Logic Analyzer needed

I use the Logicport as my main logic analyzer. Does what I need, takes up little space, cost is right. Haven't used the I2C capability yet but the serial and SPI decoders work well.

For CAN, look at the Peak Systems PCAN USB gizmo. Pretty sure I got mine through

The included software is fine for basic bus monitoring and they provide an API to tie the device into your own custom applications.

I have the Logicport, and have used the I2C, SPI, and UART decoders. I wish it had a 1-wire decoder, and that the UART decoders either (1) auto-detected the baud rate, or (2) could be sync'd together so I don't have to change all the decoders if I change baud rate. You set up one decoder for each line you're monitoring, so for a full SPI you need two decoders - one for Tx, one for Rx. Same for UARTs. You also must specify a chip select line for SPI. You can, however, attach multiple decoders to a single line, which is handy when you want to see both ASCII and hex values at the same time, or if you have an SPI bus with multiple chip selects.

The only real drawback with it is the 4k sample buffer, which is enough for 99% of my needs (esp with compression enabled), but occasionally when I'm watching a serial data stream or 1wire transaction, more RAM would be nice.

The adjustable trigger voltage is nice; I've used it to hunt down glitches and ripple. The 500MHz setting is great for glitch hunting and edge timing.

The 40-pin connector is just the right size to plug in an IDE cable, too, which is handy, as you can see in this picture:

The cable makes the logicport "breadboard compatible" and I can just unplug the whole cable if I need to use the logicport anywhere else, without having to reconnect all the individual wires later.

The save/load features work as expected; I have configurations for each of my prototype and test boards, like an RS-232 breakout I built. Prints are nice, but it helps to use the dark-on-light screen theme so that the printout resembles the screen, otherwise the colors aren't always readable (it won't print a black background, just light colors on white).

There are six "cursors" you can place, and measure time or frequency between them. The precision of the sampling period seems to determine the number of significant figures they're displayed in, which is nice. Handy when checking clock speeds or UART baud rates.

I haven't upgraded my software in a while, so there may be other neat features I don't know about, too.

Thank you very much for your answer! So I think I'm going to buy the LogigPort for I2C/SPI/UART.

We use the Digiview and have been very happy with it. It has the decoders you want, plus can combine parallel signals and display hex equivalents. Well worth the money.

Scott

I have both the LogicPort and the USBee. The LogicPort is wider, faster, cheaper, and easier to use. With the Mictor adapter, it's perfect for 99.9% of my analyzer needs.

So far every time I've used my LogicPort at a client site one of the client engineers has wound up buying one.

If you really need a CAN decode for the LogicPort, it would be easy enough to create it.

My subjective opinion, G.

way too little memory!

We are using it, it works really great! 10ns resolution even with very long measurements. One disadvantage is the fixed threshold, you might want to buy the (more expensive) DV3400 if you have other than 3,3..5V logic signals.

Oliver

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Oliver Betz, Muenchen (oliverbetz.de)