Author Topic: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?  (Read 33250 times)

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Offline 001Topic starter

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #225 on: September 19, 2019, 04:54:23 pm »
Thanx to all for great tread  :-+
 

Offline Martin.M

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #226 on: September 20, 2019, 02:26:18 pm »
Martin, Alex probably meant physical storage of stuff on top of his 547, not electron storage in the oscilloscope internal circuits...   :-DD

We have an old Tektronix TDS3014 that features both types of storage! The battery compartment in the back fits all sorts of things when no battery is installed.  :-+

thank you. With my english I will never get the green card  |O

Some Tekscopes have a pounch on the top, for chocolates, beer and some you need to do a good job,  475 and relatives..
Classic Tek can have a little door upside in the case, mostly is there a little manual inside. Not all of them have that, example with door: Tek 531, 533, 535, 551 ..
otherwise use the storage box what is part of the scope mobile.

Martin
« Last Edit: September 20, 2019, 02:32:14 pm by Martin.M »
 
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Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #227 on: September 20, 2019, 03:07:06 pm »
Classic Tek can have a little door upside in the case, mostly is there a little manual inside. Not all of them have that, example with door: Tek 531, 533, 535, 551 ..
otherwise use the storage box what is part of the scope mobile.
I suspect these Teks would be great to keep your lunch warm.  :-+
Vbe - vídeo blog eletrônico http://videos.vbeletronico.com

Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Offline Martin.M

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #228 on: September 20, 2019, 06:05:33 pm »
for this special measuring you have to select a Classic Tek without Fan,
easy to identify by: they have a lot of holes in the upperside of the case, for the hot air... (and the coffee cup)

Tek 310A, 561, 564, and the Time Mark Generator 181 are useful. No "B" types, they are too modern, more transistors and not so many tubes..
Special problem: in case of that they must be cleaned inside yearly. A Classic with Fan have a filter.

Martin

picture: Tek 181 run 20 tubes.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2019, 06:10:58 pm by Martin.M »
 
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Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #229 on: September 20, 2019, 07:34:44 pm »
Beautiful picture! Beautiful meter!  :-+
Vbe - vídeo blog eletrônico http://videos.vbeletronico.com

Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Offline taydin

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #230 on: September 21, 2019, 10:16:47 am »
Just thought about the coffee cup being on top of this and staying warm, that is a nice thought :) Now I want one, too ...
Real programmers use machine code!

My hobby projects http://mekatronik.org/forum
 

Offline Martin.M

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #231 on: September 21, 2019, 11:36:00 am »
Simple answer: yes.
Why:
First I don't trust low cost digital scopes.

Second: Analog scopes like the Tek 7K are quite easy to use. Until the Rigol ready to use the measurement with the analog scope is finished.

Additional a 7K mainframe with a 7D15 and a 7D12 is a digital voltmeter and a counter so I can see the signal and get the measurement value with up to 7 digits...

But as you can see in the picture the Rigol is a great logic analyzer. So I use and need both.

your 7854 is sitting on a 202 scope cart made for Classic, the Plugins there are also for#500 series.
Where is the scope they are for?  :)

The 7k can do the job of the rigol also by using a 7D01 with display formatter.

Martin
« Last Edit: September 21, 2019, 11:37:58 am by Martin.M »
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #232 on: September 21, 2019, 01:22:22 pm »
Sounds like an excellent way of ending up with an oscilloscope full of coffee.
 

Offline Martin.M

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #233 on: September 21, 2019, 02:58:07 pm »
here is my DSO  :)

 
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Offline Martin.M

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #234 on: September 21, 2019, 03:01:11 pm »
but analog scopes are smaller then DSO

 
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Offline Alfons

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #235 on: September 21, 2019, 05:44:54 pm »
At the moment, besides my Rigol DSO, I also have three analog oscilloscopes, a Tek 475, a 2467B and a 7603, all very useful devices. The Rigol is not bad, light, portable and usable for most things. However, working with the analogs is easier and faster, they usually trigger the signal faster and with far fewer adjustments. By the way: they are all very sharp, no fuzzy signal presentation, which I really like. I can not confirm that the signal quality would suffer from the Tek devices. Disadvantage: they need space and with slow signals they are not usable.
 

Offline bd139

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #236 on: September 21, 2019, 06:47:29 pm »
but analog scopes are smaller then DSO

They are indeed. This was the smallest one I ever had, which was broken as always:



Some other gear (UT61E etc etc) during repair to compare size:



I own nothing in that picture now  :-DD

I do have 4 working analogue scopes and a digital one though  :-DD
 
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Offline bob91343

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #237 on: September 21, 2019, 11:53:22 pm »
I connected my signal generator to my two digital and one analog scopes and observed the wave, and measured it.

