found an oscilloscope - damaged (?)

[electromateria]

was outside overnight in high humidity / mist and I assume it was already probably damaged, what should i do with it?

it turns on but doesn't have the line running across it. I don't know much about oscilloscopes but it seems once they're turned on the reading line runes across the center. in this case there's no line just a blank screen. the line does show up for a split second when i turn it off and on.

bk precision, model: 1472c

should i try to fix it? sell it? take all the parts out and repurpose them?

[strawberry]

try firmware update or reset to factory settings
sometimes some bits escape over time

[inse]

This model is an analog dual channel 15MHz scope, no firmware included.

[bdunham7]

Post a good photo of the front of it, plugged in and turned on.  We'll tell you how to set the controls and you can see if it works or not. 

[Brumby]

I have had a scope where no trace was visible.  Turned out that every single adjustment that could affect the trace was about as far out of place as it was possible.

My process for finding the trace was as follows:
 - Set yourself up in a darkened room.
 - No connections to any inputs.
 - Turn on the scope.  Give it a minute to warm up.
 - Set the timebase to X-Y mode - which is CHB in this case
 - Turn the brightness to full (don't worry about focus).  If you see some colour on the screen - even if it is just a faint glow across the whole screen - then there is hope!
Even if you can't, keep going....
 - Adjust Y position from one extreme to the other.  If you have a point where the glow is a bit brighter than anywhere else, leave it there.
 - Adjust X position the same as above.
Edit:
 - If necessary, repeat these last 2 steps - possibly multiple times

With any luck, you could have a bright spot giving you a headache!  Time to turn the brightness down and adjust the focus.

[electromateria]

Post a good photo of the front of it, plugged in and turned on.  We'll tell you how to set the controls and you can see if it works or not.

I attached one

I have had a scope where no trace was visible.  Turned out that every single adjustment that could affect the trace was about as far out of place as it was possible.

My process for finding the trace was as follows:
 - Set yourself up in a darkened room.
 - No connections to any inputs.
 - Turn on the scope.  Give it a minute to warm up.
 - Set the timebase to X-Y mode - which is CHB in this case
 - Turn the brightness to full (don't worry about focus).  If you see some colour on the screen - even if it is just a faint glow across the whole screen - then there is hope!
Even if you can't, keep going....
 - Adjust Y position from one extreme to the other.  If you have a point where the glow is a bit brighter than anywhere else, leave it there.
 - Adjust X position the same as above.
Edit:
 - If necessary, repeat these last 2 steps - possibly multiple times

With any luck, you could have a bright spot giving you a headache!  Time to turn the brightness down and adjust the focus.

Thanks for the detailed instructions, I followed them buy unfortunately no luck.

Can't get the line to appear at all anymore. The power light is on, and the backlight works but other than that I think it might be fried.

I tried what you mentioned, then tried all kinds of random settings for 10 minutes but no luck.

[bdunham7]

Set the input couplings to GND and then find the knob that says 'Trigger Level--pull for auto' and pull it outwards.  Make sure the intensity is fully clockwise and see what you have.

[rstofer]

It seems to me that the trigger source is "EXT" - external and you don't have a trigger source connected.  Put the selector on CH A or CH B

Put the Mode switch on CH A.

[strawberry]

remove front panel and clean it

[electromateria]

Set the input couplings to GND and then find the knob that says 'Trigger Level--pull for auto' and pull it outwards.  Make sure the intensity is fully clockwise and see what you have.

This worked!

WEVE GOT A LINE FELLAS 

started playing around with it a bit. was turning a random knob and watching the line break into laser pulses made me feel like a scientist in a soviet bunker

I suppose the next step is getting some probes.

Any tests I can do right away to check if it's working or broken?

[bdunham7]

Get yourself a wire and run it from the center of the CAL output in the upper right hand corner into the center pin of the A or B inputs (just use a single strand from a phone or ethernet line or something similar) and then twiddle the knobs some more.