EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: fishandchips on June 15, 2017, 06:13:50 pm
-
Could anybody please let me know the differences and which is better?
-
Which is better? :palm:
Depends what you want it for.
An oscilloscope shows how voltage changes with time. It is able to show thus over very small amounts of time.
A data logger stores data over a period of time. The period is confugurable. Loggers usually do not have any method of displaying the data they have logged, the data must be downloaded onto a computer for analysys.
What are you looking to do?
-
Differences: sampling rate. Entry level scope these days would be 1 GS/s. Dataloggers might be kS/s or possibly MS/s. Number of channels. Scopes are usually 2-4 channels. Data loggers can have many more.
Which is better: I am not aware of any datalogger that includes Tetris, so to me scopes are clearly better. They also tend to have prettier colors.
-
I plan to use the equipment to test circuits in real-time under different input conditions. I also want to use the equipment to gather analog and digital data for post-processing, analysis and report writing.
-
I plan to use the equipment to test circuits in real-time under different input conditions. I also want to use the equipment to gather analog and digital data for post-processing, analysis and report writing.
Sounds like you need an oscilloscope. Get one with either USB data port or network port for transfering data.
-
Why not have both in one unit?
We do a product called a Scopecorder - with a Scopecorder you can capture transient events and trends for up to 200 days. It is not limited like a scope either in that it can measure more than Voltage, Current and Serial Bus. You can also measure Temperature, Strain, Acceleration, Frequency, Logic plus more.
We have just launched a battery powered version too!
Check out the home page and see it for yourself - http://tmi.yokogawa.com/gb/products/oscilloscopes/scopecorders/ (http://tmi.yokogawa.com/gb/products/oscilloscopes/scopecorders/)
-
Do you really mean a data logger or do you mean a logic analyzer?
-
Do you really mean a data logger or do you mean a logic analyzer?
Somebody mentioned that logic analyzer only takes digital signals. I work on both analog and digital signals.
-
I would first figure out your requirements before considering spending any money. Figure out the number of signals you need to monitor at the same time, required bandwidth, voltage / current levels, duration (required sample depth). Also consider software support. If you build your software on top of Labview, a NI DAQ might be more convenient than a low-end digital scope with limited software support.
It might help to get a basic digital scope (that is pretty much required for any serious electronics work anyway) to figure some of this out.
-
You could build your own data logging system using a set of cheap microcontrollers that come with a good built-in A/D converter.
This way your data logging system is a perfect fit for the application in particular.
And you can improve your microcontroller programming skills :)
-
You might need both!
As noted: Data loggers are easy to build. A $2 Arduino will do the job for simple voltage measurements (but you'll need an op-amp if the voltages are in the millivolt range).
Ideally you need to supply more info - what are you measuring, how fast are the signals, etc.