Single channel 20MHz scope that weighs 41lbs (18.5Kg).
I feel your pain...if memory serves that was my Heathkit Scope in the bench picture below. And it was heavy for being as small as it was (relatively speaking).
My first oscilloscope? The Rigol DS1052. Works perfectly every minute.
I have another cheaper one which is the DSO Nano, but the plug to the probe is so flimsy that it has a very bad connection and then the probe went to the dustbin. Honestly, I'd say the DSO isn't quite really good - sluggish interface gets in the way during testing.
Except what do you do when You get one of these old school scopes from a friend, and you cant tell if its broken or just needs to be calibrated. With no experience what do you do ?? I opened mine up once looked around for about 10 seconds and was like...... Yeah um ok, and closed it back up. Been setting on a shelf ever sense... This is what prompted me to buy my DSO now I dont have to mess with all those details.. It just works and its response time is just fine for me at least, I set the time per division really low, and it seems real time ( as in my eye cant tell the difference if its not..)
Why buy a busted scope .. get a NEW one..... Or used and CALed from a proper used test gear place. If some one is gonna invest there time in this hobby then I would hope they would take pride n getting good Safe gear.
CRTs are not Old school... Vaccum tube bench warmers that are fridge sized are..........
for the recoed I had for years that same tex 547 hat potatohead has posted with the 4 channel Plug In../ THAT was a bench warmer
For digital work, I would say two channels+external sync and 100 MHz bandwidth minimum. Also, delayed sync is an almost essential feature. If you have to buy used to get it at a reasonable price, buy used.
Why buy a busted scope .. get a NEW one..... Or used and CALed from a proper used test gear place. If some one is gonna invest there time in this hobby then I would hope they would take pride n getting good Safe gear.
CRTs are not Old school... Vaccum tube bench warmers that are fridge sized are..........
for the recoed I had for years that same tex 547 hat potatohead has posted with the 4 channel Plug In../ THAT was a bench warmer
Well I needed/wanted a scope, didn't have a good amount of money (at the time ) to spend on one. Lucky, a Friend of my fathers offered to give me his, that he has not used in quite some time (maybe 5 or 6 years). When I got it home, I found out it didn't/doesn't work correctly ( or i might just be too stupid to figure it out, who knows...). What I ended up doing was buying a DSO quad-nano or whatever... and had no issues after it. It wasn't a matter of, how did you put it... 'take pride n getting good Safe gear.' The option wasn't available, I didn't know anything about Scopes, and at the time I was very skeptical about posting questions to this form (still am to a degree).
Without an oscilloscope you're kind of working in the dark a lot of times. For those without the luxury of a large permanent work area a small, convenient and easy to use oscilloscope is a very nice piece of equipment to have. Basically, any kind of 'scope is many times better than no 'scope at all
Yes! I was without one for a very long time, once in a while resorting to crude methods involving sound cards, or fast DAC loops... or listening to things. On that note, recommended when you can. The earlier you can run a scope and listen to various waves, like video, various device tones, and events while watching the wave, the better off you are. Some things will click in your mind, making it easier to relate to what the scope shows you.
I don't have a DSO, maybe will one day. I can get a Prop to look at lower frequency digital stuff for me, and the analog works, though I sometimes take a picture of it. Funny that! One task on the task list is to build a raster / vector display for it through. Use a couple channels for that, and have a terminal right there displaying debug values while observing results. Or play video games...
@zetsu: Well, I wouldn't know what the source of your skepticism is. Here's to hoping you can get past it a piece at a time. This hobby is significantly enhanced with a forum like this. At any time, you've got friends all doing stuff and that helps --at least it helps me. Hate it when I'm not able to ask something, even something silly, like I did just a day ago. Got stuck on a very basic PASM thing involving res and long. I knew better but was fixated on something else unable to see the stupid for what it was. One question later, along with a "dang, I know better chuckle" and I'm off and moving again. Have a good one.
Oh, and you have to be able to laugh. Seriously. That's the ticket to using this place, IMHO.
Sooo, no one bit down on my bait, lol. Im considering buying a propscope one day when xmas isnt around the corner. Would it be a good first O-scope? Or should I look for the kind discussed in this thread?
Thanks
Comments
I feel your pain...if memory serves that was my Heathkit Scope in the bench picture below. And it was heavy for being as small as it was (relatively speaking).
I have another cheaper one which is the DSO Nano, but the plug to the probe is so flimsy that it has a very bad connection and then the probe went to the dustbin. Honestly, I'd say the DSO isn't quite really good - sluggish interface gets in the way during testing.
I replaced a few tubes and got it working well enough to play with.
The timebase was measured in kilocycles...
C.W.
Why buy a busted scope .. get a NEW one..... Or used and CALed from a proper used test gear place. If some one is gonna invest there time in this hobby then I would hope they would take pride n getting good Safe gear.
CRTs are not Old school... Vaccum tube bench warmers that are fridge sized are..........
for the recoed I had for years that same tex 547 hat potatohead has posted with the 4 channel Plug In../ THAT was a bench warmer
-Phil
Well I needed/wanted a scope, didn't have a good amount of money (at the time ) to spend on one. Lucky, a Friend of my fathers offered to give me his, that he has not used in quite some time (maybe 5 or 6 years). When I got it home, I found out it didn't/doesn't work correctly ( or i might just be too stupid to figure it out, who knows...). What I ended up doing was buying a DSO quad-nano or whatever... and had no issues after it. It wasn't a matter of, how did you put it... 'take pride n getting good Safe gear.' The option wasn't available, I didn't know anything about Scopes, and at the time I was very skeptical about posting questions to this form (still am to a degree).
I don't have a DSO, maybe will one day. I can get a Prop to look at lower frequency digital stuff for me, and the analog works, though I sometimes take a picture of it. Funny that! One task on the task list is to build a raster / vector display for it through. Use a couple channels for that, and have a terminal right there displaying debug values while observing results. Or play video games...
@zetsu: Well, I wouldn't know what the source of your skepticism is. Here's to hoping you can get past it a piece at a time. This hobby is significantly enhanced with a forum like this. At any time, you've got friends all doing stuff and that helps --at least it helps me. Hate it when I'm not able to ask something, even something silly, like I did just a day ago. Got stuck on a very basic PASM thing involving res and long. I knew better but was fixated on something else unable to see the stupid for what it was. One question later, along with a "dang, I know better chuckle" and I'm off and moving again. Have a good one.
Oh, and you have to be able to laugh. Seriously. That's the ticket to using this place, IMHO.
My brother had one of those - oh my back! The first scope I ever used was a Tektronix 454A.
I have an LG scope in my office.
I've considered buying one of the newer DSO scopes but don't have a good enough reason yet.
I would much rather buy a new guitar
Sooo, no one bit down on my bait, lol. Im considering buying a propscope one day when xmas isnt around the corner. Would it be a good first O-scope? Or should I look for the kind discussed in this thread?
Thanks