An oscilloscope is an essential tool to any hobbyist that tinkers with electronics. I once got myself the JYE DSO Shell 150, more as a fun DIY project than as a really serious scope. I was in the market now for a somewhat more professional oscilloscope, with 2 channels and with a larger screen.
My eye fell on the Hantek 6022BE. It is a USB oscilloscope. The aluminum box contains only the signal digitizing electronics and a USB interface, while a PC or laptop or an Android phone or tablet provides the display and runs the software to make it a full fledged oscilloscope.
Why would one want to get a USB scope in stead of a ‘normal’ one? Well … price could be a reason … the 6022BE can be had around $50,- (excluding import duties). Portability can be another one … the unit is light and small and who does not carry a phone or tablet?
Also, the fact that a laptop or tablet need not be connected to mains power is an advantage, electronically speaking. It is even recommended to use your laptop on battery, since the scope’s GND is connected the laptop GND via USB … if the device under test is connected to mains while the laptop is too, unexpected things could happen.
What’s in the box (click to enlarge):
- The scope unit, which is an aluminum case with protective rubber ends.
- Two probes with 1x / 10x switch, multiple colored rings and a plastic screwdriver for probe overshoot / undershoot trimming.
- A USB cable with an extra power plug (the red one) … which so far I never needed. A USB3 port can deliver more power than USB2, but on my USB2 ports the unit worked well without using the extra power plug.
- A CD with Windows app software and driver.
The main specifications of the 6022BE are:
- 2 channels.
- 20 Mhz bandwidth, max 48 Msamples/s.
- max 5V input voltage, translating to max 50V with the 1x / 10x switchable probes that come with it.
There are several options with regard to the oscilloscope software. Read on below the video …
The options are: (click the images to enlarge).
Hscope for Android
My personal favorite, thanks to the visually attractive display and user interface and to the super portability of using a phone or tablet. Hscope is available on Google Play. There also is a Hscope website with a user manual.
The official Hantek app for Windows
A CD comes with the box. A newer version could be available via this link. If Windows 10 complains about ‘unsigned drivers’ and refuses to install them, a solution can be found here.
Open6022BE
Click here for the software and a user manual. Open source Sw with added features over the Hantek app has been developed by several contributors on the EEV blog. This is one of them. It uses the Hantek driver, so install that first, then run Open6022BE.
BasicScope
BasicScope is another attempt at improving the original Hantek app. It also uses the Hantek drivers. The user interface did not fly well with me and the screen kept flickering, which made me not investigate any further. I might not be doing it justice, best have a look yourself.
OpenHantek6022
Available for Linux, Mac and Windows, where it is a little bit more effort to get it working cause it needs another driver. The installation of which is made easy with the Zadig app. See the instructions on the Zadig site, or look here. An extensive user manual is available here.
sigrok & pulseview
sigrok / pulseview is not only a logic analyzer, it can also be used to display the analog signals from the 6022. It needs a fx2lafw driver that can be installed via Zadig, just follow the instructions on the Zadig site.
In the coming posts we’ll have a closer look at some of these apps, including videos on (driver) installation and usage.
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rudysmodelrailway 
I was hoping someone could clarify a few things about this scope for a novice. I’m trying to restore a 1930s era tube radio. I am stuck on the intermediate stage and thought a cheap scope may help me figure things out. I would be measuring AM signals from 455 KHZ to 1.6 MHZ on the short wave. I think the scope would do those as its rated at 20 MHZ. Could someone please confirm.
My major concern is the voltages. The radio generates as high as 320 volts AC. Would a 100x probe protect the scope and the PC?
Thanks in Advance!
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Posted by Kerry | May 16, 2022, 17:16The frequency is no problem. The voltage is … never bring more than 5V to the unit.
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Posted by RudyB | May 16, 2022, 17:31I really want to use openhantek with my DSO5000 series scope.
Where can I get a copy that works. If there is no copy. Which code base would be the best to take and start moding to get it to work on 5000 series.
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Posted by Ron | April 13, 2022, 18:30Hey,
I downloaded openhantek for mac, and when I try to open it keep closing and not even show the interface.
