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Recommend me a pc-oscilloscope

post #1 of 15
8/27/10 at 2:44pm
Thread Starter 

Hi

 

I have just discovered how fun it is to build an modify amps and Im planning to get moore serious with it. I want a good pc based oscilloscope to measure THD bandwith and so on. I guess it would help if the scope has a signal generator.

 

Ivé been looking at the picoscope 2200 and 4227 but i have no idea if they are any good.

So please all you experienced builders, recommend me some good oscilloscope.

 

Budget: What it takes to get a good scope, preferbly under 1000$

 

Thanks!

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post #2 of 15
8/27/10 at 3:59pm

Right Mark Audio Analyzer and a very good quality soundcard is a popular method for measuring THD, noise, etc.

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post #3 of 15
8/27/10 at 4:15pm

Agreed^. If all you want is THD then a soundcard and Right Mark would be more suited. amb has some stuff on his site I think(amb.org)

 

I thought about a USB thing. Ended up going with a cheap analog scope, a so-so DSO, and a fairly decent function gen. About $600 all in on ebay, but you gotta shop like a big dog(took about a year, and some luck).

 

Took a lot of advice from threads here and members like amb and tangent, as well as lots of reading and comparing.

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post #4 of 15
8/27/10 at 7:56pm

Any choices for a decent (but cheap) analogue o-scope?  I'm thinking about a Tektronix 465(b).  Is that reasonable?

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post #5 of 15
8/27/10 at 9:16pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your advice.

 

I tried using my soundcard for thd measurements but i couldn´t get the resolution I need, at least 0,001%.

 

Im going to use the scope for more than thd and bandwidht, since Im going to study electronics.

So I think the criteria should be: a dual channel pc-scope with signal generator and good software.

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post #6 of 15
8/28/10 at 1:37am

i'm not sure the pc scopes are really up to snuff. they just dont have the bandwidth and speed needed especially for power supply and digital. THD fine, but I second the notion to be patient and look for a used analogue scope. i' sure there are good PC scopes out there, but I dont think its in your budget. I was looking at them, but asked around on DIYA and was told they were basically toys. if you are studying already, maybe check out the labs and ask them of there is anything due for an update soon; if you catch my drift.

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post #7 of 15
8/28/10 at 4:53pm

heh, you prolly noticed when you mention "scope" or "oscilloscope" that the bar on the right has advertisement for the same.

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post #8 of 15
8/28/10 at 5:13pm

What bar? ;)

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post #9 of 15
8/29/10 at 4:11am
Over on the right hand of this page, and up a little , under the " what people want " column.
Yesterday it had a Rohde & Shwartz scope in it($$$), along with some pc o'scopes.
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post #10 of 15
8/29/10 at 5:30am

There is a what people want column?

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post #11 of 15
8/29/10 at 8:20am

If you look to the right of your screen, to the right of everyone's posts here, and maybe scoll up a bit, you see (starting at the top) adversitements for "Featured Sponsors", then below that "Tags" and then below that "Recent Reviews" then below that "What Users Want" then below that is a box with 3 ads in it. Mine has two ads for o'scopes now, and one ad for Bose. The bottom right corner of the box says "ads by Google."

 

I know I'm not the only one who sees this box. The one at the top of the page changes also, based on what you post or what's contained in the posts on that page. I've seen this on many other forums.

 

EDIT: Apparently it only looks like that on this page. It is not the same layout on the "Forums" page.


Edited by digger945 - 8/29/10 at 8:24am
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post #12 of 15
8/29/10 at 8:38am

What I see is forum posts, full screen wide, with nothing else.  And I like it that way.  Every forum I visit seems to end up like that for some reason...

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post #13 of 15
8/29/10 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by digger945 View Post

If you look to the right of your screen, to the right of everyone's posts here, and maybe scoll up a bit, you see (starting at the top) adversitements for "Featured Sponsors", then below that "Tags" and then below that "Recent Reviews" then below that "What Users Want" then below that is a box with 3 ads in it. Mine has two ads for o'scopes now, and one ad for Bose. The bottom right corner of the box says "ads by Google."

 

I know I'm not the only one who sees this box. The one at the top of the page changes also, based on what you post or what's contained in the posts on that page. I've seen this on many other forums.

 

EDIT: Apparently it only looks like that on this page. It is not the same layout on the "Forums" page.


Digger - I see everything you mention, but see very little of it at work.  It think it depends on the filtering you've set up in your browser, firewall, etc., as to whether others see this.

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post #14 of 15
8/29/10 at 10:40am

Your right Tom. I ususally don't notice but just happened glance over the other day and said "heh, usb oscilloscopes, right here in the thread about usb oscilloscopes." I see it all on the iphone, which I was using at work to post this morning.

 

Oh well. I guess if yer gonna surf naked then yer gonna see a few things ya wouldn't ordinarily see, huh.

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post #15 of 15
8/29/10 at 11:12am

 

 

Quote:
 I guess if yer gonna surf naked then yer gonna see a few things ya wouldn't ordinarily see
 
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