Smartscope - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: rthorntn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2014, 08:43:51 pm
content: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/751733865/smartscope-reinventing-the-oscilloscope/description2x100MS/s 50MHz Oscilloscope50MS/s Arbitrary Waveform GeneratorDigital logic analyzer at 100MS/sDigital waveform generator at 100MS/s200 waveforms/second data updates

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2014, 09:12:45 pm
content: I really like the Android OTG part. A scope running off batteries is useful sometimes, and a Nexus 7 would be a pretty awesome display.But why does it only offer 2048 samples, even in logic analyzer mode? If it did streamed sampling in LA mode, I'd probably buy it just for that. (Saleae, take the hint and build an Android version of your software!) As it is, it seems too limited to be useful to me. But hey, maybe the next version will have more storage? I'll keep an eye open for that.

author: Fsck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 02:06:11 am
content: Well, if this is the <<guys, all I can say for now: be prepared for another kickstarter launch in 10 days from now, which will solve your questions in a more professional approach, offers more and... comes even at a lower cost (especially for the 100 early birds)>> post from the DSLogic thread: then I'm depressingly underwhelmed: the hardware still makes me think toy rather than test equipment.tablet functionality would probably be neat for portability.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 02:13:17 am
content: Wonder if the USB interface is isolated ? Can't find it in the KS page.

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 04:55:25 am
content: All the significant hardware limitations aside, I don't like the sound of the cross platform software. Maybe it's fine... But I would have thought a fair bit of work would need to get decent update rates on a mobile device without bogging the UI.But then again, with only 2k samples it probably doesn't take much processing power to render.

author: senso
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 07:20:57 am
content: So 2048 samples are enough to fill a full HD screen and 200 waveforms per second are 200fps which is way faster than the competition, and for only 200€, oh boy

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 08:02:10 am
content: Quote from: senso on January 23, 2014, 07:20:57 amPut that way it sounds like a digital version of an analogue scope.

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 08:47:43 am
content: Quote from: senso on January 23, 2014, 07:20:57 amForgive me for being a touch dubious about this one. But getting an Android device to render at 200fps isn't actually that easy even on a modern device, that's only 5ms per frame. Sure transfer the data to the device at that speed no worries, but they've actually said 200 frames per second in the spec. Do mobile devices even have a screen refresh rate that high?

author: eev_makr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 09:53:27 am
content: Great that our project is being picked up at the eev forum!Yes indeed – the comment posted earlier was coming from me. At that time I KNEW I shouldn’t post it, but it’s hard to imagine the feeling of being so close to the launch of a Kickstarter – definitely recommended to anyone! The next morning I couldn’t believe I actually posted that message – but hey now it’s there and now much I can do about it nowSince I don’t want to draw any activity from this forum to the KS comments section, let me answer your doubts here.It does run off the batter of your tablet/phone, but you can also hot-plug external power through the separate microUSB, in case your tablet battery runs lowThe reason we’re only storing 2k samples is because we decided to have a clear focus, and to focus on making an oscilloscope affordable to anyone. For a scope, we wanted to make sure that all pixels of a fullHD screen are covered – the only case where you want to have more samples, if when you take a single shot and zoom in. Which is definitely not a rare use-case, but adding a DRAM element + controller would have added at least $30 is selling price (taking cost,taxes, storage, time for testing at production and logistics into account). It was one of the hardest design choices we had to make – but in the end we think we made the right choice. And hey – you need to leave us some headroom to put some stretch goalsFor the logic analyzer, 2k samples will allow you to debug most digital interfaces. And because we know that the amount is on the low side for pure logic analyzer purposes, we’re thinking about implementing encoding schemes, so you can store 2k transitions, instead of 2k samples.Honestly I’m a bit disappointed you think it looks like a toy – but hey optical perception is something one cannot argue about. We spent addition $ to offer you a full metal case – which is also required to shield the analog part from incoming noise. We have bidirectional high-speed low-capacitance protection diodes on all pins. We manage our USB inrush current to stay within USB certification limits. If you have any additions you would like to see that we can still slip in, let us know.USB is not fully isolated – another tradeoff we had to make. However: the 5V is diode-protected, so we make sure there is no voltage injected into the host – ever. Which in our view should protect the SmartScope in most cases things could wrong.200eur? It’s $179Regarding the FPS: it is important to make the distinction between 2 refresh rates. First, there’s the ‘waveform refresh rate’ or ‘USB refresh rate’, which is the rate at which waveforms are captured and sent to the host. Let’s talk ‘ups’: updates per second. For this, we reach 200ups on PC, about 80fps on iOS devices and 170ups on Android devices. Then, there is the screen refresh rate, which is the 1/interval at which the waveforms are displayed on the screen. We’re clipping this to 50fps on PC, and reach anywhere between 10fps till 50fps on iOS and Android devices, based on their CPU and GPU specs. Now you probably think: are there benefits to have a ups which is larger than the fps? Yes. Amazing ones. It allows us to blend eg the last 10 waveforms on top of each other, which is giving you a much smoother waveform visualization than you would otherwise get, and it gives an opportunity to show all captured waveforms. So yes, even with 10fps you will see each of your 200ups.I hope this gives some more background to the thoughts you mentioned. We would love to make our kickstarter page 10x as long as it is now, but KS adviced to keep it this size. Perhaps, we should wrap all this information in a early shape of manual, for those of you requiring a more advanced explanation. Anyway, we’ll try to check here every now and then to see if there are more questions.

