EEVblog

[@RRak]

I started watching EEVBlog by searching basic tutorials on KZbin years ago. Now I do electronics for a living (partially at least). More fundamentals! :)

[@EEVblog]

Awesome!

[@kaizen9451]

I come and go with KZbin channels, like fashion, but it was 2012 when I started watching and haven't looked back.

[@RRak]

In our company we actually use your soldering videos to teach interns the basics. There is a huge value in explaining stuff for beginners. :)

[@Sixta16]

I've actually started watching EEVblog, as I liked the more advanced stuff (circuit design) and Dave's tales from his work. The good old days of EEVblog! :)

[@kaizen9451]

@Sixta16 You know what, I think a 5 minute segment a week of Dave telling some work story would be very watchable. I bet he has tons of tales to tell.

[@jordanjohnson714]

Thanks for being an inspiration, Dave. You're a great teacher. I'm learning about electronics and you're a big help!

[@EEVblog]

Awesome, keep it up. Build stuff!

[@stevetobias4890]

I just spent $400 for my first oscilloscope and I am loving learning how to use properly. Looking forward to your next video

[@jonvannatto]

I don't often comment but thank you for making this video. Very informative for the new player. Thanks for keeping it real and demoing a hobbyist scope over a professional one.

[@BLundahlMusic]

You are hands down the best teacher for electronics on this platform. Thank you for giving the world access to your knowledge! You also keep viewers interested and the information is easy to follow.

[@Hightyde2796]

You should totally sell kitchen appliances on those 30min tv commercials

[@TheDrewker]

Kitchen appliances... or pretty much anything. His speech is so energetic you can't touch the dial

[@TomBpersonal]

Hahaha yes

[@linq8977]

yea, give me the number, i gonna dial and order this scope!

[@AIJenkins]

Haha - sell tek equipment 😎

[@RobeenaShepherd]

It's therapeutic watching this, reminds me of when I got my first scope (an Owon) a few years ago now, and knew so little. Your how-not-to-blow-up-your-scope video was how I discovered your channel! I still know so little now, but I know way more than I did back then. ;) Sorry for breaking internet protocol and not moaning about how your video wasn't exactly what I personally wanted you to make for me...

[@RaglansElectricBaboon]

Your comment wasn't exactly what I personally wanted to read beneath this video ;-P Protocol repaired :-D

[@rotaryconvert]

Hi Dave, I'm happy to see the Oscilloscope tutorial. I spent two years in college as an EE major before switching to and graduating as a Comp Sci major. I still pursue electronics as a hobby and would love to see more of these basics videos. best, James

[@MS7.7]

Are you still perusing your hobby?

[@leandrolaporta2196]

You have a fantastic, clear, an concise way to explain things, i enjoy your videos very much, I use scopes since 1990 and have a couple of digital ones, but still enjoy your presentation, please keep at it, you are very good.

[@EEVblog]

Thanks.

[@proyectosledar]

back to basic. thanks dave

[@smckix]

I was looking for something for my second semester physics students to get a good introduction to oscilloscopes. This is perfect. Thanks.

[@oscodains]

Your videos actually helped get me interested into electronics, planning on taking some classes to get the basics of electronics while in college.

[@zo1dberg]

1:10 - Upvoted just for the post-it note flipbook! Brilliant! :)

[@Smmmile]

Hi Dave, great video and hopefully you'll follow up and make it a great series. I just thought I'd add some points in from the point of view of a beginner like myself: 1) When a scope mentions bandwidth (Mhz), I used to think of it as the fastest frequency signal that it could display correctly. It's the fastest signal it can monitor while being 3dB down. In most cases the scopes bandwidth is a little higher. So anyone buying a 50Mhz scope looking to monitor max 50mhz signals won't get a 1:1 reproduction. Maybe this is common knowledge, but as a newbie I thought it was good to know. 2) Since the Digital scopes sample the input, as a newbie I thought that sample rate was going to be the same no matter what time base you use or how many channels you have on. But of course the sample rate is a function of both of those (and maybe other things?). Again I was surprised at this and just shows how little I really know about these majestic devices. Do you know of any other newbie traps like this? Perhaps you can incorporate them into your next videos and give us newbies a chance to catch up and buy something decent for a first scope, thanks!

[@Tukhmemurgh]

0:20 the moldy meter. It measures the mold of a circuit.

[@PrinceWesterburg]

Hahahahaa!!!

