I'm looking at bitscopes www.bitscope.net as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. -- Randy Yates Digital Signal Labs http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
bitscopes
Started by ●July 22, 2013
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote:>I'm looking at bitscopes > > www.bitscope.net > >as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. >-- >Randy Yates >Digital Signal Labs >http://www.digitalsignallabs.comNo personal experience with those particular devices, but I think I'd be very frustrated with only 8 logic channels. Unless everything you want to test is pretty simple, I think that'd be inadequate in most cases. Eric Jacobsen Anchor Hill Communications http://www.anchorhill.com
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
eric.jacobsen@ieee.org (Eric Jacobsen) writes:> On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates > <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: > >>I'm looking at bitscopes >> >> www.bitscope.net >> >>as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >>these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >>experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. >>-- >>Randy Yates >>Digital Signal Labs >>http://www.digitalsignallabs.com > > No personal experience with those particular devices, but I think I'd > be very frustrated with only 8 logic channels. Unless everything you > want to test is pretty simple, I think that'd be inadequate in most > cases.8 bits for data plus a few control/clock bits would be better, yeah. However, beats the 0 logic channels I currently have. And the price.. -- Randy Yates Digital Signal Labs http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
>I'm looking at bitscopes > > www.bitscope.net > >as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. >-- >Randy Yates >Digital Signal Labs >http://www.digitalsignallabs.com >Hi, the FTDI chip that is used on many FPGA etc dev. boards makes a cheap and cheerful logic analyzer. A breakout board comes at the price of a burger at McD. Slightly more sophisticated, with 3.3V and 5V input banks: http://www.xverve.com/Signalyzer-H-series/signalyzer-h4.html For the latter, my recommendation for C coding is to completely disregard the documentation (except pinout). Use the standard FTDI package instead. Only turning on the +5V outputs needs some device-specific code. _____________________________ Posted through www.DSPRelated.com
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote:>I'm looking at bitscopes > > www.bitscope.net > >as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >experiences, good or bad, to report on this product.My go-to logic analyzer for years has been the Intronix from <http://www.pctestinstruments.com/>. Lots of channels, wide signal input range, and a trigger range of +/- 6V that's tweakable in 50 mV steps. It does hardware compression on the samples, although I do wish that it had a bit more sample memory. The downloadable software runs in demo mode if the pod isn't attached so a quick look costs nothing. The only thing that I'm tempted to replace it with is Digiview's big one <http://www.tech-tools.com/DV3400-logic-analyzer.htm>. I'd gain deeper memory, a trigger out, and a couple more channels, but lose the CANbus interpreter and the USB-powered capability. And it's a wee bit more expensive.
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
On 7/23/2013 8:33 AM, Rich Webb wrote:> On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates > <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: > >> I'm looking at bitscopes >> >> www.bitscope.net >> >> as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >> these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >> experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. > > My go-to logic analyzer for years has been the Intronix from > <http://www.pctestinstruments.com/>. Lots of channels, wide signal > input range, and a trigger range of +/- 6V that's tweakable in 50 mV > steps. It does hardware compression on the samples, although I do wish > that it had a bit more sample memory. The downloadable software runs > in demo mode if the pod isn't attached so a quick look costs nothing. > > The only thing that I'm tempted to replace it with is Digiview's big > one<http://www.tech-tools.com/DV3400-logic-analyzer.htm>. I'd gain > deeper memory, a trigger out, and a couple more channels, but lose the > CANbus interpreter and the USB-powered capability. And it's a wee bit > more expensive.I've used the Intronix unit and I tried to use the Bitscope. The Intronix was great, no complaints, but it doesn't include a scope and they seem to have no interest in a Linux driver. I never got the Bitscope working remotely the way a scope should work. To be fair this was an older unit I borrowed from someone. After working with it for better part of a day I contacted the makers and they sent a newer driver which I never installed. So maybe this is not a bad product. It seemed to have a gain setting that was separate from the normal gain control. I think one was hardware and the other software with some amount of automagic control. It was a bit odd. Maybe I missed something. I thought you wanted a mixed signal scope/analyzer. The Digiview is just a logic analyzer. A durn expensive one at that. -- Rick
