How to promote an USB oscilloscope to individual engineers? I am the Loto instru

[jiangtao.lv]

In 2019,I try to put my energy into promoting USB oscilloscopes/signal generator product in oversea market (beyond china). As a founder of loto instruments, I used to pay my attention on developing them with my team.As soon as the software and hardware are stable , i need to sell it abroad china. We spent 3,4 years in china,R&D,
sales.

Dear Engineer friends, what are your suggestions? How do I start, the first step to promote the product?

Should we do a discount, a sales campaign, or a performance appraisal campaign, or a crowdsourcing campaign?

I can promise engineer friends here a  good discount if you have a suggestion. I made two videos to introduce，though my English is not so good:

[jiangtao.lv]

I'm a complete newcomer for overseas market.Any way of cooperation, I will seriously consider, such as writing promotional articles, acting as a sales agent, recommending it to other engineers,recommend retailers for me?

[ataradov]

"High DPI display" is not a function of your instrument, it has no display. +/- 5V input is also a bit low.

What are the actually important characteristics, like memory depth, for example?

The best way to promote this is to send one to Dave for teardown and review. Or at least post some pictures of the internals here.

From what I see this looks pretty weak, even for $100.

[jiangtao.lv]

Hi , dear ataradov, thank you for your reply and suggestion. Is Dave an expert engineer here? how can I contact him?
Most this kind of software i see do not support the High DPI display  feature until now.
+-5V is for X1 probe, switch to X10， it would be +-50V.
I put some picture here ,i don't have a board by hand ,so i will photo it on Monday and put it here.

Well, in fact, this kind of product is plugged into the computer, so its main functions and features are in the software.

The hardware has been cut to the maximum extent to maintain its high cost performance.

Software on computers can be updated with new functions at almost no cost.So we can keep upgrading this product remotely with no charge any more.

[maginnovision]

You appear to have software for editing videos yet you have these painful low resolution videos with tons of down time and high background noise. You don't have typical specifications available... What does your scope have that makes it worthy of my money over picoscope? Or even hantek? How about some high res pictures of the insides? Most manufacturers won't give you that but they don't need to because people know who they are. Dave is the one who owns this website.

EDIT: Your english isn't really a problem.

[ataradov]

Dave operates this forum and corresponding YouTube channel. Here the contact info https://www.eevblog.com/about/contact/

What if your definition of "High DPI display"? "High DPI" is a property of the display, and you don't control what display I use. What does this feature actually do?

So far this seems sort of weak on all sides. Not sure why I would pay $100 for that.

[maginnovision]

Dave operated this forum and corresponding YouTube channel. Here the contact info https://www.eevblog.com/about/contact/

What if your definition of "High DPI display"? "High DPI" is a property of the display, and you don't control what display I use. What does this feature actually do?

I think he means it supports High DPI scaling natively so it doesn't look like garbage?

[ataradov]

I think he means it supports High DPI scaling natively so it doesn't look like garbage?

Possibly, but I'm not sure that this is really worth to put this on a list of features, unless you just want to pad it with random stuff.


Also, the second video says

Video unavailable
Watch this video on YouTube.
Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner.

when you try to play it here. Probably not the best move for a promotional video, which you embedded yourself.

[maginnovision]

I think he means it supports High DPI scaling natively so it doesn't look like garbage?

Possibly, but I'm not sure that this is really worth to put this on a list of features, unless you just want to pad it with random stuff.

I've tried a bit of chinese software and I'd say it's borderline worth mentioning, but not as one of just 5 functions of the software for your oscilloscope. You'd probably just have high resolution modes in a list of supported video modes.

[jiangtao.lv]

I think you are correct. Engineers here may can't understand DPI problems in Chinese software, you can see this problem with hantech. and i can hardly explain it how i feel about it.
That's right i should not put it in my main features. I should change it to supporting DIY modules. such as a ECG module, a signal generator module ,isolation module...

It's quite cheaper than pico, AND It really can't compete with it . it's better than hantech but with no  competitive famous.

[jiangtao.lv]

thanks a lot ,very usefull suggestions

[jiangtao.lv]

thank you , i learned to fix the video problem just now ,it's ok now

[Rerouter]

Some of the better points you have working for you is a standalone device in a similar market is $400 AUD, if your attacking at a lower price point then as long as it has equivalent or better functionality, then the user cost of having to have a computer on hand to use it can be overcome.

Bonus points if the software doesn't require an installer or admin privileges to run. so it can be used on whatever computer is available instead of one you lug around.

Key points that i cannot see at a glance on your marketing material
- Is the USB draw less than 500mA under all conditions? (A number of laptops will disconnect the port if more is drawn)
- What is the memory depth of the device (I assume 128K from one image, but that uncertain)
- What is the resolution of the ADC (8 bit, 12, 16? more?? and what is the effective resolution, if your 16bit ADC is only repeatable to 14, then it would be a 14 bit scope)
- What decoders are supported (one of your images hints at it, but "what we are interested in" doesn't really cut it. This is where you can make a large lead over standalone scope)

Then there is just technical translation, like "afterglow" on your notes is commonly refereed to as "waveform persistence" in English technical literature.

