O*Scope FUN boardPrice: $30.00 |
Keeping with the bench instrumentation theme over the past few years, the FDIM Buildathon project was test equipment related but a little different....
I have had a small 100Khz bandwidth oscilloscope for several years now. It was one of the first ones developed using a very fast and compact microprocessor to handle all the oscilloscope functions and a tiny OLED display. I thought it was very clever, bought one and promptly entered into an all night maker session and mounted it inside a tuna can. It was very cool but the display was way too impractical for me and my old eyes to use. This year, when I was in Albuquerque for the Rocky Mountain Division convention, I met up with the boys from Circuit Specialists. I have been buying stuff from them for a couple of decades so we hit it off. When I was NOT running around like a chicken with its head cut off (I hosted TWO Buildathons AND presented a forum talk) I perused their booth and ended up buying TWO oscilloscopes. One, a nice portable Hantek, to replace my Rigol which I reluctantly sold when I needed an infusion of cash and a little 200Khz pocket scope. I showed off the pocket scope to Chuck Carpenter, W5USJ, the next day as I detoured to Point Texas for a quick visit with Chuck on my way home from New Mexico.. He had just received a cheaper pocket scope that he had bought through Banggood. Those cheapie o*scopes come without a case and with either alligator or j-hook test leads. The unit from Circuit Specialists comes fully assembled in a very nice case AND with a real live oscilloscope test probe. Chuck now has both and prefers the new one. Even though I have a brand new Hantek scope and several more traditional analog scopes, I do like the little JYETech DSO Shell scope from Circuit Specialists and it is pretty handy to pack and take anywhere and everywhere I go! It does take some time getting used to the functions and selection process.
Later, while driving my sisters car from Maine to Florida, I started designing a neat little learning board to provide sample signals to measure while getting familiar with the little pocket scopes....and the O*Scope FUN! board was born. A couple of days later, while resting up at my sisters house, I had it all laid out and ready to go. But I have held back and re-worked the design a couple of times and think it is now ready....
So this year, the FDIM Buildathon was a little different. We built the simple little O*Scope FUN! board for generating nice predictable signals to measure while we learn how to use a pocket oscilloscope....a little build time...and a little learning time! The price was a little higher for this FDIM as everyone left with BOTH the O*Scope FUN! learning board AND a very nice JYETech DSO Shell pocket oscilloscope. The scope sells for $40 at Circuit Specialists but I made arrangements with Circuit Specialists to get a batch for the Buildathon at a reduced cost and passed it on to the Buildathon Builders. The deal was a one time buy so now the O*Scope FUN board is sold by itself. Scopes are still available from Circuit Specialists and kits are available all over the web.
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