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Help me choose an oscilloscope

Hi all

I'm about to buy an oscilloscope (right now, I want chance to use it to test some stuff before I go back to work in 12 days)

My funds are rather limited, and any not spent on the scope will likely go to other electronics test gear, of which I don't have much (I've just got a Fluke multimeter, logic probe and pair of hands).

Please give any advice you can re. reliability, facilities and ease of use (in that order) of the following choices:

1) Hitachi. V-1070. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Four Channel Portable Scope with Read Out & Delay. Price £225.00

2) Kikusui. COS-6100A. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Five Channel Portable Scope with Delay. Price £187.50

3) Philips. PM 3240X. 50MHz. Dual Trace Portable Scope with Delay & TV Triggering. Price £85.00

4) Philips. PM 3262. 100MHz. Dual Channel Portable Scope with Delay. Price £125.00

5) Tek. 465. 100MHz. Dual Trace Portable Scope with Delay. C/w: Opt?s: 04 & 07. Price £150.00

These include only a "return within 24 hours of purchase if faulty" warranty.

I mainly do / want to do digital, PIC, 8051, audio, PC interfacing (especially ADC/DAC) and digital audio, although I can't rule out some lower RF (I can't afford more bandwidth though).

The Hitachi would be stretching the budget (a lot) but if it is worth the extra compared to the others, it's possible.

Please help, Rick.

Reply to
Rick
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I would personally not buy a scope sight unseen with only a 24 hour warranty. Are you aware of the difficulty in obtaining parts for some of these older scopes? As in, you better buy TWO of them in case you ever need a part!

I have been burned severely. You have to first make sure the trace is nice and sharp. If it isn't, then it is possible the CRT is gassy, and this can cost a whole lot more than the scope is worth to fix. In other words, it's a showstopper. Many 465's are in this category.

Keep looking. Be very reluctant to part with your money until you are dead certain you are getting into something good or that you can get back out of easily. And plan to do a lot of testing as soon as you get the scope. Check both the probe and 50 ohm inputs on each input, and try every range possible. If you can, get a scope with a manual and go through the manual and try to check as many functions as you can.

Good luck!

Rick wrote:

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Apparently the Kikusui can display up to 12 traces. I've found one at eBay:

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I've decided I'll have to wait, and I'm selling my Sun U5 so I can afford a better (new?) 'scope!

Thanks for the replies, Rick

Reply to
Rick

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