DIY Oscilloscope Kit (20$) VS Regular DS Oscilloscope (400$) 

"Hey kid, wanna learn about electronics? You'll need an Oscilloscope. Now build it." mmkay.

Nice to see a fair and unbiased video unlike eevblog where anything that isn't pro-equipment is thrown against the desk and deemed to be crap.

Funny stuff, I bought the preasembled kit and it came with full instructions

I can't remember where I learned this from, but instead of tinning both pads, only tin one side first. Then put the component (ie resistor), and reheat that one side. Because there is no solder on the other side, positioning the component is easier than if both sides have solder on them and having to quickly alternate the iron between the two sides. Just my 2 cents. :-) +GreatScott, amazing job editing the many hours of build AND some tips into only a 5 minute video! Well done!

Just to let you know, Gearbest have ripped off this video and are using it for commercial purposes on Facebook.

I love my DSO138. I've lost count of how many times it has come in handy for debugging circuits.

Your boot up turned out nice and clean. Mine immediately turns into screaming chaos as if I'm reading signals from everywhere on the planet at once.

For the smd components it's easier to wet a single pad, push the component on top, apply heat for basic holding, and then solder the other side.

Think the winner here is the DIY soundcard one, it has low sample rate (44 KHz), yes, but for dutycycle as you mention (and some FFT) it's lovely.

Excellent comparison video for starter oscilloscope viewers. Just all around DIY refresher for anyone else. +GreatScott! is a great teacher and reviewer!

I have a tiny old CRT I've bought from a pawn shop for ~$10 and some analog stuff that's worth ~$5 and it works well enough for my use

For a few dollars more, you can get a Pico Scope that connects to your laptop or pc USB port. The Pico software is excellent,and the Pico Scope itself is compact and very well behaved. I’m not affiliated, just an electronics hobbyist sharing my experience with inexpensive scopes.

You can also use a simple SMD rework gun (Like the 858D) and some solder paste to make these SMD kits MUCH easier. ~$60 but worth every dollar.

One of your best videos, I've been looking for a little fairly cheap something like this to put together and learn a bit about electronics and this is perfect.

So glad you did a video on this as I have been considering buying one of these kits. I get a fun little project and it can fill the hole until I can afford a more expensive unit.

Greatscott: 3 hour of madness Me: 2 days of madness

Your videos are always a joy to watch.

I bought one of these and I have to say, it's pretty robust for being $20 or so. I was expecting something much worse, but for general use it's a great option. And a fun little project for putting together.

Ah - the idea about the 9v battery is genius! I hate having to lug around the power converter

Great video- somehow I missed these last year! Nice to see these cheap alternative electronics, for us home diy'ers

I haven't found a comparison round up of these kit O-scopes and how the compare. I"m not sure that is your intended direction for the channel but it sure would be a helpful episode for us electronics noobs.

I can’t seem to find these anymore without the SMDs pre-mounted. My gf got me a USB microscope for an anniversary present, and I wanted to give it a try.

I just come by for the "...and I vill zee yuu next time!" That alone is worth a thumbs up! 😉

you make the best videos ever ...........and you inspired me to do a lot of electronic projects

Hey! Can you look at DLO-138? It's basically a DIY upgrade you can do on DSO-138. It adds a second channel as well!

i just bought one of these on ebay for $21 assembled and in the acrylic case. In looking at the pricing I cant see purchasing the kit when assembled is only a couple dollars more. Unless you enjoy the building. I intend to use this $20 scope to monitor my ham radio rf signal. make sure im not overmodulating

The cheap $20 ones are amusing to build, I bought several even though I have a 1054Z. Great projects for kids.

Looks like a really fun little starter project, I look forward to getting mine.

In fact this kitt is very good to see low frequency signals up to 200KHZ well known and accurate predictable like arduino PWM and similar but not for professional use in repairing.

