Is it foolish to spend big $ for oscilloscope if all I have is a few DIY builds?

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canidoit

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All I am thinking of using it for is callibrating my EQN, NV73, La2a, 1176 and I do not have the skills anyway to go beyond basic calibration nor do I know what basic calibration is using an oscilloscope either ?

Would spending $200-$300 AUD on an oscilloscope a complete waste of money?

I would probably pack it up after Ive done my callibration and do not really know what else it can be useful for?
 
Would spending $200-$300 AUD on an oscilloscope a complete waste of money?

No IMHO
I would probably pack it up after Ive done my callibration and do not really know what else it can be useful for?

Poor Oscillo  :), i'm sure that you'll find the need for some other stuff, don't put it back in the box....
 
I would consider myself lucky that I got my Tektronix scope (for free and broken), but now that I have it (working, though in need of a bit of calibration), I can't see how I lived without it. The next few hundred bucks I come into is earmarked for a calibrated scope. That being said, I think only you can decide if it's worth it to spend the money. Have you ever used one or watched someone who has? Are you interested in going deep into your gear to details that don't relate as much to music as they do to electronics? Are you looking for piece of mind from knowing your stuff "works like it should"? Do you think it will give you piece of mind? Are you sure? You will probably end up with more questions than you receive answers. Does that interest you? What is your financial situation?

I haven't been specific as I could be, but you haven't either. If you think you are interested in learning more, AND CAN AFFORD IT, buy one. Buy a cheap (Cheap!) one if you aren't POSITIVE about that. The fact that you are posing this question here tells me that you are not. See what you can do with a cheap one, and go from there. I guess that's my advice.  Sorry, I've gone on too long. I hope that helps...
 
Would spending $200-$300 AUD on an oscilloscope a complete waste of money?

No! A scope is a superb investment. Useful for signal tracing, distortion analysis, frequency response, the list goes on ... Learn to use it, then you will wonder what you ever did without it.

Unless you think you will never do any more tech or DIY, of course.

 
Ive got away with no scope for years done tons DIY prob not calibrated right but sounds great to my humble ears........

But how about DIY for DIY

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/digital-storage-oscilloscope-diy-kit-with-panels-p-515.html?cPath=174

I think I was told these & other ready made scopes on this site are ok for us setting up our DIY stuff....

Theres a couple of threads here somewhere discussing these & other small & cheaper scopes

good luck
 
you could try a softwer one to see how it grows on you....if you dont need to watch the output of big amps - you could even stay with it and save the space...
 
An oscilloscope is a very poor choice when it comes to calibrating. The accuracy is limited, due to a number of errors and tolerances.
Very useful to evaluate transient response (square waves), detecting oscillations and some types of noise.
For calibrating purpose, you need a good audio voltmeter. One can be had for a few tenners; you can even find a good second (triple?)-hand audio analyser, with noise filters and THD measurement for a few hundred bucks.
If you need to troubleshoot, an o'scope is best. If you want to assess performance, you want an analyser (and a generator, of course).
Me, I always have the full spiel, with one channel of the o'scope monitoring the output of the analyser, AND a little amp and speaker.
 
I'm curious if anyone here is using software options for either oscilloscope or analyzer, and how it is working out for them...

Was looking at Fuzzmeasure Pro
http://supermegaultragroovy.com/products/FuzzMeasure/

But I'm not sure if it would be useful for gear analysis, or just for room acoustics... will email the company.
 
Oscope is great. Dual trace is necessity so you can look at the signal pre/post to see what that stage is doing. I picked up a single trace off ebay several years ago for $50 and upgraded to dual via craigslist a couple years ago for $50. Simple analog 20mhz scope.

I saw some guys use them a number of years ago to trace and compare signals through various pieces of gear and realized that this is tool is a requirement. At a minimum, you can just use it to poke and learn what's happening inside the gear at different points.

Main thing is that it takes up space on my bench and is not particularly compact. As a matter of fact, I have it at work now because space in our new house is so limited and my work-shop has mostly moved to the "office".

Starting to think about a smaller digital scope that fits cramped workspaces better or can even be mounted on a wall.

Best,
j
 
timmygrimm said:
I'm curious if anyone here is using software options for either oscilloscope or analyzer, and how it is working out for them...

Was looking at Fuzzmeasure Pro
http://supermegaultragroovy.com/products/FuzzMeasure/

But I'm not sure if it would be useful for gear analysis, or just for room acoustics... will email the company.
The ever nagging problem with these is finding a front-end that is right for the job; I mean something that withstands at least +/-20V (10x if you're doing tubes), has at least 1Meg input Z, DC capability, BNC connectors so you can use probes, calibrated inputs, outputs that can deliver +20dBu,...
Ther's a few manufacturers who do that. Until now, I haven't seen any that I would like to own.
 

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