cheap usb oscilloscope for measuring amplifiers

[umut1001]

hi everybody..i am a new electronics engineer and i need a usb oscilloscope nowadays to meausure class d and other amplifiers..but it is very expensive in our country..my friend is in Japan now..i think it is cheaper and he will buy a usbscope there for me..is there anyone to prefer something?..thank you

[Pano]

I have not seen a "cheap" USB o'scope that will have the bandwidth you need for the Class-D amps.

I have used the PicoScope with good results (spectrum analysis is cool). There are some other similar devices out there, but none are cheap. Much cheaper than a good digital scope, though!

[umut1001]

http://www.hobbylab.us/USBOscilloscope/Home.htm

picoscope is very good but i didnt earn enough money to buy it..
i found one..it is cheap and shipping is free..what do you think about it?..

[heater]

How about this for 78 dollars or so:

http://www.fpga4fun.com/Hands-on_Flashy.html

[umut1001]

i think its good..it is 100Mhz very good..but its one channel..is there anyone else to prefer something like that.. but two channels?

[Pano]

The Hobby Lab looks good for the low price. It has a 10 bit ADC, not bad. Sampling rate is a little slow, but for the price, what can you expect?

[umut1001]

i can give 100$..but it looks impossible to find a good oscilloscope..it is made in china and low quality..i am using sound card audigy2zs to measure low frequency signals..but i need to measure up to 1MHz..Can I use a frequency divider to divide 500kHz to 20kHz?so it can be possible to measure every signal with sound card?

[Ouroboros]

I have the DS1M12 from these guys.

http://www.easysync.co.uk/

It's two-channel, 12-bit with a raw sample rate of 1M samples/sec for 125 UK pounds.

Works pretty well and it has the usuall scope, data-logger and spectrum analyser s/w. The fact that it's only 12-bit limits the usefulness as a spectrum analyser though.

[lumanauw]

Hi, Ouroboros

The fact that it's only 12-bit limits the usefulness as a spectrum analyser though.

What is the connection between #of bits with the quality of spectrum analysis function?

For example, PicoScope 216 has 16bit. BitScope has many functions, but it seems using 8bit.
Does this mean the spectrum analyzer function of PicoScope is better than BitScope?

[Ouroboros]

It has no effect on the frequency axis, but the fact that there are only 4096 sampling levels means that if (for example) you're looking at audio distortion then you are limited by the SNR.