Wanting to get an oscilloscope...

[adamthole]

I am wanting to purchase an oscilloscope in the near future. I don't know anthing really about the different kinds, I just know what they are and how to use them. I've been doing a lot of circuit designing where an o-scope would be very helpful. Any good FAQ pages or anything else to reccomend I read about before making a purchase?

 

[Roboticinfo]

reply

I would get a 60mhz oscilloscope that is all you need mostly for electronic circuit's but depends on what you do.


You could get it from this place cheap.

https://www.web-tronics.com/test-equipment.html

I have a 60mhz oscilloscope and it is great.

 

[zachtheterrible]

Check ebay before you go buy a new one, it will be much cheaper, just make sure it works first.

It definitely depends on what you want to do. For example, I would like to get a 100MHZ o-scope because I fiddle around with wireless mics, or bugs, that transmit in the 88-108 MHZ frequency.

Of course there are other options, such as dual trace, or i forget what it is called, but you can store a signal if it is a one time thing, like the IR signal from a remote that does not repeat itself and is too fast too see. There are also high impedance probes that will not affect a circuit when you test it; if you stick a regular probe that is not high impedance in a radio circuit for example, it will throw the frequency off and a lot of other things.

I dont own an o-scope so thats the best i can do for ya :lol:

 

[Roboticinfo]

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You are right about that zachtheterrible but I said that it depend's what you do in my post ahead.

Anyway I would go with the 100mhz but it can be quite expensive so it all depend's on what type of function's you want it to do.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

A 100MHz scope would be very nice, but it's only VERY rarely needed, for 99.9% of the time a 10MHz or 20MHz scope will do everything you need, at MUCH more reasonable cost.

A 100MHz scope also wouldn't be much use for VHF use, it's too low - remember the rated frequency is whre it's gain has dropped by half!.

But ANY scope is infinately better than none!, a high spec scope is mostly a luxury that's not needed.

 

[eblc1388]

A 100MHz scope would be very nice, but it's only VERY rarely needed, for 99.9% of the time a 10MHz or 20MHz scope will do everything you need, at MUCH more reasonable cost.

Yeah, my 15Mhz scope served me well 100% of the time over the years.

But ANY scope is infinately better than none!, a high spec scope is mostly a luxury that's not needed.

In addition to luxury, a high end scope is more difficult/take longer time to setup for simple measurement.

Just remember, try not to save a small sum in buying a single channel scope. Buy at least a dual channel one and you would not regret the decision.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Just remember, try not to save a small sum in buying a single channel scope. Buy at least a dual channel one and you would not regret the decision.

Yes, a dual beam 10MHz scope is FAR more useful than a 100MHz single beam scope (if you could get such a thing?).

 

[Roboticinfo]

reply

In my opinion I would get at least a 60mhz
if you need it.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Re: reply

In my opinion I would get at least a 60mhz
if you need it.

It's OK if you live in America, where wages are higher and equipment is cheaper, for the rest of the world wasting money paying for a 60MHz scope (just in case you might need it once in ten years!) is a big waste of money.

On a quick check, a 50MHz scope is more than two weeks full wages for me!.

Perhaps you could tell us the last time you had a use for a 60MHz scope?.

 

[Roboticinfo]

reply

I use it as a multi meter and I usually don't need to use the 60mhz but I wanted it just in case.

 

[zachtheterrible]

thats right nigel, i forgot about that. I am definetly going to get a scope!

 

[Roboticinfo]

reply

We live in california we get it cheaper zachtheterrible.

The surplus that I work at sell's it cheap.


You said that you would buy a 100mhz scope
because of survalence circuit's?

 

[zachtheterrible]

just the little bugs that i like to make. but i guess it wouldnt do much good anyway :roll:

how much would that surplus store sell a 10-20MHZ dual trace scope for? sounds like id better get dual trace.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Re: reply

I use it as a multi meter and I usually don't need to use the 60mhz but I wanted it just in case.

So you use a scope that perhaps cost $500-$1000 to replace a $10 multi-meter?, and it won't even perform anywhere near as well as the $10 meter!.

And you don't consider that a waste?.

 

[zachtheterrible]

ya know, you can find scopes for WAAAAY cheaper than $500-1000 on ebay. $1000 would probably buy you a 1GHZ scope on ebay!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

ya know, you can find scopes for WAAAAY cheaper than $500-1000 on ebay. $1000 would probably buy you a 1GHZ scope on ebay!

I was talking new prices, not second hand prices :lol:

 

[eblc1388]

ya know, you can find scopes for WAAAAY cheaper than $500-1000 on ebay. $1000 would probably buy you a 1GHZ scope on ebay!

I have no doubt you might be able to buy a one Gig scope for $1000.

But what's the point of a one Gig scope if you cannot really look at a 1G signal. You need a 1G probe that would give you the true picture. Such probe would, if you are not aware, cost several thousand dollars or more. But like you said, you might be able to pick one up at $20 at Ebay, who knows. Last time I looked, there are hundred of 1G probes selling for $10 each. :lol: