Recommended Osciloscope

[Tubetec]

Ok jokes aside ,
but how do I track down the cause of instabillity , the results of it are clearly audible and visible on the screen but its harder to pinpoint the source .

Ive been after one of these for ages ,
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/hewlett_pa_bridging_transformer_11005a.html

 

[13engrsapper]

Ok jokes aside ,
but how do I track down the cause of instabillity , the results of it are clearly audible and visible on the screen but its harder to pinpoint the source .

Ive been after one of these for ages ,
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/hewlett_pa_bridging_transformer_11005a.html

Collins makes one too. I just gave an extra HP away. eBay has some, but the prices are often too high. I scored one at a Ham Radio Swap/Hamfest thing.

 

[ct.waveform]

Thx...I have an old tube textronix 561...x & y modules. It still works ,!!@!. I use it for audio signals and dc heater stuff...I have the matching 25x probe but have never used it. With this 25x probe can I look for hash on 300vdc ?. I don't want to fry my old scope because it to shows me audio Square wave anomolies.
I am waiting for the laughter that I am sure to get....
Thx for all your help on my questions...thx Ian

You could put a capacitor in series with it. The question is whether the spike as it charges is going to do damage. I'd wager that any decent brand 250V film capacitor will manage 300V DC, but if it doesn't you'll soon know about it (and you can test it beforehand as well, but do discharge it afterwards, even 10uF (a value I pick from personal experience) can give you a nasty jolt weeks later.) This is normally fine for a 40V supply and you can even listen to the rails on your laptop this way (though it might be worth knocking up a sacrificial single op amp buffer/volume control if you value your laptop's Mic Input. They're not expecting much voltage and I have managed to take a Realtek one out on a Dell PC.)

A solution to the charging spike could be to wire the capacitor series with one side of a CM choke (with the other side attached to supply Gnd). This will have the advantage that the connection is not made at the time you attach the probe and the capacitor will already be charged. You could even take your measurements off the other half of the CM choke and get full galvanic isolation. There will be some inductance but I can't see that mattering into 1Meg, though you could always measure the response of the network beforehand. This actually might be worthwhile as the leakage inductance might curtail your LF response rather than the obvious top end. I should say that I haven't tried this, but it seems to work in my head, though I may not have foreseen every pitfall.

Hang on! A simpler way for your scope measurement might be to wire your capacitor in series with a resistor of 10k-50k to Gnd, and then just measure the voltage across the resistor. That way you know your low frequency cutoff/shape and the capacitor is already charged before you put your probe on it. The capacitor might also have a route to discharge when you switch off, which would be nice, though you'll have to check that it does. If the supply doesn't have discharge resistors across its reservoir caps then I think I'm right in saying that it won't.

One danger I can foresee is one that's inherent in the measurement - making sure that connecting the ground clip of the probe doesn't short anything to Gnd. I don't know what amp this is but there could be something looking very much like a ground but which is actually at a mid-voltage bias.

 

[Gavin Pursinger]

Thx for the cap suggestion

I am in Beaverton OR and the Tekronix museum is 1 mile away from my house and old tek guys work there...since my rackmount 561 is from the time of those guys, they may actually help me discover some in deep info...my manual is for servicing not basic operation
AUDIO PRECISION is in my suburb also and they gave me their 'tests' book...I am not a trained tech...much to learn...thx

 

[Gavin Pursinger]

I took my Tektronix RM561 to the Tektronix Museum on Sat.
It was built in 1963!@@!
I had no documentation for it. They (Bob) gave me a clean set of manuals for my modules and showed me how to calibrate it. HE PRONOUNCED IT IN "GOOD WORKING ORDER"
Great old retired Tek guys there
1963...this series of scope was used for the Friendship 7 that John Glenn orbited the earth in.
I FIND THIS EXTRODINARY...I can boldly go where many have gone before !!!

 

[Somkereki]

I'm a Tektronix fan too! Already in the '70s. and for years. At that time, I already had 465 on my desk at work. I still have one at home in my own lab today, it's still flawless! Next to it is a TDS 210 and a TDS 224. Both with MM add-on module, because the FFT function is very important to me in recording studio and high-end audio technology. It has much better knowledge of this than many modern oscilloscopes. I also have a Lecroy WaweAce 204 scope, color, USB etc. but I prefer Tektonix. For harmonic analysis, I put it on the Neutrik A2-D output (in THD mode)

 

[Disco Volante]

I own a Tektronix 317, that must be about the same vintage as yours, tiny 4" screen, and lots of tubes. I rescued it from a city recycling station, they threatened to call the cops on me but there's no way I'm not rescueing a Tektronix.
As a teen, I had a huge old tube model, (541?) from the swedish broadcasting network. It heated my tinkerspace in the basement while giving off a nice atmosphere of old electronics and a significant roar from the 8" fan. I donated it to the Danish technical museum some years back after having lugged it around for 20 years...
Currently using a 465 (thanks to Gyraf;-) and very happy with it;-)

Happy tinkering

 

[Somkereki]

Tektronix scopes are truly beautiful, I've had them in my heart for over 45 years. Mine is very faithful, the only fault was the 4700uF electrolytic capacitor on the +5 Volt reel. I replaced it with a Philips product, since then it has been a "faithful companion" at work. However, when I first saw it from the inside, I was scared by the socket transistors, but there is nothing wrong with it, because it is gold plated. I wish you good luck and good health! (Unfortunately, I have been suffering from Lyme disease for 2 years, but antibiotics have not yet eradicated it. It is very unpleasant and painful because it attacked my nervous system.) Be careful with ticks! (As well as in Hungary, it is already spread by 2 invasive mosquito species!)

