USB Logic Analyzer Recommendation

[GreyGnome]

I did a search and came up with a goose egg! ...Eeep... dare I ask?

Do you have a recommendation for a USB-based logic analyzer? I need something portable that I can use to work on my Arduino projects, which are also portable (battery powered). I have felt the need to monitor the outputs of ATmega328 pins, including some fairly short (62.5 ns) pulses, so I'm concerned about having enough bandwidth to accurately grab such things.

I have not used one before, so I don't have the experience to dodge the units that are missing something essential.

Preferably supported by Linux-based software, but I'm not against firing up Wine or even VirtualBox.

Thanks.

[masterx81]

 I have recently bought an dslogic u2 basic. It's a nice unit and have some memory  to use as buffer. And searching a little bit can be upgraded to the plus version (or can buy directly the plus version). Never had a logic analyzer, but in no time i was decoding spi data. The sw is nice. The configurable trigger level is really useful. As this is my first one i not know how the other can be, but this seem a good one. For the speed, 400mhz buffered sample rate on (if i remember well) 4 channels. 100mhz via usb. With more channel goes slower (with all 16ch 20mhz via usb and 100mhz buffered). Used on windows, not know if it run on linix

[0culus]

Saleae is a top brand in this space. Have you looked at them?

[Wimberleytech]

Saleae is a top brand in this space. Have you looked at them?

I second Saleae.  I have one and it saved my bacon once!

[angrybird]

I have several Saleae Logic Pro 16's and I love them to the point where they have lived in some longer-term projects during the entire development.  The ability to capture both analog and digital in such a small package with continuous streaming through USB 3.0 is priceless.

I also have Digilent's digital discovery which is nice as well, albeit limited for my common uses due to its memory capture depth, but it is much (!) cheaper than the Logic Pro 16.

It should come down to what you require as far as memory capture depth, whether or not you need analog + digital in parallel, and what protocol decode options you need.  For instance, I have some of these old ZeroPlus units that seem to have every protocol I can think of, but their capture depth is limited to 2MB per channel.

It is well worth it to ponder what your requirements are before you purchase.  I generally always go for as much functionality as I can afford, which usually pays off later, or at least that's what I tell the wife 

[Tony_G]

Have Saleae added the ability to search the message logs yet? I haven't used my 1st gen unit for a while but that was the number on thing that annoyed me - I wanted to find a specific set of bytes on the I2C/SPI decodes and you couldn't look for a complex pattern.

That said, mine is a great unit and I think unbeatable for the price and quality (at least the gen 1 units).

TonyG

[kripton2035]

along with a >100MHz analyzer (clone eventually)

[Noy]

DSlogic is now providing also USB3 Devices
https://www.dreamsourcelab.com/shop/logic-analyzer/dslogic-u3pro16/

But i already own a dsLogic Plus... Would only be interesting for me if i can decode Highspeed USB but thats not supported yet. Only Full/Low Speed and for that the Plus is enough...

[0xdeadbeef]

Letting aside that even 1Ghz sample rate doesn't seem nearly enough to properly sample a 480Mbit/s signal: at some point, the sample rate isn't the problem any more but the probes' bandwidth, capacitance and inductance. I somewhat doubt that probing highspeed LVDS signals will work well with this kind of probes (even though they are shielded which specifically reduces the inductance loop if connected properly).
Anyway, the price increase just for USB3 is much too hefty. I always use the internal buffer (RLE) with my DSLogic(s) anyway as it was always sufficient for my needs.
This being said, it's nice that the people at DreamSourceLabs are still alive - there were actually also a very few SW updates in the last years. I still wished they would rework the GUI and implement a proper advanced trigger setup. Apart from that, the DSLogic (Plus) is what I use the most currently of all the logic analyzers I own.

[angrybird]

USB 2.0 testing typically consists of two parts: Protocol analysis, and compliance testing.  Compliance testing is done on a scope, protocol analysis done on an analyzer like the TotalPhase Beagle 480.

With this being said, it would certainly be possible to do decode with the beagle 480, but consider that this unit also has only a USB 2.0 interface, so if you are watching a continuous data transfer, you may run into some bandwidth issues here.  My experience is that the Beagle 480 is good enough for most development needs when designing a product and running into protocol issues.

