Products > Test Equipment
Analog Discovery 3 or budget bench setup
<< < (3/14) > >>
Aldo22:

--- Quote from: Fungus on June 18, 2024, 03:59:02 pm ---The Analog Discovery has a lot of limitations but it's a good all-round device. It will teach you a LOT more than a Hantek, especially with the signal generator.

--- End quote ---

The Hantek also has an AWG.  ;)

But it is not really about the brand of the benchtop scope, but about
Standalone vs. PC based.
Bandwidth/sampling rate vs. vertical resolution.
1GS/s vs 125MS/s
150MHz vs 30MHz (with BNC)
8bit vs 14bit.

These are simply different types of devices, regardless of whether it is an expensive or cheap benchtop scope.
nctnico:

--- Quote from: Antonio90 on June 18, 2024, 03:02:10 pm ---
--- Quote from: tggzzz on June 18, 2024, 02:45:11 pm ---[...]

Make sure you also understand the maths behind what you are building. When interviewing candidates I wanted to see (1) theoretical knowledge (2) practical demonstration of theory (3) going beyond the course's requirements. The last requires you to set difficult-but-achievable objectives, do them, be able to state what surprised you and what you would do differently next time.

--- End quote ---
I see a lot of emphasis on intuitive knowledge for beginners. I wasted a lot of time learning "intuitively" looking at videos, non-rigurous books or posts, etc. In my experience math modelling is the way of building theoretical intuition. Of course, you then need to apply it.

--- End quote ---
Very true! Once the quick calculations are done, simulating a circuit is also very insightful because it is much easier to see voltage and current waveforms than in a real circuit.
RoGeorge:

--- Quote from: Fungus on June 18, 2024, 04:02:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: RoGeorge on June 18, 2024, 03:49:52 pm ---Another alternative to Digilent's Analog Discovery might be the similar all-in-one learning kit from Analog Devices' "ADALM" series,

I remember ADALM being cheaper than Analog Discovery, but I didn't check neither of the two protucts since some years ago, not sure which one would be better.  Both were designed mainly as all-in-one learning platforms for students.  Both have plenty of free learning classes, with experiments and examples designed for that particular kind of all-in-one EE lab.

--- End quote ---

The power of the Analog Discovery is in the software, not the device itself. I don't know how the ADALM measures up in that regard.

nb. You can use the Analog Discovery software for free with your PC sound card (minus the digital parts, obviously)

--- End quote ---

A couple of years ago I've looked at both, and they were about the same.  I remember Analog Discovery to be richer in features, but both have all that is needed to run their classes and tutorials.  Both have additional functionalities like Spectrum Analyzer, Bode Plots, RLC measurement, DMM, etc.  Both have Python, C, LabVIEW, Octave/Matlab, etc. libraries for automation.

I do not own any of these, and only looked briefly at the software, out of curiosity.  Can not really say if it's a big difference in usability or not.  At a first look they seemed both OK.  I bet there are plenty of reviews out there to decide which one to buy.

I think both platforms have student discount, and sometimes promotions and/or discount coupons.  Analog Devices also sells a kit of components with a breadboard and wires (the kit is a separate buy) to use for their classes:  https://www.analog.com/en/resources/evaluation-hardware-and-software/evaluation-boards-kits/eval-adalp2000.html .  The kit has most representative types of opamps from Analog Devices, some transistors, sensors, breadboard wires and such, to complete the classes posted on their StudentZone:  https://www.analog.com/en/resources/analog-dialogue/studentzone/studentzone-june-2024.html (note there are many more other explained experiments).

I remember some similar components kit from Digilent, too, but I don't recall the name.

No matter which board, or kit or discrete components will be used, I would recommend first to do the labs/classes from own school, then from the manufacturer's website.  YouTube videos and other blogs might be more time consuming, and might be of a questionable quality.  As a beginner, it is hard to tell which resource worth the time, and which doesn't.
tggzzz:

--- Quote from: RoGeorge on June 18, 2024, 05:21:36 pm --- YouTube videos and other blogs might be more time consuming, and might be of a questionable quality.  As a beginner, it is hard to tell which resource worth the time, and which doesn't.

--- End quote ---

You are being generous. Most yooootooob videos are "talking heads" full of ums and ahs. They do little more than boost the ego of the creator. Very few have moving content that is necessary. Most would be better written as a blog. There are, of course, exceptions.

Major problem: you can't speedily determine which videos are worth your time (1%) and which are a waste of your life (99%). With written content it is easy to skip and speed read to find the good 1%.The

With so much material available now, determining which 1% to look at is a key skill.
Aldo22:

--- Quote from: RoGeorge on June 18, 2024, 03:49:52 pm ---If you buy cheap standalone instruments, it will be a waste of money, because in that budget you can only find very unreliable instruments, so you'll end up buying again something more expensive.

--- End quote ---
What is the difference between a reliable and an unreliable instrument?
What does that mean exactly? Can it be defined / quantified or is it more of a feeling?
How can I test if my scope is "unreliable"?
Thank you!
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod