Oscilloscope Tektronix 465B, 475, 2336YA or ???

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I am a second year electrical engineering student and I am looking to buy an oscilloscope. I am under the impression that I could learn more about what I am doing if I could see what is happening. Currently I am working with AM transmitters and receivers operating up to 1.710MHz. I have built a gainclone amp in the past and cannot accurately predict what my future needs are.

My budget is $450 but my target price would be $250 or less. From my research on this board and others, I am leaning towards a used analog Tektronix. I have been looking on ebay and have notice the 465B, 475, and 2336YA to fit this budget.

Something I would like to do with an oscilloscope is measure the difference of two channels. For example, measuring the difference of the input and output of an op-amp to see the effect the op-amp has.

Any recommendations on what models or specifications to be looking for?

Is there a website or resource that explains the differences between the older Tektronix?

Thanks,
Matt
 
There are a lot of resources for vintage Tek and HP:

just put Tektronix vintage in your search engine.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/scopes/tek.html

FWIW, the 2465B was the Cadillac of analog scopes -- and there are still guys who service them. There is a 2465B with GP-IB on EBay at the moment. I have 2 scopes on my desk -- one is the 2465B and the other is a TDS3012B.

If you have a lot of room you can get a 7000 series -- these are real boat anchors with enormous functionality -- but they are the size of a couple bread-boxes.

One to avoid -- the Tek 2215 CRT is easily damaged if you bang it around. Not a good undergrad scope.
 
The 465B is a nice scope, but they're getting on in years. Unless you're good at servicing gummed up controls and dealing with "five lbs of ---- in a two lb sack, I'd stick with something newer. I find having a good differential amplifier is important, but you need a scope with separate plug-in's to do that. The 7000 series is large but very good and takes plug-in's. There is a smaller series that's similar, but the construction quality isn't as good. Avoid analog storage scopes. IMO, there's no reason to spend more than $200 on a scope if you shop around.
 
jackinnj said:
Before purchasing a 2213 I would want to be sure that it doesn't use the same CRT as the 2215. The mesh is easily deformed with rough handling making it difficult (if not impossible) to focus/astigmatize

AFAIK, 2213A uses a different (brighter) tube from 2213 (and, presumably, 2215 too) . I have 2213A in my home lab as a spare scope and previously it did survive a very rough 20 years in a factory enviroment quite happily.

Alex
 
BTW, if you are working with AM signals most modern digital scopes (especially cheaper kind) could be practically useless for a proper work. Here is a simple 1kHz AM modulated 1 MHz carrier observed on my Tek 2465B and an attempt to look at the same signal on my digital Agilent DSO3062A . You can not really see the AM envelope properly on a digital scope unless you have a very deep memory option (keeping a high enough sampling rate for slow horisontal sweeps) .

Alex
 

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Reminds me of working a pair of 6146's on 80 meters with full plate modulation from a pair of 6L6's -- back in "the day" when SSB was much more difficult.

Doesn't your Agilent have an "Envelope" button?

Ham Radio Proverb "... a digital scope doesn't lie, it just doesn't tell the truth all the time..."
 
Thanks for all the info! The 2465B looks great and I can see myself getting one in a year or two. But for right now I think the 2213A is the way to go, financially speaking.

I noticed though that the other 2213As on ebay have different and more buttons the the one Alex mentioned. Is that a 2213A pictured or a 2213? It is hard to see but I don't think there is an A on the model number pictured. I have attached a picture highlighting the differences in buttons.

Ebay item in question

Example 2213A with different buttons


Another example 2213A with different buttons
 

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TheDriver said:
I noticed though that the other 2213As on ebay have different and more buttons the the one Alex mentioned. Is that a 2213A pictured or a 2213? It is hard to see but I don't think there is an A on the model number pictured. I have attached a picture highlighting the differences in buttons.

Ebay item in question

Example 2213A with different buttons


Another example 2213A with different buttons

One on the right is correct 2213A, on the left it is a different model - well done for spotting that, as it is certainly not 2213A and the seller from the link I've posted misrepresents the item.

On the other hand 2213A from your link looks good and price is OK.

Cheers

Alex

P.S. - the other scope looks a bit like 2213 without "A" , it is an older type and the tube is not the same.
 
TheDriver said:
Are there any other differences between the 2213 and the 2213A besides the display?

I found specs for the 2213 and 2213A at the the links below and the displays appear to be the same. Are the displays different and just have the same general specs?

http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/usedequipment/tektronix/oscilloscopes/tek2213&2215specs.htm

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cach...OC+2213a+2215a+specs&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us[/url]

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Matt,

from what I can remember the specs are the same, but the tube is different (as well as the circuit) and 2213A has a different arrangement for focusing. In general 2213A is later and better model.

Cheers

Alex
 
What about the 2215A? There seems to be more of them available at lower prices than the 2213A on ebay.

I have to admit the more I think about the 2465B the more I just want to wait. But maybe if I could get a 2213A or 2215A for dirt cheap, less than $150, that would take care of my needs till I could afford a 2465B.

Thanks,
Matt
 
TheDriver said:
What about the 2215A? There seems to be more of them available at lower prices than the 2213A on ebay.

I have to admit the more I think about the 2465B the more I just want to wait. But maybe if I could get a 2213A or 2215A for dirt cheap, less than $150, that would take care of my needs till I could afford a 2465B.

Thanks,
Matt

the only difference between 2213A and 2215A, I think, is that the latter is equipped with a dual time base (i.e. you can "zoom" on a portion of the signal by displaying it on a different time scale). It is a useful feature however there is no point in getting anything in a poor condition. Old scopes more often than not have problems with CRT, blurred traces etc. Unless there is a very good picture of a screen with a signal from the actual unit I would be wary of buying a scope very cheaply from an unknown source without some warranties or at least a money back option.

Cheers

Alex
 
I have owned many Tek scopes and the 465 is a good solid reliable scope. I do not like the 2230 series.

I currently own, and have owned several in the past the Sencore SC61 service scope. this is a nice dual channel 100mhz scope with some nice features. There is a digital meter built in and that allows you to not only see the waveform but measure either Volts P-P, DC Volts, or frequency. plus it has a delta time function that is really handy for measuring the width of a wave or part of a wave or marking a specific time event. very handy.

The biggest drag of the sencors is that you have to use there probes for the Digimeter function to work and the dang probes can cost as much if not more then the scope!

These can be had cheap, under $200 generally and for a student that make a great starter scope! very easy to use. yet pack a lot of features. I would be hard pressed to give up the SC61 these days. maybe and i mean only maybe for something like a Tek DSO with VGA output or something.


Zc
 
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