[@SquantoTerror]

I really enjoyed this video, even if it was basic information. I think it's great of Dave to do some basic videos to inspire the new casual electronics hobbiest and or children that want to get into the hobby. His enthusiasm and passion for electronics is wonderful and getting people excited to learn is what it's all about for videos like this. There are a ton of "how to use an oscilloscope videos on KZbin", but they don't have the entertainment value that draws people in. Great video Dave!

[@TheAussiePirate]

Now THIS is what I subscribed for. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

[@murnelbabineaux105]

The DSO allowed me to see a glitch occur at a very slow speed. This helped me fix my circuit issue that I could not see with the analog scope

[@iamjimgroth]

The hard part is figuring out which oscilloscope to save up for.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

The cheapest used one with the largest bandwidth / sample frequency you can find.

[@SparkyLabs]

Yes and no, Just wantch out for some makes like owon, I got stung for £500 on a 200MHz machine that has terrible aliasing and the power board blew up so it's on life support with an external power brick. I replaced it with a 50MHz rigol for £300 and could not be happier.

[@EEVblog]

Analog stuff needs single shot too. Try to measure the startup behavior of a PSU on an analog scope for example.

[@iamjimgroth]

I've been looking at scopes and one that seem very popular is Rigol ds1054z. The question is if it's very exaggerated to get as a first scope. It's price is a bit steep but not impossible to save up to.

[@eloic]

As an absolute beginner, making electronic just for fun (and guitar pedals), i bought an digital oscilloscope diy kit (24 €) on chinese web site (DSO138). Real fun to mount and enough for my needs. Don't know how accurate it is and how long it will last but great for budget.

[@trailerfitter2]

Beautiful explanation. Thank you. For me, I am multi meter illiterate. Hard to understand the values shown. Oscilloscope on the other had has opened up a whole new world in automotive electrics.

[@gabrielsworld4385]

Thank you so much eevblog, the first time I came in contact with electronics was when I was on Amazon and they had a Arduino kit on sale I told my dad I would like to have it and he got it for me and now it is nearly my b-day and I'm going to setup a lab, and the 330$ lab video you did helped me tremendously and now I'm here watching why and how to use an oscilloscope and it's all thanks to you. Have a great day EEVBLOG.😀😀

[@portblock]

Great video. Just side note, this is why I love analog meters too, I can watch a cap charge etc...

[@archstanton9073]

I haven't used an oscilloscope in years and I have a job interview tomorrow where I'll be asked to use one. This is a great refresher. Cheers!

[@YUHJKT]

once again you have carefully and energetically explained something so that the layman can understand. So I subscribed. Thank you.

[@phillipbartlett1819]

I know this is a older video but I wanted to thank you Dave for your channel. I bought a Rigol 2072a after watching all you o-scope stuff. Was looking at a owon all in one thing but your advice was to buy individual gear. So I have my Rigol scope a fluke 8050 bench meter, a owon handheld (till I get yours) and a cheap power supply. I love most of it but adding as I go. Thanks again for all your work to keep us informed.

[@NanoRoyce]

This video got me all excited about oscilloscopes. Now I am not hesitant about getting one. "A window into another world" Thanks!

[@MAYERMAKES]

the most awesome way to utilize dave-CAD! Genius!

[@nwbackcountry5327]

Dave-CAD is the best.

[@maciejprzepiorka]

Thank you Dave. This is one of the most valuable channels on KZbin. Great work!

[@Uuuuuuurrgggggghhhhh]

Yep. I also bought a DS1054Z after watching your reviews. Just as a Brymen 869s multimeter. Thanks for all your cool video's, really enjoying it!

[@Motorman2112]

My DS1054z was delivered two days ago. Perfect timing, thanks. :) I will be troubleshooting a linear PSU soon.

[@CarstenBauer]

Oscilloscopes were still a bit confusing for me, and this video has really helped fill in the blanks. Thank you Dave!

[@kevihiiinyuan8219]

Perfect timing Dave, I just got my DS1054Z :D

[@gete1372]

Wow... I`ve wtched a 'thousands' videos to learn about the oscillocope. This one is the best

[@smallberries]

This is the video I was too afraid to ask for! Cheers Dave

[@morte3252]

But Dave, how does an electronic oscilloscope measure voltage? That would be a really interesting topic to make a video on.

[@abu0ibraheem]

I think sample and hold is the main block.

[@OriginalUsername9000]

It would pretty much just be a video about ADCs. I'm sure Dave will cover them sooner or later.

[@zanfr123]

Magnets...