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> writes:> On 7/23/2013 8:33 AM, Rich Webb wrote: >> On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates >> <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: >> >>> I'm looking at bitscopes >>> >>> www.bitscope.net >>> >>> as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >>> these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >>> experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. >> >> My go-to logic analyzer for years has been the Intronix from >> <http://www.pctestinstruments.com/>. Lots of channels, wide signal >> input range, and a trigger range of +/- 6V that's tweakable in 50 mV >> steps. It does hardware compression on the samples, although I do wish >> that it had a bit more sample memory. The downloadable software runs >> in demo mode if the pod isn't attached so a quick look costs nothing. >> >> The only thing that I'm tempted to replace it with is Digiview's big >> one<http://www.tech-tools.com/DV3400-logic-analyzer.htm>. I'd gain >> deeper memory, a trigger out, and a couple more channels, but lose the >> CANbus interpreter and the USB-powered capability. And it's a wee bit >> more expensive. > > I've used the Intronix unit and I tried to use the Bitscope. The > Intronix was great, no complaints, but it doesn't include a scope and > they seem to have no interest in a Linux driver. > > I never got the Bitscope working remotely the way a scope should work. > To be fair this was an older unit I borrowed from someone. After > working with it for better part of a day I contacted the makers and > they sent a newer driver which I never installed. So maybe this is > not a bad product. It seemed to have a gain setting that was separate > from the normal gain control. I think one was hardware and the other > software with some amount of automagic control. It was a bit odd. > > Maybe I missed something. I thought you wanted a mixed signal > scope/analyzer. The Digiview is just a logic analyzer. A durn > expensive one at that.I personally was mainly interested in a scope. The fact it could function as an 8-channel logic analyzer is icing (and indeed nice, albeit a bit (haha) limited for a logic analyzer). -- Randy Yates Digital Signal Labs http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
On Tue, 23 Jul 2013 13:25:51 -0400, Randy Yates <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote:>rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> writes: > >> On 7/23/2013 8:33 AM, Rich Webb wrote: >>> On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates >>> <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: >>> >>>> I'm looking at bitscopes >>>> >>>> www.bitscope.net >>>> >>>> as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >>>> these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >>>> experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. >>> >>> My go-to logic analyzer for years has been the Intronix from >>> <http://www.pctestinstruments.com/>. Lots of channels, wide signal >>> input range, and a trigger range of +/- 6V that's tweakable in 50 mV >>> steps. It does hardware compression on the samples, although I do wish >>> that it had a bit more sample memory. The downloadable software runs >>> in demo mode if the pod isn't attached so a quick look costs nothing. >>> >>> The only thing that I'm tempted to replace it with is Digiview's big >>> one<http://www.tech-tools.com/DV3400-logic-analyzer.htm>. I'd gain >>> deeper memory, a trigger out, and a couple more channels, but lose the >>> CANbus interpreter and the USB-powered capability. And it's a wee bit >>> more expensive. >> >> I've used the Intronix unit and I tried to use the Bitscope. The >> Intronix was great, no complaints, but it doesn't include a scope and >> they seem to have no interest in a Linux driver. >> >> I never got the Bitscope working remotely the way a scope should work. >> To be fair this was an older unit I borrowed from someone. After >> working with it for better part of a day I contacted the makers and >> they sent a newer driver which I never installed. So maybe this is >> not a bad product. It seemed to have a gain setting that was separate >> from the normal gain control. I think one was hardware and the other >> software with some amount of automagic control. It was a bit odd. >> >> Maybe I missed something. I thought you wanted a mixed signal >> scope/analyzer. The Digiview is just a logic analyzer. A durn >> expensive one at that. > >I personally was mainly interested in a scope. The fact it could >function as an 8-channel logic analyzer is icing (and indeed nice, >albeit a bit (haha) limited for a logic analyzer). >-- >Randy Yates >Digital Signal Labs >http://www.digitalsignallabs.comIf you're just looking for a good scope, it's hard to do better than ebay. Tek 2246 or better units can be had extremely reasonably, and it'll be way better than what you're looking at here. Even a brand-new color 4-channel digital scope from Tek is not that expensive these days, relatively speaking. Everything in my lab came from ebay, except the DSO, which was bought new because it wasn't all that expensive for a new one. Used is even cheaper. Eric Jacobsen Anchor Hill Communications http://www.anchorhill.com
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
