Oscilloscope/probe question

[ouverview]

hello.

my apologies in advance - this is my first oscilloscope.

I recently bought a Beckman Industrial Circuitmate 9020 without a probe (manual here)

if I'm not mistaken, I should be looking for a 10x passive probe w/ high bandwidth and a bnc connector, but im not sure if im overlooking anything.

am I?

thanks in advance.

[jan.didden]

Originally Posted by ouverview

hello.

my apologies in advance - this is my first oscilloscope.

I recently bought a Beckman Industrial Circuitmate 9020 without a probe (manual here)

if I'm not mistaken, I should be looking for a 10x passive probe w/ high bandwidth and a bnc connector, but im not sure if im overlooking anything.

am I?

thanks in advance.

Well, you need to ask yourself: what's the bandwidth of the signals I'll be looking at; what's the impedance levels of the circuit points I'll be probing, and what are the signal voltage levels?

A 1:10 would be good if you are looking to signals above 10V or so, otherwise not necessary (although a switchable 1:10 - 1:1 is usefull).
For bandwidth, it probably not worthwhile to look for a probe with a (much) higher bandwidth than your scope.
Finally, check that the probe is compatible with the scope input impedance. Most scopes have a 1megohm input impedance, and most probes (except special hi-freq ones) are compatible with that. Note that a 1:10 probe will bring the loading on the circuit from 1 megohm to 10 megohm, but thats not really necessary these days.

jd