6 Jan
2006
6 Jan
'06
11:14 a.m.
I rather like my Tektronix TDS-220 Oscilloscope, small
and very easy
to use. I also had a Tek 465B, but gave it away as it wasn't working
right, and I needed the space. Of the two, the TDS-220 was
definitely nicer. IIRC, it was also Tek's recommended replacement
for a 465B. I purchased the 465B used and cheap, I got what I paid
for, a scope that didn't work right :^( As a result, I purchased the
TDS-220 new, of course it helped that at the time I could afford it.
In any case, I always recommend Tek scopes :^)
I second the motion - I have the TDS-210 (60Mhz version, otherwise
the same) and I love it. It's not "super high-end/fancy", but it has all
the basics as well as some decent measurement modes/displays and
other features. Samples up to 1GS which gives decent resolution even
of fairly quick signals.
Btw, if you are not familier with these, they are relatively small LCD scopes,
I found an aluminum "briefcase" style toobox at walmart for $15 which is
exactly the right size to store the scope (with sufficent padding all around)
as well as multimeter, tools and other goodies - Couldn't have had a custom
made case any better - I take this "everywhere".
A couple of other scopes which are often on my bench.
- Gould OS-4000
An early DSO, seems quite common around here, and can be had for
next to nothing (I got mine for free, but I did have to fix it).
Only 10Mhz so not good for high speed stuff, but its simple and easy to
use, and has a really nice "roll" mode which makes it easy to put the
trigger point at 1/4. 1/2 or 3/4 points on the screen, and it is a "real"
digital storage scope so you can zoom in on the trace after it's captured
- this was my #1 scope before the TDS.
- Tektronix 7623A
Big honkin 4-channel 100Mhz analog storage scope. Think I paid 300
for it many years ago, but I would expect them to be just about free now
as well. Great analog scope, nice crisp traces, and when I really need 3
or 4 channels, it's worth it weight ... Also have some differential amplifiers
and other gadgets which plug into it (It's a mainframe scope). But it hasn't
seen near as much use since the I got the TDS either.
- I got a couple other garden variety 20Mhz dual-trace scopes as well, but they
rarely see the light of day these days.
For a logic analyzer, I have a Tektronix 1240 - older 50Mhz machine. Mine has
54 channels installed, but I only have pods for 36 channels (anyone got spare
1240 pods?). Decent machine, works well, I've got a boxfull of accessories for
it, RAM packs, ROM packs which let it understand various instruction sets etc.
When I need it it's really handy, but I don't use it near as much as the scopes.
If you have a limited budget, I would recommend putting the emphasis on a
good scope - most used diagnostic tool on my bench.
Regards,
Dave
--
dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Collector of vintage computing equipment:
http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html