I do have one complaint about it - It is a pass-through device, and actually has a noticeable affect on the USB 2.0 eye diagram.  So if you are already marginal and almost failing, you will be failing once you go through the beagle!

[colorado.rob]

For short pulses, you should consider using an oscilloscope with enough bandwidth. 62ns is easy even for cheap scopes, and many can do basic LA type work including protocol decoding.  For a general-purpose, USB-attached logic analyzer for Arduino projects, the cheap $10 USB logic analyzers found on eBay, along with Sigrok work great.  These are 24MHz LAs.  There are 100Msps LAs that cost around $50 if you want to spend the money, but for Arduino projects, its a bit of overkill.

What sort of 62.5ns (16MHz) signal are you trying to measure from an Arduino?  That's the clock speed of most Arduinos.

[GreyGnome]

For short pulses, you should consider using an oscilloscope with enough bandwidth. 62ns is easy even for cheap scopes, and many can do basic LA type work including protocol decoding.

What sort of 62.5ns (16MHz) signal are you trying to measure from an Arduino?  That's the clock speed of most Arduinos.

Thanks. I already have a Rigol 1052E. Now I'm looking for something with a little more sophistication regarding eg I2C and SPI protocol analysis.

Sometimes I like to pump out register values on a pin using some quick port twiddling for debugging. I also send quick pulses to flag events, using them to measure distances between sections of code, to tighten it up. I did a lot of this sort of thing when I wrote the EnableInterrupt library for the Arduino.

[GreyGnome]

Saleae is a top brand in this space. Have you looked at them?

Yes. They look interesting, although a little pricey. I'm trying to decide if the extra expense is worth it, vs. a $100 Sigrok-supported unit.

Do you know anything about Picoscope? If I'm looking at eg the Logic Pro 8 at $700, I notice that the Picoscope 2206B MSO has 2 analog + 16 digital channels, and its analog scope bandwidth is 50 MHz vs. 5 MHz for the Salae.

[strayelectron]

DSlogic is now providing also USB3 Devices
https://www.dreamsourcelab.com/shop/logic-analyzer/dslogic-u3pro16/

But i already own a dsLogic Plus... Would only be interesting for me if i can decode Highspeed USB but thats not supported yet. Only Full/Low Speed and for that the Plus is enough...

Have you used a saleae? If so, care to comment on which software you liked better, regardless of the specific model analyzer's capabilities?

[Gyro]

IIRC, you can download both software packages and run them in demo mode (you certainly can with the Saleae).

[0culus]

Saleae is a top brand in this space. Have you looked at them?

Yes. They look interesting, although a little pricey. I'm trying to decide if the extra expense is worth it, vs. a $100 Sigrok-supported unit.

Do you know anything about Picoscope? If I'm looking at eg the Logic Pro 8 at $700, I notice that the Picoscope 2206B MSO has 2 analog + 16 digital channels, and its analog scope bandwidth is 50 MHz vs. 5 MHz for the Salae.

I've only used them at work, but they are very very nice IMO. You'd have to decide what your budget can take. One point on Saleae's favor vs most vendors is their first party API and protocol analyzer SDK is fully open, so if you have some programming experience, there is a way forward to implement custom protocols and things that aren't supported out of the box. I have no experience with sigrok, but I presume since it's open source you ought to be able to do the same thing. I also don't have experience with picoscope, sorry.

https://support.saleae.com/saleae-api-and-sdk/protocol-analyzer-sdk

[egonotto]

Hello,

I think the Picoscope 2206B MSO is more versatile. For 62.5ns puls is 5MHz far too little. If you have a question about the Picoscope you can ask in the picotech forum https://www.picotech.com/support/

Best regards
egonotto

[cynric]

Mind if I hijack this thread?
I'm currently in a similar position as the OP and would like your input on choosing a USB logic analyzer.

My current project needs me to log a 4 wire SPI running with 60MHz. The actual data amount is not going to be much, but accesses will likely be spread out over some time (say 1-2 seconds). So I would ideally need the solution to be able to trigger on CS repeatedly. Either that or a device that can "stream" 4 channels at at least 200MSps continuously.

