EEVblog

[@randallblake1213]

Your enthusiasm is mildly amusing, but the video would be shorter and more useful (in my opinion) if you actually familiarized yourself with how the instrument works beforehand (e.g., changing the time base). Maybe, in the future, you could make the longer, more entertaining (in the opinion of some), videos first and then post a shorter, more succinct version after you had familiarized yourself with the instrument. You already have a large following. Maybe you could increase it even more if you attracted those just looking for a concise informational video. Just a suggestion.

[@emadarar3091]

By the end of your interview things looked better than your beginning of evaluation. May be it would be better if you were breviously prepared by reading the specs. By the way the same model was interviued by others in better way. You may refer to them to check the difference.

[@leisergeist]

This is the kind of that could seriously benefit from open source software IMO. At the price point I don't know, it seems decent... Proper name portable scopes are thousands of $$. Less lies and open source could make it a pretty neat thing!

[@TimSavage-drummer]

I've written replacement (opensource) firmware for one of these cheap devices before, the main issue I came up with was the quality of the hardware got worse over time. The unit I got was pretty well made with quality parts, and everything worked as expected, but after several years I started getting bug reports of odd behavior that couldn't be attributed to a software fault. A review came up on Hackaday that confirmed my suspicions all the components were much lower quality in the unit that was reviewed and it performed similarly. In short, the amount of time put in vs results often isn't worth it when the next production run or a run of clone units ruins the hardware.

[@BavarianM]

@@TimSavage-drummer For which unit did you made the firmware?

[@TimSavage-drummer]

​@@BavarianM Was the FG-100 DDS Function Generator. Nowhere near as complex, but I did solve a few annoyances in the firmware.

[@Laczko19]

Another Chinese company called Micsig makes very nice portable oscilloscopes for reasonable money. Got mine for £300 ish 2 years ago had no issues with it, still works as it did on day one.

[@km5405]

if we make our own open source hardware so we dont have to rely on clones we might get a decent result.

[@prozacgod]

What I would love to see on this oscilloscopes is a push for open firmware of some sort, I think the open source community could really rock these things.

[@zUltra3D]

No doubt, it's amazing what the open source community can do sometimes

[@jpvoodoo5522]

I think the open source community could put out a schematic and gerber files for a higher quality bench scope. You'd have to have the people with the knowledge to design it though. I think they could do much better than these $15.00 diy ones. They could do something that rivals a big name.

[@bumv2]

Lissajous is so last century, Li Shayu's is the way to go now, methinks.

[@derkeksinator17]

To be fair I've never heard the XY-mode described as , "Lissajous graphic display function" either. But at least it's not technically wrong.

[@Alexander-qz6px]

Jesus ... It‘s all about the UX with a touchscreen oscilloscope. If you can’t perfect it inhouse, that’s ok IF YOU OPEN SOURCE IT. But I bet they don‘t do that here, probably because they’re afraid a competitor would use it. I don’t get it. Same problem with 90% of software involved dogy aliexpress gear. Software is often weak spot with these products. Why isn’t every dogy solar regulator, power supply, dogy smart watch open source. They don’t want free product improvement?

[@stragulus]

@@Alexander-qz6px Yeah, it would be great if e.g. something akin to the pine64 hardware would get traction. A manufacturer that just makes the bare hardware with open enough specs, then let the community write the software for it. Once there is a decent enough userbase you can slowly iterate over the hardware/software design to improve it, rather than having to start from scratch with each new device. A quick search shows up www.scopefun.com/ - which looks like it is properly licensed open hardware. But there appears to be no practical way to get it. There's a $750 completely prebuilt one on a crowd sourcing site, but that's it. Maybe some Chinese manufacturer will take the design and run with it without modifications, so we can have a basic $50 board and play with it.

[@Natopsi]

@@Alexander-qz6px These devices always end up as a waste of silicon due to poorly designed software...

[@Sylvan_dB]

@@Alexander-qz6px I suspect most of them do not open source because it is hard to do more than just publish a repo, and as soon as you publish a repo then people start whining. Just look at all the comments on the old software repos published by Microsoft.

[@PatrickPoet]

I bet that "table", "plate", and "flat" are all translations of the same chinese term by different translators working with different teams.

[@xxportalxx.]

It's what happens when you go back and forth through Google translate too many times 😂

[@rynax009]

User manual, packaging, case made by different suppliers and they all use online machine translate tool like Baidu. Sadly google quitted China

[@PatrickPoet]

@@rynax009 I wish that different countries would trust each other more and work together for people everywhere

[@TonyRule]

@@PatrickPoet The last 4 months have shown some countries simply can't be trusted.

[@PatrickPoet]

@@TonyRule like the US

[@orpedsesama]

i bought this a few days ago, the user interface is way faster than this one in the video, the sample rate and freq bandwidth are still the same though. but i'm happy for the form factor, wide touch screen and user interface. so i guess it still worth the price, it's dirt cheap for the purpose

[@kenabi]

a potential option for those not wishing to dump 350-400usd into an iso trans and variac combo to test thigns where you'd have to seperate the tested device from the mains, so long as you only run it off the battery while doing so. pair it with a 20:1 attenuator and you're gold for just about everything you could need to do with basic/mid level testing on most advanced hobbyist levels. well, so long as you only need to be able to get a rough waveform and readings on the output text. which for most say.. audio techs... this will be more than enough.

[@mypeeps1965]

20:1 attenuator, I bought one, thank you!

[@altimmons]

I mean you have to remember Dave is used to using $100,000 scopes. So he has that bias. The rest of us (hobbyists) are happy with things that work more times than not.

