I have £100 to blow 
Unfortunately, in the UK even second hand 'scope's ain't cheap.
I'm looking at two at the moment - a Hitachi V212, and a Philips PM3216, both in good condition. The Philips is 35MHz versus the Hitachi's 20MHz. However, I can't find a manual anywhere for the Philips, while I can find the Hitachi's manual which even includes a schematic.
Forget Tek stuff - it all goes for over £200 even second hand, unless it's broken.
I've just spotted another Philips scope, a PM3217 which is 50MHz. Are Philips 'scopes any good?
Unfortunately, in the UK even second hand 'scope's ain't cheap.
I'm looking at two at the moment - a Hitachi V212, and a Philips PM3216, both in good condition. The Philips is 35MHz versus the Hitachi's 20MHz. However, I can't find a manual anywhere for the Philips, while I can find the Hitachi's manual which even includes a schematic.
Forget Tek stuff - it all goes for over £200 even second hand, unless it's broken.
I've just spotted another Philips scope, a PM3217 which is 50MHz. Are Philips 'scopes any good?
Philips and Hitachi are ok, and I'd go with the one I could find a schematic for. You can do almost any analog audio task with a 20 MHz scope. More is good for bragging rights, but it isn't like a 20 MHz scope is going to hold you back in any serious way. We used to have some Philips and Hitachi scope where I used to work, and they did eventually have some problems, but so did the Teks.
Im leaning towards the PM3217 now even though it costs a bit more. I've found a service manual for it, and one of the neat things is that the PSU uses a 28V transformer to power the rest of the circuit - it can even operate from a 24V battery. While the battery option wouldn't be used, the transformer would provide isolation from the line.
Looking at the schematic too, most of the transistors and such are standard things such as BC548/558 and BF469/70 - all stuff that still exists or can be easily substituted, unlike some of the old Japanese devices used in the Hitachi.
20MHz is enough for audio work, but I do plan to dabble with digital stuff as well.
Looking at the schematic too, most of the transistors and such are standard things such as BC548/558 and BF469/70 - all stuff that still exists or can be easily substituted, unlike some of the old Japanese devices used in the Hitachi.
20MHz is enough for audio work, but I do plan to dabble with digital stuff as well.
hi jaycee
have a look here Stewart of Reading
these guys have been in business awile and im sure that they can supply a suitable scope for you.
i have no connection with the company only as a satified customer
kind regards
bob
have a look here Stewart of Reading
these guys have been in business awile and im sure that they can supply a suitable scope for you.
i have no connection with the company only as a satified customer
kind regards
bob
Yeah, but I've built my fair share of digital stuff and seeing the master clock is great to look at, because it's there and working, but it's not wonderfully useful beyond that point.
The trouble with the higher frequency stuff is that you have to be careful of what it is your seeing, because cable capacitance and probe capacitance will easily alter the way the signal looks.
Although having said that I would consider saving up a bit more money and perhaps splurging on a more expensive model. I have found that since getting my scope (a tek 2225 that I got for free ) that it is the one tool I would rather keep out of all the others.
You do have to be somewhat wary when buying second hand, but something like this looks like a fairly good deal (pure coincidence that it's the model I've got >.<) . The scope has a clear picture taken of it functioning in a well lit room. Lots of the time you can see the scope working in the dark... why? Because the screen is going? And lots of the time you don't see them with anything other then the trace going from left to right and nowt else. Why? Most tek scopes come with a build in square wave generator so you can calibrate your probes, is the scope broken in some way?
The trouble with the higher frequency stuff is that you have to be careful of what it is your seeing, because cable capacitance and probe capacitance will easily alter the way the signal looks.
Although having said that I would consider saving up a bit more money and perhaps splurging on a more expensive model. I have found that since getting my scope (a tek 2225 that I got for free
) that it is the one tool I would rather keep out of all the others.You do have to be somewhat wary when buying second hand, but something like this looks like a fairly good deal (pure coincidence that it's the model I've got >.<) . The scope has a clear picture taken of it functioning in a well lit room. Lots of the time you can see the scope working in the dark... why? Because the screen is going? And lots of the time you don't see them with anything other then the trace going from left to right and nowt else. Why? Most tek scopes come with a build in square wave generator so you can calibrate your probes, is the scope broken in some way?
