EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: joelby on May 14, 2012, 11:30:08 am
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Hi all,
I just saw that Analog Devices/Digilent have released a new "Analog Discovery" board for USD 99 (US student price), along with a couple of other interesting things at http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,842&Cat=17 (http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,842&Cat=17) .
The specs:
Dual 14-bit 105 MSPS ADC
Dual 14-bit 125 MSPS DAC
16 digital I/Os at 100 MSPS
Programmable power supply
It looks like it's designed to be an oscilloscope/AWG/logic analyser/digital pattern generator, so the usual caveats (5 MHz analogue input bandwidth) apply for such a device, but the screenshots of the software look quite nice and OS X and Linux versions are promised.
Like many here, I'm not too interested in this class of oscilloscope, but assuming it's hackable it could be the basis for a cheap software defined radio transceiver. It doesn't look like a schematic diagram is available, but Digilent often provide them.. we'll have to wait and see after it's released.
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Digilent is based out of Pullmen Washington. The company was founded by Washington State people. This is a very cool piece of equipment for the student to have. I know that my Professor at University of Idaho Ken Noren was using it for his electronic classes. He said the student loved it because it allowed them to perform their labs in their dorms.
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Agilent
Siglent
Digilent
Interesting name. :)
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I use Digilent's FPGA boards and recommend them.
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Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I got a bit of the rant bug in me this evening.
/rant on/
http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ANALOG-DISCOVERY (http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ANALOG-DISCOVERY)
I've just started researching USB based scopes that I can use as a simple DAQ system and I came across this thing. Since the main frequencies I'll be working with are under 100khz, this looks pretty neat at first, especially for the price. The specs they show like 14bit ADC/DACs, sound really good... at first. Better than the 8-bits of the general purpose usb scopes like the Hanteks and Vellemans, but... WTH is up with their documentation and connector choices???
First of all there is no comprehensive useful documentation. This thing has been out since at least May (from this threads first post) and there isn't even a data sheet anywhere with any meaningful specs on it. No manual, no nothing. This cut sheet is all I could find, and it's not even on their site. It's from Farnell. Am I missing something? Since their target customer is educational institutions, I hope all those engineering students don't learn that this kind of documentation is OK. Those two page examples on the main web site are not really good enough.
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1639278.pdf (http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1639278.pdf)
Secondly, WTH is up with their choice of analog signal connections? Unshielded pin headers right next to the digital pins?
http://www.digilentinc.com/Data/Products/ANALOG-DISCOVERY/Analog%20Discovery_Pin-Out.pdf (http://www.digilentinc.com/Data/Products/ANALOG-DISCOVERY/Analog%20Discovery_Pin-Out.pdf)
Are BNCs really that expensive? You can get two cheap but functional BNC 100Mhz 1x/10x scope probes from ebay for 15USD shipped. One of the joys of being an engineer is collecting test equipment. Having students buy 15USD probes isn't a big issue. But one of the most frustrating things as an engineer is fighting with your test equipment. That's not a lesson students should learn early. I get that the thing is intended to be cheap for educational use but that's a little too cheap. Why use the expensive ADC/DAC if you aren't going to put the front end all the way to the connectors to support it? That brings up the next issue....
I don't see how that thing is worth the 199USD they are charging for non-EDU pricing. Even at the 99USD student price, it's still expensive for what it is.
Whats the deal here? Has anyone actually worked with one of these modules? Does it in fact ship with an encyclopedia of manuals and you just cant download them? Is the input circuitry in fact awesome and I'm way off base? I would hope a collaboration between Analog Devices, Xilinx, and Digilent would get it right, but who knows.
(and what is the headphone jack for?)
Here are some shots of the PCB.
http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4841&p=46801#p46801 (http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4841&p=46801#p46801)
/rant off/
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Hello,
I felt compelled to register, just to respond to your post about the Digilent box of tricks. I bought one, more out of curiosity than anything else. Since then I've bought another 5, and passed them to colleagues. I am blown away by the capabilities of this device, even at the full $199.00 price (I'm in the UK and get them from Farnell for £127 + VAT)
For the record, I'm a professional electronics engineer (have been since 1991), developing medical devices.