[@kyeongsushin3145]

I guess abu0ibraheem and Derp Herp are talking about digital scopes (sample and plot), and zanfr kruhm is talking about analogue scopes (which is basically a specialized CRT monitor).

[@annieworroll4373]

Just got an oscilloscope this is a good intro so I actually know what I'm doing with it. Manual is great to tell me how to do things with it, but I need to know what things to do in the first place.

[@flectoz]

Everything I've ever wanted to know about oscilloscopes (but was too afraid to ask)!! Thanks Dave!

[@ivanivanonvitchivanovsky1682]

here at my university we're measuring soil moisture with one of those tektronix devices. pretty old-skool but its basically the way all modern moisture work and therefore its a great opportunity to show the students how the measurement is working :)

[@richardbeckwith4545]

Another fantastic video, clear, concise, factual and fun with it! Thanks again!

[@naota3k]

I've been watching your videos for probably about a year now, Dave. I don't know much about electronics but I find them fascinating, and have been enjoying learning somewhat the same way your learn another language by just immersing yourself in it. This kind of video is so perfect for me!

[@fede142857]

Which oscilloscope would you recommend for a hobbyist who never owned one before? Is the DS1102E good enough?

[@zrobotics]

Rigol DS1054z is good enough, plus it is easily hackable. Of course, like anything else, if you have more money to spend you get more features. But as a hobbyist, I've never really found the rigol to be seriously lacking, except for the FFT feature. But anything with a good FFT is out of the price range of the average person.

[@fede142857]

zrobotics My local electronics store carries the 1102E for the equivalent of about 500 USD (that's why I asked about that particular model) but it doesn't seem to carry the 1054Z you mention. Sure, I could buy elsewhere and pay the shipping, but I'd rather buy locally unless absolutely necessary.

[@fede142857]

zrobotics Also, if by hacking you mean the trick you used to be able to do on the 1052 (boosting the bandwidth to 100 MHz with a firmware change or whatever it was), I'd rather not mess up with that because of the warranty.

[@hobbified]

Just to be clear, the 1054Z is actually a *newer* model with more inputs, a bigger screen, generally more snappy controls, and a smattering of digital stuff (like serial/I2C decoding). It's just a 50MHz model (1104Z would be the 100MHz version). 1102E is an 8-year-old two-channel model (1052E is the 50MHz version). For starters, the 1052E would be fine; the 1054Z is a little prettier but its main advantage is if you need to see more than two things at a time. The 1102E is fine too (same as the 1052E, just more bandwidth), but $500 is more than it's worth; they can be had new for less than $350, and the 1052E for less than $300.

[@fede142857]

hobbified If it retails for $350 in the US, considering shipping costs and import taxes (I live in Argentina), I would say $500 is a pretty decent price. Some sellers on a local eBay-like website even want about $700 or so, and *_that_* is crazy.

[@DM-fz3ly]

Dave, Excellent "Top Notch" explanation. Been using o-scopes for years and now have the DS1054z but didn't know about the ROLL function!! thanks so much and PLEASE continue on with the O-scope tutorials. It would be awesome if you could do another tutorial and dig into some of the other menu items available and help us to understand other essential uses and settings on the DS1054z. thanks!! dwight

[@kaizen9451]

Excellent video Dave. I don't think there's a limit to these so if you could just go around your lab making other introduction videos that would be great :D.

[@karlmuster263]

Great introduction, going into the motivation for using oscilloscopes. I'll have my lab students watch this before the in-class intro activity.

[@uzaiyaro]

A video I've been waiting years for. Thanks!

[@OfflineSetup]

what I don't understand is how (when you have a sine wave) it displays a constant image. let's say in the first pass its 0v at 0 seconds and then peaks at 5v in 0.012 seconds later, you will get several peaks and troughs, but then the scope goes back to the begining, and rather than being 0v it could be 2.2v which would not align with the previous trace. in other words the resulting image would be all over the place with each scope cycle.

[@benedictnothing]

That's triggering. You tell the scope what voltage you would like the "start point" to be and it keeps it lined up from there each pass. If you set the trigger out of range, for example, the image will be as you have described.

