[sdiy] oscilloscope considerations

[Jay Schwichtenberg]

Hello,

I used a Heathkit 10 mHz dual channel scope (I built myself) for 20 years
until I scored a B&K 100 mHz dual channel for $75.

If all you are going to do is work on synth stuff then a 20 mHz 2 channel
analog scope would be great.

In the used market I'd look for a major brand and a model that is still
serviceable. Also you might check out e-bay. Before I scored my current
scope I was looking at Tek 465/475. Ones that I considered good, calibrated
and from people that knew what they were selling were going for around $300
to $500. Also you can pick up some good deals on Tek 7000 series lab scopes
but they are pretty big.

When working with audio/synth/analog electronics I prefer an analog scope
over a digital one. Digitial scopes usally only use 8 bit converters (some
newer and high end ones have 10 - 12 bit converters) and interpolate some of
the stuff in between data points. Because of that I don't think that they
are as accurate as an analog scope for analog. I like digital scopes for
digital stuff where storage and time measurements can be done. The biggest
problem I've had with digital scopes is the triggering. Tek makes some real
good scopes but you have to get a trigger option to find those real hard
problems.

(Can you tell I'm a fan of Tek scopes but not much else anymore)

Jay

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> [mailto:owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl]On Behalf Of
> media at mail1.nai.net
> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 10:09 AM
> To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> Subject: [sdiy] oscilloscope considerations
>
>
>
> I know many people on this list frequently suggest buying a used
> oscilloscope from Ebay, Nuts & Volts, and a Ham flea-markets.
> The Ham flea
> market might not be a bad idea for me since Newington is less than two
> hours from here.  However, I'm considering buying a new scope for two
> reasons.  Firstly, I'm not familiar with all of the makes and models, and
> do not know which features each model has, or its fair market price.
> Secondly, I want to make sure that it is calibrated and working properly,
> as fixing an oscilloscope without an oscilloscope would seem impossible.
> So waiting for a dealer to blow out an older model might be my best bet.
>