What do I need UNI-T UTG932E/UTG962E for? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: VSV_electron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2023, 12:01:17 am
content: Hello!I see people demonstrate arbitrary function gens on YT. There are some entry level options like Junctek (quite sloppy and uncareful name to employ) and a well received UNI-T UTG932E/UTG962E.A few others are on offer, mostly clones of Junctek (who knows what is the clone of what actually).Their claimed specs are limited to 275 MSa/s and 80 Mhz on the sine wave for the top models. UTG962E is 60 Mhz at 200 MSa/s. (The smart ones turn UTG932E into UTG962E with one byte firmware tweak).So, people connect them to their desktop scopes and show how their gens produce various kinds of signals including AM/FM modulated ones. Beyond that I Haven't seen how those gens could be use in a real life workbench practice.Let's consider for instance a notorious Arduino niche. How would you use an AWG for the corresponding board projects practice?But please don't limit your examples to Arduino only, you are free to elaborate on the subject considering the limitations of the entry level AWGs that were mentioned above.

author: perdrix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2023, 11:33:52 am
content: Microwave AWG used to simulate phased array radar ...

author: VSV_electron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2023, 11:34:38 am
content: OK, I see maybe my question is formulated the wrong way.So, tell me then please how YOU use your UNI-T UTG932E/UTG962E (or any other similar AWG) in your workbench practice, what projects it's most useful for and also please give me some examples apart from connecting the AWG to a scope after purchase to verify it's fine and running.Otherwise I'm getting an impression you buy it just because others buy it.

author: shapirus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2023, 11:42:10 am
content: I used my Juntek to develop and debug hardware and software for my mains voltage datalogger until it was ready to be connected to real mains voltage. Feeding various waveforms into it helped to make sure that my TRMS, frequency, DC offset etc. calculation code worked correctly.In general, they are useful for any application that involves developing or troubleshooting signal processing hardware or software.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2023, 03:14:57 pm
content: I run 3x juntek JDs-2900 40 Mhz generators, fun to use, can start with presets etc ...I would love some real generators with real synthesis parts, not some fpga with pseudo emulation ,,,

author: VSV_electron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2023, 04:06:43 pm
content: Quote from: coromonadalix on March 03, 2023, 03:14:57 pm3x Juntek AWGs? What's the fun part of that setup? Can you elaborate on that?

author: VSV_electron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 02:00:30 pm
content: Anyone else will add their reasoning for buying an arbitrary waveform generator?Why did you get one? What you were missing without having one? Did you buy it just because you had to have it or did you have a specific project to work on and without the AWG you couldn't advance any further?I'll be honest with you: having the AWG sounds like a good idea but unless it will find its specific usage in the amateur electronics lab there are few other things to spend that money on.For instance I watched YT vids of guys who work mostly on digital electronics, specifically on vintage 8-bit computers and they mentioned they had no use for an AWG.

author: 807
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 09:34:23 pm
content: If you're into repairing/building audio & RF stuff, then they are essential.They come in useful when checking the gain of audio and RF stages. Also handy for checking the passband or rolloff of filters etc. I'm always finding a use for mine.

author: VSV_electron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 04, 2023, 10:55:22 pm
content: "...repairing/building audio & RF stuff..." - Bingo! Thank you for the clarification.I'm sure many uninitiated who bought one not having the above area of the AWG application in mind have it now collecting dust.I saw a feedback of one buyer who knew what he was buying the AWG for (perhaps even not for the RF stuff) and he mentioned he got one to use the sinewave 90% of the time. Definitely he needed that sinewave badly...

author: VSV_electron
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2023, 12:38:15 pm
content: I found a good article at the Tek site going into some detail on AFG (not AWG - I used the term interchangeably by mistake) usage in different areas of electronics. Very interesting.https://www.tek.com/en/documents/primer/25-common-things-you-can-do-arbitrary-function-generator

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2023, 04:15:37 pm
content: The only important thing I have ever done with my AWG is to draw a Valentine's Day heart on my scope.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/a-valentine_s-day-activity-for-your-scope-and-function-generator/I don't use my Siglent SDG2082X for much but I got a lot of cred from that display.For simple projects you can use the Arduino tone() function for a signal source but you may need to filter out the odd harmonics.https://docs.arduino.cc/built-in-examples/digital/toneMelodyI mostly work with FPGAs and uCs, an AWG is pretty far down the buying list.

author: mawyatt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2023, 05:40:12 pm
content: Quote from: perdrix on March 03, 2023, 11:33:52 amIronically we utilized our SDG2042X and SDG 6022X for just that, well actually to emulate the electronic beam steering waveforms for an active phased array, not the actual MMW signals.Both of these helped immensely in the development of what would be considered a 15~16bit Bi-Phase Modulated AWG that's capable of +-100V peak signals with 256 independent channels (1 channel for each array element), hopefully eventually leading to a full custom chip development.Along with a 16 bit PicoScope 4262 the AWGs were useful in studying the subtle differences in waveform dynamics as created by the custom system.Anyway, not exactly a typical use case but nevertheless quite helpfulBest,

author: tatel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2023, 05:42:05 pm
content: Well, I bought mine after realizing that a couple hundred spared bucks couldn't give me a good enough SDR&R night, so a Rigol DG811 seemed a better investment.I thought it could be handy when time comes to play with op-amps and bandpass filters. That time isn't here yet -I'm just a hobbyist-, so you are mostly right: I didn't used it very much so far. But eventually I'll have some spare time and will probably get good use from it, or so I hope. I must confess I have a (very) weak point when tooling is involved. Meanwhile I already have it, and it was some 40 bucks cheaper 18 months ago than it is now, so happy with having purchased it at that time.Quite good rationalization, it isn't?