It pointed out the clear advantages of the analog scope for many purposes.  It's fast, accurate, and user friendly.  It measures things differently but gives the same results.  It doesn't store waves but I don't need that most of the time.

But it sets up in a way that makes it clear and unambiguous what it's measuring.  Not so the digital units, that get confused with signals that are too small or too slow, etc.

So the short answer is yes, I use analog much of the time.  If I want to see, for instance, if a microphone has output, the analog unit is the device to use.  If I want to see an amplitude modulated wave, again the analog unit works best.

For many measurements a spectrum analyzer is better than an oscilloscope.

Every instrument has its area where it does a good job, even the lowly analog VOM.  And that one needs no power supply, as well as being isolated from the rest of the equipment.
 

Offline Fezder

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #238 on: September 24, 2019, 10:54:23 am »
Got both analog (kenwood cos-5040 100MHz/4channel) and digital (rigol ds1054z, with upgraded firmware)

I use digital mostly nowadays since I actually have learnt to use it (yeah right....).  Only I have trouble triggering on pure DC signal, like 9v battery voltage apart from single shot/rolling, which I can in my understanding with analog. Analog I use mostly as curve tracer and other stuff that needs proper XY-mode. It has some issues with smaller voltages where trace jumps bit after setting, due that I don't use it on very small voltages. Speaking of smaller voltages, rigol shows all unrelevant information, but of course that can be cured with settings like persistence and waveform averaging (stuff that dave addressed in his video about digital oscilloscopes appearing noisy).

Also I miss not having vernier adjustment on my analog scope! Really pity.


Both analog/digital hobbyist, reparing stuff from time to time
 

Offline Fungus

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #239 on: September 24, 2019, 11:08:54 am »
I use digital mostly nowadays since I actually have learnt to use it (yeah right....).  Only I have trouble triggering on pure DC signal, like 9v battery voltage apart from single shot/rolling

Triggering on a flat DC voltage isn't really a thing.

In "Auto" triggering mode your DS1054Z will display a trace using a timeout as well as a real trigger.

In the top corner of the screen it shows "Auto" when the trace was being drawn because of timeout and "T’D" when a trace was drawn because of a real trigger event.

See the "Trigger mode" section of the manual.
 

Offline Fezder

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #240 on: September 24, 2019, 02:40:41 pm »
Yeah, that auto mode is the method I use for triggering at DC signal. Didn't remember that setting during writing...
Both analog/digital hobbyist, reparing stuff from time to time
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #241 on: October 13, 2019, 03:35:05 am »
here is my DSO  :)

(Attachment Link)

I've always wanted a Tek 222. Not badly enough to pay what one costs but they sure are neat. I remember when they came out, seemed amazing, still impressive to this day. I actually hadn't realized until now that they were DSOs, I assumed they were analog.
 

Offline BravoV

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #242 on: October 13, 2019, 03:43:43 am »


Mostly on DSO because of the single shot, the Tek is rarely used, as my hobbyist need on > 100 MHz is minimal.

Offline don.r

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #243 on: October 13, 2019, 03:57:09 am »
I have 3 in total: 2 analog and one digital (MSO). I use my Tek 2245 mostly because its quick to start and easy to set up and read. My 2225 is only used for signals < 1 or 2mv (500uV/div mode) so rarely. My HP 54622D I only acquired a few months ago and have yet to find a spot on my bench for it but I suspect it will be the most used going forward. I may have to sell the 2245 as I never use more than 2 channels. At least one analog for XY mode must be retained even if it is rarely used.
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #244 on: October 13, 2019, 04:04:09 am »
I use digital mostly nowadays since I actually have learnt to use it (yeah right....).  Only I have trouble triggering on pure DC signal, like 9v battery voltage apart from single shot/rolling

Triggering on a flat DC voltage isn't really a thing.

In "Auto" triggering mode your DS1054Z will display a trace using a timeout as well as a real trigger.

In the top corner of the screen it shows "Auto" when the trace was being drawn because of timeout and "T’D" when a trace was drawn because of a real trigger event.

See the "Trigger mode" section of the manual.

This was the function that bugged me most with the only  early DSO I actually used over a reasonable length of time.(A Tek THS720A)
When I troubleshoot equipment, I use a 'scope "DC coupled"  & in "free running" mode to look at the DC power supplies as I go along.

