I'm looking at purchasing an oscilloscope thats easy to use for the non-electrical engineer for very small projects. Not looking to break the bank or buy anything old that needs an oscilloscope to fix an oscilloscope.
My purpose for purchase is to perform basic troubleshooting of mainly Class AB car stereo amplifiers from the 1990s, and maybe some of the Class D stuff from today. I would like to know if anyone has experience using these inexpensive portable scopes, and how they fair with scoping things like opAmps, low level components, power transistors, and outputs from speaker terminals and transistors. I think the DSO only accepts 80v input which I think is perfectly fine for car audio; I've only seen them run up to 80v.
Also, it looks like the DSO Nano v2 is about to come out and it will be a 2 probe capable.
Should I consider getting one or the other? Or something else?
My purpose for purchase is to perform basic troubleshooting of mainly Class AB car stereo amplifiers from the 1990s, and maybe some of the Class D stuff from today. I would like to know if anyone has experience using these inexpensive portable scopes, and how they fair with scoping things like opAmps, low level components, power transistors, and outputs from speaker terminals and transistors. I think the DSO only accepts 80v input which I think is perfectly fine for car audio; I've only seen them run up to 80v.
Also, it looks like the DSO Nano v2 is about to come out and it will be a 2 probe capable.
Should I consider getting one or the other? Or something else?
am I getting this right - The bandwidth of the original version was 1Mhz and 12bits and the new v2 is only 200Khz 8bit ? Is that correct ? Whats the point of reducing the resolution and bandwidth in the new version ?
Does it have a spectrum analysis option either onboard or externally on a pc/laptop ?
Does it have a spectrum analysis option either onboard or externally on a pc/laptop ?
Nano-Frustration
The electronics vernacular has a new term...Yep I made one up.
"Nano-Frustration" a. Meaning: a state of frustration caused by a lack of basic operating instructions from the manufacturers of the DSO Nano 201.
At first glace I have found:
The whole layout of the menu is counter-intuitive, and no onboard help is available. That I know of, and how could I know if it came with no instructions?
I can download NO useful information from the manufacturers of my 201 who-ever they might be. How could I find this out without a guide?
I have downloaded 2 pdf files (user guides) - none of which applied to my version - as far as I know, how could I know without a guide?
Broken links abound a lot of the links pointing to ST micro and others are broken!
There is no instruction anywhere about playing-back recorded wave forms. Formatting the sd card or even how to insert the card with the correct orientation XXX.
No information what-so-ever covering the computor interface. etc etc etc.
I can see the potential of this kind of portable device but how do I learn to use it without hasseling other members for tips?
I would imagine, that many years of blood, sweat & tears went into the design and manufacture of this excellent apparatus but it beggers belief that no decent laymans instructions are available;- especially for young electronics students or old senile farts like me, who want to embrace the technology.
When I first purchased this jigger my biggest concern was resolution. The funny thing is that the resolution is quite good! On the other hand: The nasty bit is that the interface & support has made it extremely difficult to set the parameters of capture and display.
I suggest you don’t buy one of these things unless you have a few days up your sleeve to work through all the issues above.
Cheers, Phil
The electronics vernacular has a new term...Yep I made one up.
"Nano-Frustration" a. Meaning: a state of frustration caused by a lack of basic operating instructions from the manufacturers of the DSO Nano 201.
At first glace I have found:
The whole layout of the menu is counter-intuitive, and no onboard help is available. That I know of, and how could I know if it came with no instructions?
I can download NO useful information from the manufacturers of my 201 who-ever they might be. How could I find this out without a guide?
I have downloaded 2 pdf files (user guides) - none of which applied to my version - as far as I know, how could I know without a guide?
Broken links abound a lot of the links pointing to ST micro and others are broken!
There is no instruction anywhere about playing-back recorded wave forms. Formatting the sd card or even how to insert the card with the correct orientation XXX.
No information what-so-ever covering the computor interface. etc etc etc.
I can see the potential of this kind of portable device but how do I learn to use it without hasseling other members for tips?
I would imagine, that many years of blood, sweat & tears went into the design and manufacture of this excellent apparatus but it beggers belief that no decent laymans instructions are available;- especially for young electronics students or old senile farts like me, who want to embrace the technology.
When I first purchased this jigger my biggest concern was resolution. The funny thing is that the resolution is quite good! On the other hand: The nasty bit is that the interface & support has made it extremely difficult to set the parameters of capture and display.
I suggest you don’t buy one of these things unless you have a few days up your sleeve to work through all the issues above.
Cheers, Phil
Over the years I have had a half-dozen or more inexpensive DSOs (and before that toy analog scopes), and though most were USB/PC based I have had an opportunity to play with my grandson's Nano V2. They have all been exciting and innovative products, however as tools for any sort of serious work they were no more than frustrating novelties with one common characteristic.
For the first few days you will be amazed by what it can do--after that you will be amazed by how poorly it does what it can do, and by what it cannot do...
My advice to anyone looking for a tool is just bite the bullet and buy a real oscilloscope. In addition to my benchtop instruments I have an Owon HDS1022M-N that is very capable and accurate, has a great FFT mode, and a 640x480 display.
It does cost 2-1/2 times more than a DSO Quad, that is because it's worth it...
For the first few days you will be amazed by what it can do--after that you will be amazed by how poorly it does what it can do, and by what it cannot do...
My advice to anyone looking for a tool is just bite the bullet and buy a real oscilloscope. In addition to my benchtop instruments I have an Owon HDS1022M-N that is very capable and accurate, has a great FFT mode, and a 640x480 display.
It does cost 2-1/2 times more than a DSO Quad, that is because it's worth it...
An alternative could be the DPScope but you need a computer with it (you have a computer, don't you?). DPScope - A Low-Cost PC-Based Oscilloscope
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