Hey everyone,

I am looking for a small, budget oscilloscope for my lab. I don’t have much space on my bench so the smaller the better! I had a look at the ADALM2000, which I used college and is an excellent piece of kit. However I am wondering if there is any alternatives.

Thanks,
Sean.

 

I would search for a pre-owned oscilloscope wherever you are located.
My first choice would be a Tektronix TDS220. A second option would be a TDS210 which has a bandwidth of 60MHz instead of 100MHz.

 

I would search for a pre-owned oscilloscope wherever you are located.
My first choice would be a Tektronix TDS220. A second option would be a TDS210 which has a bandwidth of 60MHz instead of 100MHz.

Thanks pal

 

I would search for a pre-owned oscilloscope wherever you are located.
My first choice would be a Tektronix TDS220. A second option would be a TDS210 which has a bandwidth of 60MHz instead of 100MHz.

Respectively, that's very poor advice in todays world.

Many just venturing into electronics have little idea of their future needs, wants or assistance they might require along the way.
As I ventured down this path the need for guidance and mentoring became necessary, for which it became obvious any future scope I would own must be able to capture screenshots to USB.

Therefore budget, midrange or top of line scopes need be able to capture, something only DSO's with USB can easily do.

I had a TDS210, sourced busted then fixed then sold after acquiring a later model DSO that could take screenshots, something TDS200 DSO's cannot do. I fixed and modified it making the poor physical BNC input design Tek did of these budget DSO's more robust.
Since those times most DSO manufacturers worldwide learnt from Tek's mistake and now most everyone uses a metal bulkhead BNC input instead of just hanging them on the PCB.

 

I'd go for a DSO also. Does oodles more than a non DSO. when i say "oodles" i really mean oodles and oodles.

I got a CRT scope i used for a number of years. It was fine but no functions other than XY and regular amplitude and a zoom.
I worked with a storage scope many years ago, but it was something like 10,000 dollars USD.
More recently i bought a $25 DSO that only had a 1MHz bandwidth and i used it a lot, and even that was very useful.
More recently than that, i bought an OWEN DSO i got at a huge discount for $100 USD and it works better than the CRT and probably better than that $10k priced scope. It can store waveforms and upload to the PC computer, has functions that beat all the other scopes, and it's not anything near a top of the line scope or even midrange. Still incredibly useful.

If i were to buy another DSO though i would not buy another OWEN because they are not quite honest about the bandwidth. The one i bought was touted at 100MHz but tested at only about 26MHz maybe 30MHz. That was the only drawback though.
Oh and before i forget, it is also portable so you can take it anywhere and because you don't have to plug it into the line to use it, it is completely and totally isolated from the line voltage so you can use it to test anything even the PC computer power supplies or something like that.

They have much better ones like Rigol and Siglent and the like, but some of them make you pay for extras like some math functions like for example i2c protocol decoding. If you need that stuff you have to check if you will have to pay for it extra, and some may even make you pay for a subscription now too so watch out for that also. Tektronix scopes should be good but probably overpriced.

Watch out for those strange name brands though that look like you can't even pronounce the names. Some of them are really junk. They will work for some things though but i don't think they are worth the money.

 

it would be good to state the budget and intended use. if that product worked for you, go with it.
from what i see hardware pricing is in the ballpark of some scopes (Rigol, Owon etc.) and software for it (Scopy) seem to be open source.
if you are looking for a low cost PC scope, check things like Hantek, BitScope etc.

Personally i prefer scope that is self-contained (own display etc.) and industry tested.
For a limited budget, maybe check something like FNIRSI 1014D

 

Let’s say my budget is under 300€

 

If you want a small handheld oscilloscope, have a look at Hantek.
There are four models:
2C42 - 40MHz
2C72 - 70MHz
2D42 - 40MHz + waveform generator
2D72 - 70MHz + waveform generator


http://www.hantek.com/products/detail/13174
https://makeradvisor.com/hantek-3-in-1-oscilloscope-multimeter-signal-generator/

 

it would be good to state the budget and intended use. if that product worked for you, go with it.
from what i see hardware pricing is in the ballpark of some scopes (Rigol, Owon etc.) and software for it (Scopy) seem to be open source.
if you are looking for a low cost PC scope, check things like Hantek, BitScope etc.

Personally i prefer scope that is self-contained (own display etc.) and industry tested.
For a limited budget, maybe check something like FNIRSI 1014D

Hi,

Don't buy that one too many complaints and the wave generator is next to useless. I won't buy any FNIRSI.

 

Let’s say my budget is under 300€

What is that in real money? ha ha
Seriously in USD?

 

What is that in real money? ha ha
Seriously in USD?

1€ = US$1.12
300€ = US$336

 

Let’s say my budget is under 300€

Good, you have some idea of a spend limit however the feature set you can fit into that limit is more important.
Could you need protocol decoding or just need to see wiggly lines ?
Any max/min BW target ?

 

1€ = US$1.12
300€ = US$336

Oh thanks, so that's over $300 USD.

I think that would buy a decent scope better than my Owon. I don't use it that much so didn't want to spend much, like up to maybe $150 USD. I got lucky and got one I could get by with for about $100 which was lower than most people paid for the same scope and it was new. Has some strange "features" but I get by with it.

 

What is that in real money? ha ha
Seriously in USD?

It’s around 330 US dollars my man <3

 

If you want a small handheld oscilloscope, have a look at Hantek.
There are four models:
2C42 - 40MHz
2C72 - 70MHz
2D42 - 40MHz + waveform generator
2D72 - 70MHz + waveform generator
View attachment 298279

http://www.hantek.com/products/detail/13174
https://makeradvisor.com/hantek-3-in-1-oscilloscope-multimeter-signal-generator/

Respect brother!

 

It’s around 330 US dollars my man <3

Yes thanks. That helps people who use US dollars to find you a scope

 

Sorry, late to the party. With your budget (and depending where you live) you could consider a Rigol DS1102Z-E or DS1202Z-E for your budget. It is a decent oscilloscope that has many features above the aforementioned Hanteks (except waveform generator) and it is quite portable.

https://www.rigol.eu/products/oscillosopes/DS1000Z-E series.html

Don't forget that such oscilloscopes usually live a number of years, thus offsetting any marginal upfront cost increase in your budget. In other words, if bandwidth is important for you, the DS1202Z-E (quoted slightly above the 300€) will bring a large benefit that will be quite reduced as years of service go by.

Good luck in your search.

 

Hi,

Don't pay attention to the waveform generators on scopes they generally suk bad. Don't let that influence your decision unless you can find complete specs on the waveform generator and you are happy with that. Most of the waveform generators are waveform generators in name only (WGINO) and do not function anything like a real waveform generator even a cheap one.
One of the problems is the amplitude on them is not adjustable but they don't tell you that in the ad writeup. You're stuck with 2.5v peak sine wave for example.
A decent waveform generator will give you much, much more than that, including 0 to 10v output, completely variable, and lower output impedance.

Thus, I strongly suggest not paying any attention to the waveform generator that comes on scopes unless you can find complete specs that mention amplitude adjustment, frequency range, and waveform types. It's much better to get a separate waveform generator unless you have the simplest of needs for the waveform output both now and in the future.