Make a video of all your recommended cheap diy gadgets for new hobbyist! Oscillo, function gen, etc. Keep up the good work

Gearbest used your video and said "as low as 1,99usd" in the commercial, but well, even the eu plug for it was more than this...

I'm going to buy one of these just for my first circuit board project. I have no clue when/why to use an oscilloscope. But I'm a noob right now.

Definitely , it's worth the solder pain .

I have already purchased one

Hi, nice to meet you, great oscilloscope, congratulation for yours videos, salutation from Venezuela.

Well it´s good enough for the high frequency of an inrunner brushless motor, so I find that good!

More DIY KITS

Hi , i got this on ebay fully maded With Case, for about $40 AUS with extra cables and a 9 Volt Battery Case

this is made by the jye tech（今越电子），it is cheap on taobao ，now，they provide a version which much smaller but still useful

I've got this 20$ scope, it's my first and it's really good :D , especially in combination with an 3$ AliExpress Probe (which is Exactly the same as a 20-30$ probe from RS)

My kit came with those tiny resistors and 3 other chips preinstalled I am very glad for that because they look hard to install. I once tried to solder a kit that was made up of those tiny chips and I failed miserably. lol, My kit also it came with all the documentation. I only just received it and my multimeter broke so I am waiting for a new meter to arrive before soldering anything onto the board. The documentation recommends testing the parts before installing them but in the meantime, I want to gain as much knowledge as I can before assembling and using it.I am fairly certain that this item will be perfect for my needs I am nothing more than a hobbyist Thanks for your video. Why does it tell us to short J4 after a power test?

It would be really great to see you do a similar review on the Espotek Labrador

happy 200,000

Very nice ! I always wanted have a scope in my lab ! =/ But i never had the money to buy it... maybe it's a good solution to buy one of these.. I'm a big fan of your channel ! Stay creative always ! =D Keep going brother ! I will share your videos in communities in brazil !

Thanks for the demonstration!!

Those kits are nice if they work. Problem is their quality vary quite a bit. Some of them works great, other can't show anything meaningful.

I've just found your channel and I'm enjoying your content, subbed! Watching you solder makes me cringe though! lol In a comical way though, in that I can remember pushing smd components around with my iron like you were doing in my early soldering days :)) If I can add a couple of things.... Practice, practice, practice and 'the right tool for the job'. Both of those can turn a soldering project from a pain, into a pleasure. The large iron you are using for those components is kind of like using a flame thrower to light a candle. For assembling a device like that, look into something like a 12W Antex (search S17J470 M12) with a copper point tip along with a good set of tweezers. Seriously, it makes a world of difference ;) Personally, at my workstation I always have three different irons, a temp controlled iron and a hot air rework station to cover all the situations I'm likely to encounter. Love your stuff, I'm going to continue binge watching now :) Thanks.

