0106 - Mini-Oscilloscope SHOOTOUT! Part 2

Part 2 of the mini-oscilloscope shootout between the DSO138, the FNIRSI 138Pro, the FHIRSI DSO152 and the Zeeweii DSO154Pro. In this part we get hands on and see how well they function and hold up to their specifications. In case you would like to purchase one of these, links are below.
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AliExpress Affiliate Link: s.click.aliexp...
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Video Specific Links:
Amazon
Zeeweeii DSO154Pro: amzn.to/3W1CO8i
FNIRSI DSO152: amzn.to/3JqBJzp
FNIRSI 138Pro: amzn.to/3Ug1qrw
DSO138: amzn.to/4aGLLbG
AliExpress
Zeeweeii DSO154Pro: s.click.aliexp...
FNIRSI DSO152: s.click.aliexp...
FNIRSI 138Pro: s.click.aliexp...
DSO138: s.click.aliexp...
Comparison Spreadsheet: docs.google.co...
Part 1: • 0104 - Mini-Oscillosco...

[@mikebond6328]

That zeewee is pretty nice. Better than expected.

[@franciscoferreira-eh1yu]

Those oscilloscopes can be of great help to people interested in learning electronics or to analyze audio and some radio signals. Wished I had one back in the day

[@uni-byte]

Very true!

[@percaine]

There aren't many testing videos of the 154pro and I have no way to test it myself so I'm glad to see it meets it's specs. Thanks for the video and happy thanksgiving to you and your.

[@uni-byte]

No problem!

[@fiatlux4058]

It is an amazing little thing but open sided case is not looking safe. That flaw can be eliminated with half hour 3d printing tho. Switched from zt702s to combination of dso154pro and any multimeter that works. Works for me

[@ernobalazs7860]

Many thanks for your video which justified my choice of buying the 154Pro... I was thinking about 152 but the complexity and higher capabilities of 154Pro won. It arrived last week and will be tested soon. Thanks again!!!

[@uni-byte]

Glad it was helpful, and thanks for posting!

[@timgroleau1612]

Love comparisons. Explained well.

[@uni-byte]

Thank you!

[@edgarcornette6387]

I love your videos ... Thanks for this series as well. Awesome info and the best I have seen on all of these scopes.

[@uni-byte]

Much appreciated!

[@Amplified208]

Appreciate the video it helped me make a good decision to go with the dso154 pro.

[@uni-byte]

Glad I could help. How is it working for you?

[@Amplified208]

@uni-byte Haven't purchased yet, but I will soon. I have been researching compact scopes just I want the best bandwidth I can get. Much appreciated for the video comparison.

[@chronobot2001]

Great video. Thanks for doing it.

[@uni-byte]

Thanks for your comment!

[@bobbyrutz9402]

Thank you. Now to figure out how to connect it to my little synth.. Also thanks for the Canadian shoutout!

[@uni-byte]

No problem. Being Canadian it was easy!

[@bobbyrutz9402]

@@uni-byte Hey sweet! I ended up ordering the 154pro today. Thanks again!

[@uni-byte]

@@bobbyrutz9402 Thank you too!

[@jj74qformerlyjailbreak3]

Alot more minis on yhe market not featured here. They are improving slowly

[@uni-byte]

Well, I had to draw a line somewhere, so I chose what I found to be the most popular at the time. BTW, none of the others not included or that have come onto the market since, can hold a candle to the Zeeweii DSO154Pro for teh price. It's still top dawg ;-)

[@secretsquirrel9722]

I normally research the bejesus out of things (how i found this video). But I'm hoping I can leverage your knowledge to shortcut that process? I have a full 4 channel pico for car diagnosis. I was looking for a pocket option when out and about. The common one sold to automotive is the Uscope (old dso nano v3). I was hoping for a cheap alternative but there are so many options. What would you suggest for my needs. Mainly 0-5v signals, 0-12v signals, dc amperage signals with frequency abilities. Should i just go the Zeeweii? Or would i get away with the dso152 as my needs are so simple?

[@uni-byte]

The Zeeweii is not any more expensive, but it's not fully sealed off and may not be the right thing for automotive work. There is also teh FNIRSI DSP-153 that is much better than the 152 for a few dollars more. Have a look at that.

