Why does everyone have twenty oscilliscopes?

[commie]

And the memory depth is only 2 Mpts for that Hameg. Not that impressive at all!

I was thinking HAMEG,4 trace, 200MHz £1.4k...thats impressive.

[MadTux]

Commie, before you buy new, there might be an interesting sale for you on mikrocontroller.net:
https://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/377639#new
Double bandwith/sample rate for less money. I have no connections to the seller and too little money, but if you're willing to spend 1600€, it might be for you. I'm sure that guy also understands english, if you ask him nicely.

[dan3460]

I face the same battles as well. Except I get caught more often than not.. sitting at work a large package arrives at home and I get a text "wtf did you order now!.."

Now you did it , I started laughing at your comment. Did not realized that the Wify was reading over my shoulder...    The inquisitor as summoned me... trying to get my stories right. HELP.

[bitseeker]

Sorry, I only deal well with circuits and computers.

[commie]

I thought about this one but only 1Mohm Input Impedance and no separate controls for each channel.

Yeah, I thought that too, I elaborated on this very issue on an earlier post.

[Neganur]

And the memory depth is only 2 Mpts for that Hameg. Not that impressive at all!

it's a 200 MHz, 2 GSa/s scope.... why do you need more than the 2 Mpts? For what? Lately I think this is more a "pentium 5 is better than Pentium 4 because 5>4" thing.
But there's a good chance that I'm just ignorant and don't see the forest for the trees, so apologies if that's the case.

I think the 'new' HMO series was launched 06/2011 and cost 1150 EUR for the 70 MHz model back then (that's probably the price for the 2 channel...?)

To fill those 2 Mpts at the full 2GHz sample rate you're looking at some 100us/div. Above that and the scope has to lower the sample rate. But that's 2*10^9 samples in a 1.2 ms capture span. What are you trying to look at if the scope only has 200 MHz? Even at the highest setting (50s/div) it will sample with some 3.33 kSa/s to fill 2 Mpts (=600 seconds total span). I don't think you'll be looking at 200 MHz signals while in 50s/div, so what is the point?

I do get that the Rigol is cheap and has much more memory. But I really wonder if that makes such a huge difference while the overall capability of the Hameg (hardware fft, good MSO, low noise etc if you trust the advertisement) is of greater quality. In my eyes it comes down to the price and there's nothing to argue. But just to pick on the memory... I don't know, weak argument in my eyes.

[-jeffB]

Got a couple of these little 30 MHz 1970s Non-Linear Systems (NLS) portables in the collection also. Each is 6 1/4" x 2 5/8" x 8" deep.

Oh, man, I remember drooling over the ads for those that used to run in Popular Electronics back in the 1970s. Never had one, though.

[rsjsouza]

Hmmmm...yummie.....tempting, my hand is hovering over my debit card.

http://uk.farnell.com/hameg/hmo2024/oscilloscope-4ch-200mhz-2gsps/dp/2408770

I've been exceptionally happy with my Hameg gear, go for it.   

I must be getting old or dumb... Instead of "Hameg" I read "Hantek" and was dumbfounded by the lavish support demonstrated in this and the following posts... 

[nbritton]

How much do all you reckon you've spent on oscilloscopes for personal use?

[SLJ]

Got a couple of these little 30 MHz 1970s Non-Linear Systems (NLS) portables in the collection also. Each is 6 1/4" x 2 5/8" x 8" deep.

Those are really neat, Steve. I hadn't seen portables before. How usable are they given the mini screen?

I would use them for signal tracing in the field maybe but they are a little small for bench work.

[KJDS]

How much do all you reckon you've spent on oscilloscopes for personal use?

Very little, far far far less than VNA's and that's dwarfed by the amount I've spent on impractical cars.

[G0HZU]

How much do all you reckon you've spent on oscilloscopes for personal use?

About £700 total spread across 30+ years on 4 scope purchases. Still got all 4 scopes and they still work!

[OldSchoolTechCorner]

How much do all you reckon you've spent on oscilloscopes for personal use?

I don't think many, if any buy them for personal use, as consider a tool for work, I could be wrong. As some of the nice vintage ones seen in this thread are quite nice and collectable. 

[G0HZU]

My scopes are as follows:

Tek 585 100MHz scope bought when I was a student in the 1980s.
Solartron A100 30MHz  scope bought around 1990
Tek 465 bought in the mid 90s
Tek TDS2012 bought about 10 years ago?

I use the last two on a regular basis. The 585 and the A100 get switched on when I'm feeling nostalgic. (maybe once every few years?)

