Hi all,

I am a student in Electronics Engineering and was thinking about buying a USB oscilloscope. I found a Hantek 6022BE (link below) on Ebay. Is it good for the basic needs? and since it is connected to a computer via USB, is it safe or can the computer somehow be damaged?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20Mhz-Ban..._Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item43bd7d3da0

Thanks in advance.

 

What kind of signals are you working with? RF, Audio, Digital?

 

Mainly for digital signals.

 

Not to mention zero software / firmware updates.

 

So its not worth it for basic use?

 

So its not worth it for basic use?

Again define your intended use.

 

Mainly for digital signals. (#4)

 

For digital I'd use a logic analyzer not a scope.

On the cheap a Bus Pirate is pretty handy
If PICs are your thing a PICkit2 (although discontinued) had a very handy logic tool & UART tool, plus it could program and debug PICs.
If you want something with nice screens the Saleae Logic looks pretty nice.

 

Someone told me this before: "Get the best one you can afford", and I should have listened.

edit: I would stick to a real scope, rigol is good brand for low cost scope

 

Hantek make real scopes too;

An important feature these days is to get a large screen, a 7" screen with 800x480 pixels is much better than some 'scopes that still have 5" screens with only 320x240 pixels!

 

buy the best you can afford. there are literally hundreds of knock off usb oscilloscopes that aren't really fit for purpose or aren't sufficiently protected from the computer.

If I was you, I'd buy a nice 2nd hand scope off ebay. I bought myself a nice fluke 99b handheld scope for £270, which if new, would cost a few thousand pounds.

It has an optical PC interface, which I made my own for a few quid and works brilliantly with metratek.

 

Looks like a decent scope for a student's use. Shouldn't hurt your computer.