[@tegra5971]

I am afraid Dave is getting a bit “snobby”. (His “crap,crap crap” suggests a lack of objectivity?) As a potential buyer I need him to add the perspective that I don’t have. It is fine to “tear it to pieces”, but please take some time to “be me” and help me see some things I might really want to know. I imagine many of us come for his famous rants, but we also need some sympathy as well.

[@edinfific2576]

I am not used to high-end expensive equipment, I got a very old Tektronix 465 scope (20MHz bandwidth, analog), and I would NEVER trade it for this cheap modern fake Chinese crap. As usual, you get what you pay for, and I hate false specs just like Dave does. I've got a cheap Chinese pocket scope, and while it is better than nothing, the old analog scope beats it in reliability and consistency of displayed values. No matter what range I set, the quality scope will show the same signal values and shape, while the cheap crap changes those values drastically and it's hard to be sure what signal values do you actually have in your circuit.

[@leocurious9919]

@@edinfific2576 Indeed, its like one is analog (you see what the signal looks like) and one is digital (you see there is a signal). But anyway, with 500mV/div at 10x... oh boy.

[@JC-XL]

True, he's way too hard on these cheap devices. I looked up his own scope, that he was using in this video (Keysight mso-x 3054t) and it's like $10K.

[@flt73]

​@@JC-XL He just tells you the facts without relativizing, regardless of prices, hypes, desires, and politics, and that's the best and most you can get from a review. Yes, he has feelings about the gear - in addition to concrete knowledge. He doesn't do your average chit-chat videos, you have to be able to tell the difference, but he's a human being too. He has every right to express his feelings, especially when a function or behavior just needs to be done more carefully or with better knowledge at probably the same cost to not be crippled or unusable. Also, Chinese specs are still shameless lies, and you shouldn't overlook that for a second, even if you buy and use such products for your own reasons, as I sometimes do.

[@calebbadger]

This would be great for automotive diagnostic applications. Most of the battery powered, all-in-one scopes for such are significantly more than $140. You dont even need the advertized bandwidth if you're just looking for crank signals or noise on sensor lines

[@GrandePunto8V]

Not really automotive friendly. You need long record times to see problems during startup, crank/camshaft signals. You need at least 5-10 seconds of time. So No.

[@aaronhausken3226]

​@@GrandePunto8V its useful for finding shorts in harness by unplugging sections and a bad sensor holding the line high or low.

[@celsiusswatt6021]

I bought the more recent version of this scope. It is NOT a 100MHz, 1Gsa/s scope, the rise time on 300ps signal shows 10ns (means ~25MHz bandwidth), the minimum timebase setting is 10ns/div, and it looks that all waveforms on

[@wizrom3046]

What a shame they didn't have a good software guy... That hardware could be put to good use even at 200Ms...

[@IscleGaming]

That's something the open-source community can solve, I'm sure! I just bought one as it runs Linux and I couldn't resist myself… Also it will be my first personal oscilloscope (but I have used proper ones in the past). I have no problem working on the UI side of things, but hopefully someone else can help reverse engineering the circuit, and maybe also reprogramming the FPGA if needed!

[@Stabby666]

@@IscleGaming Yep I've been looking at using one of those F1C100s ARM chips in a project. Amazing value considering they have 32MB RAM, USB, LCD/TFT output up to 1280x720 with a display engine for acceleration, touch input, H264/MPEG1,2,4/MJEPEG decoding, audio inputs, and output, DMA etc for around $1 - $2 each 😁 Oh and they run Linux...

[@MrBranboom]

User experiance always the killer with the cheapest of instruments.

[@urugulu1656]

@@Stabby666 but then they are armv9 none of that cortex-m or even cortex-r stuff which would be my choice.

[@cFyugThCzvAqYaGmxRgfCKTuvHMEjQ]

@@urugulu1656 armv9 is not a core, it's an ISA. You probably meant to say they were cortex-a, rather than cortex-m or cortex-r

[@p_mouse8676]

Get a polarizing filter on your lens, to get rid of the glare.

[@johncoops6897]

YEP... that's a perfect solution. Works for water too!

[@phlipse90]

Buuuut... You know what happens, when you look through a polarizing filter onto a lcd screen? 😉

[@ho7026]

​@@phlipse90 you can rotate the filter to mach the polarizer on the lcd, agreed it would be tricky, but for stuff like this, where the device doesnt get rotated, it should only need setting once

[@phlipse90]

Oskar Humnicki yes of course. But then it could end up being in a polarization orientation, where either the lcd is blacked out or the reflection still being present. I think, seeing that this screen is indeed highly reflective, is underlining the fact in the review, that this is a product with some flaws from the engineering standpoint. Therefore, in my opinion, it‘s better to see an unaltered picture of the product ;)

[@ho7026]

@@phlipse90 yea it will definitely need some playing around to get the light position right for it all to work. But I actually totally agree, now you mention it, it is a review video and this shows a flaw with it - glary screen etc, good shout, and tbf he did do a pretty good job of dealing with the reflections so we can still see what he's doing

[@Bodragon]

(13:05) - "The deal before was" that you were not tapping quickly enough. Your taps were more like a "tap and hold" It looks like a tap needs to be a millisecond tap not tenth of a second tap, because then it thinks you are going to drag something. You with me here ? >

[@leocurious9919]

Exactly.

[@Bodragon]

@@leocurious9919 Wow ! Thanks, mate ! >

[@SteveHacker]

Is it sufficient for a beginner in vintage radio servicing, modern ham radio, audio/music electronics like guitar amps and synthesizers, as well as restoring vintage retro computers?

