Analog Oscilloscope Dual Trace 20-100MHz For Under $50 In The USA?

[Jar-N2]

Hello. I'm kind of a beginner and I'm trying to get myself a basic setup for my ghetto bedroom workshop. I've acquired a half-decent soldering station, a few DMMs, a vast collection of hand-me-down tools, and a homemade bench power supply. I'm just missing a proper oscilloscope! I could also use a function generator, but one thing at a time, the oscilloscope takes priority. I don't have deep enough pockets to buy a decent modern Rigol or Siglent DSO, old analog CRT scopes are the way to go for me. Besides the price difference, I prefer the look and feel of those CRT scopes, it's something very special. I've been keeping an eye on ebay, but I feel that I might have better luck asking around on this forum.

[james_s]

You'll want to be a bit more specific about your location, the USA is 3,000 miles across and the cost of shipping an old scope from one side to the other is likely to exceed the value of the scope.

[Jar-N2]

57335 S 36700 RD Terlton, OK 74081-3422

[vk6zgo]

Your best bet is at a Hamfest.
Even there, "less than $50" is "stretching the bounds of friendship"!

[james_s]

You really shouldn't post your home address publicly on a worldwide forum, the postal code or nearest city would have been sufficient.

I'm way out on the west coast so I'm afraid I won't be of any help here. The hamfest suggestion is a good one, if there are any of those around anymore.

[rstofer]

As said, scrub your address before it gets quoted and available forever.

Is there "Craig's List" in your area?

How about some lab class at a community college?  Around here, we have people taking the metal working course over and over just to have access to the machines.

DSOs are going to be cheaper to ship.

Look at eBay and see how shipping compares.  There are some scopes that are close to your limit but, frankly, your limit is too low.

I'm not recommending anything but here is a scope for $100 with free shipping - it's a DSO  No it isn't, it's a CRO.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GW-Instek-Model-GOS-622G-Dual-Channel-20-MHz-Triggering-Analog-Oscilloscope/133189088003

[alsetalokin4017]

No, it's not a DSO, but that would be an excellent starter scope for the OP anyway.  Free shipping and guaranteed not DOA! Those are a big plus.

[rstofer]

No, it's not a DSO, but that would be an excellent starter scope for the OP anyway.  Free shipping and guaranteed not DOA! Those are a big plus.

Yup, I slipped a digit when scrolling through the choices.

In some ways, I am dead set against buying used test equipment even though my Tek 485 has been excellent as have a couple of bench multimeters.  I worry about who was using it and what did they do to the poor thing!

[james_s]

I've never bought anything but used test equipment and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

If one wants a <$100 oscilloscope there is not much other option besides buying some kind of toy.

[rstofer]

I've never bought anything but used test equipment and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

If one wants a <$100 oscilloscope there is not much other option besides buying some kind of toy.

You are absolutely correct in terms of toys.  My only concern with newcomers buying used equipment is whether, should it be non-functional or becomes non-functional in short order, can they fix it or afford to scrap it?  We had one fellow on here who went through 2 junk scopes, a complete write-off on each before he moved on to something decent.

Some of the top name equipment can't be fixed due to proprietary components which are no longer available.  This creates a tendency to buy a second unit hoping for parts to repair the first (or the other way around).

The alternative is also suboptimal, toys are useless.

And yet, for all my concerns, my purchases have been fine.  I have had that Tek 485 for a very long time and it still works great!  I don't use the bench meters very often but one of them came with current calibration.  All have been excellent buys.

It's a risk and it probably can't be avoided.  I guess I would give merit to 'recent calibration', I would obviously avoid 'for parts' and somewhere in the middle there is probably a workable unit.  "Lights light up" doesn't give me a very good feeling.  If I saw a trace on the screen, that would be helpful.  Most used scopes don't come with probes so there is another cost.  Not much, but just enough to be a surprise when you open the box.

It's just the way it is in the used equipment game.

Probably the least expensive of the credible scopes is the Siglent SDS1052DL+ at $259.  50 MHz, 2 Channel
That is a lot more than the OP wants to spend.
But it comes with probes and free shipping and that's worth something.

