RioRand (TM) Upgraded Pocket-Sized Digital Oscilloscope ARM DSO Nano DSO201 Review
DSO Nano v2 (New Version) is a Digital Storage Oscilloscope designed for basic electronicengineering tasks. Within its smart shell, the device runs on ARM Cortex™-M3 32bit platform, provides basic waveform monitoring with extensive functions. Itequips 320*240 color LCD, micro SD card storage, portable probes, LiPo Battery,USB connection and signal generator. Due to palm size and handy performance, itfits in-field diagnosis, quick measurement, hobbyist projects and whereverconvenience matters. Scheme and source files are also open for re-innovating.
Notice:
This is a NEW VERSION with the software upgrading from lib 2.25 to app2.6.
Price : $68.00
* Get the best price and special discount only for limited time
RioRand (TM) Upgraded Pocket-Sized Digital Oscilloscope ARM DSO Nano DSO201 Feature
- Portable and lightweight,Color display
- 6 triggering mode - 1Mhz Analog Bandwidth
- Complete measurement markers and signal characteristic
- Built-in Signal Generator
- Package includes:1x DS0201,1x Probe (x1/x10) ,1x Mini USB Cable,1x Self-printed paper manual
Maybe you should visit the following website to get a better price and specification details
Costumer review
38 of 39 people found the following review helpful.
Very Cool DSO for audio or automotive uses! Stock firmware is HORRIBLE.
By um what?
Pros- price, size(it's freakishly small for what it does), tons of features, totally open source with 3rd party firmwares available and an active online community
Cons- one channel, frequency and bandwidth are too low for RF work, Stock firmware is HORRIBLE so flashing it is pretty much mandatory.
Bottom line- This device is an open source handheld oscilloscope based on a 32 bit processor designed for MP3 players. It even looks like an mp3 player. (The newer models do not.)
Though the form factor is different, it is functionally identical to the DSO Nano V2 which costs $20 more. If you want a super affordable oscilloscope for hobby/automotive or audio frequency use, this might be for you, with one caveat- REPLACE THE FIRMWARE!!! The stock firmware is so bad it renders the device useless. Not only are the menus a mess, but the trigger/sampling algorithm is broken so triggers are sometimes missed. If you expect this device to perform well out of the box, you'll be disappointed.
Luckily this device is OPEN SOURCE! Even more lucky is that there is a firmware that resolves pretty much all the software issues. (It's called 'BenF'). Even though it wasn't developed by the manufacturer, it is the de facto 'firmware in use'. Once I flashed it was easy to see why. The Nano went from incomprehensible to easy in 5 minutes. Honestly I'd give this product 5 stars if it shipped with the 'BenF' firmware installed.
As for the capabilities, it's quite the little device. It samples at 1MHz. which means it's useful to about 200kHZ for analog signals, higher of course for digital signals... It has automatic measuring of frequency, duty cycle, AC V rms, DC Vpp, V min, V max, V average, pulse count and pulse width(nice for automotive signals like ignition and fuel injectors). It has a micro-SD slot(not SDHC compatible) and records sample data as XML which is very nice. It also takes screenshots. If I could add any one thing to it it would be a second channel.
It has a max input of 80V (with a 1x probe). The included probe feels solid and switches between 1x and 10x which is cool but makes me nervous. If I were doing a lot of higher voltage work, a dedicated 10x probe would be nice just to keep me from frying the device by accidentally using it on a 220V circuit with the included probe set to 1x.
The battery is LiPo and the charge seems to last around 2 hours. It recharges via USB and can function as a mass storage device. Firmware updates are also applied via USB.
End of the Day- While this won't completely replace my multimeter in the toolkit, the DMM will likely be relegated to component testing. The ability to actually look at electronic signals in the field is a HUGE time saver!
Update: After having this for a bit, using it and comparing it to my old tektronix, I have to make one update to the above review. It's really not useful up to 200KHz. More like 100-150KHz. The signal generator itself is solid all the way up to 1 MHZ(checked with my big scope), but the waveform displayed on the starts to deviate from square at ~ 120-130 KHz. It's still a great little device! You just have to recognize it's limitations.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Good inexpensive scope; firmware upgrade tricky
By stickboy
Only had the device a couple days, but is definitely taking waveforms. Bandwidth is limited to 1MHz, so you won't be taking any high speed signals. But for simple, quick measurements, it seems like it's doing well.
Upgrading firmware took a while to figure out. The latest DSO Nano's are shipping with a new bootloader, that requires a different firmware upgrade methodology. The manual shipped with the product is wrong. If your Nano has "Device Firmware Upgrade" newer than V2.6 (mine is V3.22A), then you should follow the procedure below:
- Hold the "-" button down, while you power on the device (NOTE: this is diff't from the manual)
- The screen should come up with Serial number, Licence (sic), and "Device Firmware Upgrade Vx.xx"
- Plug the USB into your PC, you should see a new disk show up in your file explorer
- Download latest *HEX* files, not DFU files (NOTE: this is diff't from the manual). All the forum-o-sphere seems to like BenF
- For BenF, there will be two hex files (APP and LIB). For other upgrades, there is often only one hex file.
- Copy the hex files from your download to the Nano disk *one at a time*. This is really important. The Nano can only handle one file at a time (I spent about an hour of frustration figuring this out).
- For each hex file copied, wait until the Nano "accepts" the file before powering off or copying another file. You will know it is accepted b/c the Nano disk will get dropped by the PC, then reloaded and the extension of the file you copied will now be .rdy (instead of .hex). If you have a .err extension, then something went wrong.
- Once all files are copied, then simply power cycle the Nano (don't hold any buttons down).
I've given three stars primarily b/c it took a long time to figure out the upgrade procedure and manual was unhelpful. I managed to brick the device a few times, but the upgrade path (hold "-" key down while powering on), always works and I could always get it back to a good state.
Good resource:
- Search "upgrade firmware dso nano" and go to the seeedstudio Wiki for DSO_Nano_v2 (yes, newer version of Nano, but same firmware & procedure)
- You can also go to minidso for the official firmware, but it's daunting if your chinese character recognition is poor
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Great little tool!
By Eric Hanson
I used this to replace my ancient, dying Tektronix o-scope. It will not have the speed for many applications, but for simple hobby electronics and for field use this is a must. I wish I bought one a long time ago.
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