Analogue  Oscilloscope - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 02:38:27 pm
content: Hi everyone, I'm fairly new to the constructing side of the hobby, and I have the need for a Analogue oscilloscope, not sure where to get one from, & should I go for 10,20, 50, 100 Mhz ?, not in a hurry to go into digital, and cann I also ask which brand ,or are they all much the same.Thank you in advancePaul

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 03:07:34 pm
content: ebay. You pretty much can't go wrong with an old Tek, and you should be able to get a reasonable bandwidth cheaply. There are also some nice HP models. Exactly how cheap they are depends on what you need/want and where it has to be shipped. Don't get a unusual brand or a super low-end device -- these are old devices and the more popular they were back in the day the better availability of service manuals, parts, and people on the internet who can help you if you have a problem. Finally, if you are only going to have one scope you should probably get a digital scope if you can afford it. A digital scope is just a much more flexible instrument even for analog work. Unless you can't afford even a low end digital scope or you know you need the bandwidth or noise performance of an analog scope, I suggest at least reconsidering that choice.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 03:10:59 pm
content: I second the digital scope if possible. if not a decent analogue one will get you going. I think I had a hameg when I got mine.

author: KD0CAC John
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 03:24:15 pm
content: Not a lot of experience on this end , but maybe a little help .What type of work / things do want to work on ?Then what is in the future ?I'm mainly into ham radio , but like general repair etc. is where I'm at .Tektronix is been one of the top scopes , for older used gear .Then understanding the circuit your working on , to know what will give you the info you looking for .For starting out 10 - 20 Mhz , but getting for free to $50 for a working scope , and if durning the learning process , if something lets the smoke out , your not out much .Then for a step up 100Mhz will do most of what you may need for general building / repair , again the same brand and $100 - $200 .I would stay with solid state if you going to spend any $$$ , but play with any free gear you find .Looking for something is best done within some field / club / group , like any subject / product , the best deals are found by those in that field .Then you get into how many channels , 2 is a start , but that also raises the price , 100Mhz 4 channel around $150 - $300 .At the higher end you are getting close to a new Rigol , I paid about $350 for a 2 channel 100Mhz .Then like almost anything else you have accessories , probes , antinuators etc.Good site to learn about using , besides Daves videos ,http://www.tek.com/learning/oscilloscopes/

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 03:48:03 pm
content: Cheers Guy , this is really helpful, I mainly do radio stuff , you can see I use my Amateur Callsign for name on here, so building at the moment some repairs starting with radio's in the family that have died, I have built a octopus component tester, which works fine on a Telequipment D61a, which I have been offered for free don't know anything about them, I think and correct me if I'm wrong I think they are 10mhz!!!!!!. would one of these be a good starter scope. I don't want to get into the position of taking it then not using it and upsetting the current owner,which I am extremely grateful to, if you see what I mean, , Thanks for the great help you have all given me so far.PaulM0BSW UK amateur

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 06:47:27 pm
content: I've graciously accepted the telequipment Dual Trace D61A scope, from family friend, it works a treat, and I'm finding my way around it, the manual is a big help, and with my component tester I'm sorting out my junk box.

author: kg4arn
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 13, 2012, 09:08:15 pm
content: QuoteWell you can't beat free. Cut your teeth on learning to operate this one, but if you're serious you are going to need at least 50MHz and preferably 100MHz bandwidth to work with most of the HF circuits and any of the VHF.The scopes have 3% error at the BW/3. The response is down 30% at the 3 dB bandwidth.They are still usable past their bandwidths but you loose the harmonic content of the signals and everything looks like a sine wave, even when it's not.

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2012, 03:05:36 am
content: Thank you Ed,I figured that's what i'd do learn all I can from this one and save for a bigger one, I've been looking on E-Bay there seems to be lots of Tektronix scopes on there from around £100/ £200 UK pounds @100Mhz, at least I don't have to rush out and buy one just yet this one ha been doing the component testing just fine, Thank You for replying.Paul