Vellan hps140i

[tony3d]

Hi all, has anyone here used a velleman Hps 140 pocket scope. I want something small, and portable mainly to check amplifier clipping, and hobby checking. Seems like a pretty good deal for $130.00!

Here's a link:  http://www.hps140.com

[Lightages]

[Hydrawerk]

Well, this is really a basic scope. It is hard to find out what the LCD resolution is, but i think it is poor 128×64 pixels.
I would prefer an old analog scope especially for audio measurements.

[commongrounder]

I have one of these in my small tool bag.  It is actually quite adequate for audio work.  It reads directly in watts referenced to a selection of common audio load impedances. It has decent accuracy, and the trace is clear enough to see a clipped waveform.  I can't speak to how it behaves at higher frequencies, though.
The one thing to watch for when using it is the battery.  There is no battery charge/level indicator, so you need to remember to have it plugged in to charge up before you head out, so it doesn't die out on you.  I added a small good quality 9 volt wall wart to the kit for powering it while running it.  There is no galvanic isolation between the BNC ground and the power input ground (there is actually a DC potential between them), so you shouldn't use the USB 5v to 9v boost charger while running it.  Generally a  .

[tony3d]

Thanks. Sounds like for my purpose it should be fine. Notice it comes with a probe. Is the quality decent? Dose it have AC/DC coupling? I read somewhere that the trigger was useless, is that true?

[commongrounder]

The probe is basically one of those $12.00 ones that you can get on *bay.   It is 1x and 10x, and has a plastic sleeve around the BNC connector to afford a tiny bit of isolation from accidental contact.  It works fine for this scope, and I haven't felt compelled to swap it for something else.  The scope has AC/DC selectable coupling.  Triggering at high frequencies was a problem with an earlier version of the firmware (triggering is done in software on this device).  I got mine after there was an improved version on the market and I have found triggering to be decent, even on most complex waveforms.

[tony3d]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. Sounds like a good buy to me. I'm getting one.

[tony3d]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. Sounds like a good buy to me. I'm getting one.

Where did you purchase yours from? They have it on Amason. Just concerned if there is something wrong, and it has to go back.

[G7PSK]

I have one that was given to me as a present, I rarely use it, but I have used it to check the waveform of an alternator at both 240 and 415 volts using a 100 X probe, I put it on the floor prior to turning the power on and only touched the buttons with a plastic stick, but it survived and told me what I wanted.

I guess for some hobby and audio work they are fine, The menu system is a real chore to use and an old CRT is probably the best thing to start with for learning purposes.

[Hydrawerk]

Any digital scope with 8-bit ADC (that is 256 levels) should have a QVGA screen 240×320 or so... Not 128×64.

[eurofox]

It is not Vellan but Velleman, the HQ of this company is about 15 Km from my place 

http://www.velleman.eu/contact/

eurofox