i came across a software that wroks as an oscilloscope using soundcard.
is it safe ? has anyone tried doing it.
My Daqarta for DOS software does this for Sound Blaster and
a few other cards, and Daqarta for Windows (available in a few months)
will do it for any Windows-compatible sound card.
As others have noted, you are limited to audio frequency ranges.
The calibration of the input attenuator on sound cards is not
generally available. Daqarta for DOS handles this by having
different drivers for different card types that I have personally
measured. Daqarta for Windows will use a self-calibration
method for relative calibration, and assist with absolute
calibration. You never get a nice 1,2,5 sequence, but since
the software can change the axis scaling and grid, this is of
no importance. The main thing is that for inputs of more than a few
volts, you may need to provide your own external voltage
divider.
The big advantage of these types of systems is that test signal
generation can be done coherently with input analysis,
without relying on setting trigger levels, etc. This allows
waveform averaging for noise reduction, for example.
And since it's all just software anyway, you can have spectrum
analysis, spectrograms, histograms, etc. all in the same
package. For audio work, having a real-time spectrum is
really useful for distortion measurements.
Hope this helps!
Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom
D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
