I may get around to updating this more later. But I wanted to post this quickly to get it out so people can see it. I've had this a few hours and have done only basic testing. I was going to return it but now I love it. This could change later with more experience. We'll see.
There's ONE thing you must do to make this work and it wasn't obvious to me. You MUST assemble the probe properly. Sounds obvious, right. Well, I just grabbed the probe body and pressed the little cylindrical spring hook on to it. I hooked the probe to the built in function generator. The wave was almost invisible (height wise) and was distorted. It would barely trigger. I hooked it to another function generator which was outputting a 12Vpp wave. I got similar results. I spent 2 hours troubleshooting, looking over the comments, looking over the questions, resetting defaults, reloading the firmware, etc. Nothing worked. I was about ready to return the product. See the first YouTube video below.
Then I found a YouTube video which showed me my error. There's a little gold pin, like a needle, in a separate little bag that you must insert into a hole in the probe base. THEN, you put the spring hook onto the end of the probe. THEN, it works flawlessly. Little things mean a lot as they say.
Here's another warning. The oscilloscope has a built in memory you can access via plugging it into your PC via USB. I did that and deleted some what I thought were superfluous files. Apparently I deleted something important, because now, when I go to the about screen, I get a file error. So, don't do that.
The unit comes with one probe, so you may wish to order another. Note that these are not standard BNC connectors.
Get a copy of the PDF manual and review it. You can get the source code and firmware too if you want.
https://www.minidso.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1816&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Dtypeid%26typeid%3D112
Prepare to spend an hour or so getting familiar with the device. There are only 3 controls, but they do lots of things. They do different things depending on whether they are pressed, rotated, or held, and also different depending on the mode.
Press Play / Pause to, well, play or pause.
Press and hold Play / Pause to save a screen shot.
Press and hold S to display the menu bar or get rid of it.
If menu bar is off, press and hold M does nothing.
The waveform is centered on the left 10x8 square grid. Turning the menu bar off gives more horizontal space but doesn't recenter the wave. I just leave it where it is.
If menu bar is off, press S moves trigger to Channel A or B.
If menu bar is off, rotate S changes the time (horizontal) axis settings.
If the menu bar is off, single press M moves RED highlight to channel A or B.
If the menu bar is off, rotate M changes the voltage (vertical) axis settings for the selected (RED) channel, unless the channel is hidden.
If the menu bar is on, pressing S cycles through menu pages.
If the menu bar is on, rotating S may change a highlighted menu item.
If the menu bar is on, pressing and holding S gets rid of the menu bar.
If the menu bar is on, pressing M will open the selected menu.
If the menu bar is on, rotating M will select different menus or options.
If the menu bar is on, pressing and holding M accesses the file manager menu.
When a menu says post, it means position.
There are a number of lines which can show up on the screen. I prefer to keep most of them enabled.
Channel A wave, enabled
Channel B wave, enabled if I'm using it
Channel C wave, math functions, enabled if I'm using it
Trigger Voltage (dotted horizontal line), enabled (will show as channel A or B)
Trigger Time (dotted vertical line), usually centered left to right, enabled
Voltage Cursor 1 (dotted horizontal line), enabled, I keep it near the top if not in use
Voltage Cursor 2 (dotted horizontal line), enabled, I keep it near the bottom if not in use
The delta between these cursors shows up in the lower left.
Time Cursor 1 (dotted vertical line), enabled, I keep it near the left if not in use
Time Cursor 2 (dotted vertical line), enabled, I keep it near the bottom if not in use
The delta between these cursors shows in the lower right.
Under the X_Window menu on page 1, you can change the position on the screen left to right of the trigger point.
Under the trigger menu on page 1, you can change the position vertically of the trigger point.
Also under the trigger menu, you can turn on Auto Fit, then double click the M switch (hard to do). This should auto scale the wave for you. This crashed the scope a couple of times for me, so I turned it off.
On page 2, you can measure things. The first two active measurements show up at the bottom.
Every time you change something you'd like to keep, long press M to get the file management menu (if menu bars are on), then select save parameters. A file update status item will appear briefly in the lower right. Then, go back into the file menu, select save DAT file, rotate the S wheel to select file #0, then select. I think the parameters menu saves the startup state. Also, you can go back in and load the #0 DAT file any time (or other file numbers).
