Friday, April 17, 2009

USB Oscilloscope

This portable two-channel digital storage oscilloscope made by Parallax, is a handy and affordable tool for both the hobbyist and student. Three pairs of probes connect to the compact powder-coated aluminum case, two for signal channels and a third for external TTL triggering. The hardware connects to your PC with the included USB cable for both data transfer and power, so no external power supply is needed.

All oscilloscope controls are managed through one of our two software interface platforms. Both platforms include classic scope features such as Auto and Normal trigger modes, variable trigger voltage, external triggering, and auto-measurements (Min, Max, Frequency, Period). Three easy-to-use cursor functions to measure acquired signals manually, with the option to snap to the waveform. Each platform also allows you to save customized setups, and to export data and bitmaps for analysis and inclusion in reports.

Features of the Parallax USB Oscilloscope include:

• 2 Channels
• 1 Ms/s maximum sample rate with one channel
• 500 Ks/s sample rate with two channels
• 20 Vpp maximum input for Channel 1 and Channel 2
• 200 kHz bandwidth
• 8-Bit vertical resolution
• 1 M Ohm Input Impedance
• Trigger on rising or falling edge at any voltage
• Variable trigger voltage on Channels 1 and 2
• Horizontal trigger position settings at 10%, 50%, and 90%
• Auto and normal trigger modes
• 3 probes
• USB 1.1 Support (no additional power supply required!)
• Size: 5 x 2.25 x 1.5 in (12.7 x 5.7 x 3.8 cm)
• Weight: 8 oz (227 gm)

The activities in Understanding Signals v1.0 require the Parallax USB Oscilloscope
software version 4.0, which runs on most Windows 2K and XP operating systems. The Parallax USB Oscilloscope Software Version 5 (right), which runs on most Windows XP and Vista systems, does not fully support the activities in Understanding Signals.