Electronics > Beginners
what cheap digital oscilloscope for analog audio?
sheiku:
Hello to all. Sorry for my poor english.
I am happy that i find your forum. I read from it for few days all i can about oscilloscopes..
Here is my problems. I have about 10 old amplifiers and receivers (SS, not tube, around 1975 year) I am a hobbist.
This week 3 of them started to make very loud pops, hiss, or distortions..
I have nowhere to repair them. And i try to do by myself..In my youth i dealt with some basic electronics, but never with oscilloscopes.
So i understand that i need to have an basic osciloscope for best results on repair and diagnose. ( hiss, pops and distorsions)
I intend to buy only digital oscillo.I see that almost every recomandation is for old cheap and good analog OLD oscillo. I canot find at all in my country and i do not want to deal with old oscilloscopes.
My budget is maximum 200 usd.
What should i search as specs for analog audio?
i understand that 20Mhz is minimum. Also 1 channel is enough.
Can i do some acceptable work with something like : DANIU ADS5012H ? I can afford it as price..Or of course other recommandations for minimum specs
Thank you
tggzzz:
Check the simple things first.
Look slowly and carefully at each component, checking for any signs of discolouration due to heating, or leaking/bulging electrolytic capacitors, or poor solder joints/wires, or poor switch/potentiometer contacts.
Then measure voltages with a meter. Start with the power supply DC voltage and AC ripple. Then, with no input, look at various points in the signal path, starting at the output and moving towards the input. Observe voltage readings when you hear a crackle/pop (analogue needle meters help here!), and draw conclusions as to whether the source is earlier/later in the signal path.
There's a good chance the problem is with electrolytic capacitors, potentiometers, or switches.
andy3055:
--- Quote from: sheiku on December 11, 2019, 10:48:28 pm ---Hello to all. Sorry for my poor english.
I am happy that i find your forum. I read from it for few days all i can about oscilloscopes..
Here is my problems. I have about 10 old amplifiers and receivers ( around 1975 year) I am a hobbist.
This week 3 of them started to make very loud pops, hiss, or distortions..
I have nowhere to repair them. And i try to do by myself..In my youth i dealt with some basic electronics, but never with oscilloscopes.
So i understand that i need to have an basic osciloscope for best results on repair and diagnose. ( hiss, pops and distorsions)
I intend to buy only digital oscillo.I see that almost every recomandation is for old cheap and good analog OLD oscillo. I canot find at all in my country and i do not want to deal with old oscilloscopes.
My budget is maximum 200 usd.
What should i search as specs for analog audio?
i understand that 20Mhz is minimum. Also 1 channel is enough.
Can i do some acceptable work with something like : DANIU ADS5012H ? I can afford it as price..Or of course other recommandations for minimum specs
Thank you
--- End quote ---
Old audio gear can be easily repaired just using a multi meter to troubleshoot. I never had an oscilloscope until recently but that never stopped me from fixing the older amps. You may need a scope if you are fixing newer amps as most of them have digital control circuitry that were never there in old gear. In fact, you won't need even a digital multi meter as long as you have a decent analog multi meter in my opinion.
not1xor1:
You might start with a PC sound card oscilloscope. The sound card works as a signal generator too.
All you need is an analog front end with a couple of opamps and input dividers for large signals.
Just search the net and you will find plenty of information and free programs to display and generate audio signals.
tggzzz:
--- Quote from: not1xor1 on December 12, 2019, 06:44:28 am ---You might start with a PC sound card oscilloscope. The sound card works as a signal generator too.
--- End quote ---
The OP is a beginner and likely to make mistakes. A mistake might fry his computer, which would have been more valuable than the amplifiers!
With thought, care and understanding, you can do a lot with a voltmeter, a few switches, a few LEDs and resistors, and a potentiometer. That's all I had when I designed and built my first computer from individual components such as a 6800 CPU, 128bytes RAM, and TTL (not even LSTTL) chips.
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