Recently I found that Saleae released new revisions of it’s Logic line of logic analyzers, and decided it was finally time for me to pick one up. I hadn’t played with one before, though I had seen shots of their software in use, and was impressed with how easy it looked to be able to capture and decode various protocols.
Previous to now, I’ve muddled through with my oscilloscope that doesn’t have any storage functions, or using an Arduino to try and capture data and manually parse it out afterward. Needless to say neither of these methods is terribly friendly.
As I don’t usually need a ton of channels, I got the Logic 4. It came in a handy little soft case that has all the bits you’ll need to get going.
And then of course the device itself.
Of course, then you need to hook it up to something and try doing a capture! I tested it out with a USB->TTL converter I had laying on my desk, and sent a quick serial string, and let the Logic capture and decode it!
Pretty shiny! I’ve already been using it to do some work on decoding some amateur radio transmissions that don’t seem to be well documented. Even though there isn’t an decoding function for this protocol yet, being able to capture the whole waveform makes a significant difference in being able to understand what’s happening in a given transmission.
I’d also like to take a moment to commend their staff. I ended up having a problem with a minor physical defect on the device, and their staff was extremely helpful and friendly in resolving my issues. Really appreciated them being so straight with me.
In summary, if you’re in the market for a logic analyzer, I have to say I’ve been pleased with the Logic so far!