I've looked in detail at the Digilent digital discovery and the DSLogic Plus and the brandnew USB3 editions.
While the DDD seems to have promising hardware, I like that you can use it as a signal generator or for actual communication with the DUT. The software seems to suck and be pretty inflexible regarding the classic LA/protocol decoder part - sadly there is no Sigrok support for the DDD, not even planned.
DSView being based on Sigrok seems to be both expansive and intuitive, however the demo mode does not allow me to dig too deep into the DSLogic hardware capabilities, so I am not sure it that would work for me either..

The new DSLogic U3Pro16 seems to be doing all I want, however I do not really want to spend more than 200€ on this (taking customs of ~50-60€ to come on top of the U3Pro's 270€). Additionally this thing is so new that there seem to be no reports of it yet..

So I've got some questions for you guys: Does the DSLogic allow its RLE compression to be used in streaming too, so that maybe I can get my 200MSps from the Plus when the bus is mostly idle? Or maybe it supports repeated triggering while still retaining the data of the former instances? Maybe I am mistaken about Digilent's WaveForms and it better than it seems at first look? Or are there any other LAs that fit my bill (8+ channels, 200+MSps, Streaming or with a huge buffer, good sofware/Sigrok support, not too much over 200€)?

Thank you!

[GreyGnome]

Have you looked at the ASIX SIMGA2? They've got 32MB (== 256Mbit) of RAM onboard, and 198 Euros. You could check with their support staff about your other requirements.

Plus, they seem to have played well with sigrok- although the triggering is apparently non-functional at present.

[GreyGnome]

Right now the top pick in my list is the ASIX Sigma2 http://www.asix.net/dbg_sigma.htm . (Available in the US at https://microcontrollershop.com/product_info.php?products_id=1970&osCsid=5uu1adptl33g7m6rsa3sjh1kv3 ). Linux support is limited to WINE, but I can live with that for now.

DSlogic is attractive, but they have been poor players with the sigrok folks, and I can't support that.

From my chat in their IRC channel: "(one of the sigrok developers is) still very much hostile towards them because of their continued acting in bad faith... For example, they initially shipped a firmware for the DSLogic based on our fx2lafw (without crediting us). They now have a new firmware that they refuse to open source, meaning we cannot verify whether they still use parts of fx2lafw or not. Also, they love merging tons of on commits into one huuuuge commit that they then put on the public repo so that everything is entangled and no one can take over anything. Alas, people love them because it's cheap and they keep syncing with the libsigrokdecode repo to benefit from our protocol decoder work..."

[PKTKS]

Another vote for Saleae + Sigrok

Doing the math this combination allows you
to decode so much stuff using sigrok .. which
makes those very expensive "soft options"
hardware  looking like (expensive) crap

Unbeatable price effective combo
You may of course expend more..
I doubt the support and use would be better

Paul

[Gandalf_Sr]

I own a Salae Logic 8 and it's good.  The biggest issue I have is that it doesn't have the ability to send out signals.

I also own a Bus Pirate which can send and receive data in multiple bus standards and has neat macro stuff like scanning every address in an I2C range and telling you what responses it got - that has helped me realize that the devices on my bus weren't at the addresses I thought they were.  I must caution that the Bus Pirate is crude, buggy, the UI is a serial terminal like TeraTerm, and hard to find the instructions for. But it works and it's cheap.  I have a 3.6 and a 3.8 - I don't recommend buying the 4.0 as it seems to have been abandoned as a project but I own one and it works, sort of.

[0culus]

I own a Salae Logic 8 and it's good.  The biggest issue I have is that it doesn't have the ability to send out signals.

I also own a Bus Pirate which can send and receive data in multiple bus standards and has neat macro stuff like scanning every address in an I2C range and telling you what responses it got - that has helped me realize that the devices on my bus weren't at the addresses I thought they were.  I must caution that the Bus Pirate is crude, buggy, the UI is a serial terminal like TeraTerm, and hard to find the instructions for. But it works and it's cheap.  I have a 3.6 and a 3.8 - I don't recommend buying the 4.0 as it seems to have been abandoned as a project but I own one and it works, sort of.

The Xipiter Shikra is way better (based on personal experience borrowing one from a friend), unfortunately, they are out of stock for the foreseeable future.

