wrote in message
oups.com...
gorehound wrote:

I don't have an oscope that works, but I was wondering if anyone has used
Winscope. Actually I have a TDS210 that doesn't work and would like to check
the crystals and was wondering if this software would suffice. I checked the
power supply voltages with my DMM and all of the voltages check out, but I
definately need a scope to check some of the other stuff. If anyone knows of
any other software besides this I would be happy to know about it too.

Thanks
Shane

Yes it works. OSC251 by Konstantin Zeldovich is more reliable imho.
These software scopes are well featured but basic specced, the
soundcard maxes out at around 20kHz and theres no dc path.

NT


Sound card 'scope software is grossly rudimentary. The vertical axis can't be
calibrated unless you have a known AC voltage reference available, that has
outputs at the levels that you're interested in measuring. As has been pointed
out, the vertical bandwidth is severely limited by the bandwidth of your sound
card. Bear in mind that the sound card uses a sampling algorithm to convert the
input signal into a digital response pattern. If you're looking at anything
close to a square wave, be prepared for severe distortion when viewing the
signal. And there is no DC coupling available unless the sound card is DC
coupled, which is highly unlikely.
Unless the crystals that you want to check are in the audio region, forget about
software 'scopes. Useless for that.
That's not to say that they serve no purpose at all... they can be very useful
when analyzing low-level audio. Good software can turn your PC into an
inexpensive audio spectrum analyzer, frequency response test set, etc. Just be
aware of the limitations.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

Some days you're the dog, some days the hydrant.