It’s written by your technology editor Steve Bush but is worth highlighting on Gadget Master.

The Pi accepts keyboard and mouse connections, of course. And has a capable graphics processor, with a choice of graphics outputs (HD-quality HDMI for a separate monitor, or a DSI output for a 800×480 7in touch screen that can be mounted on the Pi)…

What would it take to turn it into a real scope, he wondered. For example, one with 10 or 20MHz of bandwidth?

He writes:

I quickly discovered that is the other end of the scope signal chain where the challenge lies: bridging the gap between the Raspberry Pi and a scope probe BNC connector, without losing signal fidelity, and with sufficient speed.

There have been some heroic efforts to do this, and some innovators have really pushed the boundaries of what is possible, including clever software manipulation that achieves 10Msample/s though Raspberry Pi’s 40pin GPIO interface. And there are plenty of folk that have managed to hit 1Msample/s for a single channel.

The story begins with Pico Technology, the UK-based PC oscilloscope firm. It already makes a 10MHz USB scope-in-a-box (the 2204A, pictured) that will plug into Raspberry Pi for under £100 – half the price of some bare-board USB scopes…

Possible, but not trivial, was the reply of the company’s marketing manager Trevor Smith…

Check out the full article, and see how he considers the task.

Topics covered include data bandwidth, USB comms, FPGA data processing, fast Fourier transforms, data compression and screen update rates. Detailed, interesting stuff!

See also: Measure the accuracy of Andy’s Android-friendly frequency counter