[OldSchoolTechCorner]

And the memory depth is only 2 Mpts for that Hameg. Not that impressive at all!

it's a 200 MHz, 2 GSa/s scope.... why do you need more than the 2 Mpts? For what? Lately I think this is more a "pentium 5 is better than Pentium 4 because 5>4" thing.
But there's a good chance that I'm just ignorant and don't see the forest for the trees, so apologies if that's the case.

I think the 'new' HMO series was launched 06/2011 and cost 1150 EUR for the 70 MHz model back then (that's probably the price for the 2 channel...?)

To fill those 2 Mpts at the full 2GHz sample rate you're looking at some 100us/div. Above that and the scope has to lower the sample rate. But that's 2*10^9 samples in a 1.2 ms capture span. What are you trying to look at if the scope only has 200 MHz? Even at the highest setting (50s/div) it will sample with some 3.33 kSa/s to fill 2 Mpts (=600 seconds total span). I don't think you'll be looking at 200 MHz signals while in 50s/div, so what is the point?

I do get that the Rigol is cheap and has much more memory. But I really wonder if that makes such a huge difference while the overall capability of the Hameg (hardware fft, good MSO, low noise etc if you trust the advertisement) is of greater quality. In my eyes it comes down to the price and there's nothing to argue. But just to pick on the memory... I don't know, weak argument in my eyes.

This is one topic I think deserves it own thread alone on long memory. I notice a few, especially those getting into DSO's don't understand long memory vs sample rate and ETC and other aspect of like hardware fft, good MSO, low noise and ETC.  Long memory is useless on a fast timebase without a high sample rate to pretty much fill it all. It only nessacry on hard to trigger on the phenomena, or if the scope has crappy triggering, long record length is great, as you don't have to setup triggers and grab data. But you also need fast sample rate. For example a 2.5kpoints scope would be a pain for analyzing slow signal with fast edges the edge will be under sampled and a 200MS/s scope would be a bad match for a 3.5ns single shot edge, undersampled, again.

[BradC]

Wow. I've only got a Tek 2440 and a Philips PM97. Different scopes for different folks I guess. I suppose an old dual trace analogue would be nice, but it's at the bottom of a very long wish list.

[Rupunzell]

The current O'scope fleet.

Four Tek 7104 (1Ghz real time micro channel plate CRT), three are use often, one of the three is a daily user. The fourth is a parts unit
All have been totally reliable for past decades of daily work

More Tek 7000 plug-ins than I'm willing to discuss.

Tek 7094A, works but sits.

Tek 7844, dual beam,

Tek 7834, storage. hardly used these days.

Pair of Tek 7603A.

TeK 2467B Portable, used only when a portable is needed.

Pair of Tek 485. Purchased on impulse at a local E- recycler.

Tek 547 (owned for decades now) with several plug ins. Currently 1A4 installed.

hp 1200A.

Beyond this, there have been many, many others that have cycled in and out of the labs over the decades.


Also owned a Tek 585 back in the late 1970's. This was one of the first Tek scopes owned among others.


Then there are probes (lots of probes)... adapters, and all those other widgets that can make all the difference.

O'scope is not the most commonly use instrument, depending on what is being worked on and measurements required.
One of these days I'll consider a DSO, LeCroy is down the street from work. Easy to stop in for a demo most any time and they keep sending me invites for their new product offerings, seminars and demos and ....


Bernice

[vk6zgo]

I've been watching a couple of TDS220s on eBay.com.au,as they are a nice looking DSO,although old & with poor memory depth.
Actually,they are a couple of Dave's ones--one OK,the other doesn't pass one of the startup tests.

I've been thinking that maybe I've been a bit harsh with my bashing of early DSOs,& it might be fun to play with one at my leisure.

I found this review -----actually of a TDS210,but they are pretty similar.
This bloke doesn't like them a lot--the clip is definitely NSFW!


I still like the look of 'em,though,even with the "leaky fountain pen" display!

I'm an Old Fart now,& I haven't really got the time before I "fall off the perch" to buy every Oscilloscope in the world,as that's just more junk for my wife to dispose of,so perhaps I should be selling,not buying!

[OldSchoolTechCorner]

I've been watching a couple of TDS220s on eBay.com.au,as they are a nice looking DSO,although old & with poor memory depth.
Actually,they are a couple of Dave's ones--one OK,the other doesn't pass one of the startup tests.

I've been thinking that maybe I've been a bit harsh with my bashing of early DSOs,& it might be fun to play with one at my leisure.

