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Why do you think there aren't more "good" USB oscilloscopes?
EEVblog:
--- Quote from: David Aurora on February 16, 2023, 11:46:47 am ---For about a million reasons. I've got both CROs and DSOs in my shop and I'm still constantly lusting after a good USB oscilloscope (I have an Analog Discovery 2 which sort of fits the bill, except it doesn't have proper probe inputs, and I've owned/returned a Picoscope that let me down, although they've just told me they've shipped me one to trial based on some previous discussions I've had with them so I'm hopeful it no longer sucks with the new software they just dropped).
--- End quote ---
Cleverscope?
or Keysight?
https://www.keysight.com/au/en/products/modular/usb-products/usb-economy-oscilloscopes-and-digitizers.html
And didn't Siglent or Rigol just release a modular scope?
TomKatt:
All very intriguing and valid points. I had forgotten about the IT requirements for mobile devices in today's modern world, which are rather substantial.
I guess I got hung up on the usefulness of such a device and the features they could provide, but obviously the market for these appears to be quite small and I guess that's why Pico etc have their niche for professionals. Anything lower is just likely to be crap because the software for these things is likely over half the budget as Dave pointed out... In bench scopes, the software budget can be spread out over a larger market share.
So, today I learned something new 8)
David Aurora:
--- Quote from: EEVblog on February 16, 2023, 12:26:52 pm ---
--- Quote from: David Aurora on February 16, 2023, 11:46:47 am ---For about a million reasons. I've got both CROs and DSOs in my shop and I'm still constantly lusting after a good USB oscilloscope (I have an Analog Discovery 2 which sort of fits the bill, except it doesn't have proper probe inputs, and I've owned/returned a Picoscope that let me down, although they've just told me they've shipped me one to trial based on some previous discussions I've had with them so I'm hopeful it no longer sucks with the new software they just dropped).
--- End quote ---
Cleverscope?
or Keysight?
https://www.keysight.com/au/en/products/modular/usb-products/usb-economy-oscilloscopes-and-digitizers.html
And didn't Siglent or Rigol just release a modular scope?
--- End quote ---
As far as I can tell it's all Windows software?
Which, yeah... at the risk of starting yet another Mac vs PC thing, I'd rather be beaten senseless with my own shoes than deal with that shit on a daily basis. I switch back and forth sometimes to use my CNC machine and that's more than enough frustration for me, I honestly couldn't imagine having to use that OS to do real work on a daily basis :-//
TomKatt:
I should have also thought about longevity... We already have automated equipment running on obsolete Windows operating systems that require physical segregation on our network. Not to mention servicing equipment with software you sometimes cannot locate any longer.
You can power up a tube based Tek scope from the 1960's and it will likely work like it did when it was new, but I've had to replace equipment just 15 years old because it wouldn't play nice with modern pc's.
Edit - what made me appreciate USB scopes were the way Ivan from Pine Hollow Automotive uses his Pico for automotive troubleshooting... The Pico software seems very intuitive and he's able to scroll through extended timeframes of signals to locate trouble or decode CAN data... But I guess that is an example of a niche use case and there wouldn't be a huge market for competitors to Pico...
dmills:
Most of the cost of a full up modern scope is still there in a USB version if you want the same capability.
I mean you have the same front end, same data acquisition, same TRIGGER logic, same acquisition memory, and this is where the cost is, not 'put a screen on it or don't'. Trigger in particular is not something that you can really do in software, because that is inherently after the fact.
In the USB case you have some fairly non trivial software to write that has to run on a poorly defined PC with a number of different OS options, and with MS pushing updates....
With the PC in the box, you control the OS/Hardware/Display and all the rest, it makes your software test requirements way easier.
Doing it really right needs a LOT of the functionality in the USB connected box, not in the PC, so you have a reasonably fun HDL project to make that side work, which is non trivial.
About the only thing the PC really makes easier is graphics rendering, and possibly some post processing.
A "USB scope" is something that has a certain reputation in the marketplace for being a bit of a poor option, so you also have an uphill marketing fight to convince people that your thing is as good as that R&S/Agilent/Tek. Having used Picoscopes for various things, I would not remotely consider them a substitute for either my R&S or my 465B.
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