[sdiy] PC based oscilloscopes

[Bert Schiettecatte]

Hi Tim,

>Does anyone have experience of/recommend any particular brand? Anything to
>steer well clear of? Are there any advantages in going for parallel
>port/PCI/USB? Or do I just take pot-luck - 'you pays yer money and takes
yer
>choice'?

The only PC-based scope I would trust would be one on the PCI bus, because
of
data transfer speed requirements if you want a decent sample rate scope.
I did a LOT of reading and research before I bought my scope. I downloaded
tons
of software that would come with the scopes, and tried them on my different
PCs
here at home. Nearly all the software was buggy or written in a very poor
way,
or not user-friendly. I concluded that only the Gage PC-based scopes would
be
an option, but those are way more expensive than a good entry level digital
scope from Tektronix. I ended up buying a TDS1002, for around 1500 Euros.
You can add a printing/trace image export board to the scope if you want,
but that adds to the cost around 200 Euros I think.

I've been very satisfied with this scope up to today, it's very reliable and
very portable.

I always wanted a PC based scope but in the end I realized it just wouldn't
be the same as a real scope. A real scope still has buttons and knobs you
can
turn and push.

Of course 1500 Euros is a lot of money, but I think your scope should be the
one piece of equipment you invest some serious money into. You need it to
debug every circuit...

Hope this helps...

bert