(also posted to the solid state forum...)
just curious what everyone out there uses for test equipment. i haven't gotten much past a variac and multimeter myself, with my ears doing the rest of the "measuring," but as my projects get more complex i'm looking to get a decent set of tools. few questions for you all:
- a good analog scope is still the way to go right? e.g. i'm looking at a used Tektronix 465...
- what's a good low-distortion signal generator? do some of you own one? am i better off using a test CD and a regular cd player/DAC to generate my test signals?
- are there any relatively affordable distortion analyzers out there that provide any useful resolution? if not, i guess i'll have to stick to my ears and eyeballing the scope...
i saw fragments of answers to these questions when searching the forums, but i'm interested in surveying what kind of equipment all you fellows use.
cheers,
marc
just curious what everyone out there uses for test equipment. i haven't gotten much past a variac and multimeter myself, with my ears doing the rest of the "measuring," but as my projects get more complex i'm looking to get a decent set of tools. few questions for you all:
- a good analog scope is still the way to go right? e.g. i'm looking at a used Tektronix 465...
- what's a good low-distortion signal generator? do some of you own one? am i better off using a test CD and a regular cd player/DAC to generate my test signals?
- are there any relatively affordable distortion analyzers out there that provide any useful resolution? if not, i guess i'll have to stick to my ears and eyeballing the scope...
i saw fragments of answers to these questions when searching the forums, but i'm interested in surveying what kind of equipment all you fellows use.
cheers,
marc
What do you use?
The stuff I find using almost all the time are: Beckman DVM, Heath Sig Gen (much-POOGE'd), 5 amp Variac, Tek 7704A scope and an HP339a analyzer (with its great signal generator), a Heath RLC bridge and a more acurate self-built RLC meter, several Heath regulated power supplies (some of them POOGE'd). I would say that this stuff is used daily.
I have entirely too much junk, however. Stuff like a GenRad random noise source, Wavetek sweep gen, a couple high end HP DVM's, an HP 5334 counter, a Heath IMD analyzer, a Tektronix storage scope with spec analyzer, an HP3581C wave analyzer, a RatShack DVM/data-logger, a B&K RF signal generator-- most of the stuff aquired at garage sales, hamfests or on EBay.
Lastly, I have the same EICO VTVM I built when I had a technician class ham license in the 1960's! This is great unit as it will measure up to 1500 VAC.
The stuff I find using almost all the time are: Beckman DVM, Heath Sig Gen (much-POOGE'd), 5 amp Variac, Tek 7704A scope and an HP339a analyzer (with its great signal generator), a Heath RLC bridge and a more acurate self-built RLC meter, several Heath regulated power supplies (some of them POOGE'd). I would say that this stuff is used daily.
I have entirely too much junk, however. Stuff like a GenRad random noise source, Wavetek sweep gen, a couple high end HP DVM's, an HP 5334 counter, a Heath IMD analyzer, a Tektronix storage scope with spec analyzer, an HP3581C wave analyzer, a RatShack DVM/data-logger, a B&K RF signal generator-- most of the stuff aquired at garage sales, hamfests or on EBay.
Lastly, I have the same EICO VTVM I built when I had a technician class ham license in the 1960's! This is great unit as it will measure up to 1500 VAC.
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