I'd like to see a comparison of the kits vs. prebuilt "kit" type oscilloscopes i.e. the nanos ... namely highlighting what extra functionality and quality if any one can get by building your own from an actual kit. Like if I'm just looking for a quick and dirty solution to get my feet wet with oscilloscopes and or looking or a more portable lab. I know at some point I'm going to need a 'real' oscilloscope, and I get that it's just a multimeter that makes multiple readings over time and graphs the resulting readings, at least in the most basic sense, but I'd like to fry a few cheapos first just to get a feel for these tools before I go spending what is a ton of money to me one a more advanced one. It just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me to spend so much when I don't really know what features I'll find useful and valuable and that I am likely to fry. Since 20 to 35 bucks will get me there then I can look for maybe a 50 to 80 dollar used analog or maybe just move straight into a feature rich 400 plus dollar multichannel digital unit with logging and what not, idk... that's the point though, I just don't know. I need to know what I'm doing to be using if for and where my electronics enthusiasm is going to take me ... i.e. am I going to be really interested in audio electronics or rc equipment or whether and are there certain features that one oscilloscope is going be better at than an other one that may sway my decision on which one would be best for my needs when it comes time to get a real one? I'd rather wait and see than go all out now and wish I had known that I'd rather have a different model. But at any rate, for like minded beginners, my vid suggestion would be a comparison of low end low budget options that answers questions like is it worth it to get a kit vs a nano, or could I save myself the time and possible frustration of assembling wrong or assembling with pore soldering skills and breaking my kit before I even get to give it a first boot thusly having to buy a new kit, etc or should I give it a go in spite of these potential risks, and what about getting inexpensive used ones vs. kits and nanos, I know EEVblog's outlook on it, but for the reasons outlined above I tend to disagree, especially as a person who often struggles to come up with five bucks to spare for the convenience of not having to make a lunch at home... I think EEVblog seems to forget that there are people who are that pore who also take an interest in electronics. I am about 80% done collecting the parts for my power supply build, and thus far I've spent 98 cents... I've recovered an old ATX from a broken computer my local thrift store was throwing out, a few pots from an old radio that same thrift store was throwing out, some banana receptacles from a broken (seriously physically busted, possibly accidentally ran over) multimeter from a construction dumpster, etc, the only thing I paid for was a fauxduino nano from China... and I'm planning on getting a volt and amp meter via the slow boat from China but I'm waiting and watching for a deal less than a dollar ... so yeah we're talking I'm trying to go extremely cheapo to start off... I don't want to skimp on the soldering station though, I'm definitely going to get one that I won't out grow for a few years as my homemade iron isn't going to cut it and I know enough about soldering to know it will be a sound investment. The one I'm looking at is still a cheapo but at least it's not some 30 watt pencil unit from the local no-name ma'-n-pa' hardware store in my podunk town *cough* *cough* barely qualifies as a small village but it's the US so we call it a town *cough* . And it's better than my borrowing my aunt's supper punchy claims to be a 100 watt but actually draws the full 120V~ the recptacle offers at 10amps! with some half inch chisel tip (exaggeration on the tip size, but not current draw) massive and way over powered pencil iron designed for soldering stained glass... the damned thing heats up a room and it's obviously been used way dry a lot, like it's black and blue and always has balls of blacked solder on it with no wicking... and you change the temp by changing the tips that she can't change for lack of having more than one... like yeah, I've asked to barrow it and I just keep it for an hour or so, so as to be nice an pretend it was used thus useful and give it back without using it cuz um yeah, I don't want to have that conversation with her about it being crap and her not talking car of it etc. anyways I'm rambling per the usual so I'll stop now, but yeah thanks for the review.

Great video as always.

I really want to make this but the super small soldering and soldering the chips is still a bit out of my range... I was happy when i got my amplifier kit working and the parts were pritty big

Good video as always.

it is a great kind work ! thanks

Better way to solder the SMD components is to put the flux on the pads, put e.g. the resistor on, and then solder one pad and then the other. the more flux, the better. this inside the solder is not enough. this disadvantage is mess on board, and need to clean it up with some kind of liquid alcohol.

You are reaching 0.2 million subscribers.

Oscilloscope, okay... But what about PC Oscilloscope? What do you think about a "PC Oscilloscope"? Is it valid? Is it good or bad? How is it compared to the oscilloscope kit like this one? Perhaps you can make a video about it someday? Maybe how to build one?

i just ordered one and func gen too!

can you make a video about tesla coils?

You should print a case for it with your 3D Printer

Can you make the cable from a headphone with a build in 3.5mm jack a detacheble cable? so you get a detacheble cable... I would REALLY like it!!! gute Video!

I work on generators and need to see the wave of the hertz. My kilowatt gives me a number but you can see how dirty the power is with one of these. I may get it with the case (offered separately) for just that pirpose and figure out how to use it lol. Never used an oscilloscope before. Would i just put leads into the power recepticles on the generator to read the hertz of the power comjng out? Or a better question would be how would you hook one up to a plug in your house to get readings on the hertz and see the waveform? Thabks great video

I want more videos for dso138 oscilloscope

You are a genius!!!!!!!!

