What is it about?

I have read all too often about things that are supposed to be just as good but ten times cheaper. I’m not a fool. Even though cheap tool can often do the job, I can see the difference all the same. However, often a compromise has to be made.

While at my day job, at my workbench, I can have a nice LeCroy Waverunner, it’s hardly something I enjoy lugging around in field. For field use I want a handheld scope. It has to run on battery, has to be reasonably rugged, and so on. However, at the same time, with portability comes stealability, droppability, wettability and all world-happened-abilities that seem to be present outside of the nice, dry, warm lab. Field equipment has to be a compromise between usability and price.

Since I have bought for my own hobby workshop a chinese-made handheld scope, I thought I’d compare it to a bench LeCroy anyway. I want to focus on what signal faults I’m blind to when using the handheld at home. The difference between a Mercedes SLK and a Fiat Panda is obvious, both in price and in comfort, but the both get you there, don’t they? But if the road is bad, how much worse are we off in the Panda?

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