Beginner electronics enthusiest in need of oscilloscope!!! PLEASE READ!!!

[zker666]

Hello,
I am a beginner electronics enthusiast and i need an oscilloscope! I am interested in the fields of microprocessors, timers, amplifiers, driver circuits, etc, and I need an oscilloscope if anyone has one to offer! I have no real money to buy a new or even a decent-quality oscilloscope, so i have been looking on online blogs looking for free ones. It doesn't need to be the best quality, but it would be great if it were a standard quality digital two channel 20mHz oscilloscope with a good range. Please, if you could be generous enough to help one of your fellow nerds, I thank you!

Please respond,
Zak!

[zker666]

Also, my email address is zakryzynski@yahoo.com to send me any information and i will be sure to get back to you!

[alm]

You should probably post your location, since shipping is likely going to exceed the value of the scope.

You talk about a digital two channel 20MHz (assuming you don't mean millihertz) oscilloscope. By the time digital scopes came around, 60MHz was already the minimum standard bandwidth, so you'll either get something really old that's inferior to an analog scope for almost all work, or a crappy modern design with lots of limitations that's also inferior to an analog scope. Unless you can get a digital scope of at least the quality of the Rigol DS1000E/D scopes (which you can't expect to get for free), you're better of with an analog scope.

[EEVblog]

You should probably post your location, since shipping is likely going to exceed the value of the scope.

You talk about a digital two channel 20MHz (assuming you don't mean millihertz) oscilloscope. By the time digital scopes came around, 60MHz was already the minimum standard bandwidth, so you'll either get something really old that's inferior to an analog scope for almost all work, or a crappy modern design with lots of limitations that's also inferior to an analog scope. Unless you can get a digital scope of at least the quality of the Rigol DS1000E/D scopes (which you can't expect to get for free), you're better of with an analog scope.

I second that.
And yes, location matters, a lot.
Have you asked on sci.electronics.design?

Dave.

[zker666]

I dont live in Australia, I live in Massachusetts, US. I hope that whoever is donating isn't from Australia, because shipping would be ridiculous. So i could probably go onto a United States blog, so shipping could be done by ground.

[zaphar]

If you're in Mass, you should check out the sales they have at MIT, http://www.mitflea.com/ I remember going there about eight years ago and seeing old oscilloscopes. They have all sorts of cool stuff, like the apex electronics surplus store.

[Zad]

Check Ebay, there will be plenty of scopes going for reasonable prices as radio amateurs etc are always looking to trade-up their test gear.

[not_Dave]

This so much resembles my situation. Only difference I didn't ask because I was so sure no one would ever give me one, for I am from India (customs suck here).

[tyblu]

May want to speak to your local university/college electronic stores/parts technician. What is your current electronics and oscilloscope experience?

[Mr J]

I'm in MA...check your email  .

[mrpsychotic]

Check Ebay, there will be plenty of scopes going for reasonable prices as radio amateurs etc are always looking to trade-up their test gear.

I am in the same situation as the OP. What is the lowest price of the entry level scopes on ebay? What specs. should I be after at entry level for digital and analogue scopes?

[tyblu]

Check Ebay, there will be plenty of scopes going for reasonable prices as radio amateurs etc are always looking to trade-up their test gear.

I am in the same situation as the OP. What is the lowest price of the entry level scopes on ebay? What specs. should I be after at entry level for digital and analogue scopes?

What do you expect to be measuring?

[mrpsychotic]

General things, I have started off in analogue circuits and digital ones as well. I just want a general one that I can turn to for whatever the case. I am not working on very advanced things so I do not need all of the bells and whistles of more expensive models. Essentially I am looking for anything because oscilloscope manufacturers will maintain some floor for specs and that floor is probably good enough for me. If you were asking between digital and analogue I honestly couldn't tell you because I do not know.

[tyblu]

You may want to try for a 2 channel 20MHz analog CRO. I don't recommend the PC-based oscilloscopes, as those that appear to fit a low budget don't have the proper front end (input) circuitry [and those that do have it are quite a bit more expensive, at a budget where you could just get a DSO]. An analog is great for sanity checks, even when you have a fancy DSO -- you can rest assured that what you see onscreen is a direct result of your measurements, instead of a recreated signal from oversampling. They're also really cheap as long as you find one local (shipping is expensive).

My first is a 4 channel 300MHz analog, a Tek 485 for ~$400, plus a new pair of 500MHz probes (Texas) for $150 or so. If you can get a wider bandwidth analog, go for it so long as you can match* probes to it. Second is the [in]famous Rigol, but I would recommend something with a bit more memory (Instek comes to mind). Do you have a logic probe? That is really the first thing to acquire, and a fun project to personalize.
*By matching, I mean exceeding the oscilloscope bandwidth by a healthy margin. Overall bandwidth will be:
f_overall = (1/f_probe^2 + 1/f_scope^2)^(-1/2)