The Perfect CHEAP Multimeter/Oscilloscope For Beginners ZOYI ZT-703S

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Chapters:
00:00 - Why This Device?
05:26 - First Look
10:30 - Probes, Continuity
13:08 - Signal Generator
15:46 - PCBWay Ad
16:16 - Typical C64 Testing
24:40 - Pros And Cons

Music used by permission:
“Fakebit World” by Malmen

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#Retro #Computers #oscilloscope #multimeter

[TRONMAGNUM]

For your average hobbyist, I think it is an excellent purchase. I often think Dave is too hard of a judge on equipment. People buying this for 80 bucks shouldn't expect it to compete with a 5K piece of equipment. For the price and what you get I think it will suit the needs of most people just fine.

[fredturk]

I purchased one. It’s reasonably logical and easy to use. The things I did not like. There seems to be some inbuilt noise on the oscilloscope traces which just does not go away. You can see the little noise blips on the scan shots in the presentation. The screen is curved and has right angled flat clear returns top and bottom. This causes unwanted reflections of the screen along the top and bottom edge. The manufacturer might have been better to use a flat slightly recessed screen with no clear returns.
I found the oscilloscope probes were a firm fit on the top connectors and took a bit to remove. Zoyi provided a tool to adjust the probe calibration. A nice touch.
I thought the “case” supplied was of poor quality. The case should have been made of better quality plastic and should have had a separate pouch for probes to avoid the possibility of probes scratching the screen if in the same pouch as the oscilloscope. Might be a good idea to try to purchase a better case.

The good thing about a portable scope is you can test circuits which should not be earthed. A bench oscilloscope has grounded earth clips on the probes and the only way to measure non earthed circuits is to use a differential probe and these cost much more than the Zoyi 703s
The zotektools website provides firmware updates and instructions how to update. That’s good.

For the price you cannot go wrong!

[timedrington]

This unit is worth the meager $80 USD all day long! This reviewer spends a lot of time undermining the instruments advantages over the two other instruments he seems to be in love with! I’ve spent thousands on test equipment going back to 1988, and know what the best of the best ever was. I picked this unit up recently and it’s a tool that I would recommend.

[wendang]

I've been using this portable oscilloscope for 6 months now. Love the fact that it can provide me with a lot more information than I expected, especially when i work on site (35-40 degrees C)... it works good enough for a single channel oscilloscope and a multimeter... The only thing I can sort of complain about (if i have to) is the battery life... maybe it's a subjective thing depending on what you use it for and how long do you need it to work... mine work continuously for only 4 hours... so i carry a smartphone power bank with me to counter it... so if you're on a budget and wish to have a trusty portable oscilloscope... i highly recommended this

[therealchayd]

This is absolutely perfect for automotive work where you don't want to lug a large, expensive scope into an electrically and physically hostile environment, I mean I should be reasonable resiliant, and even if you do break it it's cheap enough to replace. Nice!

[brianv]

Got mine a couple weeks ago and i had the same views as you... I think it's perfectly fine for beginners. I'm no Adrian, most of my usage of an oscilloscope is to just check for signals on pinouts and such, and this does that just fine. i have a regular full sized oscilloscope on my garage workbench i got back in 2018 and i still don't know how to properly use it for more than this, and probably never will. 😀

[mk]

When I started fixing my Commodores last year I picked up a ZT-702S as my first oscilloscope. I didn’t want to spent a lot, since I didn’t know what I would need long term. It’s been great for all the 8-bit troubleshooting I have needed. And it’s helped me learn how to use a scope. It’s not perfect, but very cheap, and fine for my needs. Also the sharp probes that came with it have been getting use on my old fluke meter, as they are much easier to use on small contacts.