[kahuna0k]

Have you checked DigiView (https://www.tech-tools.com/DV518-logic-analyzer.htm), I was some time ago looking for the same thing and those seem cheaper that Saleae and not worse. I ended up buying a DSLogic plus (to add to my Digital Discovery and many other super cheap LA) as $500 was hard to justify, but I know that I will end up buying it

[Gandalf_Sr]

Have you checked DigiView (https://www.tech-tools.com/DV518-logic-analyzer.htm), I was some time ago looking for the same thing and those seem cheaper that Saleae and not worse. I ended up buying a DSLogic plus (to add to my Digital Discovery and many other super cheap LA) as $500 was hard to justify, but I know that I will end up buying it

Hmmm, another $600 listen-only logic analyzer.  The Bus Pirate 3.6 is available for $30 on Amazon and can transmit and receive in 1-Wire, UART, I2C, SPI, raw 2-wire, raw 3-wire, HD44780 LCDs, and MIDI. With a firmware upgrade it can also do PC keyboard, DIO, and JTAG.

Does it have a slick interface? No. Does it get the job done? Yes.

YMMV

[pascal_sweden]

You could use the Cypress EZ-USB FX2LP evaluation board as a cheap logic analyzer.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1907809277.html

https://community.cypress.com/docs/DOC-18867

https://www.cypress.com/products/ez-usb-fx2lp

[Gandalf_Sr]

I didn't watch the whole thing but that's quite a good video.  Thanks

[Roicker]

This video is actually a great starting point for anyone looking to get a logic analyzer, just because it explains the limitation of physical sensing of the signal

[Tarloth]

Hi!

As I did post in another question, I use for my work the Open Bench Logic Sniffer and work like a charm, better than salea or others than I try. It's completely open source, very powerful and inexpensive. With some minor modifications you can use Agilent Logic analyzers cables (I buy a bunch of new parts but old stock in ebay for less than a multimeter probe). A friend uses Bus Pirate and told me that it's perfect. Also completely opensource.

http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Main_Page

[robca]

Hi!

As I did post in another question, I use for my work the Open Bench Logic Sniffer and work like a charm, better than salea or others than I try. It's completely open source, very powerful and inexpensive. With some minor modifications you can use Agilent Logic analyzers cables (I buy a bunch of new parts but old stock in ebay for less than a multimeter probe). A friend uses Bus Pirate and told me that it's perfect. Also completely opensource.

http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Main_Page

Looks interesting, but it doesn't seem to be available for sale anymore, at least in the USA...

[0xdeadbeef]

Come on, the logic sniffer was nice about ten years ago, but it never lived up to its expectations regarding complex triggers and now it's just completely and utterly outdated. At this point, the classic DSLogic Plus is still the best bang for the buck since the USB3 version is still much too expensive.

[Tarloth]

Come on, the logic sniffer was nice about ten years ago, but it never lived up to its expectations regarding complex triggers and now it's just completely and utterly outdated. At this point, the classic DSLogic Plus is still the best bang for the buck since the USB3 version is still much too expensive.

Why outdated? Yes with the original software you can't use serial triggers but it's not a problem for most people that considere cheap logic analyzers of ebay aceptables. Yo can use it with Sigrok and pulse view and decode a lot of protocols (https://sigrok.org/wiki/Protocol_decoders).

OBLS has 32 channel and 100 Mhz or 16 channels at 200Mhz! Most of the cheap logic analyzer recommended in this post has 8 channels in 24Mhz (at best) and uses the same software! DSLogic Plus in 16 channels has only 20Mhz (in stream mode, to compare with OBLS) and cost more than 100 dollars!

If you not like anything you can add the functionality. SUMP was a nice project and really have all that most of user needs from a LA. The VHDL runs almost in any FPGA 90% of the FPGA "demo boards" can be converted in a logic analyzer . Some students port this VHDL to 500Mhz FPGA without problems and a friend eliminates the PIC chip and replaces it with an ARM WIFI module and is working with a direct HTML port to a PC or tablet remote and isolate!