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 10:29:25 am
content: Quote from: eev_makr on January 23, 2014, 09:53:27 amWell, please notify us if the deluxe version with DRAM comes along. If it's really only $30 more (or even $50), and your software can handle the increased amount of data smoothly, that sounds like a toyI'd like to own.

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 10:40:11 am
content: Quote from: eev_makr on January 23, 2014, 09:53:27 amWhat you've described there is what pretty much everyone understands as waveforms per second on a standard DSO datasheet, which very few will argue are useless. Infact that's a very important selling point of most modern scopes. So can I suggest changing the nomenclature of your kickstarter page to use the standard terms, and remove the reference to claiming 200frames per second.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 11:09:44 am
content: Quote from: Dawgie on January 23, 2014, 10:44:32 amWith SinX/x interpolation you need about 4 times the bandwidth in sample rate, if not, 10 times is the typical figure.

author: Polossatik
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 02:45:12 pm
content: Quote from: eev_makr on January 23, 2014, 09:53:27 amwhile 189 usd is only 140€ , please realize that EU backers need to pay customs on US shipments, which is easily an extra 60 € ... this not your fault obviously but at then end it means an 179 usd device will cost me about 200€ when coming from the USA.And for an device aimed at technical people i do find using meaningless statements like "2048 samples / enough to fill a full HD screen " a bit silly.

author: leppie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 03:06:30 pm
content: I wish they would add some arbitrarily settable function knobs on these USB scopes.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 05:48:08 pm
content: Quote from: leppie on January 23, 2014, 03:06:30 pmBut in their video they condemned scopes with knobs.Bunch of young whippersnappers ...

author: Fsck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2014, 06:01:32 pm
content: I'd like to point out it's not the design that makes me think toy, it's the hardware. I don't really care about physical design unless it is somehow detrimental to functionality.big ass buffer is ideal, and everyone really wants their 4-channel oscilloscope for cheap(er). 16 channel LA would be nice as well if you could maintain 100M sampling. (high hopes), but that would probably be the ultimate in portability if you could do at least 1GSa over 4 channels oscope.I don't really know of a cheap way to the above, but that's why I place my hopes on the startups.

author: eev_makr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 12:02:36 am
content: @Maxlor: so please let me know exactly what usecase you have in mind. Most guys in this forum probably have 10 different scopes at home, so the ideal crowd to validate and fine-tune our stretch goals (hey the SmartScope would make a great 11th!)@Harvs: thanks, changed that in the text. (I spent the past 9 years designing USB cameras, which should explain my dialect)@Dawgie: I had the same comment on the KS site. I (arguably) changed the advertized bandwidth from 50MHz to 45MHz, as this really is our 3dB point and not simply the Nyquist freq of 100MS/s. So I agree with David that you shouldn't expect great results when looking at signals with significant spectral contents above 20MHz, but at least what you see will be close to reality.@Polossatik: nice coincidence, if you're close to Brussels or Antwerp you can always pass by to pick yours up@Bored\@Work: English is not my native language -- but isn't whippersnapper the opposite of old fart?Thanks for checking out the video!@Fsck: hey you need to leave us some room for a next product!