[@secretsquirrel9722]

@uni-byte legend! I appreciate the reply

[@uni-byte]

@@secretsquirrel9722 No problem.

[@secretsquirrel9722]

​@@uni-byte Sorry to bother you again. Short of not having a sealed case, the 154pro is the far superior unit though isn't it? Looking into it further. The 153 has a funny issue where it's sample rate is significantly lower than the 152. Compared side by side. Causing captures like injectors waveforms to completely miss vital parts you needs to see. 154pro is way above both in sample and clarity from your test. The 153 and 153 are MCX leads. The 154pro is bnc which I already have leads, and all associated test equipment etc. The 152 and 153 don't have an adjustable vertical trigger. Making it hard to capture a waveform in the center of the screen for analysing. Have I got this right?

[@uni-byte]

@@secretsquirrel9722 Absolutely. The DSO 154Pro is the king of the hill. It out performs all the rest in this class bye a huge margin.

[@michaelgates8331]

Very nice video, thank you for posting.

[@uni-byte]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@timgroleau1612]

Well done.

[@uni-byte]

Thank you!

[@shaolin95]

The 154 pro is awesome. Just tested it against the lm2020 and DPOX180H and it was an easy win for the 154 pro. The lm2020 was second and nice too. The fnrsi was a distant 3rd

[@uni-byte]

Thanks for letting us know!

[@xONEWINGx]

I bought the Zeeweii 154 pro to use as a panel mount meter, since they don't seem to exist otherwise. A couple of the buttons are on the top though, so have to be moved. As a neat little portable meter I got the Zeeweii DSO3D12, no regrets as an oscilloscope though its dmm sucks.

[@uni-byte]

Did you re-program the 154Pro or are you using it in it's oscilloscope function?

[@xONEWINGx]

@@uni-byte No reprogram, it's just to show the frequency and duty of a square wave signal from the PMW-OCXi module.

[@uni-byte]

@@xONEWINGx Ah, I understand. Thank you.

[@OMNI_INFINITY]

Thanks! Made any video tutorial about how to do triggering with a DSO154Pro? Thanks in advance!

[@uni-byte]

I have not yet, but it should be fairly simple as you only have limited choices. Should be very similar to a simple CRO. Do you have they scope? I guess I could do a video on it, but it will have to wait until I get back from holidays near the end of the month.

[@markledford4420]

Good video thanks for sharing I was in the market and this helped a ton

[@uni-byte]

Glad it helped!

[@draghiciciprian4002]

A very fine presentation dear friend! Thank you!

[@uni-byte]

Many thanks.

[@chronobot2001]

You didn't mention anything about the batteries. Are they standard replaceable batteries.

[@uni-byte]

I did not open the DSO152 but the 138Pro and the 154Pro have standard looking Lithium Ion flat batteries. They should not be difficult to source. I have no reason to believe the 152 is any different. After all, these things are built down to a price so there is little chance they would implement some proprietary battery solution.

[@jorgeferreirafilho7409]

perfeito,obrigado e parabens

[@uni-byte]

Thank you!

[@jakubczajka4275]

Around £20 for Zeeweii. Impressive.

[@robbo6460]

Can you please explain the 50 ohm termination you spoke about or “correct termination”? Are the cables terminated into 50 ohm connectors at each scope so as to appease the signal generator? I’m new and looking to understand. Thank you for your videos.

[@uni-byte]

Thanks for the question Robb. The cable is terminated only at the ends. Internally on the signal generator then on the final scope in the line. The reason for this is to match impedance throughout the system. Since this generator is primarily for use with 50 ohm coaxial cable, it is built with a 50 ohm output. So when using a 50 ohm cable with it (as we are here) you need to have the other end of the cable terminated in 50 ohms too. Failing to do that will cause reflections at the mismatched end which will cause frequency dependent errors in voltages read by the oscilloscopes. This is really only a problem at higher frequencies so it would not really be required for the scopes that only go to 200kHz. However, the little Zeeweii will work up to 18MHz so to get the best conditions to measure it's bandwidth we need to adhere to proper practices and make sure impedance is properly matched across the system. Other systems have different impedances. For instance twisted pair used in wired networks is 100 ohms. Blacked audio used in professional audio environments is 600 ohms. In each case, transmission lines (the connecting cables) need to be properly terminated at each end.

