I want to buy an Oscilloscope

[thomas997]

Nah, I bought a 100MHz 6 channel scope (Kikusui), freshly calibrated, delayed sweep, for less than the price of a set of medium-grade speaker cables. It's no Cadillac, it's a Camry.

Yeah I just picked up a 5 channel 80mhz kikusui and its great. Has some small probs with the CRT (trouble displaying 5+ traces ) but it was cheap, and came with 2 probes

btw is delayed sweep the little timer knob with numbers up to 1000 or so?

I spent about a week figuring out what all the knobs do because I cant find a manual online (only buyable ones).

I would recommend getting a cheap analog at first (under 200 maybe?)... buy something better when you have more knowledge, experience and cash.

 

[jacco vermeulen]

It looks way over specced but is it any good for the audio hobbyist? I might buy it regardless as it looks so damn cool.

Super scope.
If the tag will not drain your pockets i'd buy it.
have a Tonga Party !


(Only the name that buggs me.Chevy bought Daewoo, cant GE do the same with the P inc.)

 

[SY]

thomas, yes that's the sweep delay. Its function is explained pretty well in that Tek guide mercator linked to.

 

[K-amps]

Hitachi used to sell a decent 100MHz scope with measuring cursors some years ago that was pretty decent - easy to use, worked well and durable. I know because I still have mine. They show on ebay every once in a while a good prices - benefit of NOT being named Tektronix mlloyd1

What model was your hitachi?

Is this a good scope for Audio?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58282&item=3875757541&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

how about this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58282&item=3876688595&rd=1

Being a noobie on scopes, Is there a function on these whereby I could for example send a 100Hz sinewave for 10ms at various voltages to am amplifier's inout and then measure clipping, using just the Oscope?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

K-Amps

 

[SY]

That looks very nice indeed. Budget another $100 for good probes. You'll want (at minimum) a 1x and 10x probe. Two of each would be better (and something I wish I had...).

 

[K-amps]

Thanks SY!

I edited my post so I am guessing you are referring to the first one (Hitachi) and added another model, plus a question. Do you see what I am trying to ask? I may be wayyy off here, but I thought I'd ask.

 

[SY]

It also looks fine, but of course, it's $100 more...

I think the question you're asking relates more to the signal source than to the scope. I'm very unclear on what you mean by a 100Hz sine wave for 10ms. If you mean tone bursts, you need a tone burst generator for that. For just measuring clipping, you don't need a fancy one, and a software-based system with a decent sound card will work beautifully.

 

[K-amps]

Yes, I meant tone burst built into an Oscope. What should I get for that if as you say, they dont' come with the Oscopes?

Also in my current Oscope (a 20Mhz Tenma) the screen flickers badly (low refresh rate or something) when I increase the intensity of the display to the point that I get a reading every 1/2 second... thats annoying. Thats why I'd like a better unit.

 

[jackinnj]

Yes, I meant tone burst built into an Oscope. What should I get for that if as you say, they dont' come with the Oscopes?

Also in my current Oscope (a 20Mhz Tenma) the screen flickers badly (low refresh rate or something) when I increase the intensity of the display to the point that I get a reading every 1/2 second... thats annoying. Thats why I'd like a better unit.

Get a copy of the AudioXpress CD-ROM -- in the 1970's they had a circuit called "The Michigan Logger" -- based on a pair of XR-2206 synthesizer chips -- it would allow you to do tone bursts, sweep, fm modulation etc.

It's probably time to revisit this idea -- instead of complicated switching some DDS chips, switchable filters and the Basic Stamp or PIC.

 

[K-amps]

Thanks Jack, i'll get the CD.

I am wondering though, once i have a tone burst sent to the amplifier, How do I "freeze" the waveform on my Oscope for analysis or specifically what "function" does my Oscope need to have to do this?

thanks!

 

[SY]

To freeze a single shot, you need a digital scope. That's more expensive and more complex. It's best to do the bursts as repetitive waveforms and use them to triigger the sweep. By playing with rep rate on the generator and sweep delay on the scope, you can scale the bursts to be centered on the screen.

 

[jackinnj]

you set the scope to trigger at a threshold voltage, or upon the occurrence of s specific event.

 

[tonga]

So guys and gals...if my scope has an internal square (or sine) wave generator for self calibration can I use that as a signal gen to test an amp and still measure the signal in and the amp output (2 channel scope) ? If so how do you hook that up?

I havnt used a scope for 10 years or more and I'm looking at buying one...any functions that havnt already been mentioned that are needed for a good audio scope? Also what does a digital storage scope do exactly (I guess it storess data digitally but how and where etc?)

thanks in advance

tonga

 

[SY]

You can, though it's fixed in level/frequency and generally has an offset. Function generators that will do a good square wave are cheap- or you could build one yourself in an hour.

 

[K-amps]

you set the scope to trigger at a threshold voltage, or upon the occurrence of s specific event.

SY and Jack, does this Oscope have this trigger function? (Woohoo I am learning more about using Oscopes... )


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ssPageName=WDVW

how about this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...3876688595&rd=1

 

[SY]

The links aren't working for me. In any case, all modern scopes have triggered sweep. Look for a "delayed sweep" feature for maximum flexibility.

 

[jackinnj]

looks like a very nice scope -- has triggered delay --
this link should work:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3876688595

 

[tonga]

I have a further oscilloscope question..what sort of probes does one need for audio work, and how come their so expensive (when buying new..I've seen them for £600+)?

Their obviously not just metal spikes but what do they actually consist of and how do they work, surely its just a conducting rod to carry whatever voltage to the equipment?


tonga

 

[jackinnj]

I picked up some Tektronix probes identical to those supplied with my TDS3014B for $25 on EBay -- the probe maintains a constant impedance, sort of -- the glitch in the gas supply is the ground lead. If starting out I would suggest leads by Pomona --

you would be surprised by how less problematic measurements become when you spend a little more for probes and test clips.

everyone complains about people swiping their scope-probes.

 

[K-amps]

I picked up some Tektronix probes identical to those supplied with my TDS3014B for $25 on EBay -- the probe maintains a constant impedance, sort of -- the glitch in the gas supply is the ground lead. If starting out I would suggest leads by Pomona --

you would be surprised by how less problematic measurements become when you spend a little more for probes and test clips.

everyone complains about people swiping their scope-probes.

Woohoo I just BINNED this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3876147338&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6

Now Jack/SY please .. walk me through the tone burst procudure.. ahem and also please explain what you guys mean by ( **cough Cough ) "sweep"