(An Article by Sherman Chen)
So, in case anyone might be wondering, we are not a review blog where we take in selected products from sponsors and we do a review about their features. You probably can follow EEVBlog for that (by the way, I am a huge fan of that series). Here, at onlinelabseries, we want to take a more serious note to things. Well, not too serious ofcourse.
And we are really all about learning, understand what a product has in terms of their functions and features, as well as understanding what their strengths and limitations are, and then looking at their most optimal use-cases (product applications). Many videos that you find on YouTube tend to focus a lot on the lower end DSOs, those videos serve as more of a buying guide for makers whose getting started and that is fine, hobbyist as we call it. So when it comes to being a hobbyist, usually you will get something between the range of 50 ~ 200 MHz.
Personally, I have been using the 200MHz model by Hantek. It has served me well for many smaller research and prototyping projects. But the problem comes when you want to start exploring more complex, high-end projects and applications, usually applications that you would want to one day use to solve a real-world problem. Sure, there will always be simple solutions for some use cases, but in some other use-cases, you simply cannot avoid the need for a 1GHz-capable DSO/MSO.
Sure, there will always be simple solutions for some use cases, but in some other use-cases, you simply cannot avoid the need for a 1GHz-capable DSO/MSO.
DSOs/MSOs for More Complex Projects & Research
Well, at onlinelabseries, we only want to showcase the best!
So, as we start to move up the complexity level of our projects & research, we may find that the DSO we have invested in for our hobby needs is finally becoming more of a limitation than an enabler. At this point, we need to start thinking about upgrading our Oscilloscopes to something that is much more powerful and capable to handle our project requirements. With so many great brands available on the market, how then do you choose one? And, if you have already chosen one and bought it, how can you maximise all of it's potential? I mean, paying $5000 ~ $10,000 for an Oscilloscope is clearly not a small investment especially if you are progressing from being a Hobbyist to a Maker. When someone spends that kind of money, their mindset changes as a user/customer. They want to squeeze every bit of juice and capability out of their products.
And, if you have already chosen one and bought it, how can you maximise all of it's potential?
With onlinelabseries, we want to help you answer all of those questions. Which is why, we are going to introduce a learning path that covers testing tools and equipments. It might seem like an extremely huge scope to cover with so many products/brands to choose from. Well, at onlinelabseries, we only want to showcase the best!
Note: The brands that are published on this site are based upon some of the top international brands around and they ship to most countries and cities. Within your location, there could be other brands available and it's not distributed internationally, so we might not cover every available brand. There could also be brands that aren't as well-publicised as the brands we are going to mention, so please pardon us. If you think that there is a particular brand which should have a dedicated lab series to dive into, please leave us a comment or write in to us.
Added on 2nd May 2018: After the feedback from one of our community members, we decided to include GWInstek into the list of brands we are willing to feature in a dedicated series. This is based on the fact that they are partners with element14, which is also a recognised global distributor. But here is my note at the time of writing this, I do not see GWInstek listed anywhere among the other major electronic distributors. So, as a brand, you should probably be grateful that you are working with element14.
I think it is important for brands to remember, no matter how amazing you think your product is, if the mass consumer/users can't have easy access to your product, then its highly unlikely that we will want to feature you as a brand in a lab series. Our promise to our community of learners is that we will always bring to them content that is relevant - which also means brands with products that are made available and easily accessible anywhere in the world.
The only other reason we will be willing to showcase a brand or their products is because we see a potential for them in the future.
Moving from Hobbyist Mode to a Professional Maker
Okay, I have selected the photos (screenshots) which I had taken from the Top 5 Electronics Distributors in Asia (Here's the LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-ultimate-guide-top-electronics-distributors-asia-2018-sherman-chen/). They mainly cover Mouser, Element14, RS Components, Digi-Key and Arrow Electronics. The images are not exactly in that order. But my point is to show that there really are quite a lot of options to pick from, but if you are thinking about becoming a serious, professional maker, then you probably will need to think about investing in one of those DSOs/MSOs soon. All of the DSOs and MSOs list in those screenshots are between the range of 300-500MHz for some and 300-750MHz for others. Considering that there is a difference in the range available, for the purposes of an online lab education, we will probably pick from the 500 MHz pool of options.
