Reviews of the PicoScope 2200 Series

The addition of an AWG is very useful and now I don’t have to use a seperate signal generator unless I want an isolated signal (I assume the ground is common across chan A/B & AWG).
The software is fairly universal across all ranges which makes even the ‘lowest’ scope in their range a very powerful tool.
Being able to use the datalogger with this is also a bonus - I can log slow data without needing a different device (for example, testing a battery charge / discharge cycle).

My only irk is that many ‘buttons’ do not appear to have equvalent drop-down menu items. Most software I’ve used has every setting or configurable item under a menu option somewhere, even if they are inactive. This is especially important for options that are rarely used - it allows me to ‘search’ for what I need by working through the drop down menus. It also means I can just use the keyboard, which can be easier and quicker than the mouse. If you’re in a tight spot ballancing a laptop on one knee while tring to hold a probe on a wire, moving a mouse just gets impractical. For example, probe settings are only under the probe icon - there is no menu item for this. Likewise for the AWG: have to use the icon.
But, all-in-all a brilliant piece of kit and highly recommended for all workshops.

Roly Runciman
PicoScope 2205A

I was faced with a huge overweight bill to take my R&S Scope with me to Papua New Guinea recently. (16Kg being the limit and I had other gear to take as well)
So it was a no brainer to buy a Picoscope and pack it in with my carry on laptop.
It performed perfectly in the heat of the Highlands near Wewak, Papua New Guinea. I would highly recommend this product for Engineers who have to travel and are faced with the problem of excess luggage !!
“Pack a Pico” and your problems are over.

Jim Clarke
PicoScope 2204A

2204A Remarkable bang for the buck.

This instrument is a goldmine.You buy an oscilloscope but you get somewhat more.

What arrives is a well made little box with good quality probes. In a few minutes you will be up and running using a very intuitive interface. Its scope functions are exactly what you would expect.

The range of triggering options does not normally come with an instrument of this price. What a dream! And they work beautifully.

There is an option to view a spectrum analyser at the same time as the scope and a very handy zoom function all of which enable a “wide angle view” of the signal. There is also raft of real time measurements.

All the set ups and wave forms can be saved and reloaded. Great for any intended use.

The maths channels provide a mass of nestable functions, including filters. Besides other uses, this is a wonderful educational tool which has allowed me to build a lock in amplifier (phase sensitive detector) into the oscilloscope in a few minutes.

There is even a wave form generator to serve as a reference for the lock in.

Although this model does not have the white noise or pseudo random bit function it does have an arbitrary waveform generator, should you want to play in the spread spectrum field.

Another enormous bonus is the serial signal analyser. You could of course decode a captured trace by hand, but this package really adds another layer of value by capturing for example only signals sent to a particular address.

If all this were not enough for 10 stars, the icing on the cake is the Picotech technical service. You are connected fast and its not a premium line. Their engineers are interested and knowledgeable. They simulate your issue locally, in real time and they follow up.

.........and then there are free software/ firmware upgrades and a 5 year guarantee.

Don't make the same mistake I did!
As a consultant I am always faced with the choice of using whatever test equipment my customer has (and figuring out how to use it) or lugging one of my own scopes with me. A USB scope seemed to be the solution so I bought a cheap scope on ebay from China. The specifications looked OK, but what a pile of cr*p. It does not trigger properly and there is no way of finding the trigger point. Every time I switched voltage range the shape of the waveform changed (not just the amplitude). I gave up and went back to my Tek scope. I mentioned my experience to one of my customers and he lent me a PicoScope. I have to say its totally restored my faith in the idea of USB scopes. The triggering is way ahead of my Tek scope and features like the serial decoding are great. Everything just works the way you want it to. I now have my own PicoScope and carry it with me in my laptop bag at all times. Its handy to always have a scope with you, not just for work either. I have used the scope to check if my car battery is charging OK and when the headphones on my iphone stopped working it was easy with the sig gen function to check if the headphones had failed or the headphone socket. Thank you pico for a great product!

What an amazing bit of kit!
I’ve used standard bench top oscilloscopes in the past, but never anything like this. What is most impressive is the simplicity of the software - I was able to get up and running right away without so much as glancing at the instructions due to how intuitive the interface is. The other thing that’s particularly impressive is the options available to capture the waveforms your looking at. Its easy to output as an image for a before and after comparison (I’m using it to analyse switch signals and filter them for use with a logic system). You can also output the waveforms as a text file and then feed it into the AWG and output the waveform to the circuit to test stability.

After working with this I don’t think I could go back to a standard bench top scope, simply brilliant!

Superb for DIY use
I purchased the most inexpensive 2-channel scope for electronics debugging and in a few weeks it has made a huge difference in my hobby. Robust design, good features and amazing software. You definitely get your money's worth and then some. And it even understands I2C and other serial protocols!

Nice O'scope
Just powered this up. Install is easy and the interface is pretty intuitive. I really like the AWG. Lots of power compared to a regular scope. For a first pass, everything works and I'm impressed with the form factor. Will review again in a month.

PicoScope 2204 review
The addition of an AWG is very useful and now I don't have to use a seperate signal generator unless I want an isolated signal (I assume the ground is common across chan A/B & AWG). The software is fairly universal across all ranges which makes even the 'lowest' scope in their range a very powerful tool. Being able to use the datalogger with this is also a bonus - I can log slow data without needing a different device (for example, testing a battery charge / discharge cycle). My only irk is that many 'buttons' do not appear to have equvalent drop-down menu items. Most software I've used has every setting or configurable item under a menu option somewhere, even if they are inactive. This is especially important for options that are rarely used - it allows me to 'search' for what I need by working through the drop down menus. It also means I can just use the keyboard, which can be easier and quicker than the mouse. If you're in a tight spot ballancing a laptop on one knee while tring to hold a probe on a wire, moving a mouse just gets impractical. For example, probe settings are only under the probe icon - there is no menu item for this. Likewise for the AWG: have to use the icon. But, all-in-all a brilliant piece of kit and highly recommended for all workshops.

2200A Series Scopes on Clearance
Call for current Clearance Pricing - 1-877-902-2979
[Limited quantities available at Nov 2024]

Picoscope 2200 Series Oscilloscope Reviews from Customers