I've tried a few USB oscilloscope type devices in the past, and have always been left pretty dissatisfied. The only USB instrument I actually use (and like) is the Intronix Logicport.
Your points about the connector are kind of valid, but for the vast majority of the intended audience (students and hobbyists) connection of a proper (BNC) 'scope probe isn't essential. It comes with a cable loom that is easy to connect to anything as required. If BNC connection is needed then it's not a big deal to splice up a connector. Certainly in my experience the signal integrity is fine. Sure, if you need microvolt resolution then maybe it's not the ideal tool, but it's not intended for that anyway.
I have even decided to include a pin header on suitable future board designs to allow me to just plug the AD straight on to the board for debug and test.
Your point about documentation is valid, but things are improving. When I got hold of the first device (around August, I think) there wasn't much about. However, since then more and more is appearing on the web. Here are some links that might give you more information:
http://www.analog.com/en/university/course-materials/topic.html (http://www.analog.com/en/university/course-materials/topic.html)
http://www.engr.usask.ca/classes/EE/221/lab/2012/Lab3_MOSFET%20IV%20Characteristic.pdf (http://www.engr.usask.ca/classes/EE/221/lab/2012/Lab3_MOSFET%20IV%20Characteristic.pdf)
http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/12/04/analog-discovery-teardown/ (http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/12/04/analog-discovery-teardown/)
http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/04/25/digilents-analog-design-kit/ (http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/04/25/digilents-analog-design-kit/)
(I am the Stephen Casey who has posted there)
The software (Waveforms) was something that I had reservations about. But, it's absolutely fine for what it is. Certainly not 'Mickey Mouse'. It would be great to have LabVIEW drivers for the board, but sadly I haven't found anything on that yet. There is an interface to Matlab:
http://www.mathworks.co.uk/matlabcentral/fileexchange/38113-digilent-analog-discovery-support-for-data-acquisition-toolbox-r2012ar2012b (http://www.mathworks.co.uk/matlabcentral/fileexchange/38113-digilent-analog-discovery-support-for-data-acquisition-toolbox-r2012ar2012b)
But I know nothing more than the detail in the link. I reckon NI are paying Digilent to not release a LabVIEW driver ;)
Why not download Waveforms and have a 'play'? (it doesn't require functioning AD hardware connected, and will even work with the PC audio interface, within the obvious limitations of that).
I have already asked Dave to do a review. Maybe one day he will...
The fully differential 'scope inputs make it even more useful - Particularly for students I imagine, who may struggle with the concept of every measurement on a 'normal' scope being ground referenced.
I also love the fact that I can throw it into my laptop bag and barely notice I've got it with me.
So, my recommendation is to get hold of one and try it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed. And, if you are, I don't think you'll struggle to sell it!
Hope this helps to convince you (and others) that this is a great little box of tricks! For the record, I have no affiliation whatsoever with any interested party. I'm just a happy customer.
Cheers.
Steve
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Awesome. Great reply. That was exactly what I was looking for.
That last DangerousPrototypes thread was the real gem with recent feedback from one of the designers.
I think I'll wait till they release that analog teardown and noise performance report to pull the trigger though.
Its interesting that they said they are also working on a BNC adapter. Good stuff. I wonder how hard it would be to get the API info from the matlab interface if they take forever to release it?
Assuming the noise levels are acceptable, it looks like only issues left for me are the low output voltage of the DACs (since I need at least +/-10V but that would be pretty easy to boost up) and some sort of API so I can jack it into some Python scripts and collect some real data. Might have a winner.
The next step up similar solution seems to be the picoscope 4226/4227.
http://www.picotech.com/precision-usb-oscilloscopes.html (http://www.picotech.com/precision-usb-oscilloscopes.html)
I wonder how the Analog Discovery board compares to that as far as the analog performance in the ranges where they overlap. I know it's not really a 1:1 deal, but still would be interesting considering the huge price difference.
