> Has anyone had any luck with the PC based scopes that sit outside in a
> box and use the PC's screen and horsepower?  Are they just toys?

There are some better ones and there are some toys. I have used a 2 x
40MHz one and it was as good as the software (windows). I do not like that
the scope box is tied to the PC chassis and that to GND. Sometimes I need
to float the scope chassis and I can't do that with the PC scope. Also
conducted noise from the monitor and from the PC (and from the scope) will
get into everything and make spectrum analysis and other finer
measurements difficult. With an analog scope I just turn it off if I
suspect that it makes 'that' spike. With the PC you can't do that. If your
circuit fails in some evil way and sends a good current spike or some RF
power through the ground it can kill the PC or at least crash it.

I stay with analog scopes. I'd like one of the better handheld digital
scopes though, they seem to be usefull for field and mobile (in the lab
etc) work.

Peter

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