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oscilloscope recommendations

M

Mike

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello,

I posted a message a while back on recommendations for an oscilloscope. This
would be my first one primarily used for experimentation and basic circuit
analysis. Someone recommended a Tektronix, but I can't find the post
anywhere. Which model is good to start with?

Thanks.
 
J

Joe McElvenney

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,
I posted a message a while back on recommendations for an oscilloscope. This
would be my first one primarily used for experimentation and basic circuit
analysis. Someone recommended a Tektronix, but I can't find the post
anywhere. Which model is good to start with?


How much do you have to spend?

In the middle-price ground, my choice would be one of the surplus
Tektronix 465's (either the 465, 465A, 465B or 465M). They're
100MHz dual-beam, affordable, dependable and easily maintainable.
In any event, something of the same specification and era (1980's).

IMHO, in the intervening period, electronics has got cleverer but
often more difficult to keep on the road - in the 465, the transistors
actually plug-in!


Cheers - Joe
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,



How much do you have to spend?

In the middle-price ground, my choice would be one of the surplus
Tektronix 465's (either the 465, 465A, 465B or 465M). They're 100MHz
dual-beam, affordable, dependable and easily maintainable. In any
^^^^
No, they're only dual-trace. There is such a thing as a dual-beam scope,
but I think they start about 10X higher in price.
event, something of the same specification and era (1980's).

IMHO, in the intervening period, electronics has got cleverer but often
more difficult to keep on the road - in the 465, the transistors
actually plug-in!

http://search.ebay.com/oscilloscope_W0QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQfromZR8

Have Fun!
Rich
 
M

Mike

Jan 1, 1970
0
That must have been the model -- tek 465. I don't want to spend more than a
few hundred for now, until I get more serious in the field.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen.

Mike
 
J

Joe McElvenney

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,
No, they're only dual-trace. There is such a thing as a dual-beam scope,
but I think they start about 10X higher in price.

I stand corrected but as an old fogy, in my day (and on this side of the
pond), the terms meant the same thing however the two traces were achieved
since electronic beam switching was a late arrival. I had a Russian scope once
that used a true split beam tube, a scope that one could only be described as
'interesting'. And on one occasion, during a radar exam in the RAF, I couldn't
get a waveform to lock properly on a really crappy type 13A scope. I hadn't
realised that this particular heap of rubbish automatically inverts one
channel. The resultant cursing and swearing lost me a few marks that time.


Cheers - Joe
 
S

Steve Evans

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,


I stand corrected but as an old fogy, in my day (and on this side of the
pond), the terms meant the same thing however the two traces were achieved
since electronic beam switching

I don't think so! there is a real difference and its reflected in the
price like rich says. I'm not sure what the benefit of dual-beam is
above dual TRACE, though. can anyone enlighten me?
 
C

CBarn24050

Jan 1, 1970
0
Subject: Re: oscilloscope recommendations
From: Steve Evans [email protected]
Date: 04/12/2004 12:07 GMT Standard Time
Message-id: <[email protected]>
I don't think so! there is a real difference and its reflected in the
price like rich says. I'm not sure what the benefit of dual-beam is
above dual TRACE, though. can anyone enlighten me?

Daul beam scopes are from the vacuum tube days, it was cheaper to put 2
guns/deflection units in 1 tube than to have all that beam switching. The other
advantage is the 2 beams are allways in sync with each other.
 
R

Roger Johansson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Steve Evans said:
I'm not sure what the benefit of dual-beam is
above dual TRACE, though. can anyone enlighten me?

A true dual-beam oscilloscope can show two dots simultaneously.

Other multi-trace oscilloscopes show only one dot, but it moves so fast
that you see it as 2 or 4 channels.

There are two ways to share one beam for multiple traces.

Chopping is used on slow signals. It means that the single beam jumps
fast between the onscreen traces. What looks like a solid line on the
screen is made up of thousands of segments.

Alternating is the other alternative, it is used on fast signals. It
means that the single beam draws one trace, then the other, then the
first one again. It looks like separate lines on the screen.

On some oscilloscopes this choice is manual, a switch marked ALT-CHOP, or
it can be done automatically.
 
B

Bob Masta

Jan 1, 1970
0
Daul beam scopes are from the vacuum tube days, it was cheaper to put 2
guns/deflection units in 1 tube than to have all that beam switching. The other
advantage is the 2 beams are allways in sync with each other.

The dual beam scopes that I recall were certainly not cheap; I think
it was just before the days when beam switching was developed.
And they definitely weren't always in sync, more like two completely
independent CRTs in one envelope. There were separate sweep
circuits for each beam, and one popular use in biomedical research
was to have one beam with fast sweep triggered to show individual
nerve spikes, while the other beam went really slow so you could
get an idea of the firing density over time.

They seemed to remain popular long after the beam-switchers
arrived on the scene, and I think the reason was because the
independent beams and controls made them intuitive to operate.
That certainly isn't the case with the beam-switcher types!


Best regards,



Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
 
J

Jag Man

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike,

I inherited an Hitachi V-212. It is a 20 MHz scope with two channels. I'm
sure there
are better ones, but I find it useful and they seem to be cheap on eBay.

Ed
 
J

Jonas Klein

Jan 1, 1970
0
That must have been the model -- tek 465. I don't want to spend more than a
few hundred for now, until I get more serious in the field.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen.

Mike
 
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