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Oscilloscope question — Parallax Forums

Oscilloscope question

MorrolanMorrolan Posts: 98
edited 2010-02-17 15:59 in Accessories
Hi guys,

I don't know if this is necessarily the right forum for this question, but I'm customizing a Boe-Bot (like everyone else) to get myself started and was looking at an affordable oscilloscope to check out FREQOUT and PWM outputs.

I came across this www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9625 which is a very cool gadget, but it says it has a 1Hz - 1Mhz sampling rate and that this may be a limitation. Does this mean that I can only analyze down to time increments between 1ms and 1s? If so then it would be perfect for my use, but just wanted to clear it up before ordering one.

Many Thanks,
Morrolan

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Comments

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-02-15 16:22
    Should be good for the frequency range you want and a bit more.
  • Chip CoxChip Cox Posts: 73
    edited 2010-02-15 20:27
    One thing to remember when sampling though is that your sampling frequency should be "at least" twice the max frequency you want to analyze. If it's not, at least that high, you may miss the cycles you are looking for. So if you wanted to sample something running at 30 hz, you need your minimum sample rate to be larger than 60 hz. With the scope you are talking about you would be able to sample anything up to 500Khz ( but not including 500Khz ).
  • MorrolanMorrolan Posts: 98
    edited 2010-02-16 14:06
    Ahhhh! I was getting the unit m in ms confused with the M in MHz. So, with this unit I can measure anything from 1Hz to 500Khz, i.e. anything between 1s and 500,000th of a second?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Flying is simple. You just throw yourself at the ground and miss.

    "I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image."
    Stephen Hawking
  • VaatiVaati Posts: 712
    edited 2010-02-16 16:10
    I dug this up:
    http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=21&m=165230

    It seems a bit cheaper, and the only parts that you will probably have to buy for it are the opto-isolators, which are 36 cents from digikey.

    Sparkfun also has a DIY O'scope... It's $60.
    Or you can always make a gameboy digital storage oscilloscope: http://www.reinerziegler.de/gbdso_uk.pdf

    Hope this helps.

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  • MorrolanMorrolan Posts: 98
    edited 2010-02-17 15:59
    Somebody said...
    I dug this up:
    http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=21&m=165230

    It seems a bit cheaper, and the only parts that you will probably have to buy for it are the opto-isolators, which are 36 cents from digikey.

    Thanks for the idea but I use a mac, so as that uses a Windows app it's out for me. The Sparkfun DIY oscilloscope is good and I was about to buy one, but really I need a storage oscilloscope and it's portablility makes me think that this is the better option as long as it's range is sufficient.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Flying is simple. You just throw yourself at the ground and miss.

    "I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image."
    Stephen Hawking
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