Anyone know of any other >8bit USB type DAQ system like this in between the Analog Discovery and the Picoscope?
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I have already asked Dave to do a review. Maybe one day he will...
I believe there is one in my huge pile of unopened mailbag:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A93nGSgCUAEarbE.jpg:large)
Dave.
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You know you are livin large when you don't even bother to open the mail ;)
But I suppose you have to open every piece on video in order to give props.
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Not enough hours in the day..... Some occupied with sleep, the 30 minute commute to work and having the kids grow up and recognising you as DADDY, not that strange guy who comes in after we are asleep and leaves in the morning.
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I would be extremely interested in a review of this. I am an electrical engineering student and I don't have the space or money for proper setup at the moment, I am considering getting this as a temporary substitute.
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But I suppose you have to open every piece on video in order to give props.
Yep, otherwise its not a real Mailbag IMO, and takes away the excitement for all.
Dave.
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Hello again,
Jack Ganssle has done a mini review in his newsletter here:
http://www.ganssle.com/tem/tem233.html (http://www.ganssle.com/tem/tem233.html)
Hope this is of interest (although I still have my fingers crossed that Dave will surprise us one day).
Cheers.
Steve.
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What we really need is that noise/performance report the design engineer on the DP site was talking about. I'd expect the thing to do what it says it does specs wise, but there aren't any reports of actual numbers for things like noise floor or crosstalk. On the DP thread there was a link to a guy that did some Bode plotting and said there was some crosstalk between the AWG and the analog inputs, but didn't say how much.
Maybe if Dave doesn't have enough time, he could send it to the dude form "The Signal Path". Since he deals with education he might have an interest in testing some of that stuff out and putting some numbers to it. I think it would make a good instrumentation video on it's own, and a good product review too. (Plus if this thing gets picked up at universities, think of all the hits the videos would get from students that are told to buy one)
That API would be great too. I'm not too hot on doing everything in MATLAB.
I think I'm going to start another thread soon dedicated to these small USB DAQ like products since I have a list of a few now that seem to have similar specs.
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If I got in my mail what Dave gets in his, I'd run home screaming every day to check my mail.
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Well this sucks. From the dangerous prototypes boards it really sounded like they were going to release an API for this thing. I sent an email to Digilent directly, and this the response I got.....
“Unfortunately, there is no API available I believe we had planned on it at one time, but last I heard the idea has been tabled for now, with no timetable for picking it back up. I am not sure why. I do not believe we are planning on making the schematics available any time soon.
Best Regards,
Jordan Retz
Digilent Inc.”
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Well this sucks. From the dangerous prototypes boards it really sounded like they were going to release an API for this thing. I sent an email to Digilent directly, and this the response I got.....
“Unfortunately, there is no API available I believe we had planned on it at one time, but last I heard the idea has been tabled for now, with no timetable for picking it back up. I am not sure why. I do not believe we are planning on making the schematics available any time soon.
Best Regards,
Jordan Retz
Digilent Inc.”
BBM. It probably has something to do with Digilent being bought by National Instruments. NI has a product that it competes directly with. I forget the name of it. I wouldn't be surprised if Digilent's product quietly fades away.
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Agilent
Siglent
Digilent
Interesting name. :)
The long tail of things :)
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Here is an independent analysis of the basic performance (since Digilent kinda dropped the ball here).
Michel Gallant did a good job. This and his other experiments are the best examples of the capabilities of the hardware out there now supported with real data.
http://www.jensign.com/Discovery/About/index.html (http://www.jensign.com/Discovery/About/index.html)
I wonder how this compares to the other products in this USB mini DAQ like category:
(The velleman and some lower class picotech are 8bit vertical. The others are higher)
http://www.bitscope.com/product/BS10/ (http://www.bitscope.com/product/BS10/)
http://www.syscompdesign.com/CGR101.html (http://www.syscompdesign.com/CGR101.html)
http://www.picotech.com/precision-usb-oscilloscopes.html (http://www.picotech.com/precision-usb-oscilloscopes.html)
http://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?country=us&lang=enu&id=524708 (http://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?country=us&lang=enu&id=524708)
What other products that might fit in this group?
