Electrical – Can a USB Oscilloscope be used reliably and accurately for RF projects

oscilloscopeRF

Are USB based oscilloscopes "sensitive" or able to be used with RF circuits? In particular, are they able to see the waveforms, carrier wave, etc. of something like a crystal set?

I saw something like these (I picked these a random, first ones I saw),

DigiTech QC-1929 (Hantek 6022BE) USB Oscilloscope

Hantek 100MHz PC Based USB Oscilloscope

The first is much cheaper, but the second is $200 (where I saw it), and that is getting close to a new or used scope.

For context, this is for hobby/enthusiast. It is also mostly for RF based projects like a Crystal Radio and seeing AM, Shortwave, and the like.

For example, I want to see the carrier wave and the AM modulation and what ends up getting sent to the earpiece, the "information." That may not be the right terminology. Hopefully you understand what I want to see.

Best Answer

Scope quality and features has little to do with the interfaces it has. What matters is the specs and the reputation of the brand that allows you to trust these specs.

RF is a little vague, but if you want to clearly see e.g. 100MHz signals, you need a scope with at least 100MHz bandwidth (which will translate to 0,5 to 1 GHz sampling rate). As an example, Hantek 6022BE is advertised as having 48MHz sampling rate, and 20MHz bandwidth, and I'm pretty skeptical about the bandwidth.