Not like the SUMP or need some more modern, you can buy a demo FPGA board and install SUMP2! https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/sump2-96-msps-logic-analyzer-for-22/

For comparing again with DSLogiq Plus this board it's five time faster, better decoding and cost half or less. Do you like an standalone instrument, use the RPI version with monitor! https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/sump2-100-msps-32bit-logic-analyzer-for-icoboardraspberrypi/

Which task can't do with these SUMP based LA?

[0xdeadbeef]

Why outdated?

Because it's a old design with a really small memory (like 24k samples or so).
And shops that sold it ten years ago don't sell it anymore. Is it even still produced and/or sold somewhere?

[Tarloth]

But OBLS descendant are alive and with better characteristics than DSProbe Plus (for example) at a fraction of the cost. I used a lot of logic analyzers since the 80's, even big brands standalone devices, and for the cost, the one's based on SUMP concept are far better than others.

[robca]

But OBLS descendant are alive and with better characteristics than DSProbe Plus (for example) at a fraction of the cost. I used a lot of logic analyzers since the 80's, even big brands standalone devices, and for the cost, the one's based on SUMP concept are far better than others.

Is there a product anyone can buy? Or is this an option only for someone willing to mess around with a FPGA board, design the input stage for various logic voltages, etc?

[Fungus]

There's also the Digital Discovery.

I always thought the DD was just the Analog Discovery without the analog part but noooooo, I found out last week it has 800Mhz sample rate.

The DD software also has real time data view and just about every decoder under the sun (and if it doesn't have it, you can add your own).

[0xdeadbeef]

But OBLS descendant are alive and with better characteristics than DSProbe Plus (for example) at a fraction of the cost. I used a lot of logic analyzers since the 80's, even big brands standalone devices, and for the cost, the one's based on SUMP concept are far better than others.

Letting aside issues with the GUI, or if they are commercially available in a proper case etc.: does any of these approaches have a proper input protection or a configurable logic threshold or shielded probes?
The DSLogic Plus has all of this and just works pretty well in most everyday scenario. I'd still say that you can't really expect much more for the price.
I also like(d) the Ikalogic products, but the ScanaPlus is no longer available and the SP209 is a bit too expensive for what it is. Also the software development was a bit of two steps forward, one step back in the last ten years or so. I still like the GUI though and the Ikalogic devices have/had about the most advanced trigger options in their price range.

[Bassman59]

If you not like anything you can add the functionality. SUMP was a nice project and really have all that most of user needs from a LA. The VHDL runs almost in any FPGA 90% of the FPGA "demo boards" can be converted in a logic analyzer . Some students port this VHDL to 500Mhz FPGA without problems and a friend eliminates the PIC chip and replaces it with an ARM WIFI module and is working with a direct HTML port to a PC or tablet remote and isolate!

Not like the SUMP or need some more modern, you can buy a demo FPGA board and install SUMP2! https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/sump2-96-msps-logic-analyzer-for-22/

Seriously -- a logic analyzer is a great project for seniors in an EE program. It's a very straightforward problem.

The most difficult part of the problem is the host software/GUI! And SUMP2 looks like it fits the bill.

[robca]

If you not like anything you can add the functionality. SUMP was a nice project and really have all that most of user needs from a LA. The VHDL runs almost in any FPGA 90% of the FPGA "demo boards" can be converted in a logic analyzer . Some students port this VHDL to 500Mhz FPGA without problems and a friend eliminates the PIC chip and replaces it with an ARM WIFI module and is working with a direct HTML port to a PC or tablet remote and isolate!

Not like the SUMP or need some more modern, you can buy a demo FPGA board and install SUMP2! https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/sump2-96-msps-logic-analyzer-for-22/

Seriously -- a logic analyzer is a great project for seniors in an EE program. It's a very straightforward problem.

The most difficult part of the problem is the host software/GUI! And SUMP2 looks like it fits the bill.

Sure, but... a Dslogic Basic costs $55 currently on AliExpress with shielded leads https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000154727610.html (just placed an order, not sure if what I receive is what's pictured there, so caveat emptor... but there are plenty that cost around $60). Can be updated to Logic Plus with just a SRAM IC and minimal work, but even the basic version is pretty functional.