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I got a chance to play with a Velleman PCSGU250. Unless you can get it for SUPER cheap, pass on this one. The update rate is essentially unusable with the manufacturer PC software at longer timebases. It chugs away like a DSO from the early 80s. I realize you can only push so much data over usb2 but I'm not sure why they don't update faster with a lower sample rate or if it would help writing a custom capture and display program since the API is available. I didn't have time to check out the API. Either way this is not something I'd be happy to have to use very often with the mfg software at least.
As someone pointed out in another thread, Newark is selling the analog discovery for 99USD to everyone in the USA right now, or at least for 26 more units are out of stock.
http://www.newark.com/digilent/410-244e/design-kit-analogue-discovery/dp/62W3442?Ntt=62W3442&COM=celebrating-engineers (http://www.newark.com/digilent/410-244e/design-kit-analogue-discovery/dp/62W3442?Ntt=62W3442&COM=celebrating-engineers)
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From Dave's mailbag today, looks like we'll see a review of this shortly. Look forward to that.....
Pete
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Hi all,
My name is Alex Wong. First of all, I want to do my due diligence. I am working in Digilent.
Sorry for the confusion from our support team.
Actually, we have just worked with Mathworks to release the MATLAB support package for Analog Discovery. Digilent is still considering the SDK availability to the public and will keep you posted. Even though Digilent was acquired by NI, our product line up remains unchanged.
Alex
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If anyone in the UK is considering buying one of these from Farnell get this...
There are two versions listed on their site:
Order Code 2143587 Digilent - 410-24 - Design Kit, Analog Discovery @ £136.09+ VAT
Order Code 2281595 Diglient - Discovery-Training-Pack - Design Kit, Analog Discovery, India @ £120.03+VAT
I checked with their online tech help and was told the latter is the new stock so i went ahead and ordered it.
Arrived this morning and It turns out the cheaper version also includes the Analog Parts Kit which costs another £36+VAT from Farnell. Winner! :-+
Peter
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I got a chance to play with a Velleman PCSGU250. Unless you can get it for SUPER cheap, pass on this one. The update rate is essentially unusable with the manufacturer PC software at longer timebases. It chugs away like a DSO from the early 80s. I realize you can only push so much data over usb2 but I'm not sure why they don't update faster with a lower sample rate or if it would help writing a custom capture and display program since the API is available. I didn't have time to check out the API. Either way this is not something I'd be happy to have to use very often with the mfg software at least.
As someone pointed out in another thread, Newark is selling the analog discovery for 99USD to everyone in the USA right now, or at least for 26 more units are out of stock.
http://www.newark.com/digilent/410-244e/design-kit-analogue-discovery/dp/62W3442?Ntt=62W3442&COM=celebrating-engineers (http://www.newark.com/digilent/410-244e/design-kit-analogue-discovery/dp/62W3442?Ntt=62W3442&COM=celebrating-engineers)
Thanks for the heads-up. I just ordered one. There were just 3 left in stock at the $99 price.
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Thanks for the heads-up. I just ordered one. There were just 3 left in stock at the $99 price.
Interesting, when I checked yesterday there was no stock left, now it says 2.
Looks like they restock.
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Hopefully they're not restocked returns. I guess I'll find out.
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Hello,
I also was lucky to have gotten one of the $99 modules from Newark. Even though I already have a bench full of test equipment, I'm sure that I'll get a lot of use out of this versatile device. For anyone who hasn't seen it, here is the latest brochure listing the Analog Discovery module's capabilities.
www.digilentinc.com/data/products/analog-discovery/AnalogDiscovery-DS-2013-1.pdf (http://www.digilentinc.com/data/products/analog-discovery/AnalogDiscovery-DS-2013-1.pdf)
I see in this brochure that it states the following...
