Ok gang,
I'm thinking about buying my first oscilloscope and I need your help.
I know I want to go digital (possible PC-connection for easy data storage (depends on price)).
What is a good frequency to get? I know I want above 20mhz, but whats a good max to have. I'm just going to be doing simple stuff so I wouldnt need anything too crazy.
I'm loooking to spend about $300, but if I can get a good deal on one, I'd concider spending more

I'm going to keep my eye on ebay, and I'll post what I think looks like a good scope.

I'm going to ask around at work and see if maybe they sell their old equipment. we will see.

EDIT: After looking through ebay's auctions it looks like I'm going to have to spend a little more for a good working digital scope. I found this one here, it's got 5 days on it, so I doubt I'll get it for anywhere near the listed price, but anyhoo...http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MakeTrack=true

__________________
Jeff
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

I am not the expert on this subject but noticed some differences in the way specifications are presented for 'scopes. The traditional stand alone scope is often described in screen size and frequency - my understanding of frequency meant the highest frequency to be input or measured with the scope. I've also seen many of the newer portables and PC based 'scopes listed by frequency and on closer inspection the frequency appears to apply to sampling rate. If this is true then a 20 mHz description could mean vastly different things - with a 20 mHz sampling rate you'd have 10 samples of a waveform at 2 mHz which may not be what you want.

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stevez

 

...and number of channels...
It's time of 100MHz+ scopes. Anything less should be a bargain.
I would check eBay or if you want to build your own check bitscope.
It's a small but powerfull scope that connects to your PC.

 

im no expert on scopes, but that there looks perdy nice :lol:

if you want to do a lot of digital, make sure that you get a scope that is designed for . . . i think its called slow moving or non-repeating signals. this means that if you want to look @ the pulses from ur tv remote, the scope will store the signal so that you can "pause". but im sure u already knew that :lol:

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I'm no electronics god, i just talk too much.

 

1 GHz my gawd..it makes mine look like ...well really old..
anyway i saw a project on piclist.com it was a Pic O ' Scope or something like that ..
very nice , with output on the pc screen...

 

Has anyone used the bitscope? It seems pretty nice for the price and the features.

I'm currently looking at:
http://www.bitscope.net/store/?p=view&i=item+3

Can anyone recommend/steer away?

thnx
d

 

The Tektronix TDS 210 is an excellent little digital scope. I've used a TDS 220 a lot and really liked it. One thing that you won't find on any other digital scope from any company other than Tektronix for a scope at that price level is the 1 GS/s sampling rate. I believe the main difference between the TDS 210 and the TDS 220 is that the latter has a 2 GS/s sample rate. The scope should have two memories on-board. You can buy plug-in modules to add GPIB (IEEE-488, i.e., HPIB) interface, RS-232 interface or a Centronics printer interface. Shop carefully for these modules, because you could end up spending more for the module than you do for the scope on ebay! The TDS 220 was originally introduced by Tek at a price of around $900, quite incredible considering that the original 15MHz T922 sold new for $1800 back in 1976 and the TDS 220 far outperforms the T922 in every way.

Dean

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Dean Huster, Electronics Curmudgeon
Contributing Editor emeritus, "Q & A", of the former "Poptronics" magazine (formerly "Popular Electronics" and "Electronics Now" magazines).

R.I.P.

 

So does that scope that I was looking at on ebay seem like a good deal?
Also, is this scope only capable of 60Mhz? Should I buy it if I can get it for less than $500?

__________________
Jeff
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

As far as I'm aware they are good scopes, I'd certainly like one!.

But i would suggest you evaluate what you need a scope for, certainly this sort of price range is a lot of money - a much lower spec scope will do 99% of what you need for a fraction of the price.

If you've never owned or used a scope, a simpler one is probably better to start with.

A 20MHz double beam scope will do almost everything you ever need, a digital storage scope might be helpful very occasionally, as is a higher bandwith - but only very occasionally!.

Do you have a specific use in mind?, or is it just a general purpose scope you're looking for?.

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PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

I just want to say that i have allways liked the idea of using an A/D converter hooked up to a PC for an oscilliscope...
there have been many times when i could have used the storage capabilities , to see signals that dont repeat...

 

Nothing specific, I'm just looking for a general scope that I can use for average tasks (I'm more into digital circuitry if that has any effect on the decision).
Now that I think about it, it is a lot of money, although it's only a 2 week paycheck (42 hours total). Maybe I'll look into getting a cheaper scope, and a good DMM. How much do those autoranging ones usually run for?

I'm going to talk to some of my profs tomorrow and see what they recommend.

Also, I picked up one of those portable scopes while i was volunteering at a second hand store about a year ago, someone stuffed it away in the back, so I got it for about $1.00. It's battery powered but the battery isnt there. I have the instruction manual (which has a schematic of the entire unit, even tells you what voltages you should be getting at different nodes.) I tried putting power to it, but the power switch seems to be bad, I jumped it out and got it to turn on. so the tube works? (i got it to show a dot, I don't think I could get a sweep out of it?).
The instruction manual gives a bunch of detail on how to recalibrate it, so I think I would be able to get it accurate again.
theres one up for auction on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW
so should I seriously look into getting it to work? What usually goes bad/needs replaced on old equipment like this?

__________________
Jeff
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

The BIG advantage of a storage scope is that you can freeze a non-recurrent event, a good example is the output of a TV remote control. It's very difficult to see it reliably on a normal scope, with a storage scope you can freeze the image and examine it at your leisure.

Good idea, they will probably be able to advise you, and may even know someone who's selling something suitable!.

I've never seen one, but if you can get it working it will be very useful, ANY scope, no matter how poor, is just so useful - I've been using one of mine today, checking the Icon Designs Mixer I asked about in another thread!.

__________________
PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

Any (working) scope is better than no scope but if you can get hold of DSO that's what you should have nowdays. The one in top of tread is same family as what we use at work. They are excellent products.

 

you should definatly try getting it to work..

 

The reason I didnt try to get it working before was because I didnt know what I was doing, but now I have some Electronics experts at my disposial, so it should be a piece of cake.

I'm going to take it to school with me someday and tear into in one of the labs. Maybe I'll show it to my profs and see what they say about it, maybe they'll give me a hand.

__________________
Jeff
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.