 

[Gavin Pursinger]

Hi Hungarian Tek fan

My sister, now in Kansas, had Lymes...she was messed up bad...Glad you like Tek stuff also...I just got the set of manuals for my x/y units

 

[ct.waveform]

I took my Tektronix RM561 to the Tektronix Museum on Sat.
It was built in 1963!@@!
I had no documentation for it. They (Bob) gave me a clean set of manuals for my modules and showed me how to calibrate it. HE PRONOUNCED IT IN "GOOD WORKING ORDER"
Great old retired Tek guys there
1963...this series of scope was used for the Friendship 7 that John Glenn orbited the earth in.
I FIND THIS EXTRODINARY...I can boldly go where many have gone before !!!

That's a fabulous story! Made me smile. Such a wealth of talent in that company. Of course some of them went off to build the Audio Precision System One, which changed the world. Not quite as impressive as orbiting the Earth, but I'm often thrilled that I'm designing my amps with the same bit of kit that Burr Brown used to design some of the most stunning DACs and op amps in the world. PCM1702 and OPA637/627 still have very classy specs.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

What is your budget? If you can afford it, try to get a siglent sds1104x-e and you won't regret it.

This one? Siglent Technologies SDS1104X-E 100Mhz Digital Oscilloscope 4 channels Standard Decoder, Grey https://a.co/d/02jxJky


It’s 500 for the basic option. Is that enough? Why is it called a decoder?

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

I found a rigol ds1054z used for 350!

Should I get it or splurge another 200 for the siglent that warpie recommended?

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

Or……for 150 for this thing

 

[warpie]

This one? Siglent Technologies SDS1104X-E 100Mhz Digital Oscilloscope 4 channels Standard Decoder, Grey https://a.co/d/02jxJky


It’s 500 for the basic option. Is that enough? Why is it called a decoder?

This one yes. It's a very nice little scope with low noise fron end which is good news for audio.

The decoder part is for digital stuff.

The 1054z is oudated IMO.

 

[ccaudle]

Why is it called a decoder?

You can connect the channels to I2C, SPI, CAN, LIN, or UART signals, tell the scope what kind of connection it is, and the scope software will decode the values going by on the bus.

 

[kingcredie]

Here are some important factors of an ideal oscilloscope.
1. Bandwidth
2. of Channels
3. Sampling Rate

Maybe this picture is useful for you.

 

[Bergante]

Nowadays I would vote for Siglent and, as a budget option I would recommend the X-E series.

It has three budget models.

SDS1202X-E: 2 channel, 200 MHz, no options needed, all functions included

SDS1104X-E: 4 Channel, 100 MHz, no options needed

SDS1204X-E: 4 channel, 200 MHz, no options needed

Why Siglent instead of Rigol? I own both a Rigol DS1000Z and a Siglent SDS1202X-E and I think the Siglent is more polished. Especially in the data acquisition department. While the Rigol does some confusing interpolation/smoothing visible even in dots mode, the Siglent is more "transparent".

Moreover, as a manufacturer, Siglent is learning "Western" ways quickly. They pay attention to bug reports and suggestions, they have made efforts
to improve the user interfaces, and they even have some beta testers around. (I am not one of them, I am not an endorser, I just own both and and I paid for them of course, and I think Siglent is currently more mature).

Some old die hards prefer analog oscilloscopes, but I have used the Siglent for some RF stuff (like adjusting the SSB envelope of a transmitter) and it really works wonderfully.

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

Nowadays I would vote for Siglent and, as a budget option I would recommend the X-E series.

It has three budget models.

SDS1202X-E: 2 channel, 200 MHz, no options needed, all functions included

SDS1104X-E: 4 Channel, 100 MHz, no options needed

SDS1204X-E: 4 channel, 200 MHz, no options needed

Why Siglent instead of Rigol? I own both a Rigol DS1000Z and a Siglent SDS1202X-E and I think the Siglent is more polished. Especially in the data acquisition department. While the Rigol does some confusing interpolation/smoothing visible even in dots mode, the Siglent is more "transparent".

Moreover, as a manufacturer, Siglent is learning "Western" ways quickly. They pay attention to bug reports and suggestions, they have made efforts
to improve the user interfaces, and they even have some beta testers around. (I am not one of them, I am not an endorser, I just own both and and I paid for them of course, and I think Siglent is currently more mature).

Some old die hards prefer analog oscilloscopes, but I have used the Siglent for some RF stuff (like adjusting the SSB envelope of a transmitter) and it really works wonderfully.

Then it is settled! Sig 1104X-E like Warpie suggested initially, I think she is the one for me.

 

[warpie]

Then it is settled! Sig 1104X-E like Warpie suggested initially, I think she is the one for me.

There are a few long threads over at eevblog so in case you have any questions, you will most likely find answers

That's one of these but there are some more and one of these is about hacking it to higher bandwidth (220MHz), wifi-support, decode option, etc.. I haven't done it as I don't need these options but it seems to be pretty straightforward. In fact, I believe Siglent deliberately makes hacking easy for their products

Also, don't forget to use the latest firmware update if it's not already installed.

Finally, if I were you I wouldn't buy from some random guy in amazon but rather from a reputable siglent dealer. But I don't buy anything from amazon anyway so...

 

[AUDIO FREQ]

There are a few long threads over at eevblog so in case you have any questions, you will most likely find answers

That's one of these but there are some more and one of these is about hacking it to higher bandwidth (220MHz), wifi-support, decode option, etc.. I haven't done it as I don't need these options but it seems to be pretty straightforward. In fact, I believe Siglent deliberately makes hacking easy for their products

Also, don't forget to use the latest firmware update if it's not already installed.

Finally, if I were you I wouldn't buy from some random guy in amazon but rather from a reputable siglent dealer. But I don't buy anything from amazon anyway so...

What is wrong with Amazon? I dig the prime shipping