"Spectrum Analyzer New!
• Performs FFT or CZT algorithm on analog input channels and displays power spectrum
• Frequency range adjustments in center/span or start/stop modes
• Linear or logarithmic frequency scale
• Peak tracking option finds peak power and adjusts display to keep peak in center of display
• Vertical axis supports voltage-peak, voltage-RMS, dBV and dBu display options
• Windowing options include rectangular, triangular, hamming, Cosine, and many others
• Cursors and automatic measurements including noise floor, SFDR, SNR, THD and many others
• Data file import/export using standard formats"
EDIT (8/15/13): The version of the Digilent Waveforms software that includes the new Spectrum Analyzer is now available for download from their site...
www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=WAVEFORMS (http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=WAVEFORMS)
Also, I find that their Analog Discovery BNC Adapter Board is a must-have item.
www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,842,1141&Prod=DISCOVERY-BNC (http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,842,1141&Prod=DISCOVERY-BNC)
Regards,
Frank
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I got my Analog Discovery a couple of days ago. I had a play with it today. I made a simple inverting charge pump with some filtering and a small load and had the Waveforms software drive it with a 200kHz square wave.
I've attached some screenshots. Considering there has been some discussion regarding simulators, I also included the simulator results. They show < 1mV ripple on the output. The real world was a little different. ;)
For what I paid ($99) I have no complaints about either the device or the software.
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^^ Thanks for those screen shots of the Computer Software for the Analog Discovery. I agree the interface looks very usable.
I too am interested in buying the Analog Discovery but would like to see Dave's review of it first (Come on Dave, Review it already!!)
Does anyone know the best way to buy it in Australia? Does Digilent store in USA ship over to Australia/accept applications from Australian students for their academic pricing? Does anyone know how expensive shipping is?
A quick comparison; buying the Analog Discovery from Digilent with the parts kit (looks to be fairly good value from what I can see) costs $210 compared to $230 for the same thing at Black Box Consulting here in Australia. Also Digilent gives you the option of adding TINA design suite for $7 extra ... (Never used this before, does anyone have any experience with this product; is it any good?) This will of course depend on shipping costs!
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I probably didn't do the software and device a whole lot of justice. I didn't (and still haven't) read the online help manual. I pretty much just fired it up and played around.
I discovered that you can increase the record depth to 16k per channel. In the screenshots you can see it is 8k (for each channel.) You can change the device's configuration to put more emphasis on the features you need for a particular task, apparently.
The TINA simulation software is pretty good. You can get a free version from TI (http://www.ti.com/tool/tina-ti) called Tina-TI if you want to check it out. The version from Digilent probably has extra features and devices. If so then it would be worth paying an extra $7 to get it when you order an Analog Discovery.
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Hi,
I work on an experiment that requires 6 sines and a synchro signal for the camera. I bought 3 analog discovery devices, but I dont know if I can drive them all at the same time with the Matlab toolbox.
Have some of you worked on this?
Thanks
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I've had good experience with the NI MyDAQ. Its got +/-15VDC as well as +5VDC for digital circuits. Its also got 2 analog outputs and 2 analog input channels as well as 7 DIO pins and a counter. It comes with software that lets you do an FFT and apply different windowing function as well as a function generator and typical computer based scope features. Best of all it can be programmed using LabVIEW to do some really cool stuff such as implementing a control system etc.
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Any review about Analog Discovery ??
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This is probably the best $99 I've ever spent on electronics. I use mine quite a bit. The differential probes allow me to do things I can't do on my 'real' oscilloscopes.
Hopefully others got one of these while they were on sale. So far as I'm concerned, mine has already paid for itself.
I can see where these would be a great tool for someone new to electronics.
