Personally, I'd go for a bench power supply unit, then a scope.

Logic analysers are great, but a scope is more flexible. Especially for
general fault finding, even in none digital circuits - radios,
amplifiers ets.
Also, you can get add-ons for scopes to turn them into analysers and you
can build a simple one that connects to a PC's parallel port.


-----Original Message-----
From: Lindy Mayfield [mailto:Lindy.Mayfield@EUR.SAS.COM]=20
Sent: 02 June 2004 16:01
To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: [EE: ] what is a logic analyzer?

What would be the next logical piece of test equipment (after a nice
multi-meter) for a still-learning electronics hobbyist?  Would it be an
oscilloscope?=20

I've seen both scopes and logic analyzers that interface with the PC --
they seem to be cheaper cause the PC does all the visual -- and I wasn't
sure the differences. =20



-----Original Message-----
From: pic microcontroller discussion list
[mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Russell McMahon
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 16:52
To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: ] what is a logic analyzer?

>Many users may not get your message because you did not put
>[OT:] or [EE:] in the subject.

So I did :-)

> A logic analyzer is like a scope with 30+ inputs, usulay lots of
> memory and with the ability to set some very complex trigger
conditions.

EXCEPT that a logic analyser will usually only handle digital (ie logic)
levels - ie each channel can be either high or low only.
Some analysers allow glitch catching and analog levels to some extent
but
these are getting fancier than the average logic analyser.

Being purely digital makes it possible to have a much higher channels x
bandwidth product than a scope of the same price.

Results are stored to a buffer which allows signal analysis and tracing
after the event. Also triggering in various signal conditions. Some, eg
HP,
make mixed signal scopes which have both analog and logic input parts.



        RM

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