I am thinking about buying an Analog Discovery 2 (with student discount).
I think an AD2 would suit me, but i am afraid my considerations might be incomplete:
- I am pretty much a complete newbie (regarding EE)
- I don't know english translations for most technical terms --> google & search engines of limited use
- as far I understood: Intended oscilloscope bandwidth (sinus) should not exceed 1/10 of the sampling rate and frequency (square wave) should not exceed 1/10 frequency (sinus)
- my interest (so far) is heavily biased twoards programming and not towards EE. The latter is (for me & currently) a necessity to build interfaces between code and real-world.
Concerning EE I have:
- completely failed building a NE555 PWM circuit following a step by step instruction (this was the first and last time i approached electronics as a stand-alone hobby)
- decoded the infrared protocol of my air conditioner and build and programmed a custom automatic control for it (using an Arduino)
- "repaired" a PSU of a monitor ... by replacing all electrolytic-capacitors ... now the monitor kind of works again but emits a high frequency noise and needs active cooling or else it starts flickering
- "designed" my own flavour of GRBL-shield for my diy-cnc
Why i want to buy a scope? Curiosity:
- checking if the debouncing of switches on my GRBL-shield works as intended
- checking if the power-stabilization (24V) for the stepper-drivers on my GRBL-shield is effective
- checking if the gate of the mosfet (for the ir-led) on my diy-air-con-remote gets sufficient charge by my arduino-nano over the 10m cable (38kHz)
- checking if the ir-led is driven with the intended 1A
- checking why one of my raspberry-pi randomly stops after a while (brown-out / ripple / dip
)
So ... if i understood everything correct the AD2 should be fine for square-waves up to 1MHz, which should cover all of the above. If i knew for sure i would repeatedly use an oscilloscope for the next decade, i would be willing to spend up to 1000€ on a scope but as i am not a clairvoyant ... the AD2 is rather in the price range i am willing to risk for a hobby / use-case that might not last.
Do i underestimate how addictive a scope can be, how fast i might end up wishing i had invested in a better scope?
Did i miss use-cases in my current (or near-future scope-induced) hobbies (surrounding arduino / raspberry-pi programming) that the AD2 would not cover?
thanks, blue_Bandana
P.S.:
- if you think this post is way off-topic pleas let me know, i will delete it if asked to do so
- i could get a Tektronix 465 as a gift (but analog scope + transient digital signals ...)