I'm thinking of getting one of the BNC adapters. The flying leads can introduce quite a bit of noise into the signals. This is actually what was causing the noise in my inverting charge pump circuit shown in my early post.
I'll probably have to order the BNC adapter directly from Digilent so I was thinking about getting a pair of their probes (https://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,393,1154&Prod=OSC-PROBES) as well. Anyone have experience with these? It doesn't look like they come with the little ground spring attachment--which is unfortunate. Other than that, I imagine they'll work fine for the bandwidth that the Analog Discovery kit works at.
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Hello,
I just noticed that a few days ago an SDK for the Analog Discovery software (Waveforms) was released. More information here:
http://ez.analog.com/community/university-program/blog/2013/08/09/create-custom-pc-applications-for-analog-discovery (http://ez.analog.com/community/university-program/blog/2013/08/09/create-custom-pc-applications-for-analog-discovery)
I haven't looked into this in any detail at all beyond reading the post above. I hope to get some time soon, though...
Hope this is useful.
Cheers.
Steve.
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:clap: I'm slow clapping in real life for Digilent. Good job. I wasn't holding my breath on that one, but I guess this just goes to show you never can tell.
And they even gave examples in python. nice.
Now I just need to get on finishing my BNC/function gen output isolator-amplifier adapter.
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I just noticed that Digilent has released a version of their Waveforms software that includes a new Spectrum Analyzer instrument (10MHz BW).
www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=WAVEFORMS (http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=WAVEFORMS)
Some related info from the newest Analog Discovery brochure....
"Spectrum Analyzer New!
• Performs FFT or CZT algorithm on analog input channels and displays power spectrum
• Frequency range adjustments in center/span or start/stop modes
• Linear or logarithmic frequency scale
• Peak tracking option finds peak power and adjusts display to keep peak in center of display
• Vertical axis supports voltage-peak, voltage-RMS, dBV and dBu display options
• Windowing options include rectangular, triangular, hamming, Cosine, and many others
• Cursors and automatic measurements including noise floor, SFDR, SNR, THD and many others
• Data file import/export using standard formats"
Pretty nice little addition that will let me look at a chunk of the frequency spectrum that's below my RF Explorer-3G's 15MHz-2.7GHz bandwidth.
Regards,
Frank
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I just noticed that Digilent has released a version of their Waveforms software that includes a new Spectrum Analyzer instrument (10MHz BW).
Yes I noticed the option when it installed the updates. I realize its no 10k Agilent SA, or VNA but I am impressed for a lousy 99 bucks not to shabby; it definitely is useful. I’m not going to be throwing away my Instek DSO though ;). The other tools even with a limited BW come in handy.
Terminal jack I’ve been using the network analyzer and I’ve noticed an improvement in the noise floor pick-up when twisting the scope leads. You could maybe try that until you get or build your own BNC breakout board.
Thanks. I saw someone else using that trick and it does help quite a bit.
I bought one of the BNC adapter boards and have been using it with 1x/10x probes. I've attached a screenshot of my noise floor with 1x probes AC coupled.
I've been using the network analyzer myself recently. Like you, I agree that it is a great tool to have for the money but I'm hoping they continue improve the software as I think there is still room for improvement with this particular application.
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Hi,
Considering getting one of these, can anyone tell me is the logic analyser able to trigger on decoded protocol events ? The flyer I found on-line suggests it is, but as previously stated they are a little vague.
EDIT: Answered my own question after downloading the software, NO triggers on protocol events, just basic triggering.
Thanks.
Cam.
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Hi!
I've noticed this some time ago and though about getting it, but I have some questions.
First of all, I need to say that I already have an DSO, the DS2072, which servers me well. That is I don't need the scope ability at all. I'm only interested in the 16-channel logic analyzer (It's a handy thing to hook up many pins of my mcu and see what I'm doing wrong, and my scope does not have so many channels...) AND the AWG (I would love to have the ability to feed some signal into my circuit, that is non-trivial).
So my questions are: how is the LA and AWG?
