Large Storage Depth Oscilloscope

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Thomas Grocutt has built a PC based oscilloscope. He has full plans and build information on his site so you can build your own!

“The initial purpose of this project was to create a cheap, easy to use digital storage oscilloscope (DSO). However we have gone a bit further since the original idea. One of the biggest problems with most DSO’s is there small storage depth, we decided to solve this problem once and for all by creating a DSO with a huge storage depth (hence the name). Along the way we found we could add other useful features like a built in logic analyser at minimal extra cost. The result is the DSO in the picture above. It’s PC based so is cheap and easy to build. Have a look at the specs page for more info or download the docs. Over the next few years the DSO will continue to be developed, so if you have any ideas for additional features let me know.”

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8 Comments


  1. I made a very (,very, very) simple oscilloscope using a PIC12F275 that has a relatively slow sampling rate, but is MUCH easier to construct because it relies solely on the PIC’s ADC for sampling: http://www.semifluid.com/PIC12F675_Oscilloscope.html

    I’ve also created a very simple USB oscilloscope that uses a PIC18F2550: http://www.semifluid.com/PIC18F2550_usb_hid_oscilloscope.html

    Both of my oscilloscopes have the disadvantage of slow sampling rate, but the advantage of incredibly simple construction.


  2. Nice design Steven. Love the schematic, clean and simple 🙂 Have you thought of dual probe inputs?


  3. Yes, however, the PIC’s internal ADC requires a switch-over time to settle, which lowers the sampling rate even further. If I were to use multiple external high-speed ADCs, then a dual (or more) channel oscilloscope would be perfectly feasable. The high-speed ADCs (Intersil HI5667) are what make the Large Storage Depth Oscilloscope, which is linked to in the article, such an appealing design.


  4. Thanks for the info Steven

    I think I will build your design when I have some free time. I love the simplicity of it.


  7. okay! sounds great! an affordable, buildable, pc based dso! question is this … how to get my
    hands on the schematics, documentation etc. you really know how to leave a person hanging.

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