I have built this Oscilloscope a while ago. Apreciate that you have done it too. I have a huge problem and am not able to fix it myself: No matter where I measure the voltage it is always 9,3V when I measure like you did in the video. AV-, AV+, 3,3V, 5V, TP22 it doesn't matter it is always 9,3V. Any ideas how to fix it?

결론은 간단한거 만들때는 DIY써도 되지만 진짜 뭔가 멋진걸 만들고싶으면 Bench Top을 써라 이말이군...

i would stack them and have duel screens.

Wow I want one!

Lieber GreatScott!, mach mal bitte ein "Advanced" Video über Digitale Strom Umwandlung. (Für z.B. handy laden und so) Danke für's lesen. Please do a "Adcanced" video about digital Power stepping. (for Example: Smartphone charging) Thanks for reading.

Hey scott please make a video on esp8266

Getting an electronics enginering degree at politecnico of Milano in Italy just to undersstand His vidwos hahah (but srsly i am)

Great video once again... I really like that you compared the two together and the fact that even though it was inferior to the Rigol... It still has a use... Especially liked the fact that you mentioned where it has a purpose... for example a Arduino... I have seen other reviews on this cheap product but no one else has mentioned that even though it's not as good as the more expensive ones... it still has it's uses in this or that... I don't have an oscilloscope and nor do I know how to use one either but I'm definitely determined to get one... I love building amplifiers and anything audio and I have been wondering if this cheap DIY DSO would be useful to me.... If anyone knows the answer to that question.. Please comment below... Another question I have is... would it be possible to replace the screen with a bigger one... If this can be upgraded to a larger screen then I will definitely invest in one, then fit it in a portable case and power it off some lithium batteries...

Interesting kit, looks like it may be handy for portable basic low frequency circuit testing 'in the field'. Currently my smallest scope is Hitachi V-680 which has a carrying handle but is large, heavy & runs off 240V AC mains. (mains inverter is also bulky and heavy) Did you test the kit for EMC / RFI ? and if so could you let us know what frequencies suffered from spurious emissions as this is a critical part of selecting equipment that will be used in close proximity to HF, VHF & UHF radio gear.

Awesome.

Great! I found an old oscilloscope on a flee market for about 10$. It was a great find, but maybe I'll check out the DIY one too. Great vid as usual

As a retired GM mechanic i was great with all basic electrical but never really needed an oscilloscope other than looking at secondary ignition sparks, After buying this DSO138 i removed two AC motors from a VCR, i was able to see the AC waveform from the motor, i built a full wave rectifier bridge out of some cheap in4001's and was able to watch the newly converted AC sine wave turn to DC ripple, I was than able to see the smoothing effect of adding a ceramic capacitor, i added an earth ground to the bridge and saw it get very smooth, when running a load, i found the ripple Re-appear as the caps capacity was exceeded, adding a secondary electrolytic cap fixed it perfectly, Just after doing this one little first project Im thrilled at the thought of a real scope! What great fun building and learning on these! P.S. The Thrill was SEEING for the first time! I had rebuild three-phase alternators with bridge rectifiers for 20 years but never got to SEE them working other than voltage and wine underload.

Great video as always btw i dont know shit about electronics but still watch

You really should write the name of the oscilloscope(s) in the description (like DSO-138) because this probably should be the top search result for video reviews.

good video, I have the rigol too, but that diy it is a good starting point. adios amigo

You soldered all these smds... Patience level over 9000

When SMD soldering, you will have an easier time if you add solder to one pad, add some flux from a flux pen, place your component and reheat the solder while you hold the component with tweezers. Once you are happy with the placement add solder to the second pad to complete. This way enables you to place components flat on the board and easily adjust them.

