EEVblog #86 - Buy a real Analog Oscilloscope PLEASE!

[Schmiki24]

You're driving on the wrong side Dave! hahaha ^^

[SigEpBlue]

What's funny is that the lab equipment at my old community college was mostly vacuum-tube powered surplus equipment, but it still worked better than the USB scopes offered on the web for ~$100 today. The function gens, oscilloscopes, etc. were made in the USA, freakin' HUGE, and weighed a lot, but man, they always WORKED! I'm willing to bet they're STILL working today (I've been out of CC for about 8 or 9 years).

Regardless, I'm still super-dooper jealous of Dave's Agilent 4-channel 'scope.

[audiogamer]

i took your advice and found a tektronix 465m, thank you... now time to learn how to use this bad boy :)

[YouFailEpic]

hahaha...love this guy. props mate.

[ndyt]

Analog scopes are big, take up too much space. If you are doing digital stuff like Arduino then you would be better off with a digital scope, even a USB one. I have both and I hardly use the analog scope because it just takes up too much space. It is about the size of a PC! XD

[JingleJoe]

must ... watch ... back to the future!

[FACP07]

I just picked up a Eico 460 Analogue Oscilloscope, one from the 60's that runs on tubes and its the best darn thing Ive ever used. WAY better than all this new digital crap.

[thewii552]

While the DSO nano is OK for taking over to my friend who doesn't have a scope when we need it, nothing beats good old CRO. NOTHING!

[aristotleschild]

@EEVblog What about calibrating an analog oscilloscope? I'm leery of purchasing one because I want to know it'll measure accurately.

[yeoldeengineer]

This man speaks the truth. An analog scope is not only great for learning, it's not going to have aliasing or display viewing angle issues either.

I've got an old, old mid-'70s vertical Hameg (a general-purpose scope even then, 2x 20 MHz, chopper, single timebase), with an HP RF probe that's not that much younger. For poiking around in CD players and stuff like that, it's perfectly fine. If you have to calculate the frequency in your head, you're not going to be fooled by artifacts so easily!

[ZouloumOSX]

LOL analog oscilloscopes...

[wwenze]

A video camera in a car to record down your thoughts when traveling... I gotta do that sometime

If I can afford a car in my country in the first place.

[TheManicNick]

Hands down, the two CROs I bid on ebay, were the best bids I've ever won. I was glad to screen ebay for 14 hours a day for weeks. About 1 or 2 years ago I was able to get a Tektronix 465B for 60$ with 20$ shipping. Also bid and won in the same week 10$ with 10$ shipping on a Leader LBO-310A. Now I haven't used them too much, but man they were needed badly.

I'm still a rookie in electronics but I definitely speak from experience that CROs teach you how to read waveforms. I'm definitely pro-CRO

[Oldbmwr100rs]

@TheManicNick That Tech 465 is a great scope,and You got it for a steal. I used one for over a year on my first job,fixing Atari 2600 motherboards at a factory in sunnyvale!

Congrats on that scope,they have the best triggering circuit of any other brand I've used.

[joblessalex]

you drive on the wrong side of the road and car

[superdau]

An oscilloscope really is the next thing you should buy after a multimeter and a regulated power supply. I can't even describe how much I learned with an old 10MHz 1-channel CRO (it even had vacuum tubes in it; and I'm not talking about the CRT here). Shipping was more expensive than the CRO itself. I've since stepped up to an 60MHz 2ch Tektronix analog with 2 timebases. Don't really need more than that for most of my hobby.

[EEVblog]

@superdau Yep, a basic 2CH analog scope is plenty enough for a lot of work.

[ms3bani]

can anyone recommend a good tektronix scope that fits in your pocket?

[6345virul]

Thanks, this rant was damm helpful.

[Films4You]

Looks nice and sunny, in the UK we are covered in snow

[williefleete]

also you can learn how to read the divisions and calculate the frequency manually on an analogue scope just as good as the digital one, once you've calibrated it too.

[stewartx5]

I've bought two used oscilloscopes on eBay, the latter $250, and both failed to work reliably. Indeed, at this point, I'm convinced used oscilloscopes have become a cottage industry filled with scam artists selling utter junk.

Anyway, the DSO Nano does perform far better than the used oscilloscopes I've purchased. It's certainly not cuttting edge with all the features, but it works just fine for hobby projects and light-duty applications, which is exactly what it was designed for.

[uN1Qu3DZ]

@stewartx5 there are plenty of ebay scammers in every domain not only measuring equipment. maybe you just got unlucky.

i got a 200mhz russian scope for $120. locally not ebay. i also received full schematics for it. the seller opened it up showing me that only the power cable and fan were changed. oh and the nice blue paintjob. it's built like a tank but it's also about as heavy as one.

i do feel the lack of a second channel sometimes but it still helps me get stuff done.

[Bushougoma]

I got a nice Tektronix 475 200 Mhz scope the things built like a tank. Shipped for 175.

