FNIRSI 1014D Digital Storage Oscilloscope review

Today I’ll be reviewing the FNIRSI 1015D digital storage oscilloscope. I’ll go over why I bought this scope, how much it cost me, what it comes with, and features it has. As well as things I like about it and things I don’t like about it. This is definitely a good purchase for the beginner electronics enthusiast, or an electrical engineering college student like me who just needs a scope that is cheap enough that it won’t get stolen and if it does it’s not too hard to replace, but also having enough functionality to work with almost all small electronics projects.

0:40 Why I choose this scope
2:10 Features
5:30 what it came with
6:30 waveform pictures
8:40 waveform capture
9:20 how an oscilloscope works
11:45 auto triggering
13:00 probing function gen out and explaining config menu
14:35 horizontal and vertical curve demo
15:50 trigger modes
16:50 FFT
17:40 XY mode
18:00 dislikes
21:00 probing variac demo
23:55 explaining reactive power

[kimbellagurl]

This is a very handy little scope, just for the fact that is easily powered by a small portable USB battery or if you wanted like he did to install your own, the color display is easily red and it is very similar to locations and settings for traditional scope Beyond the menu shortcuts which are fairly well laid out I would have to say the best bang-for-the-buck I've been using mine about a year and I had bought one just before departing on an open ocean Voyage but that was lost at sea previous year.

Beyond that, technically yes this device is not a high-end scope and does not meet the critical specifications to a laboratory standard, true however foremost work and troubleshooting it is a very practical tool and a great beginners scope.

Primarily one should not expect any serious high performance tolerances out of such an inexpensive device oh, I have no issue with the scope it seems pretty linear and I have not even really spent any time to do any testing just yet but with my background and lifetime experience I can easily build a front-end to accommodate anything that others have complained about, EG: circuit ground noise level, it is easy to build a front-end that would plug directly in and give me higher sensitivity and resolution in the vertical axis.

If I actually needed it, but for most practical purposes this would be a great all-around portable tool, typically with a scope I'm just looking to literally scope something out with a signal or noise level, General waveform analysis, phase comparison, typically if I'm troubleshooting something I already have an idea by looking at the circuit where the trouble most likely is so this little guy is pretty handy and power efficient I might add where were these 45 years ago?

And for the beginner this is a great little scope to begin learning about waveforms and Analysis, very handy and forgiving especially the fact it is isolated from then the MAIN's it's a mere couple hundred US dollars don't be afraid of it and Brace it and have fun with it it's nothing compared to some of my old school rack mounted tektronix Scopes I've used over the years, having over four decades in the field and lab experience as a custom instrument designer and builder along with prototype production and field technician I would have to say for anyone that doesn't have a scope this is a great device all around for beginner or otherwise Andy testing tool and has proved pretty rugged in my use so far oh, I enjoyed your presentation keep up the good work education is where it's at the best part is sharing and passing along useful Knowledge and Skills, now it's time to get things together and go off and chase them dolphins and sunsets, I have work to do out there in the Pacific Blue Waters helping folks in small communities find off-grid in and Independence Solutions, be safe it's getting to be an interesting time we live in

[ajlenze]

I didn't pay close enough attention the first time I watched this video, but your mod to enable this to run off internal batteries is pretty cool. (Of course, it's "sister" scope, the 1013D already runs off its internal battery, but it's not a desktop scope.)

[deanhedin]

Great review. I was wondering what the amplitude is for the signal generator output. I could not find this mentioned in the manual or elsewhere.

[andrewwolf]

I use it for automotive testing. Works fine for that. Low frequency stuff

[naseer]

I am just adding this comment, as I noted that u were sort of mistreated by a person who commented here in another language.

First don't get bogged down by such ppl and the ppl who don't appreciate ur good work. If u have a brain of inventor, then one of the biggest blessings is not to have ears.

Inventors and innovators are blessed ppl. As their sense of achievement and success and happiness is defined away from the society that is involved in petty issues.

Second, since I have spent a very long time in electronics. I can tell u that a good scope is definitely an asset. But u don't really need to be desperate at getting very high end or the best. In fact as u go up, u realize that their utility is not as much as u thought initially.

To give u an example. It would be idiotic if u imagine or try to work at radio frequency circuits of even 100 MHz with say a 200 or even 300 MHz scope. U don't !.

