If you have very old pieces of analogue test equipment with CRTs on your bench, the chances are they will all have surprisingly similar surrounds to their screens. Back when they were made it was common to record oscilloscope screens with a Polaroid camera, that would have a front fitting for just this purpose. More […]
Until recently, hobby-grade digital oscilloscopes were mostly, at most, 8-bit sampling. However, newer devices offer 12-bit conversion. Does it matter? Depends. [Kiss Analog] shows where a 12-bit scope may outperform an 8-bit one. It may seem obvious, of course. When you store data in 8-bit resolution and zoom in on it, you simply have less […]
We’re suckers for a vintage electronic teardown here at Hackaday, and thus it’s pleasing to see [Thomas Scherrer OZ2CPU] with a 1962 AEG oscilloscope on his bench. It’s definitely seen better days, and is a single-trace 10 MHz unit of the type you might have seen in a typical general purpose electronics lab back in […]
You’re designing an oscilloscope with modest storage — only 15,000 samples per channel. However, the sample rate is at 5 Gs/s, and you have to store all four channels at that speed and depth. While there is a bit of a challenge implied, this is quite doable using today’s technology. But what about in the […]
These days, if you are in the market for a capable digital voltmeter, you might as well consider getting one with an oscilloscope built-in. One choice is the Owon HDS160, which [Kerry Wong] covers in the video below. The model is very similar to the HDS120, but the multimeter in the HDS160 has more counts–60,000 […]
The Jye Tech DSO-150 is a capable compact scope that you can purchase as a kit. If you’re really feeling the DIY ethos, you can go even further, too, and kit your scope out with the latest open source firmware. The Open-DSO-150 firmware is a complete rewrite from the ground up, and packs the scope […]
Classic demos from the demoscene are all about showing off one’s technical prowess, with a common side order of a slick banging soundtrack. That’s precisely what [BUS ERROR Collective] members [DJ_Level_3] and [Marv1994] delivered with their prize-winning Primer demo this week. This demo is a grand example of so-called “oscilloscope music”—where two channels of audio […]
If you’ve ever fumbled through circuit simulation and ended up with a flatline instead of a sine wave, this video from [saisri] might just be the fix. In this walkthrough she demonstrates simulating a Colpitts oscillator using NI Multisim 14.3 – a deceptively simple analog circuit known for generating stable sine waves. Her video not […]
Entry-level oscilloscopes are a great way to get some low-cost instrumentation on a test bench, whether it’s for a garage lab or a schoolroom. But the cheapest ones are often cheap for a reason, and even though they work well for the price they won’t stand up to more advanced equipment. But missing features don’t […]
If you’re the sort who finds beauty in symmetry – and I’m not talking about your latest PCB layout – then you’ll appreciate this clever take on the long-tailed pair. [Kevin]’s video on this topic explores boosting common mode rejection by swapping out the old-school tail resistor for a current mirror. Yes, the humble current […]