The Oscilloscope Guide: How to select the right oscilloscope for your needs

Choosing the Right Oscilloscope

Here are some question you should ask before purchasing an oscilloscope, BEFORE you start reading product specs or features:

• Where do you plan on using the oscilloscope most? Is it on a workbench, at another site indoors, or outdoors?



• Will your signals be mostly repetitive, or will they be transient, single-shot, or varying?



• Will you need to view signals in the frequency domain (spectrum analysis) as well as the time domain?



• Will you need to store a significant amount of data for later retrieval?



• How many different signals will you need to measure at once?



• Will you need connectivity to a computer or to the Internet?



• What is the highest frequency signal you will need to measure?



• What are the max and min amplitudes that you will need to measure?