DSO Nano Tour

My DSO Nano...

The Nano is an $89 open-source (hardware & software) portable 1MHz oscilloscope from SeeedStudio.

The LCD screen looks nice and bright, small of course (2.8"), but I had no problem reading the screen at the same time.

The mini USB port is for charging the lipo battery and for firmware upgrades. I actually couldn't get the upgrade program (DfuSe) to work under Windows 7 x64, but it appears to be OK under Windows XP.

The microSD card is used to save waveforms and to save the default settings. But before you can use the microSD card, you will need to create, or download from SeeedStudio, some "blank" files using your computer. Here, I just used an old 512MB card that I had lying around.

The socket beside the microSD slot is a standard 3.5mm headphone socket where the test probe plugs into.

That's the power switch on the left.

The "mic" label doesn't really mean anything - the case appears to be for an MP3 player originally.

The lanyard anchor-looking thing on the corner is actually a wire that functions as a signal generator and is a nice way to do a quick check.

Here's the lipo battery. There's a header where the wires connect, which I heard contains a protection circuit. I also heard that there isn't any real charging mechanism on the Nano, but since it does seem to stop drawing power when it's done, that may be the battery circuit kicking in.

The metal back panel is just attached by a thin double-sided tape. There's a vent hole which I assume is for the battery side.

The test probe included consists of a red/black hook-type grabber that plug into the Nano via a headphone jack. It also came with a loose pair of alligator clips which I guess is so we can replace the hooks if we want alligators instead.

I'm happy overall with the hardware, but did notice some problems with mine:

• There seems to be a clear plastic (I think) on one corner of the LCD. I'm guessing it was used to protect the raw LCD. Since it's not too bad, and it's not noticable when turned on anyway, I'll probably just leave it.

• The 3.5mm jack is crooked. It works, but the plug goes in at an angle and hits the case wall. I may have a look into this later.

As for the software, I flashed mine with "Paul's" 1.4 firmware which is said to be better than the stock. I still need to play around a bit more on it, but the controls does seem more logical/less confusing.

I'll see if I can post more about the software side later on...