Need some buying advice from any electronic gurus on here.

[Geonovast]

I'm currently enrolled in a Computer Electronics Engineering program, and have gotten into experimenting quite a bit at home. I live right by school, but it's still kind of a hassle to pack up everything just to use the test equipment there in hopes that there's no class.

 

I would really like my own Oscilloscope, and discovered this little gem.

 

http://www.amazon.com/100MS-Based-Digit ... 686&sr=1-1

 

I've never owned anything like this, and wanted to know if any of you guys have experience with equipment like this.

 

Do they work adequately compared to the real thing? Is it worth the price?

 

I would in the long run like a tabletop model, but this would be perfect to fit in my toolkit to use with my laptop(which is almost always with me).

[ejndssn]

i would do some additional research and check pricegrabber.com to find the lowest price unit. i am suspecting you have a laptop for this :hmm: just a thought

[Geonovast]

I've poked around a bit, and seem to have pretty decent reviews. Most of the bad reviews were either from people expecting the performance of a $10,000 bench unit, or people who just don't understand the concept of anything electrical.

 

It seems to be capable of everything I need it to do, and the Amazon price is the lowest I could find.

[dave92cherokee]

I would be skeptical of that unit as it looks like a cheaply made chinese unit that would probably not work to well. Depending on your budget an needs I found a decent analog o-scope for $330 here: http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/ezdigital/os5020.htm and looks like it would suit your needs up to 20MHz which most crystals run below that on average.

[ejndssn]

if ya still press on the PC based one here one http://www.storeinfinity.com/hantek-dso-2090-pc-usb-digital-oscilloscope-100ms-s-2ch.html i do the like what Dave found

I would be skeptical of that unit as it looks like a cheaply made chinese unit that would probably not work to well. Depending on your budget an needs I found a decent analog o-scope for $330 here: http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/ezdigital/os5020.htm and looks like it would suit your needs up to 20MHz which most crystals run below that on average.

and if you are still :hmm: about portability everything will fit in a laptop bckpac if you decide to go with the usb version. :thumbsup: and i guessing that you are hunting the CL as well

[jeepcoma]

If you want a PC interface you might want to check out http://www.cleverscope.com/products/

 

More expensive but I've no doubt it's worth it over that other turd. Buy the best equipment you can afford, it's always worth it. It will be far more capable and accurate, and resell better. Quality doesn't cost, it pays!

 

I'd also consider calling around local universities and labs and such and see if they have used equipment for sale. You might be able to get a good deal on a nice piece of hardware. It'll probably be ancient, but built to last; most of the equipment I ever used was.

 

Check out http://www.eevblog.com/ for reviews and such, I'm not sure he's done anything on entry level equipment but I don't read most of the reviews so maybe you'll find something up your alley. Plus lots of good general EE material.

[Automan2164]

Don't know if this will help at all, but a few of the classes I go to every once and awhile have pico scopes. They are automotive o-scopes, but the may work for you, check them out.

 

http://www.picotech.com/

 

Rob

[Geonovast]

If you want a PC interface you might want to check out http://www.cleverscope.com/products/ More expensive but I've no doubt it's worth it over that other turd.

 

Holy :eek: more expensive batman. While I'm sure those are quality products, there's no way I could afford $1-2k on it right now.

 

I'd also consider calling around local universities and labs and such and see if they have used equipment for sale. You might be able to get a good deal on a nice piece of hardware. It'll probably be ancient, but built to last; most of the equipment I ever used was.

 

Good plan. I know my own school doesn't have any extra sitting around, in fact they could use a few more. But there is another tech school in Springfield that I could give a call.

 

Don't know if this will help at all, but a few of the classes I go to every once and awhile have pico scopes. They are automotive o-scopes, but the may work for you, check them out.

 

http://www.picotech.com/

 

Rob

 

I may actually go with one of those. They're not too much more than the one I was looking at, seem nice and compact, and are much more capable than the Chinese one. The build-in function generator is a major plus.