.

[techhelpbb]

If you dive into oscilloscopes deep enough you will quickly realize you get what you pay for.

I agree with Marshall the Rigol DSO are nice and great for the price but the price for the other units mentioned in the OP are just too low.

A serious risk that is taken with such low prices is compromises in the analog front end that increase the likelihood of incorrect readings and coupling into the circuit under test. Depending on what you are measuring this could actually result in damage to something.

The other risk is that there are limits in the digital sampling performance and transfer capability. The result being spurious readings or poor capture of incidents that might be important to the viewer.

Watch for dirty things with cheap DSO like listing the sampling rate of the ADC advertised as the maximum useful frequency the DSO can be used on. Anywhere approaching Nyquist rate and such advertisements are generally baseless with some exceptions that you are not likely to find in cheap hardware.

More on this from National Instruments

So basically if you've got a 10Msps ADC you can probably capture barely viable information on up to 5MHz and really probably will find the best use down below 1MHz.

A little more on this

Now let's add to the mix that we've put USB in there and assume you want the minimum of USB2. So assuming you want to free run this oscilloscope you have 60MBps (480Mbps) max into the PC without some compression. So unless you are running burst measurements in which the data stays in the external device till it fills, that is a hypothetical limit of 60Msps with just 256 vertical steps (256 potential voltages readings vertically in 1 byte and let us cheat and assume we deliver the digitized signal AC coupled with a DC offset value such that DC offset at the analog input does not play havoc). Any more vertical resolution and your maximum horizontal sampling rate pays for it. So maybe at 12 bits per sample you could max shove 40Msps down an USB2 interface. In reality without some messing around that's not a whole lot when you consider the information above. So maybe with some simple compression and messing around one can wiggle an 8MHz 12bit DSO out of an USB2 port and we are making some very real assumptions about what your computer can actually handle. That written, you can get the PicoScope that can greatly exceed those limits and the trick is the way they manage the interface and the cost of doing it shows in the price of the unit.

I've had too many bad experiences with these cheap oscilloscopes in the hands of inexperienced users to make a suggestion for any of them without making protection circuits. At the point you are willing to lay down the cash for the PicoScope you are quickly getting into the Rigol price range.

I'll just add this:
Useful follow up

[Michael Hill]

I'll agree...you really do get what you pay for. 20MHz is pretty trash for an oscilloscope, and don't bother with the salaea unless you need a logic analyzer. Having the mixed signal analysis capabilities can be very useful, only need analog capabilities, the Rigol's the way to go. I bought my 50 MHz one only because I knew I could mod it to have 100 MHz capability. An alternate solution is to check out local university surplus sales. Sometimes they have scopes in there for real cheap.

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by Mk.32

While not a USB one, a friend of me has one of these and loves it.

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso...ope-p-736.html

More portable and 4 channels.

I was considering this one as well, I'm just not sure if the display form factor is sufficient for my needs.

Originally Posted by marshall

I have one and I can't recommend it. The firmware/software is complicated to use and update. It's not bad or anything but it's not my goto scope.

Thanks, this is type of comment that speak volumes.

Originally Posted by marshall

I picked up a Rigol DSO this season and am really impressed with it. .....

I would actually LOVE to have a nice bench O'Scope! When I worked for GE, some 14+ years ago, I carried one with me every single day as part of my tool set. Sadly, those days are over and dropping $400+ just isn't in the cards.

Originally Posted by marshall

I used to own a USB based DSO from Parallax that fit the description of what is being sought. It was very basic but it worked well for most of my college projects. ...

I would really like to try one of these. They look almost perfect for what I am expecting to use it for.

Originally Posted by marshall

Honestly, for $70-$80, try one of them out and let us know.

This may be my final approach once I have weighed out all my options.

Originally Posted by techhelpbb

If you dive into oscilloscopes deep enough you will quickly realize you get what you pay for....

No deep dive needed. This is a fact I understand completely! It literally is a matter of limited available finances for this item.

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

I'll agree...you really do get what you pay for. .... the Rigol's the way to go. I bought my 50 MHz one only because I knew I could mod it to have 100 MHz capability.

Oh yeah, now we're talking! So, modifying it to improve performance? Please, tell me more!!

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

An alternate solution is to check out local university surplus sales. sometimes thy have scopes in there for real cheap.