[@gn3569]

I started using Tektronics scopes in 1969 when they were far more expensive than my brand new VW Beetle. Purchased the $140 Fnirsi about a year ago. It works as advertised. Now if they only add a separate sych input and implement an "A delayed by B" function, it would be complete.

[@010falcon]

I have worked the good half part of my life in the electronics industry, not once have I ever needed to look at a signal above 20MHz, for the every day user this scope should be just fine.

[@johncoops6897]

That is my feeling too. It's silly to get over-excited about high frequency performance and not really test more commonly used areas of operation.

[@010falcon]

@@johncoops6897 funny thing is, the highest I have measured wasnt long ago, it was a voltage peak from a ESD tester, and this with a seperate coil around the wire of the ESD tester to be galvanicaly isolated if you get what I mean, even there 100ns sample time was more than good enough... with a arc, a arc...

[@pigeonsil240sx]

what do you think i would need as bare minimum for automotive use?im new to oscillioscopes and for my first one i really want to start cheap any suggestions?

[@ganko2240]

I think "Li Shayu" is referring to Lissajous!

[@shadow7037932]

lol. It's amusing how they low key changed the spelling to make it look like a more Chinese/Asian name.

[@rynax009]

@@shadow7037932 It's translated to Chinese then this maker just used a machine to translate Chinese into English

[@jaoswald]

@@shadow7037932 The Chinese "tech writer" has probably only ever seen the Chinese characters for the name. He is probably already straining to work out the English, expecting him to know that Lissajous was a French surname and how to spell it...if Baidu translate just gave him pinyin for it, shrug "Li Shayu" it is.

[@clems6989]

Its not a bench / lab scope. However it would work good as an industrial control troubleshooting tool. Looking at encoder signals, switching devices etc.....

[@GigaPlaya]

Even a 100 kHz (not MHz) scope is useful to check power supplies for ripple. It also can be used on audio gear. The caps are a good place to start checking. So even 20 MHz is overkill for some people. Because most power supplies offer 20 mV or less ripple, this oscilloscope is only just usable for the mV sensitivity. But it looks like good value for portability.

[@aliveandwellinisrael2507]

Late reply, but yeah. I'm a hobbyist/student and I really wouldn't care if it's not 1Gs/s etc. If I was in that demographic, I'd get one of the cheaper Keysight scopes or something. I'm just going to get something that will show what the waveform is, approximately what the voltages are etc just to know whether something is set up correctly or way off.

[@SembeiNorimaki]

Man really. The whole video is about complaining about how to do things and you haven't even read the manual. Make some quality video by first learning how to use what you are reviewing. Your videos will be shorter and you will waste less other people's time

[@hsubdarb]

I just got the Pico 2204a. Looks like I made a good choice.

[@video99couk]

23:03 Still regularly use my TDS3012 (1.25Gs/s) scope from about 1999. Still a nice 'scope today, apart from the floppy drive storage!

[@simontay4851]

Put a gotek floppy emulator in it.

[@Pootycat8359]

A while back, I was looking for a DSO. I watched every video I could find, on the ones in my price range. The FNIRSIs were the cheapest....BUT, the WORST! I finally bought a like-new Tek DSO2002B, for about what a new FNIRSI would cost, and I'm very happy with it. Whenever I.m looking for test equipment, and see the word "FNIRSI," I run!

[@RodNaugler]

RE: Why the autoset was different, it wasn't really different. You hit Autoset before you selected your trigger channel the first time. Every time after that you had your trigger channel set and it autoset the same way.

[@boggisthecat]

Well, at least you got the front bezel with yours. After complaining multiple times (apparently they couldn’t see what the problem was, despite photos), I was offered a $3 refund. They said it was probably a production problem. Yeah, no crap... Your one is also significantly out of spec on the vertical gain, too. Their spec claims are nonsense.

[@EEVblog]

No front cover? LOL. Should have sent you a new one.

[@boggisthecat]

EEVblog I’ll just make one with “Warning: Scepticism Advised!” Anyway, it is potentially useful for people if the limitations can be worked out - or worked around. It is pretty responsive, so seems to have enough grunt to work better if the firmware can be modified. Quality Control is obviously not ‘Job Number One’ with these, but they work reasonably well and are cheap.

[@doningram3978]

Got sick of waiting for it to come into stock at Banggood and went for the Micsig tablet instead. 3 times the price, infinitely better product. Absolutely awesome bit of kit, all from a jaded techie who has stumped up for HP & Tektronix in business lifetimes past.

[@EEVblog]

Micsig make some nice gear.

[@justrandom7214]

Micsig scopes are great. As tablet. but I like my repaired Lecroy 7200 (paid 600) a lot more.

[@gglovato]

3 times to price is not something that is evenb in the same ballpark, at that price you already have superb bench scopes

[@excitedbox5705]

Dont buy from banggood they just dropship aliexpress for more money and worse service.

[@JasperJanssen]

Guillermo Lovato yes, but who would want a bench scope when you can have a tiny tablet? And no, I’m not being facetious, I think this is actually a better form factor for many purposes, and certainly for me.

[@ed-jf3xh]

Could be your finger Dave. I have the same unresponsiveness on my Samsung tablet. Sometimes. Usually happen when my finer is extremely dry. A bit of hand lotion always fixes the issue, for me.

