Another USB Scope thread!

[Flump]

Yeah yeah I know in general people don't like them but hear me out !

I have 2 nice Analog scopes, a 20Mhz Trio and a 50Mhz Hitachi
but I don't use them much because i have VERY limited bench space
so they are tucked away safe and its a pain getting them out each time.
I would use a scope a LOT more if it was right in front of me, and that
gets me down a bit because I love playing around with my scopes and
learning about them.

So next to my bench, well on the same bench right next to the work area
I have a computer with a nice 24 inch monitor so it really makes sense
to have a USB scope as they only have a small box which I can tuck
behind the monitor when not in use.

Now I would only need a low spec scope as its just for messing around on,
10Mhz would be fine but funds are limited so I am looking for a cheap but
reasonable one, say £50 or around there.

There must be a few of you out there that have them although you might
not want to admit it  I would appreciate peoples views on the ones they have
 or recommend .

Please no USB scope bashing, this thread isn't for that
USB scopes have their place in certain situations.

Thanks in advance.

[tautech]

Know where you are coming from. Bench space is valuable.

My concern would be the risk to your PC though ground loops and lack of isolation.
However if USB scopes are available with isolated channels or no direct connection to USB 5V GND then you may be on to a winner.
But I have not seen any glowing reports on USB scope's UI's, but there is sure to be some much better than others.

Yes if you own a CRT scope you will at some stage need another scope for the inevitable fault finding when it breaks. 

But sell your less favored CRT scope and....

Seriously consider upgrading to a DSO instead. Small footprint, low power requirements and many waveform analysis features, frequency counter, on-screen measurements, USB waveform storage to name a few.
That way you will have the best of both worlds.

[Flump]

tautech it has been a long time since i looked at usb scopes and there are some new ones on the market
this one looks like it would do me and i have been wanting to get a function gen too and its part of the
software on this one.

http://www.bitscope.com/product/BS05/

can anyone see any reason why this would be a bad choice ?

Edit
Just found this thread and it doesnt look good for the BitScope
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/bitscope-micro/

[Computeruser]

I just got a Velleman HPS140 handheld scope and it is tiny (roughly same length x width as my iPhone) and self contained.

It, too, has 40 Mega Samples / Second like the bitscope above. That limits the useable upper frequency to 4 or 5 MHz.  Given that limitation (both bitscope and Velleman), the Velleman works nicely.

I have real scopes as well.

[tautech]

tautech it has been a long time since i looked at usb scopes and there are some new ones on the market
this one looks like it would do me and i have been wanting to get a function gen too and its part of the
software on this one.

http://www.bitscope.com/product/BS05/

can anyone see any reason why this would be a bad choice ?

I would need convincing that isolation is not an issue, remember your PC could be at risk.

Hunt out a datasheet for it looking for max input spec, function gen output etc.
Post a link to it here so we can all appraise it.

[Creep]

This forum has held the Hantek 6022BE in pretty high regard (for the price of course), at least on the hardware side of things. The software was said to be horrible though.
Since  then however, a member of this forum has created his own software for the scope, which is said the make the scope very usable. Have a look around the forums, plenty of info can be found on this one. Plus, since the software is not written by chineese people, your not going to have to deal with chinglish as a language.
Can't say much about it based on my own experience though given the fact that it's still en route from China.