The second thing is that I use Linux only (well, for serious work anyway), so I'd need this to work in Linux. Since I'm not interested in the scope, I would be happy if the output could be fed into some 3rd party app (online!) or the sw would work under wine reasonably well. I would be willing to code my own software if some documentation is valid (how does it connect? Proprietary protocol or some high-speed serial emulation?). I hear the linux version is promised, but it is promised for a long time (and I've been hoping for it), but I found no recent mention of it and I can find only windows downloads on the site.
Thanks!
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I have to say, as a returning EE (out the game for 20+ years) this has been far and away my best purchase. For a beginner the sub 10Mhz scope and AWG are all you really need to build and debug small electronic projects. I really enjoyed building passive and active filters and tweaking them using the network analyzer. I got it through Farnell in the UK and was surprised to find I also got the Analog Component Kit with it, that really helped get me started. The training materials (video lectures, notes, labs) on Digilents website also very good.
If I really had to mark it down I would say that for the extra few $ they should have brought the scope and AWG outputs to BNC's. The optional BNC board doesn't seem to be available in the UK :( but I had similar one made up through OSH Park.
Dave got one in a mailbag earlier this year and I've been really hoping he would get around to doing a full review of it. It's way below professional use but for me an Oscilloscope, AWG, Logic Analyzer, Network Analyzer, Spectrum Analyzer all for under £130 is fantastic value. There's also a builtin voltmeter and power supply but those (especially the latter) are too basic for even a beginner, those are the only additional lab gear I've bought.
Pete
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Software update to waveforms:
http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=WAVEFORMS (http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=WAVEFORMS)
version 2.6
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first time poster..
I did a search (like a good little boy) to see what people had to say about this product.
I really cant afford lots of gear right now. so this seemed to be a good fit. I have to say that i am way more than impressed. I have been doing Analog/RF/high speed digital IC layout for that last 20 years and have in the last 6 months moved over to PCB and all kinds of other CAD work and even techincal writing. the producd has helped me understand componets much better.. also.. have you checked out the video's
http://www.digilentinc.com/Classroom/RealAnalog/ (http://www.digilentinc.com/Classroom/RealAnalog/)
awsome product, awsome resources for students, kids wanting to learn, or even people like me..
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I've just found this when poking about to see if there's any more documentation on the Analog Discovery. It's a pretty comprehensive reference on the workings of the unit:
http://www.digilentinc.com/Data/Products/ANALOG-DISCOVERY/Discovery_TRM_RevB_1.pdf (http://www.digilentinc.com/Data/Products/ANALOG-DISCOVERY/Discovery_TRM_RevB_1.pdf)
Cheers.
Steve.
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Very interesting.
1) The title says that the document applies to revision B, but doesn't tell you how to find what revision you have. :)
2) There are a bunch of what look like chunks of the real schematic. From what I've found, that whole schematic hasn't been released. I wonder if you can piece the whole thing together from this one document.
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... The title says that the document applies to revision B, but doesn't tell you how to find what revision you have. :) ....
On my particular Analog Discovery module the rev. is silk screened on the bottom of the unit, above the barcode (REV. C in my case). The location may be different for earlier revisions.
Also, that Analog Discovery Technical Reference Manual PDF will come in handy.
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Hello,
Just watched the Chapter 11 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-KQ2NMxws0#ws) video on filter/bode plots.
I was wondering if this board would be capable of measuring THD+N similar to Keithley 2015 etc. for audio amps.
Either through sw update or scripting. Someone mentioned SDK was released.
(was wondering if the same could be achieved with regular oscilloscope/fft and scripting too).
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Has anyone used the Logic Analyzer to test PMOS logic?
I was asked to test a 3-input NAND gate using the Analog Discovery and had to use a 3.3V to -5 V digital shift register (combined with a diode) to get a high of -4 V and low of 0 V (PMOS logic high is -4)
Is there a setting to change the output of the signal generator to -3.3 V instead of +3.3 V?