In the system settings menu, the "cycle" options tell if selections roll around past the edge back to the beginning or stop at the end of the list. I keep these off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkU56XWVLhw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P3Kue5Ue6g
These are the things I found useful in a few hours of experimenting. Hope it helps.
Ron
Add to your order
-
Coverage for accidental damage including drops, spills, and broken parts, as well as breakdowns (plans vary) -
24/7 support when you need it. -
Quick, easy, and frustration-free claims.
Cover this product:
3 Year Kitchen Protection Plan $23.99
4-Year Protection $32.99
Cover all of your eligible devices:
Asurion Complete Protect: One plan covers all eligible past and future purchases (Renews Monthly Until Cancelled) $16.99/month
Select a plan
Add to your order
- Coverage for accidental damage including drops, spills, and broken parts, as well as breakdowns (plans vary)
- 24/7 support when you need it.
- Quick, easy, and frustration-free claims.
Cover this product:
Select a plan
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Frequently bought together
$139.99
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 28
Only 9 left in stock - order soon.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
From the brand
From the manufacturer
Ideal for Makers
The SainSmart DS212 is the right option that doesn't cut any corners when it comes to performance. Its display is bright and sharp, and it makes easy work of taking readings from small, uncomplicated electronics, which is widely applicable in the academic experiment, electronics maintenance, electronic engineering tasks, etc.
Features
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
Handheld & PortableSainSmart DS212 has a lightweight feature since it only weighs about 3.17 ounces yet it has an overall measurement of 3.9 x 2.2 x 0.4 inches. If you own it you never have to worry about taking up much room while using, it will fit your workbench very nicely. |
Simple DesignIf you find all the various controls on the front panel of a usual oscilloscope a bit puzzle, you may be more comfortable with the SainSmart DS212. Its small buttons, thumbwheel dramatically simplifies its exterior, making it a bit more inviting to novices. |
Various WaveformsOffering the Max Sample Rate of 10 MSa/s and two digital channels, DS212 is a great choice for many hobbyists out there. These features help you come with coming up with reliable results of waveforms, including sine, square, sawtooth, and triangle waveforms. |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| DS211 | DS212 | DS213 | |
|
|
|
||
| Customer Reviews |
— |
239
|
99
|
| Price | — | $139.99 | — |
| MCU | STM32F103VC | STM32F303VC | STM32F103VE |
| ADC | MCU internal ADC | MCU internal ADC | HWD9288 |
| Channels | 1 analog channel + 1 internal channel | 2 analog channels | 2 analog channels + 2 digital channels |
| Analog Bandwidth | 200KHz | 1MHz | 15MHz |
| Max Sample Rate | 1MSa/s | 10MSa/s | 100MSa/s |
| Max Sample Memory Depth | 8K | 8K | 4K |
| Horizontal Sensitivity | 1uS/Div~2S/Div(1-2-5sequence step) | 1uS/Div~2S/Div(1-2-5sequence step) | 100nS/Div~1S/Div(1-2-5sequence step) |
| Battery | 500mAh | 500mAh | 1000mAh |
| Screen Size | 2.8inch | 2.8inch | 3inch |
| Open Source | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Videos
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Videos for this product
0:41
Click to play video
Customer Review: Nice unit with bad accessories
Nitrousbob
Reviews with images
Perfect for car audio
My primary use for this is tuning amplifiers. Before I bought this I had been using a "graphical multimeter" similarlookin liumy LM2020, which worked fine for car audio. My biggest gripe was the screen resolution wasn't great so it wasn't always easy to tell if the signal was clipping yet. This little unit though has great resolution and allows me to set the gains in amplifiers much more precisely. Very easy to use, comes with different attachments making it easy to use in a wide variety of applications. I highly recommend this little O-scope.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023
Top reviews from other countries
Bilal E.
Excellent product, but single triggering does not always work
Reviewed in Canada on February 26, 2022Robolph
A great portable scope for the price
Reviewed in Canada on December 5, 2019Roger Nathan
Economical tool for looking at DC waveforms
Reviewed in Canada on February 9, 2021
Roger Nathan
Reviewed in Canada on February 9, 2021
Images in this review
