Hi all, I'd like to purchase an oscilloscope partly for my own curiosity and to learn about them in general, but also with the intention of using it to calibrate a PS1 laser unit that's acting up. As I only have hobbyist inclinations I have neither the means nor desire to spend a huge amount for a professional device but I don't want to buy something super cheap that's no good for what I want either. I was thinking of going for a Hantek USB scope, but I use Linux and support is patchy it seems. I'd really appreciate some advice on what sort of thing I should be going for to start with and what sort of budget I'd need. Thanks in advance!
What would be the frequency range/resolution you'd need and your budget? Finding an old one in good condition locally is typically the best deal though.
Well, that's the thing, I don't know what I'm looking for really. I just want something I can use to learn and experiment with. Budget is limited, I guess I could go to £150 - £200 at a push, but the cheaper the better. I have seen some advertised locally, but I don't know enough about them to tell if it's a good deal, if it's a decent machine, things like that. I know I'm not giving you much to go on, but I don't know anything about them other than the fact that they are useful tools to have and I want to learn to use one. I'll use any scope that I can afford, is of a reasonable quality and is suitable for hobbyist use.
Review of USB oscilloscopes: https://knowm.org/a-review-of-usb-oscilloscopes-with-software-development-kits/ Some have multiple functionality: data acquisition (scope), signal generator and data recording. Some have multi-platform support for Windows and Linux. Prices should be doubled checked as the Analog Arts SA935 listed at $300 but the vendor's current price list shows $200. The number of probes included in the review article linked above may be the difference in price. So many devices available to try and make a decision.
Well, if you have to buy an oscilloscope anyway it will be better to get Hantek 5102p or 5202p (as I did, 5202p). 200-250$
If you really want to jump into the world of oscilloscopes I would bypass both the USB and analog scopes if you can. Once I got an analog scope I immediately wished I had a digital one. A lot of your choices depend on what you want to do with it. The "rule of thumb" is you want a scope with 4-5x the bandwidth of whatever it is you want to measure and with a sample rate 4-5x higher than the bandwidth. So to actually see a decent waveform of the slowest SD card at ~20 MHz you would want something like a ~100MHz scope with 500M samples/second. Now you can definitely get away with a lot less, especially when starting out. That 4-5x figure is if you want to see the complete picture so to speak. If you have a 50MHz scope and you're looking at a 40MHz signal you'll be able to see that it's there, and it's frequency. But the shape of the signal won't be great, and you won't be able to get a good idea of signal rise times and such. Now for my recommendation, get a Hantek DSO5072P or whatever is the cheapest model you can find in that same family. They can be found for pretty cheap at around $200 USD, you'll probably be fine with two channels to start out with, and you can hack them up to 200MHz http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hantek-tekway-dso-hack-get-200mhz-bw-for-free/
This is incredibly helpful, thank you. I'll take the plunge and pick up a Hantek DSO5072P as soon as budget allows.
