12 Apr
2005
12 Apr
'05
4:33 p.m.
On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:27:11 -0400
Paul Koning <pkoning at equallogic.com> wrote:
The Tek 7000 series scopes are really, really, undervalued these days
for what they represent. I got a fast 79xx mainframe at auction last
year for $5 because it had weird plugins (the Logic Analyzer plugins,
without the pods- useless) in it and didn't look much like a 'scope' to
a lot of the other people at the auction. So I sold the 'weird plugins'
for a slight profit on eBay and kept the mainframe. At the same sale, I
got a whole stack of 7000 plugins, including some fast dual traces, and
the Differential Comparator plugin (a truly GREAT piece of gear) for $5
apiece, and sold enough of the ones I didn't want that the parts I ended
up keeping cost me about negative $40 or so.
Students these days don't learn squat about using analog scopes, and
there is a LOT you can do with one if you know how. Delayed sweep,
external trigger, etc. are there for a reason, and worth getting
acquainted with. With delayed sweep and the Differential Comparator
plugin (introduces a DC offset so you can look at the 'important' part
of the waveform at high gain) you can zoom in on tiny windows of
repetetive waveforms as well as (better than, actually) any digital
scope.
>>>> "William" == William Donzelli <aw288 at osfn.org> writes:
> If you want a rack mount unit, look out for
Memcor scopes - these
> seem to be a re-badged Tek 647, supplied under a military contract
> for navigational beacons, and can be got for very little, as
> no-one realises what they are (I got mine for ?30 including
> shipping in the UK, and it is a 100MHz unit dual trace unit).
William> Watch out! The military scopes that look like Teks but are
William> not are really bad clones (Lavoies are the worst). They were
William> made under license and just are not up to Tek
William> standards. When they were in service they were the curse of
William> the ET and Tech Rep crowd.
William> Also watch out for Tek scopes that were made for the
William> military. Look closely on many, and you will discover a few
William> features were left out of the military models (generally
William> AN/USM-somethings), but look nearly identical. Some shady
William> dealers do not point these differences out.
That's what I have. It's a barebones 7603. For example, Tek offered
a "readout" option, i.e., display the sweep and vertical sensitivity
settings on the screen. That was probably pretty common, but the unit
I have didn't come with that.
No harm done, I've never had it before, and since it was an option I
wouldn't call it cheating if someone sells a unit without the option.
paul