Sub $100 ebay handheld O-Scopes. Do they work?

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Be careful with specs.
i.e. 100MHz scope is probably only good for a few MHz bandwidth despite them saying otherwise.

I develop very low frequency scopes and my 3.3mega sample/s is just about good for 100KHz sine wave truthfully.
Extrapolation of waveforms is cheating and doesnt take into account different possible waveforms. Some suggest 2 points for a sinewave ! I would suggest at least 30 or at least thatswhat I have found on mine.
 
It looks like the DSO150 is less than $30. I went ahead and took a gamble on it. It only takes up to 50vpp but I have a 1x/10x probe so I'll just have to be careful to switch it as needed and use a blocking cap when working with tubes. If I kill it, its only $30.

Also, frequency wise, in audio, I suppose I will likely only be able to use it for signal tracing and bias. Probably very limited for other purposes. Maybe useful for duty cycle and pwm but I won't use it as much for that.
 
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Sub $100 digital scopes may be okay for looking at audio frequencies. Likely not so good if looking for signs of small parasitic oscillations or some other problems. Also, sometimes 2 or more channels really are needed. The other thing is consider the sample rate of the device. How many samples per cycle do you want to see? More than 2 or 3? They don't have sophisticated trigger options to accurately capture repetitive waveforms up near the maximum sample rate.
 
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I see these $100 and less handheld scopes on ebay. Are they worth it?

IMO, the JYETech DSO-SHELL DSO150 is fine within it’s specified range (up to 200kHz and up to 50V with a x1 probe).
Original jyetech assembled dso-shell dso150 digital oscilloscope module 9v Sale - Banggood.com

I drove it from a signal source in parallel with a Rigol DS1202Z-E.
With sinusoidal input, waveform integrity is excellent up to 120kHz. It’s measurements are good up to 200kHz.
Square wave shows as square wave up to 80kHz
I had assembled it from a kit. I use it for many years now, it’s robust and reliable.

George
 

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Excellent! Thanks for the input guys! Good chart comparing a real scope vs the DSO150. For my needs, I believe the toy scope will usually be enough that I won't bother with getting the real scope out of storage. I think I paid $100 each used for the two vintage o-scopes I have back around 2007. Amazing what you can get for $30 as tech has improved!
 
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