eric.jacobsen@ieee.org (Eric Jacobsen) writes:> On Tue, 23 Jul 2013 13:25:51 -0400, Randy Yates > <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: > >>rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> writes: >> >>> On 7/23/2013 8:33 AM, Rich Webb wrote: >>>> On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates >>>> <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I'm looking at bitscopes >>>>> >>>>> www.bitscope.net >>>>> >>>>> as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on >>>>> these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any >>>>> experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. >>>> >>>> My go-to logic analyzer for years has been the Intronix from >>>> <http://www.pctestinstruments.com/>. Lots of channels, wide signal >>>> input range, and a trigger range of +/- 6V that's tweakable in 50 mV >>>> steps. It does hardware compression on the samples, although I do wish >>>> that it had a bit more sample memory. The downloadable software runs >>>> in demo mode if the pod isn't attached so a quick look costs nothing. >>>> >>>> The only thing that I'm tempted to replace it with is Digiview's big >>>> one<http://www.tech-tools.com/DV3400-logic-analyzer.htm>. I'd gain >>>> deeper memory, a trigger out, and a couple more channels, but lose the >>>> CANbus interpreter and the USB-powered capability. And it's a wee bit >>>> more expensive. >>> >>> I've used the Intronix unit and I tried to use the Bitscope. The >>> Intronix was great, no complaints, but it doesn't include a scope and >>> they seem to have no interest in a Linux driver. >>> >>> I never got the Bitscope working remotely the way a scope should work. >>> To be fair this was an older unit I borrowed from someone. After >>> working with it for better part of a day I contacted the makers and >>> they sent a newer driver which I never installed. So maybe this is >>> not a bad product. It seemed to have a gain setting that was separate >>> from the normal gain control. I think one was hardware and the other >>> software with some amount of automagic control. It was a bit odd. >>> >>> Maybe I missed something. I thought you wanted a mixed signal >>> scope/analyzer. The Digiview is just a logic analyzer. A durn >>> expensive one at that. >> >>I personally was mainly interested in a scope. The fact it could >>function as an 8-channel logic analyzer is icing (and indeed nice, >>albeit a bit (haha) limited for a logic analyzer). >>-- >>Randy Yates >>Digital Signal Labs >>http://www.digitalsignallabs.com > > If you're just looking for a good scope, it's hard to do better than > ebay. Tek 2246 or better units can be had extremely reasonably, and > it'll be way better than what you're looking at here.I had looked at ebay but mainly at Tek 2430As, since there's a guy in my area selling one for $200. A four-channel would be great.> Even a brand-new color 4-channel digital scope from Tek is not that > expensive these days, relatively speaking.How much is "not that expensive"? Seems like I've looked and numbers like $1500+ come to mind.> Everything in my lab came from ebay, except the DSO, which was bought > new because it wasn't all that expensive for a new one. Used is even > cheaper.-- Randy Yates Digital Signal Labs http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
Reply by ●July 23, 20132013-07-23
Den tirsdag den 23. juli 2013 19.25.51 UTC+2 skrev Randy Yates:> rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> writes: > > > > > On 7/23/2013 8:33 AM, Rich Webb wrote: > > >> On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:49:50 -0400, Randy Yates > > >> <yates@digitalsignallabs.com> wrote: > > >> > > >>> I'm looking at bitscopes > > >>> > > >>> www.bitscope.net > > >>> > > >>> as a possibility for a scope/logic analyzer. I realize the bandwidth on > > >>> these is only 100 MHz (40 MHz ADC). Just wondering if anyone has any > > >>> experiences, good or bad, to report on this product. > > >> > > >> My go-to logic analyzer for years has been the Intronix from > > >> <http://www.pctestinstruments.com/>. Lots of channels, wide signal > > >> input range, and a trigger range of +/- 6V that's tweakable in 50 mV > > >> steps. It does hardware compression on the samples, although I do wish > > >> that it had a bit more sample memory. The downloadable software runs > > >> in demo mode if the pod isn't attached so a quick look costs nothing. > > >> > > >> The only thing that I'm tempted to replace it with is Digiview's big > > >> one<http://www.tech-tools.com/DV3400-logic-analyzer.htm>. I'd gain > > >> deeper memory, a trigger out, and a couple more channels, but lose the > > >> CANbus interpreter and the USB-powered capability. And it's a wee bit > > >> more expensive. > > > > > > I've used the Intronix unit and I tried to use the Bitscope. The > > > Intronix was great, no complaints, but it doesn't include a scope and > > > they seem to have no interest in a Linux driver. > > > > > > I never got the Bitscope working remotely the way a scope should work. > > > To be fair this was an older unit I borrowed from someone. After > > > working with it for better part of a day I contacted the makers and > > > they sent a newer driver which I never installed. So maybe this is > > > not a bad product. It seemed to have a gain setting that was separate > > > from the normal gain control. I think one was hardware and the other > > > software with some amount of automagic control. It was a bit odd. > > > > > > Maybe I missed something. I thought you wanted a mixed signal > > > scope/analyzer. The Digiview is just a logic analyzer. A durn > > > expensive one at that. > > > > I personally was mainly interested in a scope. The fact it could > > function as an 8-channel logic analyzer is icing (and indeed nice, > > albeit a bit (haha) limited for a logic analyzer). >if you just want a logic analyser it is hard to beat the price of something like this: http://www.gadgetfactory.net/logic-sniffer-2/ -Lasse
