Does a hobbyist need a Oscilloscope?

[SuperMiguel]

Does a hobbyist need a Oscilloscope?

Im just playing with small projects arduino related like: http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14402 and other smaller projects..

Eventually ill get into major things, but for now i havent find a project that i need to use an Oscilloscope, i don even know where i would use it.. So why do i need one?

[Time]

Depends on the hobbyist.  Depends on the project. 

Chances are if you don't know where you would use a scope in any of your projects, you don't need one yet.

[Mechatrommer]

Depends on the hobbyist.  Depends on the project.  
Chances are if you don't know where you would use a scope in any of your projects, you don't need one yet.

i agree. buy knowledge first before buying the tool. or at least buy them in package. a tool without a knowledge is useless bla bla. my point is.... are you willing to learn to use it? to spend time on it? to find out whats wrong or right about it? if yes, then... you can start thinking of buying it. otherwise.... believe me! you'll just get frustrated.... bla bla... ok!

[Kiriakos-GR]

I will be quick .....Nop . 

[Mechatrommer]

I will be quick .....Nop . 

i know why u answered that. U hate the thing coz its even cannot be connected to the Mains right? which is the thing that u usually measure but i suggest you get one as professional you are.... you'll see alot of "Sex on the Stick!" thing on the monitor

[GeoffS]

I'm an electronics hobbyist and I bought an oscilloscope (Rigol) about 2 years ago

Did I need one? for the number of projects I do, probably not.
Do I regret buying it? Not a bit. It gets used more often than I expected - and it looks good sitting on the bench.

It's a hobby, that's what money is for. I spend a LOT more $$ on my metalworking hobby. 

[sonicj]

heres a example of where you might need a scope... neat robot by the way!

lets say, you decide you want to RC your robot. you pick up a rc transmitter module & receiver, ps2 controller and another arduino to run the show. the ps2 controller already has a library that someone else figured out and wrote the code for, but your transmitter needs a specific PPM train in order to function and little to no documentation on how to generate it exists. this is when you break out the probes and actually look at how changes to your code affect the signals your arduino is producing.

of course, there are other ways to transmit to another arduino other than PPM, just using that as an example.
-sj

[NiHaoMike]

To quote a friend of mine, "The time when you're trying to chase down a race condition is the time you really need a good oscilloscope!"

[MrPlacid]

Eventually ill get into major things, but for now i havent find a project that i need to use an Oscilloscope, i don even know where i would use it.. So why do i need one?

You are more advance than me if you're into ucontrollers, but I still got to put my 2cents in. Even if you don't need an oscilloscope yet, you still need to learn to use one eventually. And that requires an oscilloscope.

[Nermash]

Main question is do you want to have an oscilloscope? If answer is yes, and you can afford it, then go ahead and indulge yourself!
Life is too short to contemplate such trivial questions

[Simon]

Main question is do you want to have an oscilloscope? If answer is yes, and you can afford it, then go ahead and indulge yourself!
Life is too short to contemplate such trivial questions

I second that - BACK TO WORK....err I mean carry on playing with your projects (well I'm about to start work  )

[saturation]

Yes.  But unlike Dave, I think that until you know what a scope can do you can get good use from many of the 'toy' scopes, many of the pocket scopes that sell for < $100 will work for most of your needs.



Google states it runs from $30-60 for a kit, and assembled scopes for about $100-200.  I think building your own and examining not only how to use it, but what makes it work, is well worth the cost of the kit.  If you've outgrown it, it will be money well spent, if not, then your skill level will never take advantage of a more expensive scope.

These scopes are typically good for signals to 100kHz, and sample at about 1 MHz.

Some better names include DSO Nano, Velleman HPS10, are in the $100 range, are assembled and have better specs.

[david77]

Dave's with Dave on this one .
I'd rather buy a used analog scope instead of these toys.
Dave gave all the reasons in his drive time rant a while back.

[Nermash]

I agree with Daves
If you want a scope get a scope, don't buy toys.

[logictom]

I agree with Daves
If you want a scope get a scope, don't buy toys.

Also in agree with Daves and Nermash. You've better off keep the money spent on one of the toys and putting it towards a proper scope. Second hand analogue scope any day of the week.
As to if you need it then like the others say it all depends on what you are doing, I haven't used mine a a great deal but when I have it's worked a treat showing what's causing the problem.
SuperMiguel, nice looking robot, damn now I want one of those chassis!

[SuperMiguel]

SuperMiguel, nice looking robot, damn now I want one of those chassis!

Thanks, so should i save up and get a Rigol DS1052E (seems like a solid scope and alot of people like it) ?? or should i get an old cheap analog scope?

[Mechatrommer]

interesting toy! good for learning and some non serious stuff!

[saturation]

Buying a used scope means you know what to look in potentially damaged or second hand scopes, in which case the buyer must have good knowledge of scope usage and performance.

Scopes don't give you skills, nor does paying a lot of money for it or hacking it to get more bandwidth, knowledge does, and properly applied, you can do serious work with a toy.

[SuperMiguel]

how is that DSO nano ?

[Bored@Work]

Scopes don't give you skills, nor does paying a lot of money for it or hacking it to get more bandwidth, knowledge does, and properly applied, you can do serious work with a toy.

With an uncalibrated, non-linear, unsafe toy? Dream on.

[saturation]

I've repaired devices for over 30 years with pretty much anything, just know what is broken and what portion of the scope not to use.  if the horizontal trace doesn't work, and you have a Z axis still viable, you can use the pattern of the vertical line depending on what trouble you have.  There is no Z axis in DSO these days. 

Non-linear, uncalibrated?  Most any cheap device will hold a calibration for some hours, just calibrate the segment of voltage and frequency you need, find out where the slope changes, and recalibrate at that level.

DSO nano or whatever is OK for DC to 30V or maybe 50V, I don't recall, at which point there is a shock hazard with DC, so its really meant for general/hobbyist electronics work.

You needn't dream, just study.

Scopes don't give you skills, nor does paying a lot of money for it or hacking it to get more bandwidth, knowledge does, and properly applied, you can do serious work with a toy.

With an uncalibrated, non-linear, unsafe toy? Dream on.

[Mechatrommer]

With an uncalibrated, non-linear, unsafe toy? Dream on.

if we learnt it, we should be able to make it. if we made it, sure we can calibrate it and make it safe. saturation's point is knowledge, and you know.... "knowledge is power". but yeah, if you just want to have a scope to use (not learn/hack or play) for a some serious work that you want to save some of your hairlines, then a serious scope is the way to go, IMHO. ebaying the "toy" just now, the price is around $40. if you think you cannot waste that, then get a $400 "toy"

ps: hence knowledge is I squared R logical reasoning

[apex]

I bought an used analog scope some month ago,
and I think it is worth every cent!
so, when I play around with some microcontrollers,
and the clock doesn't work,
I don't keep wondering any more.
My old scope does it.
apex

[saturation]

Regardless of toy, used, or brand new DSO, enjoy your adventure into electronics.

[Zero999]

With an uncalibrated, non-linear, unsafe toy? Dream on.

Uncalibrated and non-linear I understand but unsafe? What do you mean? It's run from a SELV power supply which makes it safer than most mains powered 'scopes. It's only unsafe if used incorrectly i.e. to measure hazardous voltages but it clearly states the maximum input peak voltage is 50V.

The toy 'scope is probably better than a sound card and will teach the basics. The kit version will also teach MCUs, assuming source code and an a schematic are provided; I haven't checked this and  if so I might be tempted but because it'll help me learn MCUs not because I want a 'scope - I've already got a couple of nice old analogue 'scopes which are better than the toy will ever be.