Cheap Dual Channel Input Signal Generator Oscilloscope recomendations

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Wombat1

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#312663 6-May-2024 11:27

I'm looking at an oscilloscope, mostly just for DIY hobbies etc. I play with and build some electronic circuits in my free time, also play a lot with microcontrollers like the pi pico, and arduino.

Came across this one on Kogan. Anybody here got any real-world usage out of these? I know its pretty cheap, but certainly not needing something of professional-grade with very high accuracy,

Buy FNIRSI-1014D LCD Display Screen Dual Channel Input Signal Generator Oscilloscope Online | Kogan.com

neb

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#3226925 6-May-2024 12:26

The FNRSI stuff is very much built down to a price, they're OK provided you don't want to do anything too ambitious. They're also all over Aliexpress and even Amazon, so you don't need to get them from Kogan.

If you want a cheap(-ish) all-in-one device you could also look at the Digilent Analog Discovery, it does a lot more than any scope and has excellent software and good support (unlike the FNRSI). The 3 isn't the cheapest but you can sometimes find 2's on eBay and they're mostly the same thing, they just changed the FPGA for the 3 since the one in the 2 was being discontinued.

Wombat1

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#3226946 6-May-2024 13:03

Thanks for the info, I was not aware of the Digilent Discovery units, I must be sleeping under a rock. They sure look interesting but I am still a bit old school and do prefer an actual desktop unit so this will be a bit of a shift. I did come across a good review of the FNIRSI 1014D DSO, not recommended with a 10 foot pole lol. Review/Teardown of a FNIRSI 1014D DSO - 100 MHz or 30 MHz Bandwidth? (youtube.com), reviewer also ends off rather recomending one of the smaller hand held type devices like this OWON HDS2202S 200 MHz 3-in-1 Handheld Oscilloscope Review/Teardown (youtube.com)

neb

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#3226950 6-May-2024 13:13

Hmm, the OWON trades off a lot of functionality for portability, it's fine if you don't want to haul a full-sized scope around but I wouldn't get one unless I needed something I can fit in a carry-on. If you really want all the gory details, check out one of the threads on EEVBlog on which scope to buy. Just ignore the comments from people with Keysight and R&S scopes.

if you don't mind paying a bit more, Rigol and Siglent are pretty good value for money, they're halfway between the FNRSI stuff and the Keysight level.

One thing with the benchtop ones is that until you get to the really pricey ones they've got tiny 7" screens, while with the Digilent the screen is as big as you want it to be. If I had to save one of { Siglent, Digilent } in a fire I'm not sure which one I'd go for, both have their benefits and drawbacks.

neb

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#3226952 6-May-2024 13:15

Here's one EEVBlog thread that covers a lot of different scopes.

RunningMan

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#3227031 6-May-2024 15:01

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=77&topicid=311977&page_no=1#3226784

Wombat1

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#3228894 10-May-2024 23:34

Settled on an Rigol DS1054Z. Not cheap cheap, but I figured I dont really want to be changing scopes in a year or two.