tips for first oscilloscope

[Christian Valdivia Torres]

Hi all!

So i think it's time to get my first oscilloscope. Mainly because I'd like to play/analyze comm protocols in micro controllers - true this can be done with more simple logic analyzers, it's just my first use case to start playing with scopes.

What are your top tips?

- New vs Used / where to buy

- Key specs to look at

- Bench top vs USB

Any comment is very welcome!

Cheers, C.

[Adrian Godwin]

I find the USB logic analysers better for protocol decoding. Although my scope does it, it's more limited  - the USB analyser has nearly unlimited memory depth (the PC memory) and can protocol-decode on all the input pins rather than just 2. It also has a bigger library of decoders.

Not that a scope is less useful though - for almost every job I go to the scope first. If I could only have one of LA, scope and DVM, I'd have the scope.

 

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[Christian Valdivia Torres]

Thx Adrian, yes I agree LA are more convenient for protocol decoding. I think I've been a bit misleading, I was actually asking for tips to get a first oscilloscope, the use case was just to flag my areas of interest.

Do you have any tip like what's a good one for entry as hobbyist, worth getting a used one, are PC/USB good or best to have a bench device, etc.?

Thx!

[Adrian Godwin]

No, I understood you wanted an oscilloscope. It's just that using it for protocol decoding could be disappointing and you might want to aim at some other first-use.

On oscilloscopes.. as with most complex devices, it can be hard to know what's important to you. You'll probably get something less than perfect on the first go, and as you learn to use it you'll discover what features you'd like it to do better. So your SECOND oscilloscope is the one to think hard about! So in the first one, I wouldn't try to solve every future problem : I'd go for cheap and cheerful, knowing that it'll get replaced later.

There are plenty of cheap and cheerful oscilloscopes about and I wouldn't like to say which is the best value. I've found disappointing elements in Hantek, Owon and Rigol, but that doesn't mean their current models are useless. 

I have a friend with a USB oscilloscope from Pico, which suits him better than a self-contained unit. I'm impressed with their PC software but their good hardware does get expensive and I think I prefer a standalone machine. However it might be that their protocol analysis is better, being PC-based. I haven't tried it that far, I only have one of their very simple models. The Picos and the high-end Saleae analysers (which do analogue capture) are the only USB ones I'd recommend unless it's just to be treated as a learning toy.

I think there's a lot to be said for analog oscilloscopes. Digitals have to be pretty good to beat them, and suffer a  number of problems that analogs don't have. I feel they're more intuitive too. But they rarely have modern features like measurements and analog storage is pretty dreadful. There were some from the crossover period which could work in either mode but they're dreadfully outdated and may not be reliable any more - less so than a real, fully analog model like the classic Tek 475. Analogs also tend to be rather heavy and big which might be a problem - it depends on your workspace.

The eevblog forums are a good place to look, but you'll get far more information than you really want. It might make the decision harder.

Secondhand can be good as long as any repairs are within your capability. It's a good way to get a high end device at a lower price - all my scopes have been secondhand - but they've all been low-risk because of a known source, or a low price, or because I could easily verify they were in working order.

I guess the only conclusion you can draw from the above is that the best choice is one of each...