Building a Cheap Oscilloscope Using Your PC?

JohnMadison asks: "As a engineering student, I have a lot of projects, but not much test equipment at home. I was wondering if anybody has advice on using my PC as an oscilloscope. I've downloaded a couple of shareware programs that use the sound card for input, but they weren't really useful. I am looking for a good way to make a cheap, yet decent scope. Any sugestions?" While something like this would be an interesting hack, I'm at a loss as to what you would use for probes. The submitter mentions using the sound card as an input, but would that be the best solution? If you were going to make a custom add-on to the PC to do this, what would it need? Does such an add-on already exist? Interestingly enough, this fits in well with an earlier article we did.

Ask Slashdot FAQ: 1. Ask Google First

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.designnotes.com/pcs64i.htm
found from
http://www.google.com/search?q=pc+Oscilloscope+& bt nG=Google+Search

... with easy on-screen waveforms

[gunner800]

You need:

1. A webcam (preferably USB)
   
2. A real oscilloscope

Point the webcam at the oscilloscope. If you need greater precision, hit "full screen".