Choosing a new, cheap-ish, USB o-scope. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 05:43:37 pm
content: *Yes, USB scopes will never replace proper bench scopes, i know it allright.*So my DSO138 was having problems with some 50-100kHz signals from my little switching PSU experiment so i thought to myself that it would be about time to get myself a new scope.Now, my budget is about 150$ at the moment but i'm only willing to pay 80$ tops for a scope since i have a couple blown DMMs to replace along with lots of other things.After a quick look i came up with the following three scopes:http://www.ebay.com/itm/ISDS205A-PC-Based-USB-Oscilloscope-2CH-20MHz-48MSa-s-FFT-Analyzer-Data-Logger-/291080037696?hash=item43c5b8e540:g:UhMAAOSwoydWnPwehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/OWON-VDS1022-USB-25MHz-100MS-s-USB-PC-Digital-Storage-Portable-Oscilloscope-/351588937562?hash=item51dc556f5a:g:w5QAAOxygPtSt-Xohttp://www.ebay.com/itm/Hantek-6022BE-PC-Based-USB-Digital-Storag-Oscilloscope-48MSa-s-20MHz-2-Channels-/281920511004?hash=item41a3c59c1c:g:gYIAAOSwzhVWqIMyThe Hantek one is the cheapest of the bunch, although i don't know much about it except that YouTube seems to be flooded with very mediocre reviews of it.The Owon one got my attention since Mike did a review of a higher range model and it didn't look too bad, so i expect the lower range one to be not too bad aswell.The Instrustar seems to have a pretty good UI but i'm not too sure about the rest, it seems to be a rather generic chinese usb scope, rather similar looking to the Hantek one.Edit: after a quick look it seems like Intrustar does actually have a rather decent customer service.I do have an old laptop on my bench which has a dead battery ( sitting permanently plugged in ) that i use for datasheets and stuff and i think a USB scope would go along with it quite well.I'd love to know if you guys have any experiences or other suggestions to share.Thanks.

author: pascal_sweden
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 07:12:31 pm
content: Did you have a look at the SainSmart DDS140 Digital Storage Oscilloscope 40 MHZ BW 200 MSa/s Sampling rate.http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-dds-140-40m-200m-s-virtual-oscilloscope-black.htmlThe nice thing about this USB oscilloscope is that it has a feature connector on the side, which can be used to add a logic analyzer option or a signal generator option later on. Both of these options are very affordable.In fact the combination of a SainSmart DDS140 USB oscilloscope together with the signal generator option, is still cheaper than some Chinese signal generators.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 07:23:06 pm
content: I'm biassed because I went with the Owon, certainly much better than the other two that you listed:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/owon-vds1022i-quick-teardown-%28versus-the-hantek-6022be%29/msg739141/#msg739141

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 07:32:47 pm
content: Here is a cheap non USB scope, if you look around it gets good reviews within its specs.I am happy with mine.If you get one make sure it has a battery.http://www.amazon.com/DSO112-Oscilloscope-Display-Battery-included/dp/B01982W558/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462994927&sr=8-1&keywords=dso+112

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 08:01:58 pm
content: Quote from: pascal_sweden on May 11, 2016, 07:12:31 pmThe scope seems allright but the 40MHz version would be over 100$ delivered for me and the cheaper version ( about 70$ delivered ) does not look like much bang for buck.The Owon seems like a clear winner now, it has alot more beef in it and has really nice accuracy/noise figures, it's just an overall better bang for buck than the others in terms of hardware, and i think the relatively low sampling rate shouldn't bother me at all.Also the other scopes don't look like they have AC/DC coupling and proper input stage shielding, which the Owon scope has.So, yeah, Owon scope it is then.

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 08:12:23 pm
content: Quote from: ez24 on May 11, 2016, 07:32:47 pmAs i mentioned i do already have their DSO138, which was great fun both to assemble and to use but i do need much more grunt than it or the DSO112 can provide, also a USB scope allows for the use of a bigger screen and better user interface, portability is also not important to me, if i ever need a portable DSO i just plug a battery pack into my DSO138.

author: daybyter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2016, 10:00:53 pm
content: There is a very long 6022be thread in this forum here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hantek-6022be-20mhz-usb-dso/Also check their bl version now (with logic analyzer).