[@toxanbi]

The answer is triggering mechanism. The scope won't do a series of new A/D conversions (in case of digital scope) or a next single "run" of a trace (in case of analog/CRT scope) until the trigger detect a special condition (which is configurable). This way the signal becomes synchronized with the scope display. The event which forces the scope to draw a new trace is, typically, a change of the voltage from low to high crossing specified threshold level, or from high to low. These two are generally present on any scope. Modern digital scopes have advanced triggering options such as triggering when signal (voltage) is keeping lower or higher than some threshold for a specified amount of time, triggering by a slew rate, treating the signal as an analog video signal and triggering on a specified scan line, treating the signal as digital conversation (using one of protocols that scope is aware of) decoding it and triggering when certain condition is met. An, by the way, most of scopes has an additional input ("Ext. Trig.") which can be fed by an secondary signal which fires the trigger.

[@OfflineSetup]

thanks for both replies. I guess the trigger would have to be detected at the EXACT same time or the constant image would be fuzzy if it does not overlap exactly. I often wondered what the external trigger did, I may need to do some reading as when and why you would use it.

[@robertnicoll9712]

Another way of thinking of it if this helps... Think of the trigger point as the starting point, rather than the screen edge. The wave is always at the same point as it hits the trigger because it is the wave that is activating the trigger. For example, if set to trigger at a 2.5v rising edge, then when the rising edge reaches 2.5v it triggers, over and over, drawing over the previous wave form repeatedly.

[@CaptainDangeax]

I bought a Tektronix 2430 digital oscilloscope in a local fair. It's a first generator digital, with a analog tube to display, for an amazing price of 15 euros (yes, no missing zero). The woman said : "This B&W TV set was owned by my son but there's too many buttons I don't know how to tune it and the screen is too small". I used it for quite a long time but it doesn't work anymore. I then bought a Rigol DS1054Z

[@sordello51]

Very good explanation! I've been called old school because I still use a o-scope after 43 years in the biz. Almost time to retire.

[@Skipperj]

Alas!, a video on O-scopes I can understand, and thanks Dave.

[@WinrichNaujoks]

Just whenever think his voice can't get any higher, something extraordinary happens - bingo! - in the video and his voice goes even higher!

[@ethzero]

I totally forgot it was this video featuring the Rigol 1054 'scope that lit a candle under myself to finally upgrade from my USB scope and get this very model (plus the sneaky software hack upgrade to 100 MHz) Cheers, Dave! (And KZbin I guess for re-recommending this video!)

[@electronicsNmore]

Excellent video

[@morganmackenzie250]

This is a great video. I am playing around with more electronics each week and your videos are very helpful. I want an oscilloscope now! Thanks EEVBlog!

[@andrewdavies6273]

In the first few minutes i have learned something about oscilloscopes. Thank you.

[@rickynaidoo4671]

I know a little about electronics. By watching these videos I will gain more knowledge. Thanks.

[@janbarthelmes1700]

Very clear, very crisp not too long. great video for beginners.

[@cam70ds]

My favorite scope. I used to carry one of these when I was an FE years ago.

[@ACombineSoldier]

any plans for an EEV blog oscilloscope?

[@EEVblog]

Custom, no.

[@mb2k100]

thanks for this, your educational stuff is great :)

[@oldenburgermitrad]

I only want to say thank you for this tutorial!

[@turboslag]

What amuses me about sillyscopes is the way it is used in Sci Fi movies as the go to device symbolise technology or as the means to save humanity from the prevailing threat! And typically they use types that are at least 20 years out of date even in futuristic constructs!

[@robh1908]

Has anyone else noticed how good Dave's video is in 480p and why is that? Remember how horrible 480p was, all blurry and pix-elated.

[@cypherf0x]

Great video to point people to. How about doing one on the oscilloscope's closest mate the function generator and the uses of the combo?

[@_DevNull]

THIS is great! Perfect level for my knowledge and I understood everything. Thank you so much!

[@per-5786]

Thanks a lot for this one Dave! Just started my Mechatronics Engineering study. Bloody usefull videos you've got.

[@robertnicoll9712]

Appreciate it when you go back to basics Dave, i'm pretty keen but not completely up to speed. Would love to see more basics on equipment, discrete components and IC's. I need to get up to speed on basic circuits ASAP. BTW, just received my bible, 3rd edition... We're not worthy!

[@ashleybasil2082]

Must up grade to Dave CAD 3.

[@EEVblog]

The timelapse feature is a paid option.

[@dsfryda]

I already found a website that will let you unlock those Dave CAD 3 features for free, just like that Rigol O-Scope. :)

[@EEVblog]

Bastards. How will I feed my kids?

[@toddberg3892]

Chocolates and other goodies from the ol mailbag of course! Or you can set up a gofeedme account.....

