ISDS220B/VDS3102/6204BD or need help to choose 1st oscilloscope for MCU - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: myweb
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 03, 2018, 12:04:24 pm
content: Hi!I did a search but still would like to ask advice from expert: which oscilloscope I should prefer as a MCU (Arduino, STM32, ESP8266, ESP32) hobbyist?Currently I have no oscilloscope (just sometime I have access to TEKTRONIX MSO2024B) and waiting for ordered 100MHz Logic Analyzer (using STM32 based logic Analyzer ).In general I need an oscilloscope a few times per year and that is why I limit budget for myself as 200$ for oscilloscope and prefer USB type.Originally I was going to order Instrustar ISDS220B, but than I saw Hantek 6204BD and 6204BD looks as more value for money, but found several negative feedback and low buffer size makes me confused.And finally OWON VDS3102 on sale $248 comes to the list (a little bit exceed my budged, but if it really much better that others...)So, the list is:1. Instrustar ISDS220B2. OWON VDS31023. Hantek 6204BDHantek 6204BD - low buffer, just 64K with 1Gs/s - just a small time will be captured as far as I understandInstrustar ISDS220B - looks not enough to capture sporadic pulses that can trigger interrupt for MCU (modern MCU run at 240Mhz, ESP32, and therefore interrupt pulse could be as low as 4 nano second = 1/240MHz). Can ISDS220B capture 4 nano second pulse?OWON VDS3102 - base on review the VDS3102 works differently from ISDS and 6204. The VDS3102 is standalone oscilloscope without display/controls and use PC as Display. That is why during signal zooming could be delays. It is the most expensive from my list, but is it good or still just a "toy" and it is better to start with ISDS220B and one day in the future go with standalone?Thank you in advance!

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2018, 01:10:27 pm
content: I'm not sure about the others but the VDS3102 is only useful if you need portability.The lower-end VDS1022 has a useful price 'sweet spot' in the sub-$100 range, but the VDS3102 is too close in price to bench models.EDIT: Any particular reason for your USB preference other than size? You're limiting your choices quite a lot.

author: myweb
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 03, 2018, 08:42:29 pm
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 03, 2018, 01:10:27 pmBasically just a size, but I think that USB should be cheaper since has no physical controls, screen... Am I wrong ? Which non-USB oscilloscope you would recommend in price range 200-250$ better that mentioned USB?

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2018, 09:21:34 pm
content: You'd think so wouldn't you. I'm not an expert on Chinese bench DSOs but I think you can probably find something Rigol or Siglent for $250. Modern bench DSOs are quite small. Someone will surely be along with recommendations.If looking at USB scopes then you should probably consider the Picoscope range too. I'm not sure if price + shipping from the UK would be outside your price band though.P.S. Anything Hantek tends to be pretty badly regarded around here.

author: Performa01
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2018, 11:59:24 pm
content: Long memory is a must (not only) when you deal with non-periodic signals like in an MCU project. Especially with fast/composite signals, you run into aliasing problems pretty quickly on all but the fastest timebase settings if you only have short memory.To capture a 4ns wide pulse, you need at the very least 100MHz bandwidth – with that you still cannot check the pulse shape and properties, but at least you can see whether there is some pulse or not.Now let’s check the spec sheets of your choices:Instrustar ISDS220BOnly one fixed gain range +/-16VFastest timebase 10ns/divMemory size 512kpts/Ch.Bandwidth 60MHzSample rate 200MSa/sOWON VDS3102Proper input rangesFastest timebase 2ns/divMemory size 10MptsBandwidth 100MHzSample rate 1GSa/sHantek 6204BDProper input ranges down to 2mV/divFastest timebase 2ns/divMemory size 64kptsBandwidth 200MHzSample rate 1GSa/sSpec sheets aren’t always telling the whole story. For instance, we cannot know if the 64kpts for the Hantek are per channel or total – probably the latter, hence particularly low for multi-channel operation.So I think the Owon would be the only sensible option. At least this is a well known company and even though most likely not great, at least way more popular than Hantek. I don’t think that many of us have ever heard of Instrustar, hence this would be an even higher risk, but then the specs alone absolutely rule it out.I don’t know any bench scope with sufficient bandwidth and deep memory in this price class.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 04:44:30 am
content: Quote from: myweb on November 03, 2018, 08:42:29 pmThat was the promise of PC based test gear, but IMO it never really delivered. The display and controls part has become extremely cheap, most of the cost of a scope is in the front end and ADC. There is little savings in using a PC as the user interface and a huge cost in terms of usability.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2018, 12:54:25 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on November 04, 2018, 04:44:30 amNot quite right. The biggest cost of a DSO is in developing the firmware. The hardware for a general purpose 100MHz DSO costs peanuts either way nowadays.