(Note – a better title would probably have been: “How I picked
an oscilloscope”, since YMMV!) Oscilloscopes are the “printf” of
the electronics world. Without a “scope” you can only predict
and deduce what’s happening in a circuit, not actually verify
(let alone “see”) it. Here’s what an oscilloscope does: on the
vertical axis, you see what happens, on the horizontal axis you
see when it happens. It’s a voltmeter plus a time-machine. Most
modern oscilloscopes are digital. One advantage is that they can
store the observation, long enough for us sluggish humans to
look at the captured signal and ponder about it. For things
which happen only rarely, that is crucial. But even when you’re
examining things that are periodic, like the shape of a
waveform, the scope gives you time to think regardless of the
time scale of the event. If you’re into soldering, then you
really need at least one multimeter. Any one will do, even the
cheapest one. If you’re into electronics, to the point of trying
out new circuits, then yo