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Posted by AbdElhalimWAhid | May 20, 2020, 21:56Hi Rudy,
two remarks regarding OpenHantek
– 1st it is not an evolution of Open6022BE but an different development. While Open6022BE is a windows-only software for 6022BE was OpenHantek originally developed for the Hantek 2xxx and 5xxx models under Linux (6022 was later added). As it is a generic linux program it also uses the linux driver approach (libusb) and not the original Hantek (win-only) driver. Nevertheless it works also under macOS and windows (but uses also there the libusb driver).
– 2nd OpenHantek is unmaintained since 2019. Therefor I forked it as OpenHantek6022 and dropped the support for Hantek 2xxx and 5xxx). I develop under linux but the program is also working under win and mac.
For better performance of your Hantek6022 I would propose not to check the deprecated version (as seen on your screen shot above) but go either to openhantek.org and scroll down or go directly to https://github.com/OpenHantek/OpenHantek6022 and check it. There are windows builds available for every release as well as for the latest commit: https://github.com/OpenHantek/OpenHantek6022#install-prebuilt-binary
Martin
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Posted by horo | September 13, 2019, 21:29Thanks for the info Martin. I will modify the post accordingly, but maybe you can help demystify something first though. The openhantek version I used, I got via the openhantek.org webpage, I clicked the blue github label at the top right, once there scrolled down and found a link to a windows build, that brought me to a version b111. You now say to scroll down on openhantek.org. When I do that, at the bottom I click the releases link … that brings me to a version b94. Alternatively, when I click the last link in your message and from there click download (untested) windows build I get to a version b98. It is all quite confusing. In my book b111 sounded like the latest version, but that may not be the case? Which of the versions is the latest / best / most stable one?
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Posted by RudyB | September 13, 2019, 22:16Hi Rudy,
the b111 vs b94 question is easy to answer: openhantek (oh, the original project) and OpenHantek6022 (OH6022, my fork) are two different projects at the CI service on the internet (CI = continous integration -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration), where the Windows versions are built, both started with build b1 and oh has gone 111 steps and my OH6022 is at step 94.
The site openhantek.org hosts their original oh version as well as my OH6022 version. Both live at github.org, if you want to follow the development this is where the magic happens, not only development, but also documentation, issue tracker and feature requests.
As written elsewhere I (as well as the oh developers) use Linux for the development and testing because (at least I) have a Hantek6022BE that I want to use with my computers. I don’t have a Mac nor does I have Windows on my computers and therefore I develop for Linux – but as I use the Qt framework it allows me to develop cross-platform and the CI service “appveyor” does the Windows compile as well as “travis” for Mac (and Linux). Using CI has the advantage that for each build a new clean “virgin” system is used, it also tests whether all dependencies (libraries, etc.) are met.
Martin
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Posted by horo | September 15, 2019, 16:06Hi Martin, thanks for your explanation. I know where to look now and I’ll be checking openhantek6022 on github regularly.
“The site openhantek.org hosts their original oh version as well as my OH6022 version.” I think this is what was not clear from my first visit at the site. It would probably help most visitors if somehow this distinction and the accompanying links would be as clear as your explanation about OH and OH6022 is.
I have in the meantime modified the blog post and I can say that OH6022 quickly became my preferred app on Windows.
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Posted by RudyB | September 15, 2019, 17:01Has anybody run this scope/software on the Raspberry Pi?
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Posted by Herb Shallcross | May 15, 2020, 00:30Yes, it works: https://github.com/OpenHantek/OpenHantek6022/blob/master/docs/build.md#raspberrypi
Martin
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Posted by horo | May 15, 2020, 20:11An important distinction is that OpenHantek (OpenHantek6022) will run under Linux, and is the only one I know of that will.
BasicScope (aptly abbreviated “BS”) has a Windows XP type interface. I was lazy about making multiple interfaces that work under different windows versions. The general scope user can do much better with one of the other software choices, but for what I need to do, it serves well, and fixes the the triggering problem with the inbox software.
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Posted by roderick | September 13, 2019, 15:55