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 09:24:14 am
content: Quote from: eev_makr on January 25, 2014, 12:02:36 amYes, something like this. And it is a bit obvious you cater more for the young hippster type with more money than brains. Thing is, they are flaky. Someone else showing them some other new shiny toy and they are gone.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2014, 04:26:25 am
content: Quote from: Maxlor on January 22, 2014, 09:12:45 pmIt's obviously limited by the amount of BRAM in the Spartan 3A FPGA.-a

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2014, 02:06:45 pm
content: Quote from: eev_makr on January 25, 2014, 12:02:36 amI come to electronics from the digital side of things. I work with events much more often than continuous signals, that means I capture something, then analyze it. Having a scope with a bit of memory allows me to not have the settings perfect the first time but instead pan and zoom a bit. So that offers me more comfort and flexibility, and makes me think less hard about what exactly it is that I need.I'll give you a concrete example: last week I was working on my wireless sensor node. It runs off a coin cell, and the wireless module does draw a bit more power than what's wise for a coin cell, but it just about works. Because of the large inner resistance of a coin cell, you see very clearly however when the module wakes up and goes to sleep, and when it starts and stops sending, because the battery voltage changes slightly. The goal is then to make the module go back to sleep as quickly as possible.I'm using SPI to talk to the module. First I send it the data it should transmit, then I poll whether it's done, then I tell it to go back into standby. The whole affair took about 10ms, so I had my scope capture that. Upon noticing the actual wireless transmission takes less than 1ms, I wondered what the module's doing for the other 9ms, so I started looking at the communication a bit more closely to understand how the SPI communication correlates to the module's activities. I learned then for example that there's no point in starting to poll for end-of-transmission immediately, I can let my MCU sleep for 1ms. With a couple of other modifications, I got the module active time down to 4ms.So what I'm saying here is, it was really helpful to be able to capture 10ms, then be able to zoom into it enough to decipher the 2MHz SPI communication. That'd require about 40kpts per channel. Granted, it could have been done with at least enough resolution to see that SPI communication is going on, and how many bytes are transmitted (2kpts maybe?), the counting and comparing with what the micro sends out, but the task then becomes more difficult and error-prone. Working with a shorter time base to see just parts of the full signal, and thus be able to see the SPI communication more clearly is not that helpful in this case, because you only have a couple of external reference points (module turns on/off, starts/stops sending.) If they are outside of the displayed area, it's much harder to understand whats going on. And again, harder -> more mistakes.As for the LA part: storing only transitions instead of constant sampling, those 40kpts would come down to... maybe around 1600 transitions on the clock line (100 bytes transmitted)? And I don't think that's a particularly long sequence. With an NFC card reader we were integrating into a project some time ago, you'd have both lengthy setup sequences (with long pauses mandated by the NFC chip) and long data transmission sequences (1KB NFC cards are not uncommon, and the resulting on-wire communication sequence has overhead.) Now, most of that data is probably not interesting, but if you're interested in the end of the sequence (what's the last thing the NFC chip sends before hanging?) you either need some clever triggers or just have a comfortable amount of memory to work with.I hope that helps illustrate my point of view a bit. I'll be watching those stretch goalsOr maybe the second version. It might be better to ship what you have now, and build a more complex model later, with all the added experience you get from the first run.

author: eev_makr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 29, 2014, 08:03:06 pm
content: Thanks for giving such an elaborate description. Basically, you mean you want more memoryI have to admit that almost all suggestions for improvements we get, are coming down to adding more sample depth. Although I'm considering the current version of the smartscope (close to reaching 100% funding now!!!), we are looking in possibilities to add RAM as a stretch goal. It's not going to be easy. The cost hit to us will be huge: larger FPGA, more FPGA pins, RAM block, 4 layers -> 6 layers, top-and-bottom SMT, additional power rail.... while we cannot ask more money. The worst thing to do would be to provide 2 different products. We're discussing with component suppliers on a daily basis, but it's going to be very though., I can't make any promises right now. I can assure you, we already did an extreme effort to propose the original functionality at $179. Will take a couple more sleepless nights

