Which scope below $300 has best. FFT function

[nctnico]

IIRC Mechatrommer has written an FFT application for the DS1054Z but the update rate will be very low. The advantage of having FFT on an oscilloscope is that it is -somewhat- realtime with updates less than 1 second apart.

[Fungus]

Thanks for the recommendations.  The GW will be added to my  "maybe" list.

I don't know how long that offer will stand but $300 is not a normal price for the Instek.

Normally they cost a lot more than that.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Knob twiddling is overrated.  Rigol DS1054Z FFT sucks but other than that, it's a great scope.

I struggled with the price point on the TV example, CostCo are selling a 55" 4k TV for $280  shame they don't sell oscilloscopes 

[Antonio90]

That is the Analog discovery.

FFT length is important to get a high frequency resolution. More bits means more dynamic range.

I don't have an extra computer to devote to the bench and not another $1K for one, so no Discovery 2. 

And yes, use is for audio frequency, distortion testing and diagnostics.   The newish Rigol DS 1202Z ($299; ~$30 less than current Intek previously mentioned) has 24M bit depth which I thought would help with fft.

I'm not really in a position to recommend anything, but if you are considering the Analog Discovery, you can probably get a second hand laptop in ebay for ~30-50 bucks working perfectly. My lab computer is a Thinkpad x220 I found for 40€, and second hand computers are usually much more expensive in Europe than in UE. Right now my mother, one of my brothers an a friend of mine are using laptops from 40-60€, it's been a bit more than a year and not a single hardware problem.

[Mr. Scram]

IIRC Mechatrommer has written an FFT application for the DS1054Z but the update rate will be very low. The advantage of having FFT on an oscilloscope is that it is -somewhat- realtime with updates less than 1 second apart.

I've seen a reasonable performing PoC a long time ago. This convinced me a lot should be possible when properly optimized. Unfortunately that software is long gone.

https://hackaday.com/2015/09/22/a-better-spectrum-analyzer-for-your-rigol-scope/

[Wolfgang]

IIRC Mechatrommer has written an FFT application for the DS1054Z but the update rate will be very low. The advantage of having FFT on an oscilloscope is that it is -somewhat- realtime with updates less than 1 second apart.

I've seen a reasonable performing PoC a long time ago. This convinced me a lot should be possible when properly optimized. Unfortunately that software is long gone.

https://hackaday.com/2015/09/22/a-better-spectrum-analyzer-for-your-rigol-scope/

The software is still there, but you need to port it to Python3. It will not do wonders, but as a monitor its not too bad. For a usable FFT you need a high-res scope, otherwise the dynamic range is simply not good enough even for trivial tasks.