I found this review -----actually of a TDS210,but they are pretty similar.
This bloke doesn't like them a lot--the clip is definitely NSFW!


I still like the look of 'em,though,even with the "leaky fountain pen" display!

I'm an Old Fart now,& I haven't really got the time before I "fall off the perch" to buy every Oscilloscope in the world,as that's just more junk for my wife to dispose of,so perhaps I should be selling,not buying!

I hated using this model and pretty much collected dust while analog scope was used pretty much daily. Tektronix pretty much just milk it with this model and stop innovating and was overcharging for them. Then thankfully Rigol came around and changed the market for the good.

[dr.diesel]

I bought a new 210 back in the mid 90s, still use it to this day.  While I don't totally disagree with the above, it does have it's place, and has a couple advantages to any Rigol.  Mostly notably it's never once locked up, and it dead silent with no fan.

[Howardlong]

I bought a new 210 back in the mid 90s, still use it to this day.  While I don't totally disagree with the above, it does have it's place, and has a couple advantages to any Rigol.  Mostly notably it's never once locked up, and it dead silent with no fan.

Roughly the same but with colour, I've had a TDS2024B for nearly ten years, for six or so years it was my only scope, it is super reliable, I still have it although now I have other scopes. While it is a little painful to use now I've used other more feature laden scopes, as my first DSO it was simple to use coming from a CRO background and it did the job. It helped me make some successful products and make an unexpected but welcome change of career path in my late forties. As a result it has some sentimental value now.

[tec5c]

I've been watching a couple of TDS220s on eBay.com.au...

Where in oz are you? I have a TDS220 that I never use and wouldn't mind selling it on if you were interested.

[xwarp]

Tek 2246A
Tek TDS460A
Tek Type 422 x2. One is A/C only and the other is battery operated with an additional A/C supply as a spare.

[OldSchoolTechCorner]

I bought a new 210 back in the mid 90s, still use it to this day.  While I don't totally disagree with the above, it does have it's place, and has a couple advantages to any Rigol.  Mostly notably it's never once locked up, and it dead silent with no fan.

Roughly the same but with colour, I've had a TDS2024B for nearly ten years, for six or so years it was my only scope, it is super reliable, I still have it although now I have other scopes. While it is a little painful to use now I've used other more feature laden scopes, as my first DSO it was simple to use coming from a CRO background and it did the job. It helped me make some successful products and make an unexpected but welcome change of career path in my late forties. As a result it has some sentimental value now.

Was the first DSO I learned on and purchased. So in a way do have a soft spot for it and did still manage to still get the job done and was reliable as it was simple, not much to go wrong, plus didn't have any fans. 

I bought a new 210 back in the mid 90s, still use it to this day.  While I don't totally disagree with the above, it does have it's place, and has a couple advantages to any Rigol.  Mostly notably it's never once locked up, and it dead silent with no fan.

Don't care for Rigol scopes as had tried a couple and first one was defective after about a week, as channel started cutting out at random and second one kept locking up issues at random. One thing I do give them credit for is they changed the market and pretty much forced HP and Tektronix to start innovating again. 

[Orange]

I bought a new 210 back in the mid 90s, still use it to this day.  While I don't totally disagree with the above, it does have it's place, and has a couple advantages to any Rigol.  Mostly notably it's never once locked up, and it dead silent with no fan.

Roughly the same but with colour, I've had a TDS2024B for nearly ten years, for six or so years it was my only scope, it is super reliable, I still have it although now I have other scopes. While it is a little painful to use now I've used other more feature laden scopes, as my first DSO it was simple to use coming from a CRO background and it did the job. It helped me make some successful products and make an unexpected but welcome change of career path in my late forties. As a result it has some sentimental value now.

Was the first DSO I learned on and purchased. So in a way do have a soft spot for it. 

I bought a new 210 back in the mid 90s, still use it to this day.  While I don't totally disagree with the above, it does have it's place, and has a couple advantages to any Rigol.  Mostly notably it's never once locked up, and it dead silent with no fan.

Don't care for Rigol scopes as had tried a couple and first one was defective after about a week, as channel started cutting out at random and second one kept locking up issues at random. One thing I do give them credit for is they changed the market and pretty much forced HP and Tektronix to start innovating again.

Not really, Tek has still scopes that have a whopping 10k points of storage  , and the Agilent scopes are expensive as always, and their memory is also very limited.
Innovation is not always using the latest technology, but also create better/cheaper products. This were both companies still fail.