Buying an Oscilloscope: what to look for

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Thanks for this. Some useful information.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@markhenderson9069]

I'm looking for a simple beginner's scope to be able to measure and monitor simultaneous voltage and current plots (using current clamp) along with phasing. The power i'm wanting to monitor is right around 400vac or pulsating dc at about 1 or 2 amps and 400 hertz. That's all I need it to do. It's for an ignition coil driver circuit. Can anyone help me out here? Looking at cheaper scopes like the Kiprim DS1202, or the Hantek DS02 C or D series, or the Yeapook ADS1014D. Would any of these work, and what current clamp or probe would work? New to electronics here and trying to learn. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

It might be worth looking at a USB scope - using a linked computer they can offer very good levels of functionality for a fair cost.

[@markhenderson9069]

I'll check those out. Thanks for the input.

[@dionisienatea3137]

Thank you for the info presented. I think would be more useful to detail every aspect discussed and explain why is important and how can help you in your application. I am new to this and none of the aspects discussed so far here are easy to understand well enough to make a decision. Can you do a follow up video with more details please? Would be much appreciated by me and the new guys with less experience in the field. Many thanks

[@ElectronicsNotes]

That is a good idea. I'll have to think how to do it. Thanks for the comment and the observation.

[@Thrashahoy6]

No mention at all of channels. Whether you need 2 or 4 or more. Digital or analog.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

A useful point. I’ll add an extra element to the description, etc. Thanks fir the comment.

[@dymastro788]

Super helpful video, thanks

[@ElectronicsNotes]

I'm really pleased it was helpful.

[@OndrejPopp]

I see that Abdus Samad also commented on this a year ago, so although the information provided is generic enough, the experts at word are all from Rode&Schwartz (except maybe mr Henry Dulat) and so are the oscilloscopes you see in this video with the exception of the pico scope. So the presentation appears to be R&S driven. Whatever that really means.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

I tried to keep the video to the points that are important for anyone buying any scope. R&S gave me a lot of help, and as it takes a long while to contact people, set up meetings, etc, we used the expertise of R&S staff. For the future, I am trying to not fall not that trap. That said, I think the concepts are applicable for any make of scope being bought.

[@OndrejPopp]

Hi @@ElectronicsNotes That's fine ofcourse. I already acknowledged that the information you provided is generic enough, so that's ok. Now I understand that R&S gave you substantial help, I would say, if they did that, there would be no harm for the next time, to mention that in the video and then the message would be clear. In addition I assume that other vendors may give you equal help which may balance things out even more. Have a nice day.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

@@OndrejPopp Hi, thanks for the updated comment. At the time, I tried to incorporate images of scopes from other companies, but with hindsight, it would have been nice to get comments from other companies as well. This is something I intend to do for the future. Thanks again for your comment.

[@Karacan3655]

Master, take it easy First of all, I want to ask you; Is it possible to measure frequency beyond the specified frequency limit on an oscilloscope? or how much frequency measurement can be made beyond the specified frequency limits. thank you...

[@ElectronicsNotes]

The response of the oscilloscope will fall beyond its specified top frequency, and the voltage measurements will not be accurate, but it is still possible to measure the frequency.

[@battleaxesam6042]

Will I be handicapped by my oscilloscopes lack of an external trigger?

[@ElectronicsNotes]

It depends upon what you want to do. If you have a pulse that would normally provide the trigger, then you may not be able to use this, but if you have sufficient channels to accommodate the pulse you want to use as a trigger then you can feed it into one of the scope channels and trigger on it even if you do not want to display it. Triggers were initially provided when the scope had a limited number of channels and there may have been the need to trigger on a system pulse you did not want to display whilst using all the channels for traces you did want to display.

[@battleaxesam6042]

@@ElectronicsNotes it's a two channel oscilloscope with no external trigger. I just have a basic knowledge on the working of the oscilloscope so I'm not sure but what if I need the two channels plus the external trigger for an experiment,is there a way I can work around it with my spec?

[@abdussamad2577]

Its company publicty or advetise video

[@sciencefollower]

DO WE HAVE ANY APP THAT CAN DO THE JOB OF AN OSCILLOSCOPE PLEASE ?

[@ElectronicsNotes]

You generally need some hardware to go with it.

[@kennylinda7303]

Actually e-Design's DS212 Mini Oscilloscope for usb oscilloscope is good.

[@Pinkcybermonkey]

CC: Borum levels... Borum Name Meaning. Danish: habitational name from any of several places whose name means 'dwelling place on the edge'. The CC needs to be fixed.

[@bravekhan4470]

rhode&schwarz oscilloscopes are way more costly than i can afford

[@ElectronicsNotes]

They do sell some lower cost scopes these days, but also there are many different scope manufacturers, some offering lower cost units. Check out there reviews and see what is best for you.

[@guitarguy3688]

Your video quality is good & also your explanation but i cant understand why your channel is not famous yet

[@ElectronicsNotes]

If I totally understood that, then he channel would be famous. I probably need to spend more time promoting it, but I also need to run the website as well www.electronics-notes.com Thanks for your support and kind comments.

[@ahmedalshalchi]

Nice direction of the video but it does not reflect the truth about the oscilloscope. It is only benefit of Rohde & Schwarz which I don't mind at all and I do support buying those highly if within budget !.

[@art.s9421]

EXCELLENT

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Thanks.

[@davidgmos]

Very useful, thanks.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Glad you found the video useful. The people we interviewed were very knowledgeable and were great to talk to.

[@art.s9421]

SAMPLING SPECTRUM

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Yes many scopes these days do provide a basic form of spectrum analysis unless it is a multi domain scope when the capability is very much better. My USB scope has a basic DSP function which is very useful.

[@ahmednor5806]

💐💐💐

[@Notmy00000]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Thanks for the comment!!

[@johnfiott]

Not impressed. No actual figures were quoted making it impossible to rate any potential scope. It all sounded like a vague advertising video.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

I'm sorry you did not like the video. We tried hard to give guidance and information but as everyone's requirements are different, putting exact figures down can make the video dry. However we will try to take you comments on board for future videos and look at ways of adding more detail.

[@do7425]

An advertising video for R&S I am sure. . .

[@thearchitecht2122]

I don't know if we watched the same video but they are not holding your hands on the "buying a scope" process. All you get is info, on what to watch out for and the rest is up to you. An electronics engineer who is designing circuits in his spare time has other specifications on what a scope should do compared to a student tinkering with an arduino, creating some sine waves. So yeah, video is perfect, your comment is unjustified.

[@jolynnathan8475]

Almost the entire video is just stolen from a rhode&schwarz advertisement video.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

We actually worked with R&S to try to use their experience. As you will have seen we used a lot of their people as they were available and we did not have the same access to others. We did try to include as many other oscilloscope types as we could, including PXI based ones and USB ones which R&S do not manufacture or market. We also tried to ensure that the comments were not R&S centric so that people could benefit from the experience of industry experts. Also we stole no content from R&S. All the interviews were done solely for Electronics Notes and have not been used on any R&S videos.

[@jolynnathan8475]

ElectronicsNotes In that case please accept my apologies for my ignorance.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

No problem.

[@parivarma7105]

please explain in hindi thanks

[@blackhatter011]

NO!

[@fahvm4362]

Tell India to build an oscilloscope !