My DSO kit came with the SMD already done, but I can't get it to do anything. I just have a white screen. I keep meaning to dig it out and try to see what stupid mistake I made, but it's a bit daunting. Edit. I closely examined the thing today and found that I'd not bridged JP4. It's working now. What a silly mistake I made.

For hobbyists aka students who can't aford a "real" oscilloscope

When did you start your hobby? I mean how old were you when you jumped in the world of the electronics? :)

It’s crazy how far Great Scott’s tools and skills have improved since 8 years ago 😊

Great videos! Keep up the good work. I recommend when soldering smd resistors, just tin one pad before putting the resistor down, not both. Makes getting the position correct much easier. You just solder the other side down once you have the position right.

I know this is an old video but figured I'd give you a heads up in case you aren't aware: GearBest is using this video edited and without the audio to sell these oscilloscopes. They even left in the LED "Great Scott" sign intro.

You can also get this already assembled for even less than $20 :D

Yikes, please don't solder SMT chip components like that. Electronics don't like too much heat and have heat cycle ratings to failure. EG 3 heat cycles before the part should be thrown away and replaced. From an experienced Electronics Engineering Tech: 1) put a dab of solder on ONE pad 2) Grab the sides (the long part that ISN'T a metal endcap) of the part using tweezers 3) Simultaneously reflow the solder with the iron and slide the part into the now molten solder on that pad from #1 4) Solder the other side like normal 5) Reflow #1 if necessary PS: If you soldered a small enough resistor, ie 0201 you can burn it out with too much heat. Similarly, a large ceramic cap can crack by hand soldering because of differential thermal stress unless you preheat it.

Why not buying an old analog oscilloscope for cheap? i got an old 15MHz crt oscilloscope from 1979 for 28 bucks on ebay, and its definetly way better than this diy kit. and hey, its analog. thats just way cooler than the digital ones.

"Genius.. I know...." Laugh so hard on that lol

Perfect timing on this video, I just bought one of these kits on Friday.

This might be a cool little toy, but for all of the labor building it then having a bare board and only one channel, I'd spend (and did) on the Hantek 6022BE dual channel 20MHz USB oscilloscope that attaches to your PC. You get a full featured, 2 channel scope for $69.50 US (on Amazon) with probes and cables. I've been using it for several years and it's pretty much as good as the $400 DSO. There are also several alternative scope programs with different interfaces and tools available for download too. Also, the DSOs are way down in price, a 7" - 2 channel 100 Mhz DSO is now only $150. I really enjoy your channel, please keep up the great stuff!

Hi, what about using a simple external chip as frequency divider? This might expand its usability range

These scopes are very good for learning electronics on a budget. I would however suggest buying an original, rather than a clone. The manufacturer JYEtech list all the verified sellers. If you buy a clone and need support, JYE won't offer any help. They are however nice to build, they also come in kit form with the SMD parts added by the original manufacturer. This makes the build easier for beginners. I really like mine and am having fun learning. Thanks for the cool comparison video.

We want that portable oscilloscope project! Sounds ridiculously epic! Any newer kits that might make this work better in 2022?

I've ordered one, it might take a while to arive. Hope it will work for what I want to use it for. Thank you for uploading by the way, Its a big help seeing people testing things before I decide to buy stuff.

I'm surprised you didn't use solder paste and a reflow method of some sort, hotplate/etc (????)..... Would be sooooo much easier than soldering by hand. Anyway!! Good video, i've been looking at one of those DIY scope kits for a while, it's nice to get a reliable run down on them.

It's quite interesting to see, that your DIY oscilloscope did work with a frequency above 100kHz, even beyond. Because my exact same oscilloscope kit refuses to even show frequency above 20kHz.

😭😭😭😭😭😭 I don't know how to do SMD soldering.... But I will find a one with THT compements

Wow finally someone who doesnt say LCD-Display xD

Its faster to add solder to only one pad on every component, i managed to solder this whole PCB in 20min.