USB logic analysers

[cliff_poole]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100MHz-16CH-200MHz-8CH-PC-USB-Logic-Analyzer-support-I2C-SPI-UART-and-PWM-/251012831622?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item3a7187d986

Has anyone tried one of these or have any opinion based on similar cheap devices ?.

It was the price that caught my eye as much as anything.

 

[guddler]

Don't have any experience of the product but looking at the sellers feedback I don't think I'd touch them. Typical Chinese rubbish seller. And it may be using knock off software too.

 

[P-Man]

yup, save your money and buy somethgin good, i have heard the software is a nightmare to use. depends if you want to save money and can deal with janky buggy software, not good when you want it to just work.

 

[cliff_poole]

Well spotted with the feedback, I so often don't think to check that these days.

Cheers for the advise, I realise that you are probably right. I'll wait until my local radio rally, in case I get lucky there.

 

[guddler]

Andy, how's the software on that LogicPort one? It looks a bit old from the screenshots and doesn't support 64 bit according to the sales guff. But old and 32bit doesn't have to be a problem!

 

[P-Man]

Software is easy to use, i havn't fired it up on my new win7 64-bit box, i was used to runnign it on XP.

'looks a bit old' - since when should that stop you using something just because it doesn't look flashy and new. Substance over style, especially in this game!

 

[guddler]

As a software developer, being expected to develop solutions that have substance AND style, I expect the same, and it frustrates me immensely that nearly all the time in this hobby we don't get both. But you're right, we don't NEED style for the product to work

 

[trm]

Logic port runs fine on W7 x64. I think the UI is slightly clunky but it does everything I want.

 

[retrorepair]

I think personally I'd just stick with a scope and a probe for our uses. LAs can be wildly innacurate and even give false information by their very nature.

 

[cliff_poole]

Point taken. I have never actually used one, which is why I was looking at something cheap, to see how useful it would be. My thought was that they might be useful to help see what was going on at bus selectors, but I suppose most faults are usually more obvious than that.

 

[guddler]

They are useful in their place. There's a big thread on here somewhere where a bunch of us snagged bootleg versions of the Salae 'Logic' 8 channel analyser a while back when they were still available (the genuine one does come in a 16 channel version now).

I've not done much with mine but it's damn handy to have about sometimes. 8 channels isn't enough, and being USB it does struggle a bit, but given I paid, what? about £30 all in, it's bloomin' marvellous. REALLY useful to be able to actually SEE whats going on, and in a much more readable way than a scope, IMO.

But, it's horses for courses, and my main and first friend is always my Fluke 9100 FT without any doubt. In fact I regularly consider packing in and selling up, but it's the consideration to whether I sell the Fluke or not that always makes me think not and keeps me from selling anything.

 

[cliff_poole]

Ah yes, the fluke

. It is always a big sigh of relief when I have a Z80 board to do (it's the only pod I have). It has been years since I last saw any pods for sale, I really should have snapped them up while I could.

 

[guddler]

Yes, seem to have dried up a bit lately. I'm sure they're out there as I've not been looking for ages but you don't see them being punted about as much as you used to.

 

[trm]

RetroRepair - I'm interested in your experiences that have made you think LAs suck? I've been through a few and am now on my easy to use Intronix and I love it! Fair enough you need to spend a little while learning the tool but if it was a choice between an LA and a scope, I think I'd eventually vote for the LA. you can do so much more unless you've got a fancy HP/Agilent scope.

 

[retrorepair]

This video pretty much sums it up for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWKY6W1C9yM

If it helps others then that's great, but I just don't have a genuine need for it. I have a cheapy china knock off so it may not be the most fair judgement but I have never used it and found anything that my scope or probe couldn't find. To be honest, next to my multimeter, the probe is the best thing I ever bought and could probably even live without the scope. But that's not what's up for debate here.

 

[cliff_poole]

How many cups of coffee has that guy had ?

 

[guddler]

Too many! And it's impossible to really tell whether he's for or against logic analysers!! Plus, for very many of the arguments he gives against a logic analyser, there's probably an equally compelling reason for them. Strange guy!

 

[cliff_poole]

That is a useful tutorial, he is obviously a very knowledgable chap. I must admit, I came away from that more convinced that it might be useful.

I thought he was saying "don't spend thousands on a huge thing unless it is one of those fancy combined scope analysers, get a cheap USB one that you can keep in the draw for the odd occasion you need it". That sounds like fair advice.

 

[guddler]

Incidentally, going back to your original question, check out (google for) 'Saleae logic' - they've literally called it 'logic'. Pretty cheap and nice software, although the triggering could be ore complex. The 8 channel is particularly cheap but with what we work with 8 isn't really enough. 16 would really be minimum, 32 would be ultimate...