I have been using a USB scope but realise just how little I know about scopes and feel the need to back track and get some basic general info before committing to a costly purchase of a bench type scope. I hope someone can find a few minutes to guide me here, please?
I have been using a Dataman USB scope
I now find carrying a laptop around and the Dataman scope, making sure the battery in the laptop doesn't go flat, being worried something's going to get knocked on the floor, blah blah, is a PITA and would also like a bench oscilloscope. Ideally I was asking about those with battery power options, but I think these will be out of my price range and I will have to continue to use a USB scope and the laptop when on the road, or inside a moving vehicle.
I now find myself realizing just how poor my grasp of scopes in general is. I need advice on whether I should be looking at analogue or digital bench scopes, what bandwidth I need to look for, and how many channels I really need. I certainly need two, but I have a Thurlby Thandar 20 MHz multiplexer
Another thing I need advice on is depth of memory. I know Pico go on about how important this is for storing enough data to find an intermittent glitch. It's not something I have used with my Dataman USB scope, but I can see how it would be useful for finding more obtuse issues.
Size and age of machine isn't a real issue now I have decided to consider a bench based instrument. My budget is £600 UK max (about 950 US), so will probably be looking at used stuff. I quite like vintage stuff, so am not necessarily looking for anything on the basis of it "looking modern". I would not want something totally irreparable though, unless it was dirt cheap. Can anyone give me some pointers please, particularly re analogue V digital and on screen voltage level displays?
Thanks for reading.