[ArmpitoftheGiant]

Ordered one based on Dave's review as well, should be here this week, just in time for my flaky Amiga 3000 troubleshooting! To be fair in regards to Dave's review, he did indicate it is a good choice for many, while highlighting its issues, that review made me buy it! For the price, when you don't need or cannot afford hundreds or thousands for a full-out scope (which would probably never get used enough to justify the price or the features), this should serve well, especially for retro systems that don't need high sampling rates and all that.

[rainsilversplash]

As to the qualityof the scope, I have been a ham for 40 years, and this scope out performs any scope I have had in that time, except for my Tektronix (which had to be rolled around on a cart). This scope is even on par to scopes used in the plant where manufactured computers (for time frame, the computers were Z80 based, CP/M machines). So, I am going to say for a hobbyist, if you don't have a scope, and DO have a budget, if you don't plan to do professional work with it, this might be a solution. So far it fulfills my needs, aligning my radios.
It is annoying that they spec it to 50MHz, but it craps out at about 30 MHz, still for hobby use it is more than adequate. Just realize its true limitations.

[TheGunnarRoxen]

I got one of these and so far I'm really happy. It fits my needs brilliantly especially as I'm fairly new to using oscilloscopes

[qzorn]

I take these test equipment reviews with the grain of salt. There are many in depth electronic repairs done with budget hobby equipment. 😎 Great video and nice Multi-Scope. Thanks.

[pvc]

Nice device. One thing I don't like is that bargraph/"analog" display updates at the same rate as digital readout. Digital readout should update slowly so that the user has time to read the value. But "analog" one should update faster so the user can immediately see how the value changes. And the meter obviously has fast enough data acquisition and enough processing power to do that.

[DennisMurphey]

I development Model Train systems engine chassis for the 1950s American Flyer. My parts are all upgraded with DC Fields, Digital Reverse, Temp regulated Smoke generator and Puff and Chuff Synchronization. I had an old Techtronic's Scope and use three Radio Shack Handheld VOMs. A friend gave me his old Scope which is like new but still big. As I am now doing more and larger upgrades, the setup and test part is getting complex. I thought this meter could be useful when I need to monitor multiple functions, Volts in, trigger function, volts out, etc. I was surprised it had the little delay to showing the data. I monitor my trains on a roller fixture so they are running as I dial in smoke temp, fan speed, frequency and other supporting stuff. $80 seems reasonable even if I mostly use the VOM portion is an upgrade from my Radio Shack which not seem anymore either. thank you for the review. Dennis

[guateque]

I have the zt702s, it's a great intro to scopes and it's been very useful. This new one is on my list.

[richardwaters]

thanks for this. I always thought oscilloscopes were a bit of reach between the cost and how often I would use. But for the price this is one nifty item. I used your link and it came fast. Having fun working through all the functions and comparing it to my 10 year old bargain basement multimeter :)

[Dan]

Actually for 2 weeks now, I have been considering buying budget multimeter + oscilloscope. That might be the reason this video popped up in my feed. Hantek was my target, but with half the price and good reviews I think I will proceed to get Zoyi ZT-703S. Thank you.

[Ichikura]

Thank you so much. I know very lil outside the multimeter and I work in games and such(again very new to this) and I need tools and I have no idea what I'm doing. This helped a lot.

[yubinator]

For me the signal gen is great if I wanted to do my homework about logic signals at home and somewhat simulate what I we would do in our school lab than just using simulators.

[luimackjohnson]

Amazing Gadget! Thank you for sharing this video. A good bargain for multiple purpose multimeter, sig gen & scope. Greetings from Madang, Papua New Guinea!

[Hellhound]

For me the point about this type of scope is that if I work away from my workshop, I don’t have to take one of my large scopes, UPS if there is no AC power on site, power cable, etc with. Just throw this thing in my toolbox and away I go. On site, you just do basic fault-finding, and if needed the equipment goes back to the workshop where I have decent test equipment available. It is also cheap enough, so if I drop it in a lake or forget it somewhere it is not that huge a deal, unlike the expensive handheld scopes from the professional manufacturers.