Scope question

--- Dunno, but HP invented the etched graticule deposited on the inside of the CRT. Gets rid of parallax in a really slick way.

-- John Fields Professional Circuit Designer

Hi All,

I'm getting ready to buy an oscilloscope for my own use. I had decided to buy an older refurbished HP 54600A DSO. Mainly because it's what I use at work and I'm comfortable with it and like the automatic measurements. But after pricing them ($800 and up), I feel like I'd probably be better off going with one of the new low-end Tek scopes like the TDS 1000 or TDS 2000 series. I'm not building spaceships and just need a good general purpose DSO for everyday signal and measurement use. I don't want to take my chances on Ebay.

My question is, how do the newer Tek scopes compare to this old HP I've been getting ready to buy? Max budget is about $1500 which puts the TDS 2012 in reach. And secondly, please recommend any good places to buy online, good service and support etc. Thanks for any comments.

-Dave

2000

DSO

on

been

in

Yep. I concur.

I've used, and own, a bunch of scopes. I just bought a TDS2024. It's a fabulous piece of equipment for its cost.

Get the 2012. You won't regret it.

Bob

I have one of its older siblings, a TDS 220, and find it to be a great "home" scope.

Isn't there a thumb-rule that goes: Buy Tek scopes and HP analyzers?

--
Rich Webb   Norfolk, VA

Thanks all for the comments. It seems that duty cycle is not one of the automatic measurements. Not a huge deal considering this would be easy to get with everything else it does but it would be nice if it was auto. Did I miss something?

Dave

to

at

But

off

purpose

chances

good

decided to

use at

But

off

2000

purpose DSO

chances on

I've been

2012 in

good

I have an old scope I'll give away for the cost of shipping if you are interested. It's a single trace "Lab-volt AA792D" 15MHz I bought at a swap meet for $10. Worked well for a couple years, but now has an attenuator problem. I tried tuner cleaner and WD-40 with no success. Probably need to bend the switch contacts to fix it. But getting inside is a problem and requires disconnecting

20 or so connections from a circuit board that covers the attenuator box.

Looks like a lot of effort, and it may never work again when I get done, so I'll just send it off to a good home if I can find one. Or, I could just put it in the trash can.

Contact me at this address if interested:

snipped-for-privacy@compuserve.com

-Bill

Sorry, but if you got WD-40 in the contacts, it's all over. It's landfill, or maybe you could part it out.

WD-40 is for door hinges and car front end squeaks. It's about the worst possible crap you can inflict on electronics. (other than, say, battery acid, of course.) When it dries, it turns to Cosmolene.

The WD-40 can be cleaned out with acetone or MEK, but they're awfully hard on plastic parts, so that would just break something else. I don't know if it's possible to get TCE (trichlorethylene) or TCA (trichlorethane) - they're pretty benign solvents that will clean up WD-40. Maybe even isopropyl alcohol - but use 75% or better so that it dries properly.

Sorry. Rich

are

a

Well, I think I used WD-40 on another scope attenuator last year and it's still working well. I'm running a WD-40 experiment now on a old intermittent 2500 ohm circuit board pot. I soaked the pot with WD-40 which eliminated the bad spots and the resistance changes very smoothly now. The mechanical movement is also much easier. I'll check the condition in 10 days and report the results.

-Bill