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Which oscilloscope?

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Steve Conner

Sat Jul 14 2012, 08:09AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

I've always gone for the #1 type and been prepared to fix it myself if necessary.

On the plus side: Service manuals and schematics for the old Tek gear can be downloaded from the Boat Anchor Manuals Archive, and there are no tiny surface-mount ICs to defeat you.

On the minus side: Tek used custom ICs since the 1970s, and if any of these are dud, you could be in trouble. (Buy another #1

)

Last and most important, to know if your #1 is performing, you have to have experience of what a properly performing scope is like. Many old #1s will have trouble with the vertical amplifiers, giving a poor square wave response that may vary with the volts per division setting. This should get checked and put right as part of the calibration procedure, using special test gear. I have done it myself using the scope's own calibrator output, but I don't recommend it to a beginner.

So that is one reason to buy a #2 for your first scope, however beggars can't be choosers. My first one was a cast-off from the high school physics lab.

PhilGood

Sat Jul 14 2012, 05:36PM

Registered Member #3806 Joined: Sat Apr 02 2011, 09:20PM
Location: France
Posts: 259

Thanks Ash and Steve for your advices :)
I understand that both #1 and #2 have their own pros and cons... something of a dilemna, lol

_______________________

Tektronix 7633 mainframe - 100MHz fast storage oscilloscope
2x 7A18 75MHz dual-channel vertical amplifiers
7B53A 100MHz dual time base

Very good cosmetic condition
Said to be fully tested and in good working condition.

200 â‚¬uros - sounds like a good deal, right ?

1kHz 4V calibration signal :

Paul_J.

Sun Jul 15 2012, 03:15AM

Registered Member #5436 Joined: Sun Jun 24 2012, 01:44AM
Location:
Posts: 39

I personally use a HP 1740a, a 1979 100MHz 2 Chan analog. Always been very reliable, however the pots and push buttons have always been a bit noisy

Steve Conner

Sun Jul 15 2012, 07:21AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Nice

For years I used a 7603 with the same plugins.

PhilGood

Thu Jul 19 2012, 01:36AM

Registered Member #3806 Joined: Sat Apr 02 2011, 09:20PM
Location: France
Posts: 259

Hey all,

Well, its now 10 days I'm looking for a scope.
I want to thank you all for your advices, I changed my mind many times, ending up to:

I understood a 25 years old scope might not be as reliable as expected even if it seems in very good condition. And as I'm not sure I would be able to repair/calibrate such a scope, I thought I'd better buy a fully refurbished and calibrated one.

I then found a great one (Tek.2465B) sold by Alex, a guy who has more than 20 years experience in refurbishing/repairing/calibrating Tek 2xxx series scope, and especially the 2465B/2467B.

Of course, the budget is well above the $300 initially planned (this is a $1700 purchase, including buil-in options, front cover, top pouch, two new probes and Fedex shipping), but the Tek.2465B is said to be one of the best analog scope ever made ! (and it is the last repairable scope Tek made)

I had a very good communication with Alexandre, he always quickly gave me clear and detailed answers to my 10's of questions. And as he offers a 14 days right of return with full refund including shipping, plus a 90 days guaranty on the scopes he sells, it really put me at ease.

So on monday evening, I thought "Ok, let's go for it !". Alex shipped the scope through Fedex a few hours later, and I got it yesterday morning, less than 48 hours after I ordered it !

I am so happy I could get this great piece of equipment

I spent hours learning the different functionnalities, measuring various signals and reading the manuals. I really love the Auto Mode and Measure mode.

I though I should really let you know about Alex's offers and services, some of you might be interested like me in either buying a fully refurbished and calibrated good old analog scope, or having their own unusable scope calibrated or repaired.

Here is Alex's shop on Ebay, you will find his phone number and email address in his listings, I hope it will serve others as it did for me.

Alex Shop : 2465b

The Tek.2465B is a 4 channels 400MHz analog scope with dual time base and on-screen readout for frequency, delta time, voltages, trigger levels and auxiliary information. It also has cursors for Î”t and Î”V. It can save and recall your favorite settings... and many more cool features.

More infos about the Tek 2465B/2467B:

I will let you know how the 2465B performs.

Again, thanks all for your opinions, explanations and advices throughout this topic, I really appreciate it

Steve Conner

Thu Jul 19 2012, 06:39AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Nice!

I've got a 2465 in the lab at work, and it is supposed to be the best analog scope ever made. Have fun with it...

Mattski

Thu Jul 19 2012, 02:58PM

Registered Member #1792 Joined: Fri Oct 31 2008, 08:12PM
Location: University of California
Posts: 527

Gorgeous scope!

Can it export traces over its GPIB port? If so scrounging up a GPIB card would be handy, I prefer USB GPIB boards as they are the most flexible. A new one from National costs $565 (!), but you can probably search around for used.

PhilGood

Fri Jul 20 2012, 03:31AM

Registered Member #3806 Joined: Sat Apr 02 2011, 09:20PM
Location: France
Posts: 259

The scope cannot export traces over the GPIB interface because the signal is not sampled.

Alex wrote ...
GPIB is a digital interface and the only digital info in an analog scope is knob settings. If you have options like frequency counter or digital multimeter, then you have some more digital info that can transfer between scope and a host computer. The host computer needs to not only have a GPIB connector, but also speak/listen GPIB syntax which requires some software. These standards (30 years old) predate the plug & play capabilities you have gotten used to in computers since the intro of USB ports in the last 15 years.

EDIT: As the scope is able to store measurements values, it is probly able to send them over GPIB

HV Enthusiast

Fri Jul 20 2012, 04:17AM

Registered Member #15 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068

I love that vintage of scopes. We have two of those and also two 2430A digital storage tek scopes which i love.

I also purchased two new 500MHz 4-channel DSO scopes from Tektronix for our new lab which cost a pretty penny, but despite all the features ithe menu driven system does get to be a hassle sometimes. Which is why i really like those older scopes with all the mechanical knobs. Adjustments can be made really fast!

PhilGood

Fri Jul 20 2012, 08:13AM

Registered Member #3806 Joined: Sat Apr 02 2011, 09:20PM
Location: France
Posts: 259

Fewer buttons, more manipulations

It's only two days I have the 2465B (and I barely slept, lol), but I love it too, you really have everything you need at hand, and its use quickly becomes instinctive...

Btw, I still gotta finish my microBrute. I have soldered almost everything on the PCB, I built a winding machine, but had no time yet to wind the secondary, I was kept busy with many other things...
I have seen the video on your website showing the Arduino polyphonic Midi modulator one of you customer made for the microBrute, really nice ^^ Is there any way to get in touch with Josh Baily ?

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