Economical Priced Bench Scopes Made Possible by Embedded Development

An oscilloscope measures and analyzes electric signals in waveform. In short, electrical signal are shown in the form of a graph after converting them into a function of time. There was a time when an oscilloscope was very expensive. The median price for a good oscilloscope was equal to the price of a car. Even now, a very good oscilloscope can set you back by the price of a Toyota. Some high priced units can cost up to half a million dollars.

Many people cannot afford these prices. But you don’t have to worry. Thanks to embedded development, you can now buy a good quality, USB based oscilloscope (called bench scopes) for a fraction of the price of a decent lab oscilloscope. These units are small in size and use a PC display/virtual controls instead of a panel. As I said, these are very cheap but still get the work done. Most of these devices are manufactured by Asian companies and they retail for as low as $259.

Please note that these devices are not for you if you are at a professional lab. But if you are an independent embedded developer or a hobbyist and you are not looking for a lot of performance, then these devices will more than suffice.