Audio and analog only, mostly simple circuits

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mockingbirdaudio
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Audio and analog only, mostly simple circuits

Post by mockingbirdaudio »

Hello,

I buy/sell/repair/collet audio equipment. My main use of the scope is more for setting up tape decks and turntables. The electronics, if the DMM is reading correctly, and it sounds good, doesn't need a scope. Most of those circuits are ham-fisted, with enough feedback to tame bad designs and even worse parts selection.

So, how do I configure the software where it "looks like" a vectorscope? Is this unsupported? If not, does anyone here know of any software that is compatible with the Picoscope hardware, that is designed for use as an old fashioned vectorscope?

I like the hardware, BTW. Astonishing what you can put in a little gray box these days. It didn't take much effort to have it running on Windows and Ubuntu. You guys are "boffins" in lab coats, right?

Cheers,
Phillip

Gerry
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Re: Audio and analog only, mostly simple circuits

Post by Gerry »

Hi mockingbirdaudio,

If you want to look at vectors, then you can use the X-Y mode of display within our PicoScope software (with channel B enabled, go to the 'Views' menu and under 'X-axis' select 'B' instead of 'Time'). Also, if you want to use the scope just as a DMM, add a measurement of your choice (e.g. peak to peak, AC RMS, True RMS , etc) and then under the 'Measurements' menu increase the font size to, say 72 points to get a large display, that you can read from DMM distances.

And, thanks for the complement, but our boffins don't really like lab coats :-)

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

mockingbirdaudio
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Re: Audio and analog only, mostly simple circuits

Post by mockingbirdaudio »

Hi Jerry,

I wish you guys could come up with a few configurations that copy the look of classic audio scopes (see McIntosh MPI, the RFZ U733, etc.). Under menu, it would be "configuration for audiophiles". We audio hobbyists are fairly dumb and lazy. You could repackage this thing for audiophiles, and charge thousands of dollars, if you add 'special' cables with silver conductors, and put heavy aluminum face plates on everything. I'm not really joking. I sell and repair audio equipment (which is why I want to use the vectorscope for setting up $5,000 phono cartridges).

Cheers,
Phillip

Gerry
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Re: Audio and analog only, mostly simple circuits

Post by Gerry »

Hi Philip,

I understand what you're saying about repackaging. I'm a bit of an audiophile myself when it comes to recording and monitoring equipment, and I was quite impressed with my Focusrite Scarlette 2i2 purchase, a couple of years ago, in that it has a real quality feel about it (down to the brushed aluminium case and sleek, complementary looking and performing front panel), and is a high performing piece of equipment and yet still manages to remain cost effective.

However, it can be all consuming covering the opportunities within the Test and Measurement fields that we are currently active in, and in that respect hardware quality is important (aesthetic quality maybe not quite as much), but also important are features, the quality of software implementation, and power under the hood, while remaining cost-effective, and that is where we score highly with, for instance the PicoScope 4262, which is a low noise high resolution scope that is popular within Audio.

I'm not being dismissive of your suggestion (in fact I will put it forward on your behalf), I just wanted to make you aware of the fact that the field of Test and Measurement has many new frontiers, and as a company you have to be very careful, clear and calculated about where you deploy your resources for your specific business goals.

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

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