Oscilloscopes

about

The book is quite fun, but you need some time to get used to the style ;-) As for the 475 - it's quite cool, but check if you really need the bandwidth. I'm putting mine up for auction soon (germany). They go for about EUR300. I opted for a lower bandwidth digital memory scope (20MHz) as my microcontrollers don't do much more then 10MHz anyway - and I'm really far more interested in actually seeing a static image. Needless to say the 20MHz el-cheapo was more expensive than the good old

475.

Regards, Ole.

I suppose you're right. I probably don't need the bandwidth. I guess it's time to look for some 20-50 MHz scopes. BTW, are there any other books you'd recommend to learn from? (Perhaps something more up-to-date?)

about

Hey, the subject is not really new either ;-) So go with what works. If you have time to spare just hop into the next bookstore and take a good long look at some books there. I don't get to read many english books on the topic (living in germany and all), but I do own a couple of them. Don't forget that the "Art of electronics" is a lecture script, and the author tends to shuffle some jokes between driving home points. That's ok, but sometimes irritating. I don't know what you have in mind, and I don't know your current level of expertise, but for me it has always worked to just get a handful of components and fry them. By the end of the day you're either missing an eye, leg or both but you'll certainly know WHY :-)

Wish you luck,

Ole.

"Steven Frankel" wrote in news:FLCTa.100825$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

Both are good choices,also 2213/2215(60Mhz)'A', versions,2235/2236(100Mhz).

465 is 100Mhz,475 is 200/250 Mhz depending on option.

--
Jim Yanik,NRA member
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Yes, they can also show spikes that aren't there due to improper probing technique... It's a double edge sword.

"Steven Frankel" wrote in news:zlRTa.114639$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

465/475 are better scopes,but of an older generation,replaced by the 2445/65 series.(or the horrible 2335 series)

The 2213/15 series were intended as low-cost,hi-volume production scopes. Simpler trigger circuits,they don't have the LF/HF reject filters,no BW limit switch for the vertical,but still good scopes. I have a 2213.

--
Jim Yanik,NRA member
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it's

up

measurements

if anything, cable reflections are smaller in higher frequency probes. High frequency probes have better shielding and grounding than cheap low frequency probes. Capacitive loading (due to probe input capacitance) of the circuit you're testing is significant sometimes. Try to probe a 32kHz clock with anything else short of a 500MHz FET probe and you'll simply stop the oscillation with your probing . Testing is a very time consuming and labor intensive part of circuit design and garbage in is garbage out, so don't skimp on test equipment. Better buy a smaller chair or save money anywhere else first. Get the best scope you can afford even if it seems overkill for now.

Best Regards, Matt Tudor , MSEE

choice

if you're ever going to study digital not only analogue circuits, which you probably will if you're studying electrical engineering, there are some other less obvious choices for the same money. HP (now Agilent) made some oscilloscope + logic analyzer combinations . I have a HP1631D , which is a 2 channel DSO , with 50MHz single shot bandwidth , 200MSPS and 43 logic analyzer channels . You can get them with logic probes from Ebay for around or even significantly under your $400 budget .The scopes that were indicated in previous posts were more of production/portable troubleshooting for field technicians , with limited triggering .

Matt Tudor , MSEE