(The author purchased this item with his own money)
If you wish to support the blog, here is an affiliate link to buy the 1C15 on Amazon
Having worked on various electronics for 15 years, I never actually owned an oscilloscope. They took up too much room on the workbench and I thought they were very complicated to use. Normally I scraped by guessing what was going on in the circuit and using a multimeter to probe for activity. As time went on, there was an increasing need to see waveforms on MOSFet gates, solar power equipment, PWM circuits, DC converters, power supply ripple and so forth.
Things have changed and now there are simple portable scopes on the market. Being a heavy user of digital multimeters, I wanted a scope that was similarly easy to use, portable and handheld. When I saw the FNIRSI-1C15, I decided to give it a try and placed an order. Was it good enough?
Beginner tries an oscilloscope
Within 15 minutes I had it tracing a signal in an electronic circuit. The FNIRSI-1C15 has an AUTO button which makes setting the correct range a snap. Pressing AUTO causes the scope to reset and trigger on the signal. It is not perfect, but for my needs it works great.
The device is very small and feels good in the hand with its protective rubber wrap around case. It has a rechargeable lithium battery, and thankfully can be charged while in operation. The built in stand can prop the scope up, freeing both hands.
The screen is not bright, but it is 100% clear and legible. I don’t like a bright screen anyway, and will often turn down the brightness. Some people might find screen brightness an issue if they are in a brightly lit room. The screen is also small at 2.4 inches, at this price range it doesn’t bother me. The device is intended to be very compact and portable anyway.
The scope comes with a good set of probes and an excellent manual. The manual is targeted at beginners and really hits a home run. It has a lot of explanations on how to use the scope, troubleshooting and common measurement scenarios. The company obviously put a lot of effort into the documentation.
Summary
For the price, this portable oscilloscope won me over. It’s not perfect, but for a beginner who just wants basic scope functionality, I can recommend it. The good thing about this type of scope is it has enough features to challenge a beginner without being overwhelming. It’s a big step up from a basic multimeter – I look forward to learning all the features and expanding my knowledge of electronics.
On this page is a YT video of the first look (unpaid review) I did of the FNIRSI-1C15 if you’re interested. Thanks for reading! DD
Specs (abbreviated):
1 Channels, 100/110MHz, AC/DC coupling, Auto Trigger, 2.4 inch Screen 320×240, built in lithium battery, auto trigger or manual, built in joystick, built in calibration, 40-400V, event trigger, pause and scroll through waveform
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