You make out like it's not being done around here big time already.
70 MHz to 150, 100 to 200
100 MHz to 350 and all options
350 MHz to 1 GHz " " "
And that's just scopes, then there's PSU's, AWG's, Spectrum analyzers, RF gens and so on.
You make out like it's not being done around here big time already.
70 MHz to 150, 100 to 200
100 MHz to 350 and all options
350 MHz to 1 GHz " " "
And that's just scopes, then there's PSU's, AWG's, Spectrum analyzers, RF gens and so on.
I'm talking walking away from the base firmware. Where the interface is somewhat standardized across several models and makes.
I'm talking completely nuking the standard firmware. What would your ideal Frankenstein creation look like?
I'm talking walking away from the base firmware. Where the interface is somewhat standardized across several models and makes.
I'm talking completely nuking the standard firmware. What would your ideal Frankenstein creation look like?
Again, just starting out with a couple of cheap scopes. Not taking over the world.
IMO it's a much bigger task than you might imagine and for what real gain ?
Even cheap scopes are pretty complex these days.
IMO it's a much bigger task than you might imagine and for what real gain ?
I don't know. It's why I'm asking.
I'm looking for the silver bullet. What is missing from the software? When you move around your scope or even from scope to scope, what is the biggest thing that futzes with your productivity?QuoteEven cheap scopes are pretty complex these days.
Yeah nar. As with a mature software stack such as dd-wrt, you spin off model-specific modules.
The scope business is on a race to the bottom like the router industry was a decade ago.
I think there might be a buck in it.
IMO it's a much bigger task than you might imagine and for what real gain ?
I don't know. It's why I'm asking.
I'm looking for the silver bullet. What is missing from the software? When you move around your scope or even from scope to scope, what is the biggest thing that futzes with your productivity?
The scope business is on a race to the bottom like the router industry was a decade ago.
Ya think so ?
From where I sit much advanced functionality has been added into scopes than might have even been expected just a few years ago and for even less cost !
QuoteThe scope business is on a race to the bottom like the router industry was a decade ago.Ya think so ?
From where I sit much advanced functionality has been added into scopes than might have even been expected just a few years ago and for even less cost !
As a good few have said in the last year or two, we like in exciting times that so much good TE is so affordable.
QuoteThe scope business is on a race to the bottom like the router industry was a decade ago.Ya think so ?
From where I sit much advanced functionality has been added into scopes than might have even been expected just a few years ago and for even less cost !
As a good few have said in the last year or two, we live in exciting times that so much good TE is so affordable.
WTB 8 channel analog + 32 channel digital and all touchscreen for... 500 bucks!
QuoteThe scope business is on a race to the bottom like the router industry was a decade ago.Ya think so ?
From where I sit much advanced functionality has been added into scopes than might have even been expected just a few years ago and for even less cost !
As a good few have said in the last year or two, we like in exciting times that so much good TE is so affordable.
WTB 8 channel analog + 32 channel digital and all touchscreen for... 500 bucks!
Here's one for ya Ed;
Cascading DSO's for multi channel work with an I/O to I/O on another and some method of nulling delay times so scope displays can be aligned in time for 6/8/12/16 channel operation.....not MSO.
Only 8 + 32 ?
Here's one for ya Ed;
Cascading DSO's for multi channel work with an I/O to I/O on another and some method of nulling delay times so scope displays can be aligned in time for 6/8/12/16 channel operation.....not MSO.
Holy cow.
I've then joined an existing effort (https://github.com/360nosc0pe/fpga) to re-write the bitstream and software for the Siglent. It's a much nicer hardware - Zynq-based, so a standard ARM linux binaries work - and we've reverse engineered almost all of the pinout, frontend control, clock etc., sufficient to make it receive data from both ADCs. In theory, at that point it's already useful, for example if you want to stream data and don't need a UI.
I've worked with the Rigol DS10x4Z (and similar) and Siglent 1104X-E (and similar).
The Rigol has a CPU that's not a lot of fun to work with (ARMv5T still). I've ported Linux with framebuffer, and then couldn't figure out how they actually stream the data from the ADCs, and overall it was painful.
I've then joined an existing effort (https://github.com/360nosc0pe/fpga) to re-write the bitstream and software for the Siglent. It's a much nicer hardware - Zynq-based, so a standard ARM linux binaries work - and we've reverse engineered almost all of the pinout, frontend control, clock etc., sufficient to make it receive data from both ADCs. In theory, at that point it's already useful, for example if you want to stream data and don't need a UI.
Then again nobody ever wrote a UI or more code so now it just bit-rots. But if I ever need a fast ADC on an FPGA, I'll likely pull that board out and continue that work. Or if LiteX zynq support gets better.
I don't understand the hostility here though. There are things that the manufacturers firmware can do incredibly well. But every user is different, and every use case is different. Fact is that freely-programmable hardware that is competitive to a cheap scope in terms of specs is significantly more expensive (like NI PXIe stuff), and that there are some low-hanging fruits (for example a realtime UART decoder - how useful would that be if we'd have a /dev/ttyCH1..4 on the scope that just works? That's not even a lot of effort - just use a threshold output to drive an instantiated UART).
I love OpenWRT, but at the same time it's not what I'd recommend if someone just asks for a nice router. But there are enough use cases that justify the existence, and in these cases OpenWRT can be just the right tool for the job.
Every few months there is someone with that idea.. And they find a way to flash new empty linux on the scope (mostly reference,base distribution from chip manufacturer). Basically taking perfectly functioning instrument that took 100-200 engineer years to develop, and make it useless linux computer with crappy processos, not much memory and small screen.
Here's one for ya Ed;
Cascading DSO's for multi channel work with an I/O to I/O on another and some method of nulling delay times so scope displays can be aligned in time for 6/8/12/16 channel operation.....not MSO.
Holy cow.Yep but very useful if needed.
You could pull the rug from right under 8ch scope manufacturers.
Every few months there is someone with that idea.. And they find a way to flash new empty linux on the scope (mostly reference,base distribution from chip manufacturer). Basically taking perfectly functioning instrument that took 100-200 engineer years to develop, and make it useless linux computer with crappy processos, not much memory and small screen.I agree. And the existing oscilloscope hardware isn't such a good start anyway because it is very limited. Also the hardware isn't the hard part; the software is 100 times more complex. If an open source oscilloscope is ever feasible the software must be as easy to develop as possible and the use of FPGA must be minimal. One of the ideas I have been toying with is to take an extremely simple FPGA design which can do basic triggering and buffering. After acquiring data the FPGA just streams the data into a SOC (with a beefy GPU) using a PCI express bus. From their the GPU which is A) easy to program and B) has a massive amount of processing power can crunch the data into a trace on the screen. But for me this needs to be a paid project.
1054z looks like the perfect initial target.
1054z looks like the perfect initial target.
Why? It's about the only one in the pack that doesn't run Linux.