USB oscilloscope advice

[Fungus]

I have the 2204A, it's good, obviously only 10MHz which means sine wave at 10MHz so 1MHz square. I have been able to get an AVR µC pin to toggle fast enough to not be properly represented so you have to be careful to not let yourself be fooled. If you want to.

I dunno, 10MHz seems too low to me.

An Arduino can generate an 8MHz square wave if you know how to do it.

Well thanks for all the information it's very appreciated,
I guess my budget is around £100, I can guess a lot of you will sit back and laugh...

Absolutely not.. I remember it all too well...

I used one of these for two or three years: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=dso213

[tunk]

There's also the Owon HDS200 handheld series.
Recently introduced, so no reviews yet.

[rsjsouza]

Well thanks for all the information it's very appreciated,
I guess my budget is around £100, I can guess a lot of you will sit back and laugh...

Quite a few of us were in the same boat as you: started with mostly a DMM (or an analog VOM) and went through years without an oscilloscope - mind you, this from a time where £100 would only be enough for an oscilloscope probe... 

So no, nobody will laugh at it. 

[Fungus]

Well thanks for all the information it's very appreciated,
I guess my budget is around £100, I can guess a lot of you will sit back and laugh...

Quite a few of us were in the same boat as you: started with mostly a DMM (or an analog VOM) and went through years without an oscilloscope - mind you, this from a time where £100 would only be enough for an oscilloscope probe... 

That's why I mentioned that $20 eBay special. They're rubbish... but the difference between seeing nothing and seeing anything at all is like night/day.

[faraday]

I recommend picoscope. I have few, work ok, interface is user friendly not like chinesium scopes. Support is fantastic. You can consider second hand unit, pico is very robust.

[rsjsouza]

Well thanks for all the information it's very appreciated,
I guess my budget is around £100, I can guess a lot of you will sit back and laugh...

Quite a few of us were in the same boat as you: started with mostly a DMM (or an analog VOM) and went through years without an oscilloscope - mind you, this from a time where £100 would only be enough for an oscilloscope probe... 

That's why I mentioned that $20 eBay special. They're rubbish... but the difference between seeing nothing and seeing anything at all is like night/day.

Quite interesting you mentioned $20. The link directs me to search results for the DSO212 going well above US$150. It may be a destination country issue.

Did you mean a DSO138 perhaps?

[Jmh474]

Well this is a bit of a strange update if anyone is interested 

So my partner for a valentine's present has surprised me sort of she's borrowed some money off her mum and brought me the loto oscilloscope the osca02 one, but it's not going to be here for a while, I'm actually quite shocked she's done this, but she thinks iv deserve it for all I do for the family,  to be honest our view on life changed since our daughter passed away and we try to live for the now, so now my box of chocolate and flowers looks quite shit now, so I'll try and report back when I get it, if there is anything anyone wants to know about it just ask and I'll try and give information on it, as this will be my first oscilloscope please be patient with me lol

[Fungus]

Did you mean a DSO138 perhaps?

Yes.

[drussell]

Well this is a bit of a strange update if anyone is interested 

So my partner for a valentine's present has surprised me sort of she's borrowed some money off her mum and brought me the loto oscilloscope the osca02 one, but it's not going to be here for a while, I'm actually quite shocked she's done this, but she thinks iv deserve it for all I do for the family,  to be honest our view on life changed since our daughter passed away and we try to live for the now, so now my box of chocolate and flowers looks quite shit now, so I'll try and report back when I get it, if there is anything anyone wants to know about it just ask and I'll try and give information on it, as this will be my first oscilloscope please be patient with me lol

What a lovely gesture.

Thanks for the update, it is always nice to hear what the outcome is when someone attempts some sort of repair or project, chooses some sort of equipment or whatnot, it will be interesting to see how it performs for your use cases.

Apparently forum user jiangtao.lv is the developer of the Loto units from China.  There is a bit of a language and cultural difference there but he seems sincere.  I expect he would be interested to hear your feedback eventually once you get the hang of using a scope and start really using it for projects and will be willing to help with any specific issues you have if they arise.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/how-to-promote-an-usb-oscilloscope-to-individual-engineers-i-am-the-loto-instru/

[rsjsouza]

Well this is a bit of a strange update if anyone is interested 

So my partner for a valentine's present has surprised me sort of she's borrowed some money off her mum and brought me the loto oscilloscope the osca02 one, but it's not going to be here for a while, I'm actually quite shocked she's done this, but she thinks iv deserve it for all I do for the family,  to be honest our view on life changed since our daughter passed away and we try to live for the now, so now my box of chocolate and flowers looks quite shit now, so I'll try and report back when I get it, if there is anything anyone wants to know about it just ask and I'll try and give information on it, as this will be my first oscilloscope please be patient with me lol

Pretty nice gesture; I can relate as my wife gave me my good oscilloscope as our 10th anniversary.

