Electronics > Beginners
Is An Oscilloscope Practical
tvl:
Remove
tooki:
I’m not sure what your end goal is, but I (as someone who does electronics purely as a hobby), I found that getting a scope massively improved my understanding of real world circuits. Without a scope, we’re essentially blind to signals.
So if you are going to do electronics, my vote would be an unqualified “yes!”
But if you’re going to do more electrical work, the value drops tremendously. (Never mind that scoping mains safely is non-trivial when not using a specially isolated scope like the Fluke ScopeMeters.)
tggzzz:
For anything "mains related" make very sure you have the right probes, lest you damage your equipment and/or yourself.
Never disconnect a scope's protective mains earth.
FFI about probing, especially w.r.t. safety, see https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/library-2/scope-probe-reference-material/
soldar:
--- Quote from: tvl on January 02, 2019, 07:26:30 pm ---I've been toying with the idea that maybe I should purchase a scope for myself. I have interest in viewing the waveform from my new AC standby generator and possibly checking some power supplies, but other than that, I'm not sure if a scope would do me much good. I'm wanting to learn some new things with my free time, but I'm not so sure how far I would get with a scope.
I've been looking at the Siglent SDS1202X-E ($359.00) ....... I'm sure this is way more scope than I need, but I'd appreciate some guidance. Is there anything else available that will serve me just as well, cost less and still provide accuracy OR is it best I get something like the model I'm looking at just in case I do "like what I see". Or better yet, is a scope a waste of money for someone like me???
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A scope will give you a view of what is happening in a circuit which no other instrument can give you. If you just want to see the output of your genset then it is probably not worth buying one unless you have plenty to spend. If you are going to be building and troubleshooting electronic circuits then yes. If you are not entirely sure you can always buy a cheap/used unit and move up later if warranted or resell it if it turns out you are not using it.
I have a *really* old Hameg and it works fine for my limited needs. I do not need it often but when I need it I really do need it.
I remember when I was beginning and I had an audio amplifier which I had built and I just could not get it to work. After too many wasted hours trying to troubleshoot the darn thing I got a scope and hooked it up and immediately the cause became apparent: the dang thing was oscillating at some hundred KHz. Of course, there was no way to see this on my multimeter.
GregDunn:
Yes, if you're looking at signals, a scope is vital. Even when looking at DC, many meters provide a filtered value which obscures noise and ripple behavior. I just built a linear power supply and seeing the actual trace of the voltage input to the regulator made it an easy job to optimize the capacitance so that the result stayed above the dropout value regardless of the load. It also shows any spikes on the waveform which might indicate issues.
And, of course, measuring mains voltage is always a concern unless you can isolate it adequately from neutral; but even then, some kind of scope is extremely helpful to see what your AC looks like. Distortion or asymmetry might indicate power distribution issues or even home wiring problems. You won't be able to analyze those with a meter.
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