best place to look for a oscilloscope

[tweedclassic]

I am thinking about picking up an oscilloscope.

Anybody know of a good place to get a used one at a fair price?
i have some ideas but it never hurts to ask.

thanks

Cheers

R.

[renfrow]

Sometimes universities sell off some of their excess equipment and you can get a good deal that way. Failing that, you might find something reasonable on ebay (remember to account for shipping, as older models are large and heavy!).

Tom.

[elementx]

for price, i don't think you can beat ebay... no overhead purchasing user to user... the quality will of course be a bit of a gamble, but some are warranted and even calibrated...

i'm experimenting with using a common pc soundcard as a scope with a simple buffer circuit in my other post, and common o-scope software available for $20usd or even free. works quite well for load testing and such.

[DigitalJunkie]

Where in Oregon are ya?

One place you might want to check out is R5D3 Electronic Surplus in Milwaukie (Off of Johnson Creek Blvd.) Lots of older stuff,tubes,and parts,and sometimes he'll get a load of test equipment..
Give Bob a call and tell him what you're after..if he gets anything in,he'll call ya back.
Send me a PM if you can't find it in the Phone book,and I'll send ya the address and phone number.

A couple opther places that might be of help..
Wacky Willies,Used to be downtown around 23rd and Vaughn,But they might have moved since I was last there..it's been a while.
(hum,their website seems to be gone too.)

Also,Cascade Surplus,At approx 179th and Division.
http://www.cascadesurplus.com/

And,another place I havn't visited yet..
http://surplusgizmos.com/

[I_Forgot]

Your local ham radio clubs probably have a swap meet at least once each year. Hams always have a lot of test equipment around. Keep looking! Be sure to set aside some of your budget for probes. The probe capacitance should match the input of the scope, so buy probes AFTER you get the scope. You can get 100 MHz probes for about $50 each. Check the Tektronix web site for app notes about probes and how to select them.

I got a military surplus, solid state, 60 MHz BW, dual trace scope that runs on ac or 12VDC for $50. I lucked out and it works great. Avoid the old, gigantic, tubed tektronix or HP boat anchors. You'll spend more time debugging the scope than measuring anything with it.

I_F