Putting together a SUMP2 plus designing the input front end, buying the leads... Can't be done for less. It might have more functionality in the end, but for a higher cost. Also, the SUMP2 software seems to have been frozen ~2 years ago and there doesn't seem to be much interest in SUMP2 designs post 2018. Dslogic at least is supported by sigrok, and that's guaranteed to continue in the future, plus the current software is open source as much as SUMP2.

And I can't find protocols beyond I2C and SPI for the SUMP2 (might be my fault, apologies in advance if that's the case), while Dslogic inherits all the sigrok ones

For anyone to design a logic analyzer around the SUMP2 design, it seems a rather bad investment, since there won't be much of a community around it to benefit from it (unless that person also does the heavy lifting of adding SUMP2 designs to sigrok). Might be a great learning project, but hardly worth it as an actual tool

All in all, a SUMP2 design for the low cost market seem not to make much sense to me...

[0xdeadbeef]

And I can't find protocols beyond I2C and SPI for the SUMP2 (might be my fault, apologies in advance if that's the case), while Dslogic inherits all the sigrok ones

Plus you can write your own decoders in Python. Must admit I didn't use it yet, but I wrote my own decoders in JavaScript for Ikalogic's ScanaStudio and IMHO such a scripting capability is a major advantage.
Anyway, regarding DSLogic: not only the GUI software is open source but also the FPGA bitstream is:
https://github.com/DreamSourceLab

[robca]

Protocol scripting is a pretty common functionality, e.g. https://sigrok.org/wiki/Protocol_decoder_HOWTO

The difference is that sigrok and dsview already have 128 protocols ready for use, instead of just SPI and I2C.

Once more, it's the difference between a project you can build to gain experience, vs a ready-to-use logic analyzer (that also costs more once you have everything you need)

[Pack34]

It's hard to beat a Saleae. Works a treat and very easy to automate in Python. I was able to quickly put together a test bed to turn the system on, log configuration of sensors, examine output, and then repeat. Really really useful when knocking loose those 1-in-1000 faults.

https://www.saleae.com/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=search|us&utm_term=34552757958&utm_content=5231159148

[Tarloth]

Letting aside issues with the GUI, or if they are commercially available in a proper case etc.: does any of these approaches have a proper input protection or a configurable logic threshold or shielded probes?
The DSLogic Plus has all of this and just works pretty well in most everyday scenario.

No, DSlogic Plus HASN'T proper input protection and the configurable logic threshold it's only at FPGA level. It has a R divider (RC adapter inside the new probes) with ESD clamping diodes, not a "circuit protection with configurable thresholds" like big brands logic analyzers. But in all version of SUMP you can add it in circuit or it's present in board. OLS has a buffer that includes 74LCX16245 that protect a lot more than R network and a diode clamp.

You can analyze the DSlogic Plus hardware. It's too much different that any incarnation of SUMP project?

https://sigrok.org/wiki/DreamSourceLab_DSLogic_Plus

https://hackaday.com/2017/08/24/dslogic-plus-teardown-and-review/

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/dslogic/

Isn't different than any SUMP version but expensive!

You can use the logic analyzer you want, I just said in previous post that it's perfectly posible to solve 90% of embeded needs with logic analyzer derived from original SUMP project, I not put a gun in anybody head to use a Sump derivative.

Protocol scripting is a pretty common functionality, e.g. https://sigrok.org/wiki/Protocol_decoder_HOWTO

The difference is that sigrok and dsview already have 128 protocols ready for use, instead of just SPI and I2C.

Once more, it's the difference between a project you can build to gain experience, vs a ready-to-use logic analyzer (that also costs more once you have everything you need)

Robca, OBLS it's compatible with Sigrok and it's included in the hardware years before than other logic analyzers
 
https://sigrok.org/wiki/Openbench_Logic_Sniffer'

The projects derived from SUM has many options of software plus Sigrok, some software has less decoders but others features, but if you like Sigrok it's 100% compatible. Indeed, I use it.

By the way, OLS was always a final board, not a kit, you did can buy the board plus the enclosure or do a custom enclosure. SUMP2 it's bases in final boards too, you select one that fit your needs.

For example, I love the standalone possibility of the sump2 +rpi. You not need to program anything, you would buy the boards, the screen that you like and download the firmware to a uSD. That's it, you have a Standalone logic Analyzer with screen for less than $150.

