I also looked on  E-Bay for a while, but anything decent always went past  my budget.
I ended up buying a very inexpensive software scope called the OPTAScope http://www.optascope.com

At times it can be a bit frustrating since it only has 200khz of bandwidth, however it has also been extremely useful very often and I can't imagine NOT having any scope any more. I can also carry it around in my laptop case with me, which has been useful when installing a project in a remote location.

It's under $200.

There are also all kinds of tutorials etc for it from different companies (i.e. Decoding IR from a Sony remote control)

I know this sounds like a toy almost, but for someone who had never touches a scope in his life,
I found it to be pretty good and at least did not break the bank.


Mike

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