There is usually no need for high accuracy--- if say a supply looks "about" 5v, it is probably OK.
You then can look at signal levels, only triggering the instrument when you need to.

Try as I might, I couldn't find an equivalent of making an analog 'scope "free run".
The nearest was "roll mode", which wasn't really satisfactory, because, instead of the whole line shifting upwards when the probe was placed on, say +5v, it would display it as a transient.

It seems modern DSOs do not have this limitation, & there is a workaround with the THS720A, but It it wasn't evident at the time.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2019, 04:06:38 am by vk6zgo »
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #245 on: October 13, 2019, 05:18:48 am »
Every DSO I've used has an auto trigger mode that gives you a free running trace. The oldest have been from the mid 90s though (TDS300) so it's certainly possible that others didn't. That would be annoying for sure.
 

Offline Martin.M

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #246 on: October 13, 2019, 08:12:23 am »
sometimes oldies can work in areas where the DSO gives a white flag  :)

 
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Offline David Hess

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #247 on: November 12, 2019, 03:56:59 pm »
This was the function that bugged me most with the only  early DSO I actually used over a reasonable length of time.(A Tek THS720A)
When I troubleshoot equipment, I use a 'scope "DC coupled"  & in "free running" mode to look at the DC power supplies as I go along.

There is usually no need for high accuracy--- if say a supply looks "about" 5v, it is probably OK.
You then can look at signal levels, only triggering the instrument when you need to.

Try as I might, I couldn't find an equivalent of making an analog 'scope "free run".
The nearest was "roll mode", which wasn't really satisfactory, because, instead of the whole line shifting upwards when the probe was placed on, say +5v, it would display it as a transient.

It seems modern DSOs do not have this limitation, & there is a workaround with the THS720A, but It it wasn't evident at the time.

All analog oscilloscopes do automatic triggering in about the same way but digital storage oscilloscopes use a variety of methods to implement it with some being more user friendly than others.

The straightforward way would be to simply automatically trigger as fast as possible for the highest acquisition rate but this produces the most smeared display which can actually hide the signal characteristics other than uncorrelated envelope.  Better may be to periodically pause and highlight a single acquisition so that the actual waveform can be seen; Dave showed this in one of his videos.
 

Offline Wallace Gasiewicz

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #248 on: November 12, 2019, 10:56:32 pm »
I use an HP 1980, and am not sure that I can call it a strictly analog scope since it has several ancient processors in it.
Works just fine for most things I want to use it for, use Spectrum analyzers most of the time now though...
Even has digital memory for waveforms!!! (pretty crappy waveforms though)
Wally
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #249 on: November 13, 2019, 01:38:42 am »
This was the function that bugged me most with the only  early DSO I actually used over a reasonable length of time.(A Tek THS720A)
When I troubleshoot equipment, I use a 'scope "DC coupled"  & in "free running" mode to look at the DC power supplies as I go along.

There is usually no need for high accuracy--- if say a supply looks "about" 5v, it is probably OK.
You then can look at signal levels, only triggering the instrument when you need to.

Try as I might, I couldn't find an equivalent of making an analog 'scope "free run".
The nearest was "roll mode", which wasn't really satisfactory, because, instead of the whole line shifting upwards when the probe was placed on, say +5v, it would display it as a transient.

It seems modern DSOs do not have this limitation, & there is a workaround with the THS720A, but It it wasn't evident at the time.

All analog oscilloscopes do automatic triggering in about the same way but digital storage oscilloscopes use a variety of methods to implement it with some being more user friendly than others.

The straightforward way would be to simply automatically trigger as fast as possible for the highest acquisition rate but this produces the most smeared display which can actually hide the signal characteristics other than uncorrelated envelope.  Better may be to periodically pause and highlight a single acquisition so that the actual waveform can be seen; Dave showed this in one of his videos.

I made a similar comment on the apparent lack of auto triggering on the THS720A elsewhere, & was directed to a section in the manual which told how to do it.
It is a normal function, not a "workaround" as I suggested, but it isn't immediately obvious, unlike many of the other functions on that 'scope.

As when I let my 'scope "free run", I am effectively using it as a large scale analog DC voltmeter (with benefits ;D), I don't much care how fast it triggers, as long as the trace appears as a continuous line on the screen, which moves vertically with the application of DC voltages.

I find this so much more convenient than swapping back  & forth between 'scope & DMM.
Of course, if a DC level looks wrong, the meter is there to get a more accurate value, & if there is an ac component on a supply that shouldn't be there, I can quickly adjust the 'scope to investigate.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2019, 01:40:15 am by vk6zgo »
 


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