Multimeter and Red Pitaya

[dfaxiomworks]

All,

I bought this for my son who is taking his first electrical engineering course in spring. Now, I'm a business software guy, not a cool hardware guy so I have a question that may seem obtuse.

Since I bought this for him, do I really need to buy him a multimeter too? If I read things correctly, this (the ultimate package) covers all a multimeters functions does it not? I suppose my follow up might be that, if it does, is there somewhere an App which provides a simplified multimeter like interface for Red Pitaya?

I must admit that this little board is making me think of learning more about hardware testing.

I trust that all will be kind despite the apparent limits of my understanding of a topic that is near and dear to your hearts.

[Nils Roos]

Hi,

that's a very valid question. Actually, the Red Pitaya is not well suited as a replacement for a multimeter. A multimeter is good for measuring resistance, current and voltage precisely over wide input ranges, but with a low time resolution. The Red Pitaya is good for measuring and generating signals (ie voltages that vary over time) with a high time resolution, but it can not measure current or resistance without additional external components, and it has a limited range of input voltages compared to a multimeter.