[jiangtao.lv]

Hi ,Rerouter .Thank you for you suggestion.
Yes,it can used on any computer with windows ,especially for win8,win10, on which do not need driver installation.but you need a appliction software. I suppose nowadays , almost every engineer has a computer ,so i build this kind of product for virtual instruments.

sure ,it draws about 170mA current from the USB hub,so we don't need to worry about it, it much less than 500mA.

Yes,it's 128K ~ 2G depth. 128K for hardware chip storage,but 2G is for computer harddisk,when you sample slow, it stores data directly on harddisk.

8 bit ADC  for each channel.

for now ,i just developed iic and rs232. other decodes may be later for free.it's just software function, customers download a new sw to fullfill it.
i put tow decodes in the attachment.

[maginnovision]

In the video you try to look at a waveform with x1 probes that is relatively high frequency... Why? Are you trying to show me how not to use an oscilloscope? If they're both supposed to be 1Mohm inputs I'd fault your scope on the basis that they have different amplitudes. Why would you look at a 25MHz signal 4Vpp and switch to a v/div range that maximizes error? That whole video should be trashed. It seems poorly thought out, poorly edited, and deceptive. You could at LEAST make sure the v/div and time/div settings are the same. Why don't you have a x10 or x100 selection for software? For comparisons I'd also prefer you do one at a time with a direct connection if you want to look at x1 performance or at least a splitter. Although the whole exercise is lost on me, are you trying to say the probes you made are better than rigols when switched to x1?

[ataradov]

You are omitting some critical technical details. Your thing has far too slow of a sampling rate to be a scope, so it is more of a logger. But for a logger, you need to specify waveform update rate and how long the gaps in the data are. What triggering options are implemented in the hardware and what are implemented in the software.

You have to provide actual technical information, not the marketing BS, especially give that it is clear that you are not very good at it.

[jiangtao.lv]

thank you  maginnovision,
but things not like you thought.
I made that video not for promoting my product here.It 's a trouble shooting explanation.
Maybe it's because of differences in national conditions or cultures. Most of my clients don't know the sincerity of the probe.
Many of our customers will question us and say something that they can't measure the frequency higher than 10 trillion sine wave. Then we found that most of them used a X1 probe to test a high frequency signal. So i made that video to show  how osc802 act in both X1 and X10 gear and compared with a expensive desk top one.

[maginnovision]

thank you  maginnovision,
but things not like you thought.
I made that video not for promoting my product here.It 's a trouble shooting explanation.
Maybe it's because of differences in national conditions or cultures. Most of my clients don't know the sincerity of the probe.
Many of our customers will question us and say something that they can't measure the frequency higher than 10 trillion sine wave. Then we found that most of them used a X1 probe to test a high frequency signal. So i made that video to show  how osc802 act in both X1 and X10 gear and compared with a expensive desk top one.

Then I think you're better off not showing anyone how to improperly do things. Show the right way and maybe they'll follow your lead.

[jiangtao.lv]

Yes , ataradov, you are right.

Engineers prefer to discuss specific technical details.otherwise, I want to know what the engineers think about the application scenario of this product.I haven't done technology for years, maybe more like a businessman.So there may be misunderstandings, and because my English is not very expressive, oh, what I think.
So it looks more like a salesman fell among a bunch of engineers.

[jiangtao.lv]

it's my poor English expression 's fault....

[jiangtao.lv]

dear ataradov:
I aimed low end market,do you think it's proper for Junior Engineer, Electronic Enthusiast, Field Maintenance use?

[ataradov]

I aimed low end market,do you think it's proper for Junior Engineer, Electronic Enthusiast, Field Maintenance use?

I don't know. We have not seen any real performance evaluation of the thing. We have only seen an unwatchable shaky video that does not really show anything.

For not much ore you can get a better PicoScope, which has plenty of independent reviews and good reputation.

I'm not saying that the product is bad, but you need to take all the feedback provided here seriously and implement the changes, not just acknowledge issues.

Ans I would reach out to a few YouTubers and send them a review units.

[maginnovision]

I'd also say if this thing doesn't have isolated inputs you need to make sure people are aware of that. Especially for beginners.

[Rerouter]

Hobbiest level, e.g. Arduino type user

If you have protocol decoders like SPI, I2C, Uart, then yes there is some room, I2S would probably catch people from the audio side of it

Electronics enthusiest, harder to say,

Feild maintainance
would need to handle up to 50V without damage on the inputs, If you wanted to poke at automotive then Canbus is a good decoder to have. CanFD would put you well ahead of the competition, Expecially when tied with playback. As at present there are very few tools out there that you can capture a signal on site and replay it with minimal fuss for under $700,

In reality just about every country keeps there industrial signalling under 50V, 24V and 48V are the more common higher ones,

Again if it works with an X10 probe, then fine, just make sure it can survive being hooked up to 50V direct to the BNC.

[jiangtao.lv]

I had another video to show the input protection,
but i  have not translate it into English, may be you can get it with Chinese.
https://m.youku.com/video/id_XNDAxODA1Mzk4MA==.html?spm=a2h3j.8428770.3416059.1&source=&from=timeline&isappinstalled=1
 in the video ,i  input a 60V voltage into a +-5V input,it's ok.