Since I have decided to take up this wonderful hobby of diy audio stuff, one of the issues I have ran into is biasing my HH Scott 299 which requires a Oscilloscope to set the ac bias adjustment. As of right now this is the only thing I can think of but who knows down the road, well actually I don't know if one is needed to set the bias on the Pass F5t clones as I will be building a couple of those.
So if anyone has a recommendation based on my needs that would be great. Lets just figure I know nothing about oscilloscopes, so please dumb it down for the newbie.
Thanks
So if anyone has a recommendation based on my needs that would be great. Lets just figure I know nothing about oscilloscopes, so please dumb it down for the newbie.
Thanks
Analogue (meaning CRT display).
Two channel.
At least 30 Mhz bandwidth.
Proper divider probes (X1 and X10)
A scope is the single most useful tool you can have for audio/electronics.
Two channel.
At least 30 Mhz bandwidth.
Proper divider probes (X1 and X10)
A scope is the single most useful tool you can have for audio/electronics.
We recently bought some cheap digital storage oscilloscopes (UNI-T brand) for some student lab work at university.
I tried one of those, the screen resolution is absolutely awful, trying to view a sine wave with more than one period on the screen leads to nice stepped curves roughly resembling a sine.
Any cheap 20MHz analogue scope has way better resolution, even if a trained monkey has adjusted the focus.
Rundmaus
I tried one of those, the screen resolution is absolutely awful, trying to view a sine wave with more than one period on the screen leads to nice stepped curves roughly resembling a sine.
Any cheap 20MHz analogue scope has way better resolution, even if a trained monkey has adjusted the focus.
Rundmaus
I am looking at a couple tektronix on ebay, are there any brands to look out for as far as what to stay away from.
the entry Rigol scopes aren't too bad - I'd rather have the expectation that something is working, in calibration as shipped, new than pay what many want on ebay for 2-3 decade old tek scopes with no guarantees
if you only need audio frequency AC relative measurements you can do quite a bit with a soundcard, free software and some attenuation, clamping, buffers, filters for safe probing
if you only need audio frequency AC relative measurements you can do quite a bit with a soundcard, free software and some attenuation, clamping, buffers, filters for safe probing
Personally, I don't want an entry level digital scope until they are far better than they are now. Calibration is meaningless for 99% of everything a hobbyist will do with a scope.
A *working* Tektronix scope is the way to go.
It is true that you can get a bad one on ebay, but you can also get a good one. Usually, not always, if the seller shows a full trace with a waveform, they're good. I'd shoot for a 100mHz scope. 50mHz is ok.
Even a working, old, 453 or 454 are great scopes.
The good part is you can get one on ebay for under $100 if you are not impatient and look carefully, ask the seller questions and look at the pix for ones showing full traces. Sellers do ask lots more, and too much but it is fairly safe to ignore them.
I picked up a now decades old, but still pretty trick Tek 2465A on ebay for somewhat less than that Rigol, and I'd not trade even...
Not sure what Surplus Sales of Nebraska has for scopes, but if they have and they are not too far away, it may be worth a trip to scope it out? 😀
_-_-
A *working* Tektronix scope is the way to go.
It is true that you can get a bad one on ebay, but you can also get a good one. Usually, not always, if the seller shows a full trace with a waveform, they're good. I'd shoot for a 100mHz scope. 50mHz is ok.
Even a working, old, 453 or 454 are great scopes.
The good part is you can get one on ebay for under $100 if you are not impatient and look carefully, ask the seller questions and look at the pix for ones showing full traces. Sellers do ask lots more, and too much but it is fairly safe to ignore them.
I picked up a now decades old, but still pretty trick Tek 2465A on ebay for somewhat less than that Rigol, and I'd not trade even...
Not sure what Surplus Sales of Nebraska has for scopes, but if they have and they are not too far away, it may be worth a trip to scope it out? 😀
_-_-
Analog Hameg oscilloscopes are fine beasts, though often quite expensive. HM205 as an entry-level unit, I personally use a HM605.
Rundmaus
Rundmaus
They have some old looking ones with round screens for around 100.00 I have went down and picked stuff up from them before, not far away just in bum city so they have a weird procedure to get in.
Nah, avoid the old round screen ones... too old, and probably all tubes, but the tubes might bring more than the scope...
here's a current example - making no recommendations, just an example.
Tektronix 2225 50MHz Oscilloscope Good Condition Powers on Tested T1407 | eBay
here's a current example - making no recommendations, just an example.
Tektronix 2225 50MHz Oscilloscope Good Condition Powers on Tested T1407 | eBay
Buying second hand is a lottery.
I paid £200 for what I thought was a decent scope from a reseller.
It went back 3 times with faults and in the end they just gave me my money back.
When I did some research into it the scope was around 15 years old !
I then bought a second hand one off ebay for £50 and had it now for 5 years and it still works great.
I paid £200 for what I thought was a decent scope from a reseller.
It went back 3 times with faults and in the end they just gave me my money back.
When I did some research into it the scope was around 15 years old !
I then bought a second hand one off ebay for £50 and had it now for 5 years and it still works great.
Well it is merely an example of a low priced Tektronix scope.
That one is more complex internally, and has more features, is reliable, but probably non-repairable by the average hobbyist. The earlier ones like the 453, 454 are potentially more repairable. BUT, at that price point, does it really matter? If ur patient and look you can
snag some that are real bargains. You can get some dogs too, but worst case you can put them back up for auction, this time tell the true condition and recoup all or part of your money, or get another that works and keep the first as a parts unit.
_-_-
That one is more complex internally, and has more features, is reliable, but probably non-repairable by the average hobbyist. The earlier ones like the 453, 454 are potentially more repairable. BUT, at that price point, does it really matter? If ur patient and look you can
snag some that are real bargains. You can get some dogs too, but worst case you can put them back up for auction, this time tell the true condition and recoup all or part of your money, or get another that works and keep the first as a parts unit.
_-_-
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