To work in that domain the more useful things are signal generators, rf mixers, rf detectors, and rf log amplifiers / detectors and frequency counters, and filters. A scope is almost useless in that domain. So don't make the mistake as I did, in chasing the best bndwidth/price ratio with high bandwidth scope. U will drain ur valuable dollars for very little gain.

On the other hand I have to admit that high bandwidth scopes are really a marvel of Engineering and really fun to work with. But the valuable lesson in the process is that nothing is so accurate and certain in high speed. The effects of inductance introduced by the ground clip of the probes alone are enough to mislead u like hell.

Third:
I never mean to undermine that u are a qualified engineer. But believe it or not. Academics have unreasonable level of disconnection from reality. And it often takes decades to learn that. It would be very good if communicating with ppl in the relevant community saves ur time on the learning curve and makes it short, easy and enjoyable at the same time. Wise ppl learn from the experiences of other ppl.

[janjurik]

I have 3 of these oscilloscopes and I had to repair one of them and since I couldn't find a schematic anywhere, I had to create it myself in the EAGLE program. It took me a whole month to put it all together. So I found 3 errors in the oscilloscope, in the play of low-voltage devices and one in the power supply. That's why he says I have the scheme.

[amadorpaquibot]

What is the meaning of fft and where it can be useful?
TIA!

[James_Bowie]

A view of the inside with your mods would have been good to see.

[graxav]

Grounds are not directly shared - 220 ohms between them with a tester. So some separation there.

[NickyAndre]

Hello thank you very much for your video i wanted to ask how you measure the current of a circuit using this oscilloscope

[erin]

I like your bench. Its just like mine. I am a poor retired school teacher. This scope is confusing. I like mybTek453 better right now. Dies the power brick come with it?

[nickking]

I’m a beginner I want one I’ll look around

[cesarcribas]

Yo esperaba ver si tenia un boton "single", creo que explicate casi todo, hasta hiciste uso de la sonda de HV. verry good.

[erin]

I need a scope for trouble shooting and dont need much, basically radio waveforms.

[markallen]

I would be interested in a sweep generator, but I guess this doesn't have that. A sweep would allow for audio spectral analysis.

[darrylfletcher]

All the cheaper scopes that claim 1g/s are actually very frequency dependent.

[fench]

Not "Teenage Mutant Ninja Engineer"?

[erin]

There is a person on eBay selling his fir $130, what he paid for it. Its a week old and he doesn’t like it. Claims to be an old school tech who dislikes the menu concepts of control.

[ajlenze]

This oscilloscope is probably fine for many tasks, but it does not meet its 1G Sample/s or 100MHz specifications. For more information, watch the videos on learnelectronics (both parts) or Kerry Wong. (Spoiler alert: it samples at 200 M Samples/s and its bandwidth is more like 30MHz.)

For about the same price, I would consider the Hantek DSO2C10 scope, which is hackable to enable its function generator and raise its bandwidth. You might also consider the KiPRiM DS1202, which learnelectronics recently reviewed.

[naseer]

Its mostly a useless scope. Very over specified. There are a few positives though.

1- Its supposed to be very reliable. There is a touch screen version. And that means it will not have less reliability of mechanical controls. This version is boasted with the claim that it is with a special software that can handle a failing rotary encoder. Well that is yet to be seen. As this normally takes a few years to happen.

2- Its a low power consumption scope. It can run even with a decent phone charger.

Beaides the above the greatest draw back among the drawbacks is bandwidth. It no good beyond 30 MHz.

The 1 GSPS claim is obviously a plain lie. Its either 100 MSPS or 200 MSPS at the most.

The ADCs used inside have the 300 MHz capability. But the lower sample rate is, what limits the bandwidth. If only FINRISI had provided the Equivalent Time Sampling mode, I believe it could achieve 200 MHz, if not the full 300 MHz (atleast) capability of the ADCs.

Secondly it seems to lack a wideband preamp in the channels. And this limits the sensitivity of the scope.

Overall treat it as a digital alternative to 20 MHz scope. Its not much better than that. If u expect to come across anything serious needing 100 MHz ability. Then don't touch this with even a 10 ft. Pole. U can get far better than this one with just 50 more dollars to the budget. I mean genuine 100 MHz touch screen scope with good sensitivity.

This stuff has a poor performance to price ratio. Its not worth its cost.