Hackaday's DSO Touch?  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Lisbeth
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 11:29:52 am
content: So after seeing Dave's review of the crappy, KY needing, absolutely poorly made portable DSO, Iinstantly believed that portable DSO's are not gonna be a good product...Then I saw one of my favorite websites selling one, and not only that WITH A TOUCHSCREEN!!!http://store.hackaday.com/products/dso-touchI have a lot of reluctance in believing this is a good product, but seeing as how it's from HackADay.com,it cannot be THAT bad. Do any of you guys own one or have seen this in action? If so, how is it?But be warned, my bullshit meter is having a buried needle right now...

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:06:28 pm
content: Im guessing not a single human from HAD touched this thing, they simply filled their store with cool sounding items. You can email Mike and ask.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:16:35 pm
content: Analog bandwidth: 1MHzI could connect the probes to my tongue and draw the waveform with a pencil faster than that.It's a turd.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:24:23 pm
content: Quote from: smjcuk on April 22, 2015, 01:16:35 pmThe others were turds, so I expect this touch one to be no different.If you really need a portable pocket scope then they fulfill that niche, otherwise, stay clear.

author: Lisbeth
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:39:30 pm
content: What I personally don't understand is how people sell these things to gullible beginners,when they could buy a classic analogue oscilloscope off of craigslist for UNDER HALF the price!Jesus...

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:46:37 pm
content: This is simply a market gap. Some people have an aversion to second hand goods and an aversion to paying money for something. So they want cheap crap. That's a relatively large market that's an easy win for marketers and tight margin electronics companies.Then again I just bought a dud 45 year old Tek 453 and spent three evenings getting it to trigger properly so you win some and lose some.

author: PeterFW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:49:35 pm
content: Quote from: Lisbeth on April 22, 2015, 11:29:52 amIf i remember correctly, HAD is a commercial website, they have to sell stuff to make money.Do not put them on a pedestal, they HAD logo is not a seal of quality, i guess they will not care that much what they sell as long as the cash is flowing.Not that it is a bad website, i like to visit it and they do some nice things!Maybe i even like them a bit, as long as i stay out of the comment section.They have one of the worst comment section i have ever seen, made of about 90% hate...

author: Lisbeth
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 01:52:01 pm
content: Quote from: PeterFW on April 22, 2015, 01:49:35 pmPretty much, you may as well scroll through youtube comments and 4chan comments at the same time...

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 02:08:20 pm
content: Quote from: PeterFW on April 22, 2015, 01:49:35 pmNot necessarily.HAD is owned by Supply frame, the ones who also sponsor this forum with the ad at the top. They are a BIG company. The site is an important part of their strategy, so they could probably afford to run at a loss if needed.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 03:04:19 pm
content: Quote from: PeterFW on April 22, 2015, 01:49:35 pmhey thanks! I try my best

author: szczys
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 05:59:58 pm
content: Hiya!I'm Mike, managing editor at Hackaday. Here's some things to consider:The earlier comment about a market gap is a good one. Not everyone is ready to buy a proper scope nor do they have the skills to get a used one working. This fills that niche.As far as never touching this hardware, we curate a the products in our store. The senior software developer at Supplyframe played with thus for quite a while and really liked it. Again, there is the niche user I mentioned before.Also, I think our comments section is greatly improved as of late ;-p

author: PeterFW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 06:27:25 pm
content: Quote from: szczys on April 22, 2015, 05:59:58 pmHehe, i thought the nickname looked somewhat familiarQuote from: szczys on April 22, 2015, 05:59:58 pmYou are right, i had a look at 10 posts from the second page and sampled the top comment.Two times something like "Nice!" and the other 8 were from socially challenged individuals, that sums up to only 80% hate.Keep it up, i visit once or twice a day, as i have said, i like reading your blogQuote from: EEVblog on April 22, 2015, 02:08:20 pmWell then, i take everything back i said.I guess if they were only 15 bucks i would have one of these mini DSO, they can serve limited a purpose.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 07:02:37 pm
content: Quote from: szczys on April 22, 2015, 05:59:58 pmin other words it was first oscilloscope he used in his life

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2015, 08:02:32 pm
content: Sorry, but until I see a person with experience review this "Oscilloscope", it is just another pocket toy. 1MHz is just enough to do audio and the 40V input is just adequate for some audio. With these specs it is better than nothing but that is all.

author: gilbenl
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 12:35:39 am
content: $148+SH. What niche does that fill that a 2000's agilent/tek/LeCroy with (literally) 100X the bandwidth doesn't? 1Mhz bandwith...10Ms/s. The "state of the art" in the 1930's was 20Mhz.On a positive note, it does offer "Couling: AC/DC," per the specs at the bottom. Sounds like somebody copied and pasted the chinglish straight from the manufacturer's data sheet.Also, I feel calling it a "touch" oscilloscope is deceptive and misleading. Oooooh capacitive slider/buttons. That cool on my samsung TV or a 10 year old cell phone, not so much on an oscope. It took the poor guy almost 10 seconds to change the timebase on a single channel. Between that and the beeps, I'd be on the hunt for another hobby ASAFP.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 05:58:22 am
content: Tocuh stuff has never been cool for me. Any non tactile interfaces are pandering to a) cost reduction, b) software 'engineering' and c) star trek.It pains me every day using this Motorola smartphone. It's unreliable, error prone, mostly software defined and buggy. Just what I want from test equipment!Give me clicky buttons and big clunky switches any day. If they don't work its not because I wiped some pot noodle on the screen and changed the capacitance somewhere or something locked up.

author: Lisbeth
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2015, 05:49:27 pm
content: Quote from: smjcuk on April 23, 2015, 05:58:22 am^THIS 100%!!!I love tactile feedback, because it's the only thing that satisfy's the brain. Why do you think mobile emulation games with onscreen controls suck so much?

author: kc9qvl
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2015, 11:45:14 am
content: These toy dso's are good for audio. I know a couple of audio installers that use these as a quick way to set input levels. Their customers are impressed by them anyways

author: PeterFW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2015, 01:35:09 pm
content: Quote from: smjcuk on April 23, 2015, 05:58:22 amGive it another 15 years and those stupid kids that grow up with a smartphone glued to the face will wine about "old crap with switches".But you are right, touch interfaces are annoying, most times, but sometimes they are awesome but only very rarely...

author: PeterFW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2015, 01:38:35 pm
content: Quote from: kc9qvl on May 02, 2015, 11:45:14 amI could have used one of these a few weeks ago, could have spared me a decent amount of time on the firing range, tweaking a microphone amplifier.But not at the price point that they are sold, a toy should be sold at a toys price

author: mc
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2015, 01:14:30 pm
content: I could probably justify something like this.I do automotive diagnostic work, and having a small pocket DSO would be pretty handy. Yes, I have access to a big DSO, but it involves connecting it to a laptop, and you end up with a mass of cables, and quite frankly, I only ever use it as a last resort due to the hassle.Some thing like a pocket DSO would be just a case of turn it on, then probe whatever signals I need to.However, for diagnostic work, I'm not really interested in accurate readings, as all I'm usually checking for is a clean signal that looks roughly how it should, so accuracy isn't that high up my list. I wouldn't really want to use it for anything where accuracy was needed.As for touchscreen, provided the touchscreen works well, I wouldn't have an issue with it.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2015, 10:42:03 pm
content: It'd probably merrily snuff it the moment you got car goop on it. They're also stupidly fragile and my Fluke 77 was owned by an auto electrician and the thing is battered.