What hardware do I need to make my PC an oscilloscope?

[ricg20]

I have labVIEW 5 running on windows 2000 pro and would like to use it to emulate an oscilloscope. What hardware is required for this, and are there any alternatives to the expensive daq cards shown in the ni catalog?

[Dennis_Knutson]

It all depends on what you want to do. What are your specifications for bandwidth, vertical resolution, maximum/minimum amplitude, channel count, coupling, triggering, simultaneous sampling, input impedance, etc.? We're in the process of replacing $15,000 Agilent scopes with Acqiris pci cards at under $4000 each and think its a great bargain. Other "scope" cards are also available from Gage and Keithley. Depending on your needs, a regular daq card might work as well.

[Pawel Pocwiardowski]

But... if you want to see only "audio" signals (20Hz-20kHz) I
would recomend ordinary sound card. There is even some
osciloscope software in the net. If you want I can try to find it
in my drawer.

PP

[Kamran S.]

As Dennis and others stated your application requirements will determine your options. Things like Sampling Rate and number of channels. If you're wanting to acquire an analog signal and chart it (emulate an oscilloscope) this is very easy with any data acquistion board.

Depending on your needs the price can range from $395 (U.S.) on up. It can be difficult with the printed catalogue to find all the relevant cards for your needs.

The advisors on the web site allow you to put in requirement specifications and receive a list of products you can compare side by side:
http://www.ni.com/advisor/

Try the "Measurement Hardware Advisor". Select "Multifunction I/O" under Data Acquistion and "High Speed Digitizers" under Instruments. You can then select sampling
rates and busses to receive a list of hardware that matches your requirements. Remember to "Expand All" on the result page to see all the matching hardware.

Best Regards,
Kamran - NI