Logic Analyser

Having just spent way too long trying to sort an I2C bust problem I think it is time to invest in a logic analyser. Done anybody have a recommendation what to buy and what not to buy?

I have used a cheap one from aliexpress for multiple years. Yes, it does the job, most of the time, especially for I2C.

If you’re more serious, I’d recommend investing a couple of hundred dollars into a real logic analyzer from Salae, their products are some of the highest quality ones you can find.

Salae is also the company that wrote the logic software that almost all for logic analyzers also use. It’s a quality piece of software to make finding I2C problems 100x easier. Even the more expensive logic analyzers are way worth it, simply because they can save HOURS of debugging!

Edit: just noticed Salae released a new version of the software which looks even better!

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I use a Saleae Logic 8. Best $400 I have spent. It has paid for itself many times over. I considered adding the logic analyzer option to my oscilloscope but it was more money. I am glad I didn’t, having it on the big screens and using the mouse of my PC is so much nicer.
The UART, I2C, and SPI analyzers are a huge help in understanding what the hardware is doing and quickly determining the connection between software and hardware.

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Yeah - absolutely love the Saleae 8. Not only is it a great digital logic analyzer and protocol analyzer, but the analog capture is super useful too. Like @skeller says - best money I’ve invested. Huge time-saver when I2C/SPI stuff isn’t working as expected - which (for me at least) is always the case on the first try.

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Thanks @LucaP, @skeller and @mcalsyn - input is greatley appreciated.

Ordered a Saleae 8 Pro today so should see it before the end of the week.

Will let you know how it goes :slight_smile:

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Well my Saleae 8 Pro duly arrived - as luck would have it (or lack of it) I had a problem with a SPI
connection to a LS7366R (as used in the Gadgeteer pulse counter) in a project I am porting from
NetMF/G120 /Visual Basic :crazy_face:) to TinyCLR… With the help of the the logic analyser I was able to find my mistake relatively quickly - without I would still be wallowing around trying to work out if it was a hardware, software or OS issue. I would say it was $1K AUD very well spent. Thanks again to those who provided input.

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