Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] DSO Oscillosope

no falloff wrote:

> I need an Oscilloscope. primarily to analyze the effect of signal processing on non-periodic signals. I can't afford one of the better sampling scopes, and I noticed, that for the price of a used scope on ebay I can get what is basicly a PC based model (such as http://www.picotech.com/oscilloscope.html). Anyone have any experience/opinions with these?
>
> thanks
>
> peter-
>
> I will of course be analyzing the feed back signal from the encoders on the servos on my cnc mill >B)

I have a Link Instruments PC-pod DSO. It is possibly more than you need for this
purpose, but it works pretty well. There is a bit of delay caused by sending the data
from the pod to the PC and converting that into a display. It doesn't work well on
my ANCIENT 386 laptop, partly due to a slow CPU, and partly due to the ancient
windows OS on it. But, it works fine on a regular 486 and up PC. That is somewhat
of a hassle, setting up a PC, monitor, keyboard and mouse, just to look at some
signals. But, if you are going to be doing servo tuning, then you really need a
DSO of some sort. Actually, EMC has such sophisticated servo logging built into
it that you may be able to do without the DSO, if you are using EMC on your
machine. If not, then a DSO that can capture a record of a fleeting event will
keep your frustration down a lot. I tried to do this with a regular oscilloscope,
and it was awful. I had to watch the scope while hitting buttons, twiddling
pots, etc. Now, I don't even look at the PC screen until the machine is back to
a safe state. If I didn't get what I wanted, I can do it again with a different trigger
setting, or whatever.

Jon