[@beforebefore]

Got one for Christmas... actually has 100MHz -3dB bandwidth. Takes a while to get used to the UI... but doesn't take too long. I've already used it for 20+ hours. It's no competition for my old Tek TDS-460 (a bargain, even after replacing all the SMD electrolytics)... but for portable use... and when I only need 2 channels... can't be beat! I miss the ability to have switchable 50 Ohm input impedance, but a BNC-T and a BNC terminator fixes that. Baseline calibration is BROKE... never finishes!

[@markallen381]

Price is good, contrast is good, may need to make a hood out of cardboard if lighting in location makes glarry. How is this for making audio measurements?

[@IlBiggo]

3:58 can we spend a minute to appreciate John Travolta's mad jacket-launching skillz?

[@LazerLord10]

When you want to make a differential measurement but don't want to buy a diff probe. Just get a whole scope!

[@sstorholm]

LazerLord10 I’d really would like to know what the heck makes diff probes so expensive, I mean, they can’t be that complex to make.

[@advancedmicrosystems4658]

@@sstorholm haha little do you know....even in TE companies the probe people are considered as witches and warlocks.

[@marco56702]

@@sstorholm Nothing really if what you need is a differential probe with sub 1MHz BW to check SMPS waveforms...if you want high voltage and high bandwidth it's a little black magic :)

[@nikmilosevic1696]

Yup that sums it up, my experience with it was the same. Good thing you didnt waste your time on the fft, its not great, crap actually (looks like they are using a tiny sample set). But its ok as a basic signal sniffer (up to 10MHz) that you can throw into a small tool box. I also wish they wouldnt bullshit about the specs, no need for that.

[@mrkv4k]

For that price, I think it could actually be pretty good device for some basic debug of audio equipment.

[@brucejones6221]

@@mrkv4k Ya, but I like my Hantek 8060 a lot better for that, it's got a signal generator on board too!

[@amirb715]

for

[@iP3To]

With some SW updates it could be good tool for car repair shops and stuff like that

[@robertjung8929]

for car repair shops you need a tons of special probes (troubleshoot ignition systems and injection systems) and you need 4 or more channels.. usually scopes for car repair shops have 8 channels (to be able to diagnose 8 cylinder engines). another point is the software.. you need software to help you diagnose issues, that's why those are usually PC based scopes so you can run a sophisticated diagnostic software.

[@TALHAno]

@@robertjung8929 Your answer tells me you don`t diagnose cars for a living.

[@donfoumare]

@EEVblog, I dont think that you can compare the usabilty of this pure touchscreen UI with others that have actual physical knobs. They had to come up with a custom solution since there is no "standard". And as always, tastes differ.

[@milanfixer]

I have a feeling that these "affordable" scopes are too much of a hassle and you really get what you pay for (they're toys, let's be honest). Better save up and get a real one, because no one could give your wasted time back.

[@russ18uk]

Depends what your use is. I I wanted something for troubleshooting a car or my ebike, it's definitely useful to have a battery-powered scope.Don't forget it's isolated (fully) from mains earth.

[@bill392]

I agree, this product is just plain garbage. I'm not made of cash but I'd gladly spend 5 times as much to buy something proven and much more polished like a Rigol DS1104Z. I actually got a DS1054Z and hacked it to DS1104Z with all options enabled. Certain cheap benchtop scopes have Li-po options too. Personally, for bench use, I'd steer away from anything with a battery inside it just because it'll be one more thing to repeatedly charge and one more battery to replace later, assuming it doesn't blow up and burn my house down.

[@JohnUsp]

In fact, this is not an issue, there is a rule of thumb that you need to measure xHz in the DUT, you need a scope (and probes) with at least 5xHz capacity.

[@eDoc2020]

I can really only see this as being useful if you need a truly portable scope. I'm happy with my old 20MHz analog Hitachi V-209 portable oscilloscope. It's a bit bulkier, has a smaller screen, and lacks single shot mode, but it has a more intuitive interface, no aliasing, and an external triggering input. Plus its internal battery still works after over 30 years. The $30 I spent on it and probes on the used market seems like a much better investment than this $140 unit.

[@MD_Builds]

i spent 180 quid on a hantek 2 channel... and its been great for me... No need to spend ultra bucks for rigol...

[@Attic-Toy-Design]

Dave, before you start your review you should read the manual/instructions rather than guessing how it works and criticises.

[@l3p3]

4:57 green led is a charging indicator, see last question on the right...

[@EEVblog]

Nope, that's the red power LED is the charging indicator.

[@l3p3]

Confusion kicks in for me.

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

I'm not even going to watch this video! Right from the get-go I can see the Dave hasn't familiarized himself with this product so he can give us a proper demonstration of what this product has to offer. What are its weaknesses what's decent? Instead we're going to sit here and watch him fumble around not knowing what to do, then he's going to bitch & complain, make it look like it's their fault & the thing is a piece of junk! Familiarize yourself with the product if you're going to take the time to shoot a video!

[@bars1337]

Thank you. I thought I was alone

[@flt73]

There is no reason not to watch the EEVBlog videos - at least if you don't want to make yourself look ridiculous -, take measurements and reveal what are and how the circuits of this scope work, or how good or bad its functions are, and NOT bitch and complain. Especially when a function just needs to be done more carefully with better knowledge at probably the same cost to not be crippled or unusable. He just tells you the facts without relativizing, regardless of prices, hypes, desires, and politics, and that's the best and most you can get from a review. Yes, he has feelings about the gear - in addition to concrete knowledge. He doesn't make average chit-chat videos, you have to be able to tell the difference, but he's a human being too. Also, Chinese specifications are still tantamount to shameless lies, and you shouldn't overlook that for a second, even if you buy and use such products because of your reasons, as I sometimes do.

