A Cheap Logic Analyzer for Your Lab
I picked up a Hewlett Packard 1615A logic analyzer cheap at auction. One interesting thing about logic analyzers is that PCs are fast enough to do most of the functions of a logic analyzer with many more features. The catch, though, is that a dedicated device with the correct probes can be had much cheaper than any PC-based device. Mine cost less than a multi-meter, and it had probes with wire leads and sockets that would take other wires I could plug directly in to my breadboarded circuit. I built up a circuit with a 3.6864 MHz clock and a 7490 counter to test the logic analyzer. Here is the output after a trace. Each division is set to 200 nS. I marked the decimal number of the count at the top of the trace, and the pins on the counter on the left:
Keep your eyes open, and you may be able to find a very useful piece of equipment for your lab. My logic analyzer just does 20 MHz, but I pretty much only go up to 6 MHz or so with my circuits, since I use very old microcontrollers.
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