DSO 138 DIY Oscilloscope Kit Opening Source 2.4" TFT 1MSPS Pocket-Size Digital Oscilloscope Kit with DIY Parts & Probe, Handheld Pocket Electronic Learning Set, Assembled Vision

This is an excellent project. It would be challenging for a beginner, but taking their time, double checking everything, and getting it all right it's extremely rewarding to finish a project in a working thing (and the test loop ensures you have a square wave to check). It doesn't have fancy modern oscilloscope features, but mostly, if I'm going to use a scope, it's to see IF there's a wave, or its general shape, so this is a perfectly sufficient tool for me. A 450 dollar scope would be wasted on me. You can use it to test the function generator Amazon recommends the scope with (that would probably be a better FIRST project for a beginner, but this is a good second). I'm going to try it with the 9v battery to 2pin molex connectors to try running it off a battery.The documentation is good for assembly, but not *great* for trouble shooting, BUT the project is VERY well documented online, it seems to be a very popular board/chip/project. Can't recommend highly enough!

The case does not come with assembly instructions. Sure, there's an image in the product description that shows a six step assembly process, but if you follow it like I did, you'll find that the case doesn't really come together and some of the buttons will be pressed down permanently. Here's the steps that I used to assemble this product:1. Insert the long screws through the bottom plate as shown in step 1 in the image. DO NOT put nuts on yet.2. Put the spacer plate on top of the bottom plate. NO NUTS YET!3. Place the circuit board on top of the spacer plate. Put the back side plate (the one with two holes) on the back and check to make sure the plugs are more or less centered in the back plate holes. NOW is the time for nuts. Put them on all four screws and secure the circuit board to the spacer plate and bottom plate. Remove the display board if you haven't done so already.4. Add the display base plate. That's the one with the zig-zaggy holes cut out for the electrolytic caps.5. Plug in the display board to the main board. Add four nuts to the screws. These will be the spacers that hold the next plate at the right height. Insert the side plates temporarily and adjust the height of the spacer nuts so the display plate sits flush with the top of the sides.6. Once the display plate is at the right height, insert the red button pressers and switch sliders.7. Place the top plate and secure with nuts. Check the action of all the buttons and switches.The photos in this review should make the steps clear. If you follow this procedure, the case is great!

I ordered one, and when it came it was fully assembled. I ordered it as a kit. The instructions directed on how to solder certain components together and other things. But like I said, the unit was fully assembled. So I sent for another it returned the original. The next one that came same thing it was fully assembled. So at this point even though I was looking forward to building a kit, I'll probably just keep it and use it the way it is. If you were expecting you get a box of parts and assemble this thing yourself, chances are you will get a fully assembled unit.Update:The second one I received was the same, fully built. So what I got for the money was a fully assembled working scope. Which is pretty good for the price, no complaints. Hooked it up to a 9v power supply and it works great. So, I am going to change my 4 stars to a 5.

I have had my DS0138 Digital Oscilloscope for a while, but did not use it as much as would have liked to, because I was always afraid of accidentally shorting out the exposed PC board. Finally I figured someone made a case for it, which brought me to this. The finished product is spectaular! Clear acrylic that still shows the inner workings and allows access to all of the necessary connections.In my opinion here are the up and down sides of this DIY case kit:PROS:- Beautifully precision cut acrylic pieces.- When assembled, VERY solid and attractive.- External access to every necessary connection, including both power connections, the input connector, test point, and programming jack.- Extra button/switch extenders (to compensate for the one you will inevitably drop :)- Reasonably priced.CONS:- Because it IS precision cut, a patient steady hand is required. Don't drink a gallon of coffee before attempting to assemble this kit- If you have poor eyesight, lots of light is recommended. Clear acrylic is hard to see in low light!- Removing the paper from the acylic sucks, but it always does.- You may need a pointed tool, such as a toothpick or small screwdriver to line the push buttons up for the final assembly of the top piece. I used a sharp-pointed pair of soldering tweezers.- Care should be taken when removing the protective paper from the acryic. I did break one piece near one of the thinner cuts. Fortunately is was an internal "shim" piece and was not vital to the structual soundness.- The assembly instructions are not included. Rather, ther are availble here on the Amazon listing, shows 4 small acorn nuts for the top, to give it a smoother, more finished look. The kit only included regular hex nuts. They still work fine, but are not as aestheticly pleasing.- There is a whole set of TINY bolts and nut included, that I found no use for, nor did the assembly instructions say anything about them. They appear to not be needed, as my scope is solid as a rock.- DO NOT over tighten the nuts that hold the top piece on. This will cause the top piece to warp just enough that one of more of the control buttons will not depress correctly. Remember: precision cut!It took me about 75 minutes to put this together, mainly because I have bad eyes and low patience threshold. Once it is complete, though, it is beautiful. For the price, it is a good bargain! God speed, fellow DIYers...