[@robbo6460]

@@uni-byte That is the most concise and comprehensive answer I’ve ever received from anyone before. Thank you. I didn’t realize that the cable impedance was also important and I really only know of it for 75 ohm coax used in home television connections. So if I understand you correctly, I have a BK Precision Function Generator that outputs at 50 ohms. I should be sending it through 50 ohm bnc cable that terminates at my oscilloscope into a 50 ohm pass through terminator? Is this correct sir?

[@uni-byte]

@@robbo6460 Yes, that would be best practices. Some scopes are capable of terminating in 50 ohms internally and do not need the pass-through terminator. And this is just for a direct connection from SG to scope through a 50 ohms cable or through another 50 ohm DUT like an RF filter.

[@robbo6460]

@@uni-byte ok last question, I think lol. Does using a 50 ohm splitter at my FG hurt anything downstream signal wise? I have a single BNC female to dual male splitter @ 50 ohms so I can go to my scope and dmm. I go to my FG with a 50 ohm BNC cable then through a 50 ohm pass through at the scope. My dmm is a BNC to dual banana cable. I just want to confirm that I’m not messing it up with too many 50 ohm dohickies on the feed. Thank you again. You are super helpful and I appreciate it. On another note please let me know if I can donate anything to the channel? I have tons of interesting items of vintage test equipment. I sent IMSAIGUY a Heathkit nixie counter and manual and he did a repair video on it.

[@uni-byte]

@@robbo6460 What frequencies are we talking about here and is the splitter just a "T" or does it properly split from a 50 ohm input to two 50 ohm outputs? If it's just a "T", then the way to do it is to have the SG at one end, the scope with the pass-through terminator at the other end and the "T" feeding the DMM as close to the input as possible. If it's a proper 50-50-50 splitter then you need 50 ohm termination on the input and the end of both outputs. On donations, you could contact me at my email address "ABOUT" tab of my channel or if you would prefer not to incur the cost of shipping stuff to Canada, you could leave me a tip at the PayPal link in the description or click on the "Thanks" button just below the video. Thanks for the offer!

[@nileshudson2185]

I use it to tune my car stereo

[@uni-byte]

Which one did you get, the Zeeweii 154Pro?

[@nileshudson2185]

Yeah

[@uni-byte]

@@nileshudson2185 Good, and a nice application for it.

[@nileshudson2185]

@uni-byte yeah it is,...it give me along with frequency wave....lol...but I just can't figure out how much my amp is really putting out, I see vrms-250, what does this mean

[@nileshudson2185]

Or the real question I should ask is how the get an estimate amp watts using this device

[@juhaszpeter4796]

Nice little comparison video, there should be more like this on the net.👍 My understanding is that if you use a 50 Ohm cable and you have a 50 Ohm signal generator on the other side, then the other end of the cable, at the scope, must be closed with a 50 Ohm. Since the input impedance of the scope is 1MOhm. If it were 50 Ohms, then there would be no need to close it, but on the other hand, you should pay close attention to the permissible voltage. What happens when you use a measuring probe with 1x and 10x settings. Then where and how much should you terminate?😵‍💫 It would have been nice to see, in the video, how the signal develops at 18Mhz, without the 50Ohm termination, just so that viewers can visually see the difference. I love before and after comparison videos.🙂🙃

[@uni-byte]

Thanks. If you used the probe at 10X directly into the FG you would not need a 50 ohm terminator as the probe cable is not a 50 ohm transmission line. However, the BW measurements may be limited by the probe itself. Good point about showing the difference without the 50 ohm terminator.👍

[@mikebond6328]

Have you seen the new dso3d12?

[@uni-byte]

I have. 120MHz portable scope, DMM and FG. Seems like a really nice package and at a reasonable price.

[@alexhudspeth1213]

You get 100 internet points for discussing impedance matching.

[@uni-byte]

Thanks! I'll take them. I see a lot of people run into "issues" in cases where they have not looked after the fundamentals. Like the foundation of a building, they are important and need to be discussed at every opportunity.