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Should I Buy the Finrsi DSO510 on a Tight Budget?

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osmax_br:
I am am a hobbyist who works on ESP32 projects, TFT displays, I2C devices, and does some circuit debugging here and there. I'm looking to buy an oscilloscope on a budget, specifically thinking about the Finrsi DSO510 (10 MHz, 48 MS/s, + 50 kHz function generator). My budget is very tight, around $30.

Of course, my question is NOT whether it is as good as a $300-$400 oscilloscope. My question is: Is it usable or somewhat useful for my work scenarios, or is it just a complete $30 waste of money, essentially e-garbage? Should I avoid buying it altogether and be without an oscilloscope?

I don't currently have any oscilloscope and can't afford a proper one for the next 4 years until I'm out of debt. Should I get the DSO510, or would I be better off waiting 4 years to save up for a $300 one?

tunk:
For a bit more you can get the Zeeweii DSO1C81 (80MHz, 250MSps).

Psi:
Are the BNC grounds connected to mains/USB earth on the Zeeweii DSO1C81 ?

artag:
It's essentially a learning tool or toy due to low speed and single channel. It isn't enough to debug your intended targets - it can tell you there's a signal but not what the data is, for example.

 It may be useful enough to give you a feel for using an oscilloscope, show gross errors such as shorted wiring etc. Kind of like a DMM oir logic probe with just a little more information but frustrating lack of ability. It will tell you something about what you want in a real scope.

If it's all you can afford it may better than nothing but I would still aim to replace it with a 2-channel 50MHz (better still 100MHz) unit as soon as you have the money. If buying this makes that significantly harder then that may be a mistake.

I would suggest you save up for something better but fill the gap in your knowledge other ways. Maybe join a hackspace and use their equipment (though this too has a cost). Maybe look out for someone givinmg away an old analogue oscilloscope. Most will be better than this one - digital oscilloscopes have to be pretty good to be better than a 50 year old tektronix.

Specifically for the I2C/SPI etc jobs, get a $10 USB logic analyser. It will have enough channels to do something useful for digital debug and does something that an old analog can't do - storage. I'm assuming you have a PC to run it - a phone isn't enough.

Fungus:
Any 'scope is better than no 'scope at all so get whatever you can.


--- Quote from: tunk on January 26, 2025, 12:22:40 pm ---For a bit more you can get the Zeeweii DSO1C81 (80MHz, 250MSps).

--- End quote ---

I think Zeeweii make better 'scopes than FNIRSI. Get FNIRSI for power supplies, Zeeweii for 'scopes.

The higher bandwidth and sample rate of the DSO1C81 will make a huge difference on the digital signals produced by an ESP32.

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