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2014, 08:50:49 pm
content: I may also want to comment on the choice of the PIC microcontroller.I suspect this device will handle the USB connection to the tablet or PC. Honestly, I don't get why you would put such a part there, it creates a huge bottleneck. There are plenty of USB2.0 microcontrollers (Cypress has some, probably some of the newer big ARM chips as well) or chips around (like the FTDI FT232HL) that boast USB Hi-Speed (480MBit/s) .Practically every respectable quality USB o-scope has such a device in place for increasing the max streaming speed. I suspect the current 200wfm/s is limited to the transfer speed of this PIC: 2x2048x200 = 819.2ksps streaming, or 6.5Mbit/s (which sounds about right for a 12Mbit/s USB connection).If you would increase the maximum sample buffer, you really would need to increase the connection bandwidth as well. Otherwise you're stuck with a 512kB sample buffer and <2fps...In the end the purpose of digital parts of an o-scope is to process and display as much data from the ADC's as possible. In this case the ADC's produce 100MB/s (100MSPS @ 8-bit) of data each, so even that wouldn't fit through USB2.0. However, getting as close as possible would contribute much to the usability. If you look at a scope likeTiepieScope Handyscope HS5, although in a complete different price range: it boasts 20MSPS streaming @ 14-bit (so about 40MB/s).I believe they are looking into adding USB3.0, as probably many other USB scope manufacturers are.I don't know what much else the PIC is doing what couldn't be done in the FPGA, but I would kick the PIC out and place a FT232HL in there. But as said, it's hard to incorporate now, as the FTDI chip probably costs extra, redesign costs extra, etc., for 0 extra income (unless you make a Pro/deluxe version)

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2014, 10:29:24 pm
content: So the SmartScope guys have now added 16Mbit of RAM as an option. Time to put my money where my mouth is, count me inNow I'm just hoping that the software will be able to make good use of the added features. I guess we'll see!

author: scientist
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2014, 08:36:52 pm
content: Quote from: leppie on January 23, 2014, 03:06:30 pmThis.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 am
content: 1 "At $179 we believe there's no one out there offering a comparable scope"you believe wrongYour hardware is somewhere between Hantek 6022BE and Hantek DSO2090, still worse than the second while being more expensive to start. Not to mention cheapest Picoscope is 10x better while still being cheaper.The only distinctive feature you offer is tablet app, but there is maybe 2 seconds of actual footage of this app in your movie.2 KS movie, its aimed at Arduidiots.3 no knobsyou should of thought about that and offered something likehttp://hackaday.com/2014/02/04/a-usb-connected-box-o-encoders/its only plastic box, ~10 encoders and 8 bit micro emulating USB HID keyboard.All in all the only interesting thing you offer is the app, but I have a suspicion it will be a big letdown because you focused on hardware.

author: geppa.dee
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 11, 2014, 08:44:32 pm
content: Disclaimer, I'm a backer of this project so... backer bias may apply and... I'm quite green when it comes to electronics.Quote from: Rasz on February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 amI'm a little intrigued by this, could you please elaborate a little ?Like I said in the first line, I backed this project and I would like to know if I made a bad choice before the campaign ends (9 days).You implied that theHantek DSO2090is better.Max. Sample rateSmartScope: 2x100MS/sDSO2090: 100MS/s (I assume that since the DSO2090 claims only 100MS/s it means in 1CH mode, so 2x50MS/s in normalized values)It would seem to me that the SmartScope is better in this regard.ImpedanceSmartScope: 1M? 10pFDSO2090: 1M? 25pFI'm under the impression that lower input capacitance was better so ... impedance being the same and capacitance being lower on the SmartScope, the later is again better.Gain rangeSmartScope: 20mV-10V (not sure if I interpret the spec correctly, they publish it as Min/Max full voltage scale)DSO2090: 10mV-10V, 10StepsThe DSO2090 appears to be at an advantage here.CouplingSmartScope: AC/DCDSO2090: AC/DC/GNDAgain, advantage DSO2090.Buffer sizeSmartScope: 2MDSO2090: 64KAdvantage SmartScope.The rest of the specs are either not published by one producer or the other or I did not understand them completely, so I can't compare.Based on this, to my uneducated eye, the SmartScope seems to be superior. Please correct me if I'm wrong (but also, please explain why).Quote from: Rasz on February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 amThe cheapest Picoscope I could find would be the handheldPicoScope 2104As before, judging by the specs that I can pair, it seems inferior to the SmartScope. Also, the price is about the same (didn't look on ebay or second hand though... but that wouldn't be fair I think).Quote from: Rasz on February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 amWell... the SmartScope is open source, which is always nice and useful for a variety of reasons and they hint at open source hardware too, which is also quite nice...It can serve as a FPGA dev board, offers the analyzer function on top of the scope and also the function and arbitrary wave generator on top of those (I have to admit to not having too clear an idea about the usefulness of these last two yet but that is my shortcoming... it can only be an added advantage for the device).Quote from: Rasz on February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 amWhatever that means... I think it might refer to someone like me (long background in programming... getting interested in electronics after tinkering with some uC's of which the first was socketed to a board that had "Arduino" silkscreend on it). Hmm...Quote from: Rasz on February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 amtastes and easy fixes, like the one you linkedQuote from: Rasz on February 09, 2014, 06:43:57 amThe software is updatable and open source...

