Electronics > Repair

Metrix OX 2000 digital oscilloscope

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alitronix:
Hello,
I know it's been a long time since the last post. :'(
But maybe if we warm up the topic, someone else might have gotten their hands on one of these scops and come up with another story...
Now, what was the end of your story? Do you still have one of these?

Quick question: Have you found any manuals for the OX2000, even just the user manual? I believe it uses a PCMCI 1 memory card (the first generation, totally flat one) with a capacity of up to 1MB, right? I’ve noticed they’re quite expensive now...

I have one too, and the documentation for it is... nonexistent. I haven’t been able to find anything useful on the web. Why? Metrix is (or was) a quite good brand for professional work, right?
I did manage to repair the PSU once and performed a full recap , nothing else done with it. Of course, it works well as a second scope, though there’s a bit of noise. I’m thinking about changing the fan for a quieter one, but for now, it's fine as it is—like a helicopter!
I really love these scopes—they're very easy to use and perform well for their specs.

If I remember correctly, the CRT monitor can be replaced with an TFT monitor since it has a color VGA output, so it's easy to do. Similar to how the upgrade to a TFT monitor can be done on Tek scopes, correct me if I'm wrong. Of course, there isn't an official upgrade kit for this, but with a bit of imagination, the right size TFT screen, and some 3D printing, the job can be done.
I'll open it one day to check this and also to change the fan.


shakalnokturn:
So you're the second or third and possibly last owner of one of these  ;D

It was the end of the story, I sold the repaired scope and moved on to something else.
I have a second one around still not got down to finding a PSU.
Still no documentation at hand either.
Metrix have made some decent equipment, I've never been impressed by their oscilloscopes though, not until the Scopix series.
The OX2000 must have been very expensive, maybe not so attractive compared to what Tektronix and HP had to offer, I doubt they sold many...

The PCMCIA card slot is very likely to require linear SRAM exclusively, they're the ones with a backup battery that were used on some musical equipment and on the later Amiga computers as RAM expansions (there are a couple of DIY projects for that).
Yes, they're too expensive, no clue about the maximum supported capacity.

The colour LCD modification should be easy enough.

alitronix:
:-DD I’m the last Mohican... I will never give up! I’ll take a Metrix oscilloscope with me to my tomb... :))
Better... later, I’ll set up a Metrix museum... :-DD

Okay, aside from the jokes, I’m not a blind Metrix fan, but I find their oscilloscopes very easy to use, they work well, and why not, they look nice too. And with all the features they had for the era when the OX2000 was launched, wasn’t it one of the top scopes? I believe so. I remember in the 90s and 2000s, when I was younger, I dreamed of owning one of these scopes.

Off-topic: I own/owned, just like you and others, oscilloscopes from different brands, like Tektronix, Lecroy, Agilent, HP, and others, including some lesser-known brands. I’ve owned almost every model well-known among hobbyists, like the Tek 2222 and older ones , 340, 430, TDS series, HP 54600, Hameg, and more. If you check eBay regularly, you can find everything for a small price... it just takes patience. Over the years, like you and others, I’ve changed scopes a lot, but still, I find the Metrix scope (made in France) to be much more reliable than Hameg, for example... though maybe that’s just personal preference.
Honestly, I understand why people are loyal to certain brands... everyone has their preference.

For example, right now I have Metrix OX2000, OX803B (just for component testing), OX8062 (for differential input), and OX863B (luckily, I have space and room for equipment, not just for hobby). They’re cheap because no one wants them...
What I don’t understand is why so many people are fixated on Tektronix, HP, or Fluke. Many people (who call themselves EE engineers) don’t even know how to use their tools, but they have the most complicated—and sometimes in bad condition—scopes, just because they’re branded.

And I have news: I wrote to Chauvin Arnoux Italy (I’m based in Italy) again after a year or so when I tried first time when they didn’t respond to me. Now, they kindly responded and even sent me a ZIP file with some documentation in English (what is GOLD, now) that they recovered from old files they had. It includes some Word files (non-editable and printable) with a good part of the OX2000 manual. While digging a little, I found some interesting notes...
Now, I’m working to put everything together and create a PDF file. They told me this is all they recovered and that no further documentation is available (at least not here in Italy).
I found that these scopes were made by BOONTON, and the model was called DIGISCOPE 2000.
If you’d like, I can send you the ZIP file, and you can make your own manual, or once I finish putting it all together, I can send it to you. It’s not a service manual, just a user manual. It’s not much, but still, going from nothing to having a manual in two days is a good start. Now, I’ll do my research on the DIGISCOPE 2000 or the Boonton scopes too.

Man, the PCMCIA SRAM cards are around 100 euros... way too much to invest just for this scope. The internal memory is good enough to store waves and configurations. Since it’s not my main scope, I’m not really interested in saving the waves. If I need to, I’ll just do like in the old days and take a picture...
I hope I’ve stirred up some feelings in you, and you’ll give the scope a try! :))

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