原创 Are scopes, logic analysers unsung heroes?

Every day I am astounded at the versatility and uses of oscilloscopes (aka cathode-ray oscilloscope or digital storage oscilloscope) as well logic analysers and a range of ancillary tools such as logic analysers and function generators. Normally associated with hardware debug such tools are also in a variety of ways in software debugging as well.

But the best way to understand the capabilities of any system – hardware or software – is to do a tear-down. Normally this is something developers do when they are tasked with building some device or system for some market or design need: find a similar device and take it apart and see that others did to make it work.

I think a similar strategy is useful in evaluating and using the tools and better yet. Better yet, once you understand the principles at work from study and use: build one yourself.

That is what the authors of "Create a DIY scope/logic analyser" have done: using a programmable SoC, they have built much of the functionality of a standard off the shelf oscilloscope into just a few components.

Although they have squeezed a lot of capability out of just a few components, it would be interesting to see how it compares to traditional factory-made alternatives.