Date   : Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:49:15 +0100
From   : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: OT: Oscilloscope

On 25/01/2010 00:05, Darren Grant wrote:

> I have a Velleman digital scope that connects to Parallel port on
 > a PC but it stays in the box unused.
[...]
> bode plot (plotting input against output through a range of
> frequencies) really useful for measuring how linear a circuit is
 > over a range of frequencies.

But, yet, it stays in the box unused... :-)


I'd like to get my hands on a little 'scope to, something like that 
10MHz Unilab one (from the '80s). Sure, bigger better models offer more 
- and I could justify a reason for most features of a 120MHz 
triple-trace storage 'scope..... but there's a big difference between 
justifying and actually needing. Especially when you look at the price tag.

Here's an idea of what I mean:
 
http://www.philipharris.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?&catalogId=10501&productId=107874
[wow, it's been updated in the last 20 years, it's now 25MHz!]

On the other hand, for a third of the cost:
   http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQitemZ120521815192QQ
And it can log data to an SD card. Shame it isn't a proper USB interface 
(it appears to be just an SD card reader), but it gives me an idea of 
how the world has moved on...


If anybody has any suggestions for the cheaper (perhaps slightly less 
accurate) end of the market, let me know. You could argue that less 
accurate is useless, but I would counter-argue that there's only so much 
you can do with a multimeter!


The main obstacle, though, is price vs how much it would actually be used...


Best wishes,

Rick.

-- 
Rick Murray, eeePC901 & ADSL WiFI'd into it, all ETLAs!
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...
>> TO PRIVATE MAIL ME, REMOVE [BBC-Micro] FROM SUBJECT <<