[@TheChrisey]

That's the whole point. He is doing it out of the perspective of a beginner to see how userfriendly it is. If you actually watch the damn video you can see how poorly designed it is. China is just not good at software.

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

@@TheChrisey if I'm going to review something I'm going to at least know what it does, how it operates!

[@TheChrisey]

@@ronniepirtlejr2606 Did you actually read and understand what I said? The point of the video is not to demonstrate how it works. He has clearly showed us several flaws with the design. The point is to review it out of a regular user's perspective, and if the interface is ridiculously cryptic, it's bad, that simple.

[@ElektronikLabor]

Actually a cool toy for a low price. I can imagine some beginners would be happy to have one. But one should always be aware of its limitations

[@EEVblog]

For sure. Any scope is better than no scope for a beginner.

[@breedj1]

@@EEVblog You're probably better off buying a cheap second hand scope.

[@ElektronikLabor]

@@breedj1 Yes and No: For sure an old analog scope does make sense if you want to learn how a scope working but if you want to see transient impulses or capture digital data you need a digital one and even that $140 cheapy toy could help there if you cannot spend $400 for a siglent or rigol

[@breedj1]

@@ElektronikLabor A second hand digital 100MHz rigol with real 1Gsps will cost around 230 USD. It might be a better idea to save a bit more than buying something that is inaccurate, unreliable and a pain to use. I learnt the hard way myself. It's wasting your money versus waiting a few more months and save some extra money for a good scope you can rely on. That second hand scope can probably be used for another 15 or 20 years. I do not think that this 'flat' scope will be used for more than a year because the owner will eventually want to use a better scope, or it dies after 3 years or so. So it's a waste as well.

[@JanCiger]

@@ElektronikLabor Well, given how this thing actually handles the single shot capture and that it has no digital data decoding at all, as it seems, that's really not a win. Add to that the poor linearity of the frontend where you can't trust that the amplitude on the screen is somewhat accurate and I pity the newbie who will be trying to tear their hair out trying to debug anything with this. An instrument that is lying to you and wasting your time is worse than having no instrument at all.

[@volodymyrzakolodyazhny]

This tablet size and price scope is a thing I want and I can afford. Parameters and price is quite good. I have 350 MHz analog Tektronix 2465, but this tablet osc can cover all my needs. ... I have to add - I thought that before this video, but don't now.

[@alitaroosheh]

this problem exists because there is no antialiasing filter at all. there is no gain controller at all. It just connected the signal via some relays to ADC. When we wanna sample with the speed of 100MSPS, we need an antialiasing filter to prevent frequencies near the sampling frequency rate and it's harmonics as well. But as I know AD9288 works on 100MSPS per each channel. so we could use both channels on the same signal with a 180° shift in the clock phase to speed up the sampling rate 2 times (ADC dual-channel interleaving). Here we have 2 ADC chip, it means there are 4channel ADC exist. When we produce a clock and 3other clocks with 90-degree shifted phase per each (0° - 90° - 180° and 270°) we could achieve 400MSPS. I hope that this device did the same method to sample the signal. Wish, you could do this test that CH2 is turned off and then with the tiniest Time-Div on 1st channel check the input clock of all 4 channels at the same time. Although with these problems we don't have any device with this price, so I think we could use it as a 30MHz Osclliscope as well and that is valuable.

[@aaronhausken3226]

they work ok to check if you can see a can bus signal on car computers sensors. cheap, small & battery powered.

[@arcadebuilder533]

When instructions tell you to touch the screen you can't "hold" your finger on it. It is a how long your finger touches the screen for kind if thing... Quick touches or else it is assumes an error or assumes you want to drag slide a setting

[@winstonsmith478]

"Solemn reminder." "We're lying about specs."

[@winstonsmith478]

@@kingflockthewarrior202 Did you even watch the video?

Looks like you SERIOSLY tried to mishandle that equipment, like triying to make it look like useless on purpouse

[@HA7DN]

I got my first DSO for ~$140. It's an used Phillips PM3323 - 300MHz analog bandwidth, 500MSps, and 4k sample memory. Not bad for a 1989 product, but was a pretty hard task to take it home via public transport, and it still occupies half my workbench. Damn that thing is just amazing to operate, I always knew I love buttons and dials but I did not except to love it this much. It only suffers in portability, so I'll probably get another one possibly for uni.

[@NavinF]

Umm 500M/s doesn’t meet nyquist for 300mhz. Why would the input filter be that high?

[@HA7DN]

@@NavinF Pretty good question, and I'm not sure either. My guess is that it's 500Msps real-time, and using repeated sampling on each trigger event it can be a higher equivalent-time sampling rate - but I don't know the math behind that, so it's only a guess.

[@MadRC]

Looks ok for the money and to be for for beginners I think it’s a not a bad start for the bench.

[@discoHR]

Waveform is most likely unstable at 100 MHz because your trigger is not centered and the signal is attenuated so much that your trigger is above some of the peaks. Set it to zero (AC) or middle (DC).

[@lolilollolilol7773]

Yes but the waveform itself cannot be trusted because its P-P amplitude varies so much, meaning there is aliasing and they are simply interpolating more or less randomly between 2 actual samples, and that's normal because the actual sampling rate is 200Ms/s so that's only 2 samples per cycle ! So basically you can't trust its phase and you can't trust its amplitude. So what you have is a completely random sine wave that go through a bunch of points. Not sure what you are going to do with that. Perhaps at 50MHz he could have gotten some relatively reliable sine waves (forget about square), but at 100MHz, it's just luck and nothing else. The rule of the thumb is 8-10 samples/cycle for a square wave so it's really a 2x20MHz scope.