Now this is an idea I had not considered. I will definitely look into this option! THANKS!!

[techhelpbb]

Another place to get used test equipment cheap: try Hamventions/Hamfests
http://hamvention.org/
ARRL Hamfest search

The Parallax oscilloscope based on the Parallax Propeller:
https://www.parallax.com/product/32220
$199

[marshall]

Originally Posted by scottandme

Maybe one of these guys? https://www.saleae.com/

Depends what you're trying to do with it, it started off as just a logic analyzer, they added the analog features recently.

I love mine. Couldn't live without it now that I've used it. It's not really a scope though I think it does have some capabilities for it. It's definitely a logic device first.

[scottandme]

Originally Posted by billbo911

Oh yeah, now we're talking! So, modifying it to improve performance? Please, tell me more!!

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgea...5faffd2f4673f6

I have a DS1074Z (DS1054Z wasn't out yet), and enjoy it. Both scopes can be turned into DS1104Z's quickly and easily, but I don't think it's exactly legal. Some have proposed that it's a intentional "oversight" by Rigol, but I haven't followed the situation that closely. AFAIK, the same possibility existed with the previous model line as well. Read into that as you will.

It's $400, but far more usable than anything else in the thread. "Buy once, cry once" might apply here if you can scrape up the money.

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by scottandme

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgea...5faffd2f4673f6

I have a DS1074Z (DS1054Z wasn't out yet), and enjoy it. Both scopes can be turned into DS1104Z's quickly and easily, but I don't think it's exactly legal. Some have proposed that it's a intentional "oversight" by Rigol, but I haven't followed the situation that closely. AFAIK, the same possibility existed with the previous model line as well. Read into that as you will.

It's $400, but far more usable than anything else in the thread. "Buy once, cry once" might apply here if you can scrape up the money.

Not sure what isn't legal about it. It's your scope, you can do whatever the heck you want to it. You're not getting around any encryption or anything like that by doing it. Basically, what happened is Rigol decided they wanted 50 MHz scopes and 100 MHz scopes, but to make it cheaper, they all have the exact same hardware and they just limited it in software, and they were called out on it. People figured out how to modify the software to make the scope think it was the 100 MHz version, thus enabling the 100 MHz mode. FYI, I got the original DS1052E and modded it to be the DS1102.

And by modding the software, it was literally change the model number from DS1052E to DS1102E, and that magically changed everything. Now, when it comes to calibration, that may be the only issued. They were all calibrated as 50 MHz scopes, not 100 MHz.

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by techhelpbb

Another place to get used test equipment cheap: try Hamventions/Hamfests
http://hamvention.org/
ARRL Hamfest search

The Parallax oscilloscope based on the Parallax Propeller:
https://www.parallax.com/product/32220
$199

I've been to the Dayton Hamvention a couple of times, and good deals on decent scopes are somewhat hard to come by. Generally, they're all pretty junk analog scopes people want way too much money for. Now, I'm not saying analog scopes are junk, just the ones I've seen at Hamvention.

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

I've been to the Dayton Hamvention a couple of times, and good deals on decent scopes are somewhat hard to come by. Generally, they're all pretty junk analog scopes people want way too much money for. Now, I'm not saying analog scopes are junk, just the ones I've seen at Hamvention.

I think this is like searching the web
You gotta know where to look and when.

I've got 4 or 5 scopes I bought at the Dayton Hamvention and yes some are older but they work.

I've also got some IC programmers and other tools I bought at a local Hamfest.

Where else can $25 buy you a Tektronix 'doghouse' vacuum tube oscilloscope?

[SuperBK]

I have a Hantek DS0-2100 that works great, but they stopped updating the USB driver for it after Windows xp. I have to boot XP in a virtual machine to use it. I'm leery to buy or recommend another Hantek product. Customer support is non-existent.

How about bit-scope?
http://www.bitscope.com/#overview

There is also a scope for a ipad:
https://www.oscium.com/oscilloscopes/imso-104

[billbo911]

I want to thank you all for your thoughtful input.
Because of it, I decided to wait and purchase a bench scope.
Fortunately my wonderful wife said Father's Day was excuse enough to buy one. So, here is what I have decided upon. Siglent SDS1072CML.

I believe for my purposes, this will be an excellent choice.