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2014, 03:52:36 pm
content: I was wrong about picoscope, looked at the 1Gs model listed somewhere at ~$200main difference between Hanket is one exists, the other will maybe ship in a yearits even worse with software, it exists for Hantek (minus tablet), but judging by whole 2 seconds of software in KS promotion clip it doesnt exist for this project at allbasicalyl you cant compare ?1 year old product with a KS campain promises, otherwise we might start comparing Flir E4 with muoptics

author: geppa.dee
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2014, 06:24:32 pm
content: Quote from: Rasz on February 12, 2014, 03:52:36 pmCheapest 1GS/s (1CH, so 2x500MS/s) Picoscope that I can find is thePicoScope 2207A.It's listed at $741. That's 3.7 times more than the 2MB SmartScope. It has 5 times the sampling rate and thus effective bandwidth and 25 times less memory. Sounds like a compromise in specs and no contest in price. Aside from the whole OSS & OSHW part...Quote from: Rasz on February 12, 2014, 03:52:36 pmWait a second here. This is not one of those KS campaigns that only show renders and wave hands. These people have real, functional prototypes that they show (and use) in pics and video. Do you mean those are fakes? Because if not, it most definitely exists. I get that the Hantek isavailableand the SmartScope is not yet. But that's the whole point of them being on KS...Quote from: Rasz on February 12, 2014, 03:52:36 pmNow you're making a not very cogent argument... I think. Even half a second of something would prove its existence (ironically, we're discussing devices used to find things much smaller in the time domain), let alone 2 secs. Let alone the140 secondsthey published yesterday. And also... again... OSS, API...Quote from: Rasz on February 12, 2014, 03:52:36 pmBut... that's what prompted my answering you in the first place. You compared them. And deemed the Hantek superior on hardware and lower in price and the "cheapest" Picoscope "10x better" and still cheaper.Now though... you say I should not compare the Hantek with the SmartScope on specs because... the Hantek is old... (I thought it was superior) and the Picoscope is almost 4x times more expensive and... not so sure about 10x better...Can't comment on the Flir E4/Muoptics thing... haven't followed it.Look... please don't get me wrong, I'm not debating for the sake of debating per se. Neither I'm trying to defend this product just because. I already said I backed them and if a real, reasoned, argument can be made that the SmartScope is bad value for money I want to hear it. Sooner rather than later if at all possible. I still have 8 days to get out.

author: geppa.dee
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2014, 05:59:42 pm
content: Quote from: geppa.dee on February 12, 2014, 06:24:32 pm33 hours to go. Would really like to hear more arguments for or against this device. Would hate to through good money to the garbage but I've not enough electronics knowledge or experience to fully judge it's worthiness. I can only compare specs (those that I could find) and prices. (This last one is sadly significant).

author: frenky
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 20, 2014, 08:06:46 am
content: I think that in theory this is a good project. Especially now with the dram upgrade and sigrok support.But I'm very skeptical that they will finalise the product any time soon.Because change from Spartan3 to Spartan6 with DRAM is quite significant.

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2014, 04:07:01 am
content: Huh. 45MHz @ 100MS/s. Doesn't Sinx/x need at least 10x higher sampling? And I thought my Rigol was annoying.

author: geppa.dee
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2014, 04:27:24 pm
content: Sorry for the thread archaeology, but the topic is what it is.Less than a year later, though arguably not by much, last week I got two of these in the mail (the 4Ch pack). So... this project delivered on the hardware end. The software is still seeing rapid development but the basics are there and bugs that are reported seem to be fixed rapidly so far.Pics of the device (not mine):http://sigrok.org/wiki/LabNation_SmartScopeHaven't had time to test it to the best of my (limited) abilities but I did install the available software on both Linux and Windows and tested basic functionality.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2014, 07:51:07 pm
content: Interesting. I see that the support for IOS is currently only through a jailbroken unit, and you need an an Android device with USB host support. I'm not sure how many devices support the latter, but I would think it's increasing.The key USP for this that it works with a mobile device.This barrier of connectivity for locally attached devices is a real problem for mobile OS's, and for IOS if you want a USB attached device without jailbreaking you can't do open source as Apple demands an NDA to be signed for their MFI program. Having to hack about like this limits the appeal somewhat I think.Coincidentally recently, I tried out a Velleman WFS210. The apps look good visually but in my brief attempt to use it I pretty much failed. Lets hope this device fairs better!