[@c-housetelevision5881]

Bought one for audio troubleshooting. It's fine. Went in knowing it was probably only 20MHz from last review. If I was more serious I'd pay 2x-4x for a Rigol or Siglent but for occasional use its fine and convenient.

[@damnitdang]

You used it to tune amplifier gain? Would you recommend these tablet or those $50 hand held ones?

[@lolilollolilol7773]

@@damnitdang The $50 handneld ones are good for nothing and can't even be flashed, meaning their firmware can nevr be upgraded. This one looks at least decently usable.

[@kevincozens6837]

"The fuselage is equipped with a USB interface" seen in the manual at 4:31. Fuselage? Now it is part aircraft?? ;) At 7:16 Dave changed the time/division without realizing it. Perhaps a future software update may fix some of the user interface issues.

[@VolodymyrTorkalo]

Don't think that this garbadge will have any updates..

[@charlesspringer4709]

The words broken up vertically are likely because the interface was written to be Chinese. It would be fantastic to have the source code. In fact, I have thought a lot about a kit like this.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

Hopefully this one can be flashed. The previous one couldn't which is a shame.

[@gordonlawrence1448]

Personally I have two scopes. An OWON scope which was good for the price (about £250 ish delivered) with 100MHz bandwidth and an analogue Techtronix 450MHz scope with low capacitance probes etc. I use both. The OWON is perfectly adequate for audio etc and in realityis pretty good up to about 10MHz. Beyond that the sheer quality of the Techtronics and the low capacitance probes make too much of a difference.

[@tayro7265]

Dave: I have one of the DSO138 scopes. I'm well over fifty so the 1/4" x 1/4" screen has become a fly in the ointment. So as I was digging through my "supplies" I ran across an old dead laptop. It has a 19" TFT LCD screen with a 25 pin ribbon connector and LED backlight driver inputs. So out of curiosity I checked the DSO138 and bingo, 25 active LCD pin out. According to the specs if I build a power supply for the LCD and LED back lights I'm in like Flinn. As I researched further I found something very kool. The DSO is only using half it's resources. One guy added a second input channel. Then another guy did the laptop monitor thing. Another reprogrammed the CPU for a parallel 8 bit vid output. Doubling sample rates and such. The guy that used the laptop screen was contacted by someone that wrote him some code so his DSO138 would have touchscreen. Then I thought if an old laptop screen could be used on a crappy DSO138... What about a Raspberry Pi???? I was surprised to say the least. Thought you may be interested. Maybe a vid or two?

[@rogerlaing4405]

Do you have links to all these mods for the DSO? I really love them for basic automotive diagnosis! And was looking at this due to it being a dual channel, but if there's an easy conversion to dual channel then I'm all ears!

[@junehi03]

You are using a very expensive bench oscilloscope (Keysight) - can you please make a video to explain why it is needed and its benefits over the cheap ones from China. Many thanks

[@MadScientistsLair]

The glitchy firmware is the dealbreaker for general use, and the lack of sensitivity on the inputs seriously limits its use for an audio band scope as there are plenty of times where the full scale signal you wish to monitor is

[@royollaurence2585]

Finally a decent review from an expert

[@deathblowhere]

And Honest review, not this promoted rubbish ;)

[@vidznstuff1]

@@deathblowhere By a know-it-all that can't be bothered to read the manual for all the money he'll rack up for this video. Once he cuts through his usual bullshitting, his bench work is worth the watch, ANYWAY

[@EEVblog]

@@vidznstuff1 I'll probably make sub $100 from ad revenue on this video. And yeah, I use stuff without reading the manual first, sue me.

[@ToTheGAMES]

@@vidznstuff1 Why so negative?

[@marco56702]

@@vidznstuff1 He is right not reading the manual beforehand, It's a bloddy tablet oscilloscope, if the UI is good an EE should be able to operate the thing (at least the basics) without manual. If not then the GUI is bad. That's it

[@bubbamachina1308]

Was just about to order an osiclloscope. Nice to get this review exactly when im about prepared to buy one!

[@jackwyz22]

Yess I was hoping you would review more compact/cheap oscilloscopes! I got a Hantek 2C42 recently and it works wonders after some firmware tweaks

[@JusstyteN]

i use it for audio and sub 500khz applications and its perfectly good, although the measurements isnt the strongest point but if you want something to see waves for cheap i think its good buy, not for advanced high frequency ofc, for that you want something better. also its awesome that its battery powered, no need for diferental or 230-230v trans. i made my tesla coil with it. but acidentaly fried one coz it has weak ground beetween the channels. a lot cheaper mistake then lets say 400 proper scope would have been

[@kriswillems5661]

I bought a 200USD hantek 200MHz scope. It looks much better than this thing. Your review of HANTEK scopes wasn't too positive, but I think for a hobbyist it just works fine - much of the software problems are gone by now.

[@kriswillems5661]

DSO5202P

[@bravestbullfighter]

Where did you get it for $200. My searches show closer to $300.

[@whizzo94]

Any chance of reviewing a portable oscilloscope with a more well known brand? Hantek make a 2 channel unit for not a lot more money than this thing.

[@discoHR]

Timebase and voltage per divison did change while you were pinch zooming in the video. It takes a while to get to the next range, just keep doing it.

[@AmigaBoing]

I just received a slightly different version (bnc and power enclosed in a "hole", nice protection for them") and it seem to not have most of the problem seen in this video. Maybe it's a software revision, too. Anyway usable for less tha 50Mhz signals, i think it's OK for 150€

[@martingerken7094]

Thanks for that review (I did not find real reviews before)! 4 weeks ago, I had almost bought this thing, but I went for the Hantek DSO5072P at just 100€ more. I'm glad to go for the Hantek...

