Logic analyser recommendations ?

[exxos]

Aside from the under £100 stuff which I gave up with. There only seems to be the Saleae ones. But they like £1,000+.

I need something reliable hardware and software wise. All the ones in the past I've had sucked. The hardware died to easily and 20 different versions of the same software which sucked and crashed constantly.

8 channels would do, but needs a good sampling rate of like 100mhz and up.

[ijor]

Probably not the best time to buy a Logic analyzer. There used to be excellent USB based products for about $300 USD. But now because of the chip shortage, these model are either not available or they are much more expensive.

Saleae is a great choice. I have one and I definitely recommend it. But they used to cost less than a half or so, than the current price.

There is the Intronix. Not as widely known as the Saleae, but I read it has a good reputation. Just checked and it's $439 USD. IIRC it was $100 less before the chip shortage, but it's still affordable when you consider the specs: 34 channels at 500 MHz:

https://www.pctestinstruments.com/

Note that the Saleae performs USB streaming but the Intronix does not. USB streaming means that the unit doesn't have to store the capture data. It is stored directly on the PC and then you can capture huge session virtually without any limit. That is invaluable.

[cmorley]

I bought a ZeroPlus lap-C about 5 or 6 years back. I got a 16 channel one and apparently it is hackable up to the full 32 channel one by soldering in the missing buffers but I haven't opened it. It's been plenty good for the things I do. YMMV

[alexh]

I always used to use retired industrial logic analysers being replaced at work. For retro they are excellent despite their relatively low maximum capture clock . But we haven't bought any new ones for 2 decades now because FPGAs have IP that can become integrated logic analysers using spare capacity to sneak alongside your design.

So much so that a few years ago there was a push by enthusiasts to make their own 64 channel logic analyser using an extra previous generation FPGA devkits and it's not half bad. I tried to make one using a Virtex 6 LX550T devkit that was destined for the WEE. With 64GB of DDR3 DRAM the capture window is quite large

https://github.com/lekgolo167/enxor-logic-analyzer

The hardest thing is making the probes if you don't have any. I was fortunate my devkit include the mictor connectors used in commercial LA proves so bought some.

[foft]

I have a picoscope 3205 mso (scope + 16 ch la + signal gen) and a saleae logic 8 pro.

Both work quite well though the ‘inifinite’ capture window of the saleae is very handy. Saleae offer a big discount for hobbyists. One other nice feature is mixed analog and digital capture - unfortunately crippled since they are not synchronised!

I don’t go back to the picoscope much these days, having a ‘real’ scope is much more convenient for the scope part. Having the 16 channels would be useful at times but connecting them up is so annoying, combined with the capture being limited to its internal ram.

The internal fpga logic analyser on intel fpga’s is great too.

[exxos]

I think I have this one

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1227957 ... pt=glo2fra

But I stopped using it. I think the software sucked and I gave up. Maybe there is something better which may work with it ?

[Steve]

You can find bargains second hand for this kind of stuff. Don't always have to buy new. Usually well looked after and often people only sell because they upgraded or stopped requiring it.

[nokturnal]

I've got Kingst LA2016(http://www.qdkingst.com/en/) some year or two ago. It's sufficient for basic things I'm doing.

[stephen_usher]

I've got Kingst LA2016(http://www.qdkingst.com/en/) some year or two ago. It's sufficient for basic things I'm doing.

They work OK but you have to use their software with them, which is a bit pants to be honest. It doesn't work with any of the open source packages and the software doesn't work with other LAs so you can't have multiple USB LAs running at the same time.

[nokturnal]

@stephen_usher: Well, I didn't take software for consideration, when I bought this one. Interface looked ok and that's it. It was my first one LA ever, and probably last one ;).. What is best LA software then? If there something like it (cross platform, open source, not tied to any vendor) with good suuport for most devices?