Also, I am very sorry for your loss.

[Jmh474]

So if just leaned that actually it's the osc2002 model now it's the waiting game, shipping from china to the uk so going to have to wait

[PKTKS]

So if just leaned that actually it's the osc2002 model now it's the waiting game, shipping from china to the uk so going to have to wait

I will dump my 2 cents ...

The thing with USB scopes is always the lack (or need) of screen.
A PC can be used although with risks... a tablet will do the job far better.

Portable.. a big plus. Can use a 5V supply big plus...

But ...we have already entered a new era or gizmos..

And PORTABLE..  FLOATING (no GND issues)  and cheaper...
I am even considering adding this one to the my box...

https://www.banggood.com/MUSTOOL-MDS120M-Professional-Digital-Oscilloscope-120MHz-Analog-Bandwidth-500MS-or-s-Sampling-Rate-320x240-LCD-Screen-Support-Waveform-Storage-with-Backlight-p-1759856.html

It works as expected in the price range... with several bonus..

Already saw reviews that confirm that..

Paul

[gnuarm]

https://www.banggood.com/MUSTOOL-MDS120M-Professional-Digital-Oscilloscope-120MHz-Analog-Bandwidth-500MS-or-s-Sampling-Rate-320x240-LCD-Screen-Support-Waveform-Storage-with-Backlight-p-1759856.html

It works as expected in the price range... with several bonus..

Already saw reviews that confirm that..

Paul

Yeah, interesting, but I would not be able to see anything on a screen that small.  That's a big reason why I want a scope that can use the display on my 17" laptop.  It's a touch screen, but I have that turned off, too many finger prints.  But I'd be willing to use it with a scope if that is a better interface than the mouse.

The idea scope is USB attached with knobs in the unit.  Am I right??? 

[PKTKS]

https://www.banggood.com/MUSTOOL-MDS120M-Professional-Digital-Oscilloscope-120MHz-Analog-Bandwidth-500MS-or-s-Sampling-Rate-320x240-LCD-Screen-Support-Waveform-Storage-with-Backlight-p-1759856.html

It works as expected in the price range... with several bonus..

Already saw reviews that confirm that..

Paul

Yeah, interesting, but I would not be able to see anything on a screen that small.  That's a big reason why I want a scope that can use the display on my 17" laptop.  It's a touch screen, but I have that turned off, too many finger prints.  But I'd be willing to use it with a scope if that is a better interface than the mouse.

The idea scope is USB attached with knobs in the unit.  Am I right??? 

YES - you are right.
There are several things to be considered.

IN MY CASE..  My use to the USB scope is as a floating portable
cheap gizmo..  a tablet or even my cell phone can do that...
Hantek already has these applets..

For portable battery multi use I have a small one in which
the lack of real buttons and better triggers are some rare times an issue
but being a floating portable device... the goal is more "SEE" than make
accurate stuff

For accurate stuff  buttons and big screen are required..
As someone said..

Analogs not always tell you the truth..
But DIGITAL tell you a bunch of lies ...

Each type became necessary today .. as they are cheaper
and multi function stuff.

My problem now is where to store them all 

Paul

[zachik]

If that little scope had USB out (to a laptop) - that could have been best of both worlds...

[frank2644]

I have bought 3 under 100$US PC scopes in the past. Yes, they work, no, I don't like them.  Somehow the convenience of quickly twisting a knob while watching the trace makes hdw scopes much more pleasurable to use.. Maybe the more expensive PC scopes are better, but then the prices approach some of the lower cost hdw scopes whose capabilities are probably better.

I started by trying the sfw scopes that use the PC audio card. Yes they work and might be OK for some beginners, but not for anything serious.

The cheapest new hdw scope that I have seen is the Hantek 5102p at US$214, not much more expensive then the better PC based scopes.