[@KrotowX]

How good Hantek DSO5072P is? I still have little DSO, which is erm.. usable for my DIY thinkering and repairs. But I wish to have something a little better with larger screen. 193€ for DSO5072P in Banggood seems Ok.

[@martingerken7094]

@@KrotowX It's my first "real" scope, so I cannot compare. It lacks in the digital domain (not I2C decoding etc), but all the rest ist fine. I had a small DSO before, but setting everything with just two buttons drove me nuts. The Hantek (as all real scopes) has those buttons for direct control, plus a lot of button for further analysis.

[@smadge1]

I wish there were more options for “iPad/lightning” oscilloscopes, that just plug into your iPad. It’s a big, touch screen computer, with plenty of cpu and memory. It’s already connected to the network.

[@Milamberinx]

Given how many apps that I’ve paid for and have stopped working since the birth of iPads I wouldn’t want to be spending hundreds on hardware that apple can just break.

[@RussellTeapot]

4:26 Li Shayu? Is he the chinese counterpart of Lissajous?

[@uzaiyaro]

I'm glad I bought my DreamSource Lab USB-based oscilloscope. I'm still learning to use it, but I do like it.

[@mattelder1971]

Probably different people doing the name translation. I can see where "table", "plate", and "flat" could all be synonyms.

[@bigcheese781]

Well, you'd get galvanic isolation towards mains ground... So you'd save yourself a diffprobe.

[@RozbeMinoSepehr]

Do you have a better offer in this price range ?? $ 150 Is there a difference in quality and measurement compared to the smaller yellow sample? I am a beginner, if you have a better offer, so that I do not regret it in the future.

[@necessaryevil8615]

Another worry I have with cheap equipment like this is the durability. I must say that I also worry about the durability of some of the "real" oscilloscopes (the budget ones). I own a Tektronix 465B from the late 70's, it works fine, even the electrolytic capacitors in the switching power supply are the orginal ones...

[@TheBackyardChemist]

If they could improve the firmware and manage to squeeze in a few more relays to be able to interleave all 4 ADC channels, then this would actually be much more useful. I do wonder though, if you were to take the same budget to make a USB 3.whatever (10 Gbps USB) PC-scope, would you be able to get better bang for your buck? If you already have a laptop with a 10 Gbps capable USB port (getting more and more common) and a touchscreen it may be viable.

[@robertjung8929]

i'm afraid the FPGA with 10Gbps usb3 phy would be more expensive than the touch screen :D so you would not fit the budget.

[@TheBackyardChemist]

@@robertjung8929 Ah, bugger.

[@AnotherCG]

Now that I see how easy to access the battery. Most def will be increaing the size on my unit :)

[@joseprotacio5654]

yes i found it i am waiting for my scope this same model coming tomorrow and looking for a review and there it is i found you thank you very much

[@petersage5157]

No differential pair matching? Even the modest 20MHz Rigol and Siglent scopes have matched traces. As an isolated scope, it's probably one of the most affordable options for what it can do. Seems a fair sight better than scopemeters in the same price range.

[@change_your_oil_regularly4287]

Seems fine to me 🤷 though if I got $10,000 keysight scopes thrown at me I'd probably hate it too. Significantly better than trying to figure out a signal by sticking your tongue on a trace. Might be alright as a cheap automotive scope. When it gets knocked about it doesn't really matter.

[@jj74qformerlyjailbreak3]

The one Adrians Digital Basement channel used to fix another Commodore64 actually had Analog Video Output. A feature that would kill this thing. Still would like to drive it though. Thanks EEVlog.

[@wayneparris3439]

Well lets see how it measures up! After watching and paying attention.... well, for the money if it meets your needs... as you said, $140. Thanks for the review!

[@EEVblog]

Not that well! But it's $140, so...

[@kitecattestecke2303]

Used eBay scope for 140usd is better

[@joejoe4games]

Speaking of cheap measuring instrument could you take a look at the nanoVNA (v2) ? Seems almost to good to be true: a 50kHz-3Ghz VNA for ~$70 !

[@lazzer408]

You changed the timebase at 7:20 and didn't notice

[@terrencecarter27]

Would love to have more detailed information on this type of oscilloscope and its functions and hook up it has less background than any other equipment that I have ever read up on!

[@tonyfremont]

There's a newer version of this floating around. It has recessed BNC connectors. A friend gave me one for Christmas. He bought it brand new, for $10, at some kind of sale. I haven't done much with it, but it seems decent for the price.

[@bobblaine1437]

I went for one of your previous suggestions -- buy a used scope off of e-bay. It's noisy and takes up a lot of bench space for how much I actually use it, but I don't regret it. Thanks for the review.

[@frankowalker4662]

I ordered one a few days ago. My current scope is a Hitachi CRT from the 80's. I think this will make life a bit easier. Apart from anything else it's smaller.

[@omarandrade3768]

Hi! Can you tell us how good was that purchase?

[@frankowalker4662]

@@omarandrade3768 It's a really good scope when it comes to audio and video frequencies. It's also reliable at computer clock frequencies and timings. I've never used it for RF work, so I don't know about those frequency ranges. I still use it often and it's replaced my old CRT scope.

[@MarkEichin]

Sounds like this might be a good starting point if you wanted to tear it apart and build it into something else (dashboard, or console, or audio gear maybe?)