[admiralk]

This is a little too far to pick up, but is an example of were to look. https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ele/d/saint-petersburg-oscilloscope/7000822240.html

I got the 60 MHz Goldstar they had a while back and it works fine. I also got a LG with a function generator for $25 due to a bad channel in the scope, but that seems to be working fine since I got it home. Colleges are probably the best place to look besides hamfests. Just do not expect to find one tomorrow.

[james_s]

It's true that it's always a risk, but when one has no other viable option it's a risk I think is generally worth taking. They could also overextend themselves and buy something new that is over their budget and accidentally blow it up just as easily.

Ultimately life in general is a series of calculated risks. Make halfway sensible choices and you can usually come out ahead over time.

[MarkF]

+1 on scrubbing home address.  Just your "state" would be as far as I would go.


The entry level PicoScope might be a good starter setup.
10 MHz scope, two probes and built-in signal generator for $139 minus the EEVblog discount (6%).
https://www.tequipment.net/Pico/2204A/PC-Based-Oscilloscopes/?v=0

Personally, I'm not big on USB scopes.  I prefer stand-alone units.
A PicoScope would fit the bill until you can afford a DSO.

[rstofer]

Well, I really like the Analog Discovery 2 so I suppose I can't complain about USB scopes. 

It's the USB thing that worries me.  I don't want an 'oopsie' on my part trashing my computer.  If it would work, and it should, I would run the gadget through a powered USB hub.  That doesn't provide total isolation but it's a start.  There are USB isolators but they tend to be pretty slow.  Or at least the ones I have seen.

Maybe something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-USB-Isolator-Isolated-ADA2107/dp/B01GQFVB32

Everybody probably has an old clunker computer laying around.  Use that for the display and save the high dollar laptop for more important things.  Assuming the OS is current enough to support the PicoScope software.

[ccktek]

Have you found anything yet?  If not, I have a good, working TEK 2215 that's yours for the cost of postage from Portland OR.

[fabrizio_fabrice]

I don't have deep enough pockets to buy a decent modern Rigol or Siglent DSO, old analog CRT scopes are the way to go for me.

You'd probably also be disappointed to find that the Siglent, anyway, can trigger on only one input channel at at time, unlike virtually every analog scope.  If you turn that channel off or lift its probe, it quits triggering - not intelligent enough to switch the trigger to the operational channel.  It's been a big disappointment to find how little consideration Siglent gave to analog measurements.

[bdunham7]

Even if you will eventually get a DSO, it is still nice to have a good CRO around, especially if you are familiar with them.  I repair them as a hobby, and while I do occasionally find usable scopes here in SoCal within driving range and sometimes under $50, that's going to be a tough thing to find locally for you.  I would take ccktek up on that offer--the 22xx series are pretty decent and if it breaks, you can fix it. 

[james_s]

I don't have deep enough pockets to buy a decent modern Rigol or Siglent DSO, old analog CRT scopes are the way to go for me.

You'd probably also be disappointed to find that the Siglent, anyway, can trigger on only one input channel at at time, unlike virtually every analog scope.  If you turn that channel off or lift its probe, it quits triggering - not intelligent enough to switch the trigger to the operational channel.  It's been a big disappointment to find how little consideration Siglent gave to analog measurements.

My Tek DSOs work that way too, you manually set the trigger to a specific channel, not sure I'd want it automatically changing, that sounds potentially annoying. Pretty sure my analog scope is also that way, haven't used that in a while though.

[fabrizio_fabrice]

My Tek DSOs work that way too, you manually set the trigger to a specific channel, not sure I'd want it automatically changing, that sounds potentially annoying. Pretty sure my analog scope is also that way, haven't used that in a while though.

Your Tek DSO doesn't support a trigger source per channel? 

I bet your Tek analog scope does, and uses the vertical channel trigger mode to figure out what to do when a channel no longer provides it.  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-technical-support-join-in-eevblog/msg2771310/#msg2771310 describes how that worked.

I was beyond potentially annoyed to learn that my 1202X-E can't have an independent trigger source per channel, and won't switch to the working channel.