[@matheoml]

Yeah. I am really surprise to see that daveCAD can do live animation as well. That is brilliant Dave. I really love what you do. Thank you a lot.

[@RedPill-experience]

Thanks for this basic video. Thumbs up!

[@mattsains]

DaveCAD 2.0 is amazing! where can we purchase an upgrade key?

[@janis.berzins]

Thanks Dave! Great video, just what I needed to get in to using oscilloscope!

[@mycms99]

Fantastic! I think starting right from the basics is a brilliant idea. I found this video very helpful, bonza!

[@youbecha64]

Thanks for the info, I picked up an analog scope a few years ago for $150...I wanted a digital, but couldn't afford one at the time...but mine (a higher up Tektronics) does measure voltage and hz. I look forward to this series to get the most out of mine.

[@Teth47]

I just got a Leader LBA-518 quad channel 100MHz scope with a 2013 cal certificate for free, now I need probes and I can start messing with it and figuring it out, because there don't seem to be many surviving user's manuals for them. Service manuals galore, but that's useless if you don't know how the damn thing works in the first place. This video series is perfectly timed.

[@giannisloukovitis1256]

More of these please! I really enjoyed them, even know there was nothing i didnt know! Good job

[@guitarplayer1071]

I built my oscilloscope from a kit, the DSO-138 I think. It's not as fancy as the oscilloscopes you have, but it's pretty good up to 100khz signals. It was about 3 hours straight of soldering to get everything together.

[@tonycstech]

Can digital scope shows moving dot like that ? It looks like it could be very useful.

[@shyleshsrinivasan5092]

Do correct me if I am imprecise, but when it comes to CROs, I believe there is the factor of the persistence of Phosphor luminescence too, along with the persistence of Vision that makes a curve appear solid at a higher time-base setting. An awesome 101 video Sir !

[@tylociraptor8131]

I have to laugh- My friend was selling one of these and I asked him what it was. He linked me to this channel with a breif explanation, and now, here's just what I always wanted, LOL

[@Fantasma25]

That RMS difference was quite drastic IMO. It would be nice to see an explanation of why. Really nice video, BTW!

[@userPrehistoricman]

There was a comment somewhere on this video with somebody complaining at that particular scope being bad at measuring RMS voltage.

[@VictorSteiner]

Thanks! I want to use one with synths and this was a nice video to cover all bases of the basics :)

[@marktubes3419]

Your videos are pure gold!

[@VoidHalo]

I just got a proper DSO the other day, and I tell you, it's been such a game changer. I got a Hantek DSO5202P, which is 200Mhz, 1GSa/sec and 2 channel. I was gonna get the 100mhz DSO5102p but for some reason I got it in my head that it was only 1 channel, which it isn't. So if I'd known that I would have just saved the extra $100 or $150 and msdded the 100Mhz one to run at 200Mhz. Live and learn I guess, heh. It's been a HUGE gamechanger though. The first day I had it I spent about 8 or 9 hours just trying to learn it by characterizing the different ICs and transistors I have, and measuring capactiance by working out the RC time constant and so on. It certainly blows my old scope out of the water, which was one of those shitty JYETech DSO138 osscilloscope kits. I mean, they're better than nothing, but they were rife with problemsl too. The probes for them aren't even real scope probes. It's just alligator clips that go straight into the BNC connector. No passives, just wire. So they pick up noise like crazy. They're fine scopes for getting an idea of your waveform or measuring your duty cycle. But I wouldn't trust anything it says to save my life. Cheers

[@Pieh0]

I'm surprised you didn't start off a new series for this, still a great video though :)

[@boston419]

I still use an old Tektronix 2211 for the hobby, and repair when something I have goes wacko, stuff I do. I don't do anything super amazing, so (for now) it still does what I need.

[@aljowen]

Time for a nit pick :) @6:55 Isn't the line on the analogue scope to do with the phosphor staying lit for a short period of time after the beam has projected across it, not because of our eyes persistence of vision. For example if you were to take an image with a very high speed camera you would still get a line on the display (if you are updating the screen fast enough ofc) because the phosphor takes time to dim back down, whereas if the effect was a result of our eyes that would not be the case, you would see a very small line or dot based upon the shutter speed.

[@hellrider15]

1:12 The demonstration is very good!

[@NorbertHarrer]

Great stuff for beginners. Excellent production quality on the video too. Incredible good job, Dave!!

[@dorbie]

The phosphor also has persistence, it is not just our eyes. In fact for many timings it's MOSTLY the phosphor's persistence.

