Re: Opinions on Oscilloscopes

On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 21:30:29 GMT, "RR"
<newspaper.20.broom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[snip...snip...]
>The low cost of the 10MHz seems great to get started for me. Then when I
>get to the point I need a "real" scope, I might look at a PC-based digital
>like the Stingray DS1M12 USB- I've got a couple of old PCs (133 and 120MHz)
>sitting around doing nothing.
>
>Though I keep reading mixed messages about PC-based scopes. OTOH, it seems
>to me that to look at signal all you need is a fast A-to-D converter and the
>right software; it's simple and obvious - unless I'm missing something.

There are fast A/D converters and there are FAST A/D converters. Pretty
much every PC-based USB scope that I've seen tops out at 100 Msps (often
shared by two channels). For comparison, the lower-end Tek digital
TDS-1000 series sample at 1Gsps per channel. Their high end digitals
sample at 20 Gsps; those are the DAMN FAST A/Ds.

Ignore the "equivalent sampling rate" numbers.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
.