[@uzaiyaro]

God, this is so frustrating. I've been looking for a bottom-dollar entry-level scope because that's really all I can afford. The hardware is there to make a great usable product with a disruptive price, but it's all pissed down the drain with terrible software, every single time. I'm just gonna save for a Rigol, I think. At least I know what I'll get for the money. I don't want or need "100MHz" or "1Gs/s". All I want is modest performance, in a reliable package, to get my feet wet, that's really it

[@hullinstruments]

Yeah I’m on the exact same page. Is insane they haven’t filled this void in the market!!!! I have plenty of scopes from Nice mixed signal scopes, modern rigol and siglent.... and plenty of old analog units.... and I love him a lot. BUT BUT BUT I need a portable “isolated” handheld oscilloscope that will do under 100 MHz… Doesn’t have to be fancy..... It’s the Portability and isolation that are most important, and I think it’s ridiculous I would need to spend $500 on a micsig brand scope to get something like that. I can’t believe out of all of the Chinese scopes available they don’t have one under $100 that functions somewhat decently!!!!!!

[@uzaiyaro]

@@hullinstruments if you're ok with being tethered to a laptop, since that post I bought a DreamSource Lab scope. It's basic, but blows the Hantek 022BL I had, right out of the water. I love it. If you want to know more of my thoughts on it, I'll be happy to share. Maybe I could even try this KZbin video stuff myself, maybe.

[@MrBarcode]

Theres open source firmware for this thing now. I really wonder if better firmware would have made it more usable. I do agree daves used to high end gear and that may taint how he reviews low end gear

[@uzaiyaro]

@@MrBarcode Frankly I don’t think his experience with high end gear muddies the waters on cheap scopes. *much.* I think the frustration with the software would be something we all share, and it could possibly even be worse if it’s the only thing you have. The Hantek shit me to tears, but it doesn’t even have the hardware to make a decent scope, it’s literally as basic as it could possibly get. There aren’t even any relays in the frontend. The DScope is very, very basic, but at *least* it has this. That being said, I am very curious to see how this thing goes on functional firmware. As I’ve said a few times now, the hardware is there to make something great. It’s just the software that completely fucks it. If the software is gone, then maybe…

[@popandopulouspupkin4496]

The "Memory depth: 240Kbit" doesn't mean there's 240K samples storage. That's literally the capacity of Cyclone IV blockram, in bits. This translates to 30K samples shared between 2 ADC, so the max history depth is 15K samples per channel, and who knows if they would allow the whole 30K buffer for a single channel.

[@Dee_Just_Dee]

I'm a lowly tech earning what equates to less than $50k in aussie dollars per year. I can definitely see the appeal in a $140 scope. Heck, my Amazon "save for later" list has included a $40 one-channel scope for a couple of years now (but really, what the heck is the use of a single channel scope?).

[@johncoops6897]

The heck, really... You buy a second one, and then you have 2 channels for $80 total.

[@giliack7017]

This is not a serious analysis, this is a show...Unfortunately I look for more serious and less biased comments and analysis.

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

I like the idea. A bit more polish and I'm in !! For me I have 3 use cases > 1. There are a couple remote locations(desert/forest) I would LOVE to bring a scope/leave a scope. Something that it doesn't matter how dusty or dirty it gets / cheap enough I wouldn't cry if it died. 2. High voltage= There is nooo way I'm working with ion/ozone/static HV near my good scopes. [[Funny story = was just messing about, and something on the OTHER side of the room lit on fire. HV went through a bunch of stuff / jumped wires /etc etc.. ]] 3. Chasing wires= Such a pain to bring a scope just to check a wire(wall / modem / pole / workshop / etc) ... I guess thats the same reason as #1, Last month I worked on a Kawasaki Mule. The fuel pump is connected to a Mos, which is fed by a computer looking thing.. Woulda been nice to know what signal it was being fed...

[@Ivan4es1]

The main privilege for that kind of oscilloscopes - they are portablel, and not have galvanic connection to main AC.)

[@Ivan4es1]

Sorry for my English.)

[@ДмитрийБелов-д8ж]

But have a galvanic connection between the channels.

[@philipdonovan6510]

I like your take on this scope. I"m in work right now in out R&D electronics lab and asked the manage about "affordable scopes" . This one was recommended the software guys who "just needed to have a basic scope around". I'm looking for one just for guitar tube amps builds, to be able to look at inputs and outputs at the same time, or visually see distortion contours which this scope should serve fine for something like that. Nice show, Thanks, Phil

[@andrewcharles3417]

You don't know the test standard, the oscilloscope bandwidth test standard: 100Mhz 1Vpp sine wave oscilloscope test result is 0.707V is qualified

[@davidcook7816]

One would think that before running a review on a device the reviewer would first learn how to use it. Is this a lab quality scope? No. Are there places it can be useful? Yes. For the price, it can't be beat (at this point) so if you need a lab quality scope fork out the money and buy one but at least acknowledge this little scope offers a lot for the money.

[@johncoops6897]

The most important thing is.... is there a BETTER scope for $140 or not? If not, then this is a winner.... even if it's not as good as Dave's $15,000 Keysight.

[@apexcrazyful]

Its lik e watching my grandpa try to switch the new TV from VCR to cable,... "Why wont this thing just work!?"

[@d.jeffdionne]

The hardware looks not bad for the price, depending on what they did in that front end attenuator circuit. There would be nothing at all wrong with a 20MHz, 200Ms/s scope for $139. It looks like all the necessary information is available to make a firmware and FPGA code...

[@thatengineeringchannel4611]

You should also try the Hantek 4D42 as well. It's not the best but I'm getting the impression that it's not as bad as that thing.