There's no way I'd find a digital with even half it's bandwidth for that price analogs really are bargains.

[mashersmasher]

i got through my whole college course doing labs on my old 40mhz sony tektronics scope

[fabioruedat]

bull shit video... in fact... this is my first and last EEVblog whatching... got get a real job at all.

[Zed1967]

I just bought an old Philips PM3217 50 MHz Dual Trace Oscilloscope as part of my plan to get back into electronics as a hobby again. I haven't used one since my days in the navy back in the 1980s and we had these very CROs on my first ship so it should also be a trip down memory lane. Thanks for the advice Dave.

[ubuntututorials]

I got myself I nice second hand DSO, a HP 54501A. It's from 1988. It's 100 MHz, 10 M/S realtime sampling (10 G/S equivalent time sampling). It cost me £150. Great buy. I love the triggering features on it -- really well thought out!

[gmcjetpilot]

So Dave what kind of oscilloscope should I get, what do you think of those PC based DSO scopes or Nano...... Ha ha.

Great video. I have a Tektronix analog 100 Mhz dual channel. You are spot on with you comments as usual. Analog has lots of advantage for RF work. They have so many features I won't go into, but I will say my Analog can do things a DSO can't do.

[gmcjetpilot]

Dave you daffy nerd my friend you are driving from the passenger seat again, for gosh sakes get over to the driver seat...... ha ha

No to 20 Mhz.... Yes Dave you are right, but you can find used analog 50 Mhz scopes as easy as 20 Mhz, which will probably be older. 100 Mhz is better but you can get by with 50 Mhz.. 20 Mhz is kind of low and you will out grow it faster. For $100-$200 you can get a real nice scope as you say on ePay.

[DagGirl]

We use 15MHz CRO's at TAFE, can't remember the brand though, but they're pretty old and most of them work well. I think we're lucky we have been taught the old school way :)

One of my classmates I think found two of them (well, I know he has two) thrown out somewhere around the inner west.

[cybrown]

I pulled an old CRT 40Mhz analog scope out of the dumpster when my school was dumping them. I was a freshmen then and I think it was one of my prized possessions and still is.

[enliteneer]

Almost forgot.. one exception to this, is a usb logic analyzer. I've got a logicport from Intronix that I absolutely love! I can't tell you how many times its come in handy. Capturing multiple signals (either pcb test points or from fpga signals you've routed to a header) it shows you exactly what's going on.

With 34 channels, 500Mhz, and complex triggering you can pretty much debug and get to the bottom of any *digital* bug. Of course it'll also interpret SPI, I2C, CAN, etc..

[enliteneer]

I agree.. a while back I was thinking of getting a Bitscope, but instead I bought a $500 usb Dynon elab. It was total JUNK. Not only did it have an extremely clunky software interface, it stopped working after a few months (of *VERY* little use). Of course, by that time Dynon was out of the warranty woods.

[sneakerset]

Mine is an oldie(Tek 465B)but a goodie. Calibration services are readily available. Along with a wonderful feel,the scope's just got that "style"....I'll give it to the kids when they pry it from my cold,dead hands.

[mykmmc]

nice to hear say tektronix got one a 2205

[Twistx77]

Nice ending! haha

[0LoneTech]

I did start out with a used 20MHz dual channel, but later bought a used 4-channel 60MHz with frequency counter and multimeter for about $7. I'd say that was a good deal, even though I had to get probes separately.

[mafiouso]

if any one wants a Rigol DS1052E Digital Storage Oscilloscope 2Ch let me know i can arrange you a discount.

[killerman4ever]

I'm also going to get a analog oscilloscope for free :D.

[LinuxGalore]

Nice video, Ive been working in electronics now for 28 years (communications) and my personal lab cro is a 200mhz Hameg with a CRT and a colour screen with 4 channels mad in 1998. In its day it was over $11k but I grabbed it at an auction for under $200 and it works fine. I agree the cheap digital stuff you see running around these days are total rubbish and although they look like they have lots of bling bling features as an engineer they fall short of the mark big time.

[Nermash]

Hi Dave, did Dhaba Indian restaurant paid for brand placement in this video:))))

[EEVblog]

@Nermash

I sold out for a dodgy Indian curry!

[killerbee230]

@Nermash Haha yeah i was thinking the same thing :) hmmm seems suspect!

[gbowne1]

there we go with the piece of shit thing. LoL. But this is pretty good advice.I prefer 100MHz analog dual channel.

I use HP and Tek.

[seaphd]

look out, you're on the wrong side of the road!

[dc100GHz]

lol... cool ending

[elgus]

@dc100GHz back to the future baby!!

[Foxicola]

I love using analogues. Although I don't really own one, my university lends them to use.

another great episode. :)

[gzaloprgm]

"They are pieces of shit!" LOL. Another cool episode of EEVBlog :D