[@jouebien]

cool. what sort of situations/applications would an analogue Oscilloscope be preferred over a digital one?

[@mrnmrn1]

+JOUE BIEN TECH Fast, and/or fancy modulated analog signals. Eg. the eye pattern of a CD/DVD player. You can do it also with a digital oscilloscope, if you can buy one for a couple thousands of dollars. If someone dealing with these tricky signals, a good HIGH BANDWIDTH ( >/=100MHz ), fast rise time (

[@mrnmrn1]

+JOUE BIEN TECH I forgot to mention, that you also need a DSO (digital storage oscilloscope) for troubleshooting ordinary stuff, like logic circuits and power supplies. There are some old analog storage scopes also, but they have very limited capabilities, most of them have less than 30MHz bandwidth, and quite tricky to set up the storage mode to get a good reading. There are also some analog scopes with digital storage, but most of them has a so low sampling rate, which makes them useless as a DSO.

[@KeysightLabs]

For the most part, digital scopes are incredibly more useful than analog scopes. Dave's forum has some helpful discussion on this, but the general advice is to go with a digital scope.

[@JeffBourke]

1:13 THIS totally blew my mind.

[@jboy6944]

God bless you and your channel!

[@PasanKarunanayake]

Thank you very much for the video. Could you please please do a complete tutorial series dedicated for oscilloscopes. It would be super easy to teach novice users.

[@araibirshad8294]

I have a question related to the video linked in the description. The hazards of blowing up an oscilloscope using the ground clip of a probe are illustrated. But over here, the AC mains is not grounded. There is no provision for AC mains earthing and most buildings dont do it to cut the extra costs. As such, the earth pin on appliance plugs is unused. If an oscilloscope is connected to such a system, would the hazard still be there? In such a system, the earth pin of the oscilloscope is effectively connected to nothing. What would be it's behavior in that case ?

[@frankdevinlp]

It’s funny, I know this video is 4 years old and noby reads the comments, but there is a generation of scopes where one is still my daily driver for quick probing. This generation is called Analog Digital Scopes. Comes with CRT, but can also do digital. My one is a Hameg HM407

[@sanketpatel2962]

You are the best tutor ever...😊

[@pedro_8240]

Dave, you supposedly open sourced DaveCAD, but only the static version, do you plan on keeping this nice "animated" @1:14version closed source?

[@johnny-qb1ti]

Eye opening and great ! thanks

[@timchorle]

You have demystified something I've wondered about for years! Perhaps you can cover the topic of software based oscilloscopes, I've often wondered if a laptop can serve as this tool.

[@userPrehistoricman]

They can! Look up USB scopes

[@JLSoftware]

Are any of the current digital scopes "instant" in responding to the controls? I've seen your earlier videos showing a huge lag in response as the processor is too wimpy to even respond to the turning of a knob. It's pathetic that they want to save a few bucks by putting in a wimpy processor. We see the same huge lag in consumer electronics nowadays, compared to the instantaneous analog devices of the past. Whereas analog scopes, not having the delay of executing computer code, respond instantly. I think I'd strongly consider an analog scope, unless digital has come up to an imperceptible response.

[@JonasvHBerg]

Very good point about laggy controls on DSOs. I actually bought a 1054z, and sold it again after two weeks. Yes it's very good value, and has a bunch of fancy functions, but for me the lag was unacceptable - especially when adjusting vertical position. Also the on-screen displays of Vpp and Vrms etc. was often wrong by a significant margin, which was very confusing. I find the budget DSOs overrated, and would much rather use a 20-30 year old Tektronix or similar good analogue scope. Much better for a beginner also. I will get a digital scope again at some point, but probably only use it for special jobs where some advanced functionality is required.

[@Sloxx701]

I love my Tek 2225. I was hoping he was going to use it, but Dave loves that 1054z

[@hobbified]

It's really got very little to do with the power of the processor or the "delay of executing computer code", and more to do with the way the display is drawn and how that interacts with the controls. Usually when you see "laggy controls" the scope is doing something that would be pretty much impossible on a conventional (non-storage) analog scope. If you're looking at signals in realtime with a nice fast timebase, the controls (except on the very cheapest scopes) are usually nice and responsive.

[@keeperofthegood]

I like how the oscilloscope became TV and then it became an etch a sketch, but then boom it became an XY Plotter Printer and then a XY Laser cutter and then the X-Carve. And I probably missed middle steps. But in terms of manipulation of a "something" in a continuous X and Y plane I do believe it all began with the 'scope.