Which of the LA that you recommend can work without a computer on your desk? How much is it?

I insist, I only  said that OLS it's perfectly capable of most of analyzer task for less money than other options that, at end, has exactly the same or less characteristics.

I have a friend that says : "The possibility that someone recognizes that some product that he did buys it's crap it's inversely proportional to the cost that he paid"

[2N3055]

I just love when discussion goes this way...

OP wants to buy something simple to work on his Arduino projects.

How is making your own LA and screwing around with open source software to make it work aligning with that agenda... ??
What, he doesn't deserve to to even work on simple Arduino projects until he makes his own LA and makes software for it?

Cmon...

He doesn't want to make an LA. He wants to get one ready made to use it to work on HIS projects...

Saleae works out of the box, but it is too expensive. DSlogic Plus also works out of the box, has good specs and if OP feels like it can be used with Sigrok.

If all of that is too expensive, than some of 10 USD LA clones that work with Sigrok are very cheap and can be made to work without much problem..

Everything else is off topic...

[Gandalf_Sr]

I think 2N3055 is right, we should at least try to give good advice to the OP.  Going back over this thread, it strikes me that there are 2 main groups of users of logic analyzers, basic and advanced which I will define as:

Basic. Examine simple data transfer to/from a device in one of many different protocols. e.g. 'talk' to a SPI device such as a temperature sensor to understand the way it works and maybe work up a simple driver.

Advanced. Study large amounts of data flowing between 2 or more devices on a bus on an existing PCB to understand and maybe debug issues that are suspected as being caused by signal levels, timing, or actual data transfer between the devices.

I tend to work at the basic level and have a need to be able to send as well as receive protocol data and, because of this, I find that I really don't use my real Saleae Logic 8 USB Logic Analyzer (PM me if you want to save me the trouble of listing it on eBay).  I do own the Bus Pirate but, as I said before, it's UI is pretty crude and the firmware is a bit buggy - there is a great overview of the Bus Pirate and how to use it here.  What it will do - that the Saleae Logic 8 USB Logic Analyzer won't - is talk on the SPI/I2C/1Wire bus to discover and test new devices.  It seems to me that this is the level that the OP is working at.

As far as Advanced goes, I really think sophisticated triggering is important so I can find the small amount of data I want to examine in detail rather than having to scroll through megabytes of stuff I don't care about; triggering is an area that the Saleae has been criticized for, don't know whether it's been improved? Having said that, the Saleae interface is very slick and intuitive.

As I look around for something more affordable than the Saleae, the DSLogic Plus with Sigrok looks like great bang for the buck but here's a few questions:

1. What's the difference between the $80ish DSlogic Plus and the $300 DSLogic U3Pro16 on Seeed Studio? The ones I see on eBay when I search for "dslogic plus" are 16 Channel, 50 Meg ones that look identical and have what appears to be the same USB Type C connector as the U3Pro16 that is stated as running in USB 3.0 mode.

2. If I were to buy a DSlogic Plus from eBay for around $80, can anyone recommend a specific seller?

3. Is there any hardware supported by Sigrok that can write as well as read data to the connected bus?

Thanks in advance

[EDIT] There's also a Bus Pirate Console here.

[Pack34]

I just love when discussion goes this way...

OP wants to buy something simple to work on his Arduino projects.

How is making your own LA and screwing around with open source software to make it work aligning with that agenda... ??
What, he doesn't deserve to to even work on simple Arduino projects until he makes his own LA and makes software for it?

Cmon...

He doesn't want to make an LA. He wants to get one ready made to use it to work on HIS projects...

Saleae works out of the box, but it is too expensive. DSlogic Plus also works out of the box, has good specs and if OP feels like it can be used with Sigrok.

If all of that is too expensive, than some of 10 USD LA clones that work with Sigrok are very cheap and can be made to work without much problem..

Everything else is off topic...

The Saleae is a lot cheaper if you're a student or a hobbyist. You can buy the Logic8 from them directly for $199 instead of the full $399. It's still more expensive than the DSLogic but it's $199 vs $149 and not over double the price.
https://blog.saleae.com/saleae-discounts/