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 06:31:05 pm
content: Quote from: geppa.dee on December 15, 2014, 04:27:24 pmI'm still waiting for delivery here in the colonies.I signed up for the Lightning kit to connect to iOS devices, and only afterwards did I realize that the iOS thing needed a jailbreak. And that's a pain in the ass, so when they offered to refund the cost of that kit I took them up on it. And after months of asking "so, where's my refund?" I've been either ignored completely or been told that they want to issue all of the refunds at the same time. No refund, as yet.

author: PointyOintment
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 25, 2014, 10:25:57 am
content: I almost backed this. I still slightly regret deciding to wait until it was available after the campaign.That's now, though!

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 25, 2014, 04:27:40 pm
content: Quote from: Howardlong on December 22, 2014, 07:51:07 pmThe appeal for what, the Smartscope or iOS?Any ETA on when they're dropping the source BTW?

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 25, 2014, 07:17:36 pm
content: This looks promising and if it works I will buy one. I find it a bit concerning that they haven't got the software sorted out yet but are selling it as if it were finished.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2014, 10:50:56 pm
content: Quote from: Lightages on December 25, 2014, 07:17:36 pmThey're shipping to people who pre-ordered earlier this month (and the pre-order link takes you to their page where they claim that the product is available and shipping) yet KickStarter backers in the US are still waiting for the thing.I pretty much have no confidence that the thing will work well but as a platform that I can use with my own code, it might be OK.

author: theoldwizard1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2016, 06:01:18 pm
content: THREAD RESURRECTION !Has anyone actually gotten their hands on one of these and how does it work ?Version 2 would obviously have faster sampling and a deeper buffer, which would be great !

author: TonyD
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 12:11:05 am
content: Likewise. I'd be interested in finding out how well they work.I missed the kickstarter first time around but I've been mulling over buying one

author: geppa.dee
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2016, 11:10:26 am
content: Quote from: theoldwizard1 on March 25, 2016, 06:01:18 pmI have two of them from the Kickstarter batch. I got them a little over a year ago.No idea about a version 2.Quote from: TonyD on March 26, 2016, 12:11:05 amThe one I use works fine for what it is. My meager needs never pushed it beyond its specs. The software is still evolving and most (from what I could gather without closely studying the situation) sources have been published. Ithinkthey haven't published the FPGA codeyet.Never opened the second, I have it new in box as support for combining two into a 4Ch system wasn't yet ready last I looked.

author: theoldwizard1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 28, 2016, 05:43:43 pm
content: I recently checked their web site. They have NOT been able to sync 2 of these together to their satisfaction. There was some hints that V2 of the product IS in active development, possibly coming out in 2017 !I have not tried one, so I am not certain how good the software is, but the hardware specs certainly put this at the top of the web based 'scope heap.Regarding 'scope software :PicoScope has pretty much captured the automotive market, not by having superior hardware, but by having superior software. Their troubleshooter guides, a few useful probes(off the shelf from other vendors)and library of known good waveforms(supplied by their customers)is what allows then to charge an ENORMOUS price for their "middle of the road" product. A bonus is printing out test result to "sell" the end customer on repairs.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2017, 08:45:55 pm
content: Quote from: theoldwizard1 on December 28, 2016, 05:43:43 pmI have one with the expanded memory. It arrived much later than promised, and I don't recall ever getting the refund for the undelivered and unusable Lightning kit.That said: they seem to be continually updating the software, and quite honestly, it's very usable. The protocol decoders work. The display is responsive. Cross-triggering between the logic-analyzer section and the oscilloscope section is rudimentary (match one pattern, find an edge) but works.The little box lives plugged into my Mac workstation, and it's very convenient to have around. For measurements within its capability, it's great, and I don't have to drag out the real 'scope and logic analyzer.