OTOH, the ability to get screen prints and data is probably better with the PC scopes, but the HDW scopes usually have some similar capability. Although some might take some fiddling to setup. 

Just IMHO.
Frank

[chris178]

Hi everyone,

Does anybody has any hands on experience with https://www.dreamsourcelab.com/product/dscope-series/ devices? DScope or DSLogic.
It looks quite promising in terms of specs. I've installed software (arch linux) and also looks pretty well.

I thought it would be perhaps a good hint for this thread...

I was recently looking more of a logic analyzer following my recent repair involving deep SPI (fast one..) debugging.
I used my DS1054Z for this + DSRemote (allowing to dump full 24M memory to computer) and then to Pulseview with nice long samples. But this method isn't that straight forward..

DScope U2P20 will fit around $100... U2B20 with shorter buffer would be even less.... It looks as this Spartan-6 based device is a little ahead of similar competition... this should be true realtime 50MHz capable device...

Your thoughts?

[wizard69]

Well thanks for all the information it's very appreciated,
I guess my budget is around £100, I can guess a lot of you will sit back and laugh, and I can understand why, I know it's a case of you get what you pay for with this type of equipment.

You should get in contact with a local ham radio operator or club and put out feelers for a used scope.    You didn't mention what your interests are and that is a factor.   For example if your interests are in audio you can get by with a low end scope.   However long term you are likely better off getting at least a 100MHz scope.    New scopes are completely out of your price range.

Some of the cheaper USB scopes might actually be completely serviceable in  the audio domain.   However they likely will have troubles with almost anything digital.

One of the main reasons for the purchase is so I can check pwm for any noise, and this will help in cleaning it up.

That still isn't much help.   Tell us what the PWM is for and how fast it runs.

I have tried looking on Facebook in my area (Cambridgeshire) but sadly at the moment the closest I can find is like 50 miles away, iv already been pulled a few times already, one when going shopping and another when I took my son for a drive as it helps him with meltdowns.

So?   The shut downs do very little to stop the transfer of COVID.   We can see this in China which went to extremes and still had huge problems with the infection.

I am thinking of trying to put off buying one at the moment and hope something might pop up but as I'm sure you all know nothing ever turns up until it's to late

I've tried to obtain a variety of tools over the years, via online sites and nothing is ever there until after I buy the new device.   Buying used when the item is not mainstream is a struggle.   You will have more luck getting involved in online auctions such as those offered by DoveBid and others that closeout businesses.

The smartest move might be to put off buying, find some part time work, overtime or whatever and build up some cash.    Sometimes you are better off letting things drag, contemplate what you need  and want, to do and then make your move.

I've googled and YouTube the scope and from what I can tell it's not to bad a scope they've put a lot of time into the software from what I can tell, it's also open source they offer open source module pcb.

Again that's for the advice, but for now the hunt goes on

Just trying to find best bang for the buck

Buying a USB scope is not completely bad idea.   If 5 years from now you want to buy a real scope you can and keep the USB unit as a portable solution.   The tech is certainly getting better and frankly I can see some really nice ones coming once USB-C stabilizes.   You need to realize that most of the low end USB scopes are more like data acquisition units with limited voltage input ranges and lacking a lot of features.    More realistic USB scopes do cost far more.

[DEV001]

Hi everyone,

Does anybody has any hands on experience with https://www.dreamsourcelab.com/product/dscope-series/ devices? DScope or DSLogic.
It looks quite promising in terms of specs. I've installed software (arch linux) and also looks pretty well.

I thought it would be perhaps a good hint for this thread...

I was recently looking more of a logic analyzer following my recent repair involving deep SPI (fast one..) debugging.
I used my DS1054Z for this + DSRemote (allowing to dump full 24M memory to computer) and then to Pulseview with nice long samples. But this method isn't that straight forward..

DScope U2P20 will fit around $100... U2B20 with shorter buffer would be even less.... It looks as this Spartan-6 based device is a little ahead of similar competition... this should be true realtime 50MHz capable device...

Your thoughts?

I own most of their products from their original USB 2.0 DSCope and DSLogic to their latest USB 3.0 versions so if you have any specific questions about usability or functionality just let me know?

Another nice thing about their products is the source is on GitHub for DSView and in theory you could add new features if you had the desire.

[chris178]

I've seen DSlogic working on some youtube videos, which one of the best is I guesst OpenTestLab's one.

