I was hoping to treat myself to a protocol analyser this xmas but am finding it hard to justify the cost.
Something more basic would probably do though, a logic analyser for reading and writing to busses , both parallel and serial.
Bitscope looks interesting.
Does anyone have any suggestions.
Saleae is very very hard to beat.
It comes with protocol analyzer software.
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looks good thanks.
A quandry though, logic 8 is cheap ,i do not need the speed of the pro 8, USB 3 would need an upgrade.
But it supports 1.2V logic which may future proof it somewhat.
I have the older logic16, but the most I have used is 6 bits at any one time.
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Do you have any experience of the clones please ?
It is going to take a while to save for a proper one, they do look good though.
I only have experience with the OEM.
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With further reading though they are not as good as i thought.
Poor with respect to external triggering.
For parallel 8 bit busses i would need the expensive 16 version just to get a clock trigger.
Triggering options appear to be poor also.
Display options are not as good as i would like either.
I was used to walking into the lab and using some expensive available equipment.
For my use i need something more affordable though.
So , something that has user definable trigger events on 8 bit parallel + clock.
Serial decoding capabilities including protocols using negative polarity are the most likely things i would want.
Separate devices for serial /parallel perhaps ?
Any other ideas.
If you are old enough. . .
You could use a 688 comparator: 
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You might also want to check out Picoscopes Oscilloscope | Pico Technology Not quite the same, but similar and while I don't have one, I know several people with them and they seem to like them (I have been just using my Rigol DS1052E digital scope for most of my testing - would be nice to see the whole protocol etc, but in many cases, it is a simple "it doesn't look right" (or is missing completely))
LarryD:
If you are old enough. . .
You could use a 688 comparator:
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/sn54ls688.pdf
"old enough" is remembering how to use 12AU7 or 12AX7 as a flip flop for example (and learning what 150vdc feels like when you are poking around with your circuit ... none of this whimpy 5v stuff) 
LarryD:
If you are old enough. . .
I dunno do they do that in a valve package
I think you can down load their software and play with it in a DEMO mode.
Here is the serial stuff on one page:
Parallel Triggering:
Hi gpsmikey - that's a giveaway!
here in the UK they were the ECC81,2,3 series.. ( you missed out the 12AT7..)
regards
( with memories of painful shocks )
Allan
Boardburner2:
Do you have any experience of the clones please ?
I've used one of the cheap "Saleae compatible" 24 MHz 8 channel Cypress CY7C68013-56PVC based USB analyzers that are all over ebay.
I use it with the open-source sigrok software which includes a lot of protocol decoders. It lacks any advanced triggering capability, isn't great for fast signals, and is limited to 3.3 to 5 V signals, but it's good for looking at modest rate serial protocols. It is certainly better than nothing and very inexpensive.
