I want to buy an inexpensive digital oscilloscope because my need for them is very sporadic. I am considering... 1. A $200-$300 Chinese made digital storage scope. Or, 2. A USB PC based digital storage oscilloscope in the neighborhood of $150. Has anyone on here used, bought, preferred one vs the other? Do you have a recommended unit, brand?
I have a couple of Hantek scopes a 2 channel and 4 channel automotive scope. Both work very well although the automotive one has better shielding than the plastic cased 2 channel. Depends on what you are using them for. The Hantek software is pretty good and easy to use.
+1 for the Hantek's and their software. The scope does seem to pick up a fair bit of noise when I'm measuring millivolt signals, but for my purposes it's not interfering with anything.
No advice but I have an old HP one and it could be yours for the price of shipping. It has not been used in a long time. PM me and I can get the model number for you.
I bought a Tektronics 465 on eBay several years ago. Why would I want a fossil like that? Because it is the same 'scope I used in the Navy 40 years ago to set pinch roller solenoids on a mag tape drive, troubleshoot DTL computers, and even a plug wire programmed relay computer (Univac 1004). I bought the original (on my ship) after the POS HP 'scope we had "accidentally" fell over the side and disappeared beneath the waves as I was carrying it on one of its many trips to the calibration lab. Good riddance. Sorry about the diversion, but this thread brought back some memories. Get a good set of probes!
Mine are Fluke. Quality and accuracy come at a price. I am a professional and with that i use the best. Want a good unit...Fluke.
I have been researching the USB scopes to replace my old Tektronix analog. The Hantek looks to be a good choice, but I can't verify as I have not yet bought it. You can by the way make your own high-tension probes by simply running ~ 3 inches of 14-gage wire along side your spark plug/coil wire (secure with a twist-tie)
Magnetic induction for the do it yourself guy. Just don't have a leaking wire or you will get the shock of your life!
The Tektronix 465 scope that was suggested does sell in the few hundred dollar range although it is of course not digital. There are some Fluke scopes on ebay in that price range as well. BTW a very similar question was raised recently on the GT40s forum: http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tech-garages-tools/40529-oscilloscope-suggestions.html The OP ended buying this: http://www.amazon.com/PDS5022T-Portable-Digital-Oscilloscope-Channels/dp/B007T6XNCA/
Yes i know you talked about a analog scope i dont ment your case personally i just found it funny as tektronics and fluke are both top edge companys but also very very expansive. I never saw a digital scope from those companys in good working condition for $200-300 but i'm from europe so maybe the prices are here different. The other question is ofcorse if you need a digital one or can live with a analoge one. But thats another story. But still funny i imagined someone asking for a cheap allday car reliable in price range 10k - 15k should i get a asian car or older german vw , audi? And in the thread answeres like "You should go with a Porsche or Ferrari" Yes Owon and Rigol i would aim for if it need to be digital and should be under $300 and i would stay away from those chinese selfmade cheap tools like usb osciloscopes for $50-150 or those handheld tools for under $200.
Please check out the Picoscope I think made in England. It works with a laptop whch makes collecting and saving traces very easy. I got model 2203 (2 channel) a couple of years ago and it works great. You can save data from an event prior to a trigger event and decode serial data ( like CAN). It was something like $275, they have frequent free software improvements and even has some great free data logging software. The "auto" button sets the display for viewing the signal. This does stuff that the old Fluke and Tektroix scopes can't. Got mine from Saelig.com and I have to admit that I tried a $30 unit from Ebay for fun but the max input level is 5 volts. FWIW Jeff Pintler 89 348tb, 86tr, 99 360 3-pedal
The only tool suitable for ANY meaningful diagnosis on either 288s or F-40s, is a PAIR of old analog, dual; trace(real time), Tektronics units. They are usually a couple hundred bucks at surplus at Onizuka stores near Moffet Field... "Tek"tronics is THE word in scopes of this era, as ex-Navy man has stated... What are you using to diagnose? Digitasls are usually at too hi a sample rate-and you "miss" the malfunction event-particularly on intermittants...
