NLAB: The worlds smallest electronics lab | Hacker News Reader

NLAB: The worlds smallest electronics lab

getnlab.com

14 pointsdoctoboggan13 comments

The spec page says 100 kHz BW on the oscilloscope, the FAQ says 400 kHz. In either case calling it an "oscilloscope" is a stretch, its the ADC channels on an MCU.

I find it curious that all their promo shots seem to only show the back of the board. I couldnt find any of the component side, or any information about what components are used. My guess would be:

- a very small dual rail supply

- AVR or STM MCU

- Signal generator is PWM through an RC low pass filter

- Oscilloscope is potentially just the input through a resistor network to shift +/- 5V to 0-5V, maybe a buffer to keep input impedance high.

I just don't see $170-200 of value here, or anything close to that.

Even weirder: the Kickstarter campaign says it’s 4 MSPS per channel. 100kHz bandwidth with 4 MSPS per channel just doesn’t make sense. However, they have “verified” 400kHz on their Kickstarter. Not sure who verified it, but it’s verified.

The Kickstarter does have product photos of the back in a gif but be forewarned: they don’t include any chip designations.

The specs are underwhelming, but I could see the value to a beginner being in the software that accompanies it tightly integrated with parts kits and instructions. I'd honestly prefer to see a logic analyzer instead of a mediocre oscilloscope; I feel like the projects that most people learning want to do these days are digital, and simple logic analyzers are more amenable to being cheap while still being useful.

I feel like building an nLab would be a far more valuable learning experience then using one.

The caveat being not just as a DIY soldering kit but as a full "course" in the design and construction of it.

Its got a power supply, an MCU, analog I/O, digital I/O. Learning the theory of how to read a 100kHz analog signal is far more valuable then a device that can read a 100 kHz signal.

This seems really cool with very underwhelming specs. They maybe enough for people just getting started, especially at that price point. I think if there are lots of ready to go projects and easily purchasable kits for parts this could be a really great intro for cheap

I see a lot of comments critical of the product. I don't know much about the field but I have a teen and I would like to give her product of this sort and see how far she takes it. I would appreciate suggestions and links.

I would look up the arduino UNO starter kits on amazon or adafruit. They are more reasonably priced, have more components, have more tutorials.

This sure ain’t no 300in1 from radio shack my friend.

“Additionally, nLab significantly lowers the barrier to entry of learning electronics. Learn at universities? $100k. Classes online? Still thousands of dollars. Learn on your own? $1,000+ of equipment and parts.”

I hate this kind of marketing, none of these things are true. You can take a community college course on electronics at a pretty reasonable price. There are plenty of online resources that are credible and free. An at home lab can be relatively cost effective with second hand equipment and electronic parts from adafruit/amazon/alibaba.

This is hardly an “electronics lab”.

The specs on the physical device are quite weak too. 100kHz scope, no mention of # of bits. Power supply isn’t programmable, just +-5V at 200mA. 5V PWM and “sine and triangle” is the function generator.

It’s definitely misleading to say this replaces $1000+ worth of equipment because I’m not sure you can buy equipment with this poor of specs.

A 100kHz scope, 2W fixed dual rail power supply, and a function generator that is anything but arbitrary means at the very least projects are constrained heavily. I think part of the joy of learning is going off of the beaten path a bit, and I think this is limiting enough to prevent that.

I’ve been on the lookout for cheaper stuff to recommend to friends looking to work their way down from classical software engineering towards embedded and I think this is relatively disappointing in that regard. Second hand seems like the way to go economically but I haven’t yet looked into proper sourcing for equipment.

They're presenting it as a "intro to electronics" device. I think they've missed though, as far as I'm concerned, learning to build a "nLab" equivalent device from a bare AVR MCU would be a far more informative and useful introduction then yet another "Babies First blink.c" kit.

Even worse, a fully formed lesson plan, parts, and prerecorded lessons could actually be worth $200. Unlike this widget, which is not worth half that.

Wtf.. nauseating to see promise of ai proof roles. No way to guarantee that and irresponsible. Spam shit.

You’d be much better off getting a Saleae Logic 8 (or one of the many knockoffs).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com