A Scope Test Tool You Can Build With Just a Pico
If you want to test how well your oscilloscope meets its specifications or verify the functionality of a new one, Paul Wasserman has a solution for you. Using a Raspberry Pi Pico and a few additional components, he created a versatile scope test board running his Sig Gen Pi Pico firmware.
This test board isn’t a traditional signal generator, as it’s not designed to be flexible in the signals it generates. Instead, it outputs a variety of signals simultaneously. These include square waves of different frequencies and duty cycles, a PWM-driven DAC producing eight distinct waveforms, and Manchester-encoded data for I2C, SPI, and UART protocol testing. This variety makes it a comprehensive tool for checking the performance of your oscilloscope and protocol decoders.
The firmware is open source under the BSD 3-Clause license, and Paul has provided extensive documentation, including two PDFs with a user manual and waveform screenshots for reference. This project demonstrates how many useful features can be packed into a single firmware, making it an excellent resource for anyone needing to test their oscilloscopes and other test equipment. Just grab a Pi Pico and a few passive components, and you’re ready to go.

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