What are the Most Common Brands vs Availability?
Okay, so here is a nutshell look at what are some of the most common brands of oscilloscopes that are around (carried by this distributors) as well as how they measured up in terms of their availability right now.
In most cases, I find Tektronix, Rohde & Schwarz, Teledyne LeCroy, B&K Precision and Keysight Technologies being the more popular ones. Most of the distributors mentioned above tend to carry more of those brands than others in that bandwidth range. For RS Components, they do have their own brand of DSOs and MSOs as well. But I am not sure if I want to include that into the lab series. Most distributors don't sell RS' in-house DSOs/MSOs. But I figure that if RS Component is one of the most popular distributors in the world, they do ship to most locations, so if RS Components wants me to do a dedicated lab series around their DSOs/MSOs, they can send me one.
Added on 2nd May 2018: As mentioned above, we are including GWInstek into this list, eventhough they are only available through element14 (among the top distributors worldwide). Plus they do have DSOs in the 500MHz range.
Things are Starting to Get A Lot More Serious
Okay, so once you start moving up the chart of more complexed IoT projects, you are going to have to think about equipment that is really capable of handling your needs. I have personally taken some time to browse every single top brand there is to see what sort of models and bandwidths they cover. Now, some do have bandwidths in the ranges of 2GHz or even 8GHz, but as a serious maker you will probably never need to reach that bandwidth. From my working experience in the field, that is really towards the industrial side of things. Aviation, maritime, Space travel and more. Wait, did I say space travel?
Okay, just kidding. But yes, if you are seriously looking to up your game and start exploring more professional, real-world projects that requires a serious bandwidth, the 1GHz models are usually good enough. In this very case, I have also compiled the screenshots from the same five distributors above to show roughly what they have.
Again, they are not displayed in any order or ranking here. It's just to show you what is available as well as what we at onlinelabseries will be looking to use over the course of perhaps the next year or more.
As we begin to look at some of the real-world use-cases of some of the products/brands we are going to feature, it is unavoidable that the 200MHz Hantek DSO that I have is just not going to be enough very very quickly. I need something a lot more beefy and the following brands definitely will cover it - Teledyne LeCroy, Tektronix, Rohde & Schwarz, Keysight Technologies. Although Rigol is not distributed by many of those electronics distributors mentioned in this article, they are a popular brand among electronics makers, so we will also include them as a potential brand to showcase for the 1 GHz range of oscilloscopes.
As a platform & community, we have officially began our efforts of reaching out to the Product Marketing, Digital Marketing & Technical Marketing folks at the above mentioned companies. And we also have key contact people within the electronics distributor's leadership. Right now, before our first official major lab series kicks-off in end-May/beginning June, we look forward to establishing a partnership with one or more of those brands.
Dedicated Lab Series vs Dedicated Lab Series + Regular Showcases
So, two things are going to happen in the near future.
Dedicated Lab Series (Multiple Sponsors) - 500MHz DSOs/MSOs, 4CH
For brands that are only able to sponsor us with the 500 MHz range DSOs/MSOs, those equipment will contribute towards having a dedicated lab series for each respective brand. A lab curriculum will be designed and developed to specifically cater to users and existing customers and potential customers looking to purchase from your brand.
Dedicated Lab Series + Regular Showcases (Only One Sponsor Required) - 1GHz DSOs/MSOs, 4CH
For the brand that can support us with the 1GHz range DSOs/MSOs, you will get something more, clearly. We will not only be doing a dedicated lab series around your product, but we will also be using it for many of the project ideas and use-cases that we are going to explore in all the other lab series. What that really means is that you product has the potential of appearing in potentially hundreds of live streaming lab sessions as well as double the number in companion articles. In those cases, eventhough your product may not be the main subject or topic of discussion, they will be mentioned as part of it because it is the testing equipment we will be using throughout the whole lab series.
Note: Realistically, we only need 1 brand to sponsor us for the dedicated lab series + regular showcases, using the 1GHz model. So this will definitely be an exclusive option. Do you think your brand should be included in the above showcases and lab series? Make sure to let us know.