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My simple advice for buying an oscilloscope for audio is:
- get something analog
- get something of at least 20MHz bandwidth
- the more bandwidth the better
It's also worth getting one whose service manual is available. I've got a Philips PM3267, which is somewhat similar to the PM3217 you're looking at, and I've been happy with it.
- get something analog
- get something of at least 20MHz bandwidth
- the more bandwidth the better
It's also worth getting one whose service manual is available. I've got a Philips PM3267, which is somewhat similar to the PM3217 you're looking at, and I've been happy with it.
5th Element - i spotted that one. I just know its going to go for well over my budget though. All the Tek's always do unless they're faulty! It'd be nice though!
One of the things I never get is people who have scopes for sale and say "i have no idea how it works so am unable to test, sold as seen". If you dont know what a scope is or how it works, why on earth would you own one to begin with?
I've only been looking at ones showing a working signal. Just because a horizontal trace appears doesn't mean it'll work. I don't have adequate experience (IMO) to repair a scope - this usually requires another scope !!
One of the things I never get is people who have scopes for sale and say "i have no idea how it works so am unable to test, sold as seen". If you dont know what a scope is or how it works, why on earth would you own one to begin with?
I've only been looking at ones showing a working signal. Just because a horizontal trace appears doesn't mean it'll work. I don't have adequate experience (IMO) to repair a scope - this usually requires another scope !!
Used to use Hitachi scopes at work... they were excellent.
Look for one with a high accelerator voltage on the CRT as these give a bright fine trace. I once had a CROTECH ? 20 meg 'scope and that was it's weakness, only used 2kv or so.
Have used a Hung Chang 5510, 100meg 'scope for the last 15 years or so, it's been brilliant.
Look for one with a high accelerator voltage on the CRT as these give a bright fine trace. I once had a CROTECH ? 20 meg 'scope and that was it's weakness, only used 2kv or so.
Have used a Hung Chang 5510, 100meg 'scope for the last 15 years or so, it's been brilliant.
I'm using a 20 Mhz B&K 2120 fished out of the dumpster at the local trade school. $40. works fine, has an isolated signal ground even though it plugs into the wall. 10x probes are about $50, worth the money. No 50 Mhz master clocks in Hammond organs, they use the wall frequency. I had a 200 Mhz tek 466 memory scope at work, sigh! What a stable trigger. This B&K trigger is just okay, but way better than the televideo tube scope I fished out of a dumpster after it caught fire. Televideo's were made in the UK back in the sixties and sold by Tek here, I don't recommend them.
It's here now. Seems to be in pretty good nick given that it's at least 20 years old ! The only damage is Ch1's Volts/Div knob scale has cracked and is no longer fixed to the knob. If i can work out how to get the knob off, this is fixable though.
Need to brush up my skills on using one though! So far I've looked at the output of my PC sound with various signals (and found out it's output coupling caps are too small - lots of ringing on squares!), a composite video signal, and SPDIF.
Will have to build a decent signal generator. I have some MAX038 chips but might do it another way. I'm pretty sure i've got enough parts laying around to do something decent!
Need to brush up my skills on using one though! So far I've looked at the output of my PC sound with various signals (and found out it's output coupling caps are too small - lots of ringing on squares!), a composite video signal, and SPDIF.
Will have to build a decent signal generator. I have some MAX038 chips but might do it another way. I'm pretty sure i've got enough parts laying around to do something decent!
The ringing on the squares isn't related to the filter caused by the caps, it's related to the sample frequency used in the creation of the square wave. As this is a digitally created signal the nyquist limit prevents the correct creation of the required harmonics for a square wave. Try lowering the frequency way way down, or increase the sampling frequency.
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