A quick scope question

[neoandrewson]

Hi all,

I am planning to buy a oscilloscope. I have chosen a 100 MHz bandwidth 2 channel scope. I selected on various parameters like sampling rate and stuff like that. The two choices are attached. One is agilent 3000 series DSO and other is agilent 6000 series MSO. The main feature I need is to debug serial communication bus (I2C, SPI and UART) of microcontrollers only (not FPGAs). The 3000 series data sheet doesnt mention anything related to serial bus debugging. I have never used serial bus like I2C or SPI. So i am unable to decide which one to go. Out of your expertise, can u suggest me that can i manage serial bus debug in 3000 series? 6000 series are pretty costly and should not turn unnecessary later.

 

[Sceadwian]

If you're main use for this is to debug serial coms then why are you buying a scope? Get yourself a logic analyzer and a cheaper scope. Would save you a boatload of money.

 

[Junker_eu]

There are two ways:

1.You can borrow one from your teacher if you are a student.Or go to the electrical lab of your school.

2.If the frenquecy of your project isn't too high,you can make a sample scope follow the datum relative which can get by google it.

 

[Mikebits]

Either scope would serve you well.

I drooled at both...

 

[phoenox]

I have used a scope with similar sample rates to debug I2C and SPI(Link Instruments DSO 8500). Both those scopes should easily be able to do what you want. Also you will find that it comes in handy for debugging many different types of projects.

If cost is a major concern you may want to look at the Link instrument scopes. They are much cheaper than most because instead of a dedicated display it has a USB hookup to PC to display on the monitor.

 

[Willbe]

Plot what features you want (e.g., bandwidth) on the Y-axis and price on the X-axis for brand A. You may find a scope that is $50 cheaper (brand B) than brand A, with the same BW.
This is the competitor of brand A. I did this and I bought [name]brand B.

A scatterplot of this type will reveal all kinds of interesting relationships, with high or low correlation to the features vs. price that you are looking for.