USB PC-Based Logic Analyzer

[aman]

I was looking at some PC-Based Logic Analyzers. I came across this
one:

http://www.pctestinstruments.com/

Has anybody of you used it before. My requirement is fairly simple. I
have a 8-bit/16-Bit microcontroller at 12MHz. This one samples at 500
MHz. It has 34 channel. Seems a pretty good deal.

Any idea how good it works ?

 

[mike]

I was looking at some PC-Based Logic Analyzers. I came across this
one:

http://www.pctestinstruments.com/

Has anybody of you used it before. My requirement is fairly simple. I
have a 8-bit/16-Bit microcontroller at 12MHz. This one samples at 500
MHz. It has 34 channel. Seems a pretty good deal.

Any idea how good it works ?

What are you gonna use it for?
While it's easy to concoct a situation that requires 500MHz. sample
rate, as a practical matter, ain't nothin' much gonna happen on a 12MHz.
system that needs it.
If microcontroller means internal program store and memory, what exactly
are you gonna look at?

You're more likely to want very complex triggering arrangements to find
those subtle, intermittent bugs.
You're more likely to want a fast digital oscilloscope that can actually
see those ground bounces and glitches.

I used to design logic analyzers for a living. In the last 20 years,
the only time I've used one is to look at a RS232 signal when I couldn't
get my hands on a DSO.

If you'd said you were building Pentium processor boards or graphics
display subsystems or real-time FFT processors, my suggestion would have
been quite different.

Also, it's hard to imagine the hassle surrounding an instrument that
plugs into a general purpose PC until you actually try it. Unless you
permanentlly dedicate
the PC and the space it takes up, you'll often find that setting it all
up takes longer than to find the problem by inspection.

mike

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[James Morrison]

I was looking at some PC-Based Logic Analyzers. I came across this
one:

http://www.pctestinstruments.com/

Has anybody of you used it before. My requirement is fairly simple. I
have a 8-bit/16-Bit microcontroller at 12MHz. This one samples at 500
MHz. It has 34 channel. Seems a pretty good deal.

An article by Jack Ganssle is on embedded.com that compares a few
PC-based oscilloscopes/analysers. There's a second part to the article
that isn't out yet but that I'm waiting for.

Cheers.

 

[Dr. Anton T. Squeegee]

I was looking at some PC-Based Logic Analyzers. I came across this
one:

http://www.pctestinstruments.com/

Has anybody of you used it before. My requirement is fairly simple. I
have a 8-bit/16-Bit microcontroller at 12MHz. This one samples at 500
MHz. It has 34 channel. Seems a pretty good deal.

I've not had direct experience with this product but, on a broader
scale, I've never been fond of the idea that the PC is an Answer to
Everything on the test bench.

My advice would be to spend your $$ on a nice used commercial
logic analyzer. The Tektronix 1240 series instruments are pretty nice,
and I'm sure there are plenty of others Out There.

Whatever you get, be sure it has the pods and leads with it. Few
things on this planet are more useless than a logic analyzer without
such.

Happy hunting.

--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

 

[Joel Kolstad]

I've not had direct experience with this product but, on a broader
scale, I've never been fond of the idea that the PC is an Answer to
Everything on the test bench.

Most of the high end Agilent and Tektronix network analyzers and spectrum
analyzers are now just regular old PCs running Windoze along with various
specialized plug-in cards to perform the data acqusition.

There is notable value in having it all 'packaged' nicely and the installed
software being guaranteed to work and the thing not taking over your desktop
PC, of course.