I'm more interested of a general feel regarding to DScope - how does regular operation compares to using real knobs and having no lag on physical scope screen.

Is DScope used on laptop comparable in terms of speed, screen refresh, measurements to a real scope?

Chris

[Markus2801A]

I'm just courious what you think about those USB scopes:

Owon VDS6102A vs Loto OSCH02H

I really would like to know how they will compare to each other in terms of usability etc.

The OWON VDS6102A (or the 4Channel: VDS6104A) is a little more expensive (approx. 450€ for the 4CH-A Model incl. VAT in Austria) over the highest model LOTO offers, the OSCH02H is approx. 330€.

But considering what you geht for the money they seem to be very good Oscilloscopes. Don't want to compare them to the higher End Siglent and Rigol Ranges :-)

IMHO the pico scopes are overpriced regarding price-performance ratio! What do you think? :-)

[2N3055]

I'm just courious what you think about those USB scopes:

Owon VDS6102A vs Loto OSCH02H

I really would like to know how they will compare to each other in terms of usability etc.

The OWON VDS6102A (or the 4Channel: VDS6104A) is a little more expensive (approx. 450€ for the 4CH-A Model incl. VAT in Austria) over the highest model LOTO offers, the OSCH02H is approx. 330€.

But considering what you geht for the money they seem to be very good Oscilloscopes. Don't want to compare them to the higher End Siglent and Rigol Ranges :-)

IMHO the pico scopes are overpriced regarding price-performance ratio! What do you think? :-)

It all depends. I presume you are after 14 bit resolution? Because otherwise that scope has nothing else. Software is very basic. No decoding at all either.
It would make sense if used only as sampling front end and feeding data to your custom software.
How do you connect to it? Is there well documented API? It seems that it has Ethernet and it might even be standalone LXI device. It is not clear.
I don't have firsthand experience with that particular scope.

I presume this Owon is decent enough hardware. Is it full 14Bit worth decent? I don't know. Original software is very basic, and other stuff is not clear.
So there is too much "I don't knows" around it.   It seems very attractively priced for a 14bit 4ch scope, in theory. In practice it is what we call  here in Croatia "buying a cat in a bag". If you cannot make it (and use it) with your own software to use 14bit for some advanced analysis it is very little of a scope with it's own software.

This is why many people buy the likes of Picoscope despite higher prices. It has powerful software that decodes 25+ protocols and has many advanced features. It simply works. Same with API and many samples how to use it. Simply works.

I wish if there were actual users to chime in.  For me, personally, 450€ is too much for a "cat in a bag" purchase.

[gnuarm]

Hi everyone,

<<< snip >>>

DScope U2P20 will fit around $100... U2B20 with shorter buffer would be even less.... It looks as this Spartan-6 based device is a little ahead of similar competition... this should be true realtime 50MHz capable device...

Your thoughts?

I don't see a U2B20 and the U2P20 is $179.  I guess their prices have gone up.  That's a lot of inflation!

[Markus2801A]

...
So there is too much "I don't knows" around it.

I wish if there were actual users to chime in.  For me, personally, 450€ is too much for a "cat in a bag" purchase.

I totally agree, wondering were are the owners of this device? There seems to be a market for it, so there should be plenty of user around which can tell us more details about those scopes, but I also only have found very basics to no almost no information on those devices!

[2N3055]

...
So there is too much "I don't knows" around it.

I wish if there were actual users to chime in.  For me, personally, 450€ is too much for a "cat in a bag" purchase.

I totally agree, wondering were are the owners of this device? There seems to be a market for it, so there should be plenty of user around which can tell us more details about those scopes, but I also only have found very basics to no almost no information on those devices!

Well, to me it doesn't seem to be much market for it. Users that do their own signal analysis are not that common. As a scope it has extremely basic features.
And 14 bits is really limited to low sampling rates on single channel. For most use you will have to run it in 8 bit mode anyways.
So you end up having very limited scope for the price where you can buy decent fully featured devices, that also have very good reputation.

If that Owon scope had software as good as Picoscope or Digilent, then it would be different story.
The way it is now, cheap little 20 MHz Owon for 100 USD is good for the price.
This one is too expensive for the people that want something cheap, and not good enough to be comparable to other devices in the price class.

14 bit means nothing if I can't do anything sophisticated with it.
Therefore I presume not many people are buying it.