Are Analog Oscilloscopes still practical for regular use? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: catman232
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 02:23:45 am
content: Just a quick question, I am eventually going to need a scope, and the analog ones are obviously much cheaper. I don't need anything crazy accurate, I just need basic functionality.

author: David_AVD
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 02:35:03 am
content: I still use my analog scopes regularly. For digital signals I use the (Logic branded) logic analyser.

author: kg4arn
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 03:11:20 am
content: Quote from: catman232 on March 19, 2013, 02:23:45 amNot necessarily true that analog is cheaper. For the price of a Fluke 87V plus 80 bucks you can have a pretty decent entry level digital scope with a 100 MHz bandwidth and 2 probes. You can also look at one shot events like switch bounce on the digital scope. You would need an analog storage scope for that.Also think about sharing your scope waveforms on a forum like this one. Easy to do with a digital scope. You just dump the screen to thumb drive (or USB directly to your computer). With the analog scope, you are are going to have to take pictures with your camera.Don't get me wrong, I love analog scopes. But for usability and now cost, I would get a digital scope. My opinion.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 07:43:56 am
content: Quote from: kg4arn on March 19, 2013, 03:11:20 amNot that big a deal IMHO - and would a screen capture from a cheap digital scope give as clear an impression of what the signal is actually doing?

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 07:58:28 am
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on March 19, 2013, 07:43:56 am+1, no biggie here as well, its like just shooting ordinary close up pics.Shot of Tek 2465B without any stinky hood at all. Details how to get this kind of result in just 1 or 2 minutes ->HEREPS : Andy, thats one bad ass camera you got there.

author: BillyD
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 08:53:22 am
content: Don't forget to consider space. Analogue scopes are usually bigger and deeper than a DSO. You may not have the space to park it permanently on your bench, nor may you want to have to lift it up and down off the floor very often if it's an old heavy one!

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 09:11:35 am
content: a good analog scope is yes sometimes cheaper than a new digital one.but it depends on what you want to do.for microcontroler stuff better buy a basic digital scope memory is never enough for thatfor audio - power - stuff better buy a used analog scope.just my 2 ctsafter that there are good used mixed analog-digital scopes that are quite cheaplook at hameg they often are on the baybut these models have a small memory, not nice when debugging serial traffic.

author: gautamdamodar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 11:36:56 am
content: Quote from: BillyD on March 19, 2013, 08:53:22 amI think its an important point because you dont want to curse the day buying an analog one as your workbench start to saturate.Do consider power consumption.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2013, 07:52:48 am
content: Quote from: gautamdamodar on March 19, 2013, 11:36:56 amMy scope consumes about 400W... it's nice in the winter because it keeps the lab warm and I don't need to switch on the boiler to heat the whole house. It's not quite so nice in the summer, though.

author: w2aew
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2013, 12:39:11 am
content: Quote from: catman232 on March 19, 2013, 02:23:45 amAbsolutely, they're still useful for many, many applications. The majority of the applications I show on my YouTube channel use analog scopes (https://www.youtube.com/w2aew).Of course, there are many, many things that a digital scope can do that an analog scope can't. Dave posted a list a few months back.

author: jh15
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2013, 05:35:17 am
content: Just today I crawled under the turntable area of a live dj with my rigol scope.It was really annoying seeing the digital waveform compared if I brought my analog scope down under. An analog crt shows realtime audio, including the pops and clicks of vinyl. The analog scope in the shop would have shown the record noise.I find digital scopes as annoying as watching digital tv "work" on the tv image.I'd rather see real time snow and analog artifacts on a realtime ntsc tv when viewing that content. The eye acts as a good integrator.Digital viewing of analog audio on a dso is more like watching a scaling analog scope of the past.But the fantastic storage and data export makes me prefer digital.I think best bet is buy a digital scope for work, and an analog used one to fix. Many here would advise you on fixing a yard sale analog scope, including me.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 23, 2013, 11:50:54 am
content: Quote from: jh15 on March 23, 2013, 05:35:17 amA better DSO with a fast refresh rate and variable persistence and intensity grading would have helped. Too bad these are not yet available for $400.

author: cubemike99
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2013, 04:29:49 am
content: In this videoDave talks about your exact question. Long story short, he says there is always a need for a 20MHz analog CRO.