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How good is the parallax usb oscilloscope? — Parallax Forums

How good is the parallax usb oscilloscope?

trendtrend Posts: 112
edited 2005-01-16 16:56 in Learn with BlocklyProp
I have been really excited lately about learning all this new stuff about electronics (I wish my college had an electronics major :/ ).

I have been thinking about getting an oscilloscope for a wile now... And I noticed parallax makes one, and since I have found out how great their online support is... I would imagine their realworld documentation is great also. This is what I am talking about:
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28119

I guess my question is, how good is this as far as learning and as far as an actualy oscilloscope?

It just seems like it is very cheap compared to other oscilloscopes.. and I sorta concerned that the functionality might be very limited..


anyways, what do you'll think about this ?

thanks! Lee

Comments

  • Martin HebelMartin Hebel Posts: 1,239
    edited 2005-01-11 06:20
    Hi Lee,
    For the money and portability, it's a great little scope!

    I use it often during class on a touch projection screen for discussing various issues with scope - adustments, triggering, etc - and it relates very closely to a standard scope.

    About the only downsides are that it's not extremely fast - 1MHz sampling with a single channel.· Since sampling must be at LEAST twice highest the frequency you want to measure, and typically many more samples for good reproduction, you are looking at maybe a 100KHz maximum frequency. But this far fast enough for any BASIC Stamp or other simple analog/digital applications.

    Second:· The input impedance is fairly low· - I think 1Meg ohm.· So your scope doesn't load down your circuit, you want the probe to be at least 10x the impedance of the circuit, which would be about 100K ohm.· I have had problems on occasion where the scope would degrade the signal level, but I do a lot of odd things [noparse]:)[/noparse]

    Also, a standard scope, with a 10x probe can measure household voltages (115VAC) - DON'T try it with this scope.· It's great for standard digital levels (5V) and up to 12V or so, but that's about it.

    All in all, for $149, I've found it invaluable.· When I was a student I forked out $600 for a scope for home studies.· I wish this had been available then!

    All specs were off the top of my head in this reply, so look them over yourself!


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    Martin Hebel

    Electronic Systems Technologies
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale
    Personal Links - ·Lot of BASIC Stamp info
    and
    SelmaWare Solutions
    StampPlot Pro Version 3 Release 4
    Graphical Data Acquisition for your Micro and Imagination!
    Now allows additional controls to be added, or developed.
    ·
  • trendtrend Posts: 112
    edited 2005-01-11 06:40
    hmm.. yeah, I don't think I would need to monitor any large loads.. so <12v would be fine.

    How is the book that comes with this? Honestly I -thinnk- I understand what a DSO does, I have read a large pdf or 2 on them.. but really lack the knowledge of why I would use them.. so I would need the book to eaase me in , but I would like it to cover some ground also.

    thanks for your help! that does bring out some great points [noparse]:)[/noparse]

    Lee
  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2005-01-11 13:34
    The nice thing about (most) Parallax books is that you can download them and check them out at now charge. Why don't you download our "Understanding Signals" book and see for yourself.

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
    Dallas, TX· USA
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2005-01-11 16:42
    I think the Parallax Scope is a great entry-level scope, and is perfect for BS2-related applications, since it's specs are well-within what the stamp can do, and most of the things you might connect to the stamp.· That said, at the price, you can't really beat it, either.· About the only problem I have is I need a Powered Hub for my laptop, since running an Optical Mouse, the FTDI USB-232 converter AND the Scope seems to be too much for my crappy Dell's 3-USB ports.



    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage

    Knight Designs
    324 West Main Street
    P.O. Box 97
    Montour Falls, NY 14865
    (607) 535-6777

    Business Page:·· http://www.knightdesigns.com
    Personal Page:··· http://www.lightlink.com/dream/chris
    Designs Page:··· http://www.lightlink.com/dream/designs
    ·
  • tmatma Posts: 27
    edited 2005-01-16 16:56
    I have found the Parallax scope and Understanding Signals text to be excellent value.
    A great scope for the experimenter and would be hacker
    tma
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