Kind of like the only way to properly torque the bolts on a 288 is with a 30 year old torque wrench. Those new ones are just too darn accurate and easy to use.
Unlike the BOSCH DME motronics of the era-an internal clocking of 70 cycles(thats the "flashing" on the video screen of your SD-1, which is usually when the comm link is dropped, during refresh...), marelli systems are a tad different, and the clocking is too fast to catch the intermittants on the cyclic triggering impulses-without which, thee is no recognition that "the car is running", and the whole thing shuts down(like all relays, hot with a grond thrown by ECU)... Thus, a DSR of 200 is way too fast, and the intermittant signal drop from a bogus reluctance signal will be missed... The mechanical constaraints of 'the physical world" have no meaning if the "theortical world limits" exceeds the capacity of the 'mechanical" drivers, inputs, etc... FYI, the NEW version Snapon torque wrench with the beeps, boops, and whistles ARE good enough to do a head retorque-in situ-on a 328, and will be as accurate as using a $10K Ingersoll-Rand electronic aviation grade torque wrench(branded as a Sunnen as well-FYI)
Don't use an USB scope. They usually have miserable signal quality. A cheap chinese one will do it; you don't need the big MHz numbers unless you're working on high speed digital circuits... if you are not 100% sure if you do that kind of stuff, you don't A more accurate alternative would be an old analog scope, but they of course lack a lot of features. FWIW, we operate our own engine test bed and I use oscilloscopes quite often for all the electronic stuff we have there. Having the choice between old analog ones that once cost roughly the same as a big house, a fully featured top of the line Tektronix model and one of Tektronix' cheapest ones, I normally take the latter ... it's lightweight, I don't need half an hour to set it up and it is good enough for 99% of the stuff we do.
Thank you for all the inputs. Being a EE myself, I know the value of brand, top notch equipment like Tekt and Fluke, but my applications do not call for high end equipment. I am looking to look at signals from car sensors, ECUs I/O, O2 sensors, maybe radio etc. Faster bandwidth than 20MHz is likely not needed. I was educated under the analog world of oscilloscopes but I do value some of the more modern features of the digital variants such as storage capability, backward tracing, and data dump into a USB port / PC. A smaller unit that can be lugged around a car is also a big plus. There is no room inside a 328 to use a 6x12x24 inch Tektronik scope, especially when you are upside down in the passenger footwell. So far USB scope, cheapy ones are out. I get that. Owon or Rigol are good Asian brands, I get that. Picoscope from England is a good deal, I will check those out, as well as the surplus stores around 237 in the valley.
Actually the voltage is very low (well below 5 volts), as you are only picking up the inductance. Same way timing lights etc work. And any higher it would anyway burn out the scope input.
Mitchell...keep me posted on what you buy. I had an old BK that finally died. Let me know what you buy. I'm looking for a new one. I like the idea of usb digital storage scope if I can get a decent one. Or a pocket one. I really don't want the giant desktop analogue version I had before.
Not yet, maybe I have been lucky. I did notice that my (very old) SunScope cables have two kinds of pickups: 1. One is basically a spring-loaded steel clamshell about 3 inches long, you clamp it on the high-tension lead. This is what I "simulate" with my parallel wire 2. The other is a coil-type, looks like this: Ferret Instruments , X008-01 Inductive Spark Pickup Maybe I should only be using the coil type to prevent back feed?
Would be a little safer. Any HEI ignition system packs enough juice to knock you flat on your @ss. As we grow older we don't handle that kind of voltage too well. And the newer systems are now bringing the amps with it. So be careful.
I am leaning to this one: Rigol DS1102E 100MHz Digital Oscilloscope, Dual Analog Channels, 1 GSa/s Sampling, USB Storage: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific Any comments one way or another? One reason is Rigol's VP of Engineering used to be an employee of my old company in Beijing. He did good work.
