Author Topic: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?  (Read 33246 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline 001Topic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1170
  • Country: aq
Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« on: July 30, 2019, 03:04:56 pm »
Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019? Why?
 

Offline Kleinstein

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 14016
  • Country: de
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2019, 03:07:39 pm »
I still use an analog scope - because I know it, and for many tasks it's sufficient. So there was not enough need to buy a DSO.
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline JxR

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 352
  • Country: us
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2019, 03:18:18 pm »
Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019? Why?

Why does 001 post random topics they almost never contribute to?  I'm only calling you out due to the sheer volume of post where I see you do this.

I honestly think you would be happier posting on the website: reddit.com. There are no "up votes" here.

 
The following users thanked this post: Yansi, Synthtech

Offline 001Topic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1170
  • Country: aq
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2019, 03:21:12 pm »
Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019? Why?

Why does 001 post random topics they almost never contribute to?  I'm only calling you out due to the sheer volume of post where I see you do this.

I honestly think you would be happier posting on the website: reddit.com. There are no "up votes" here.

Why so angry? I post service manuals schematics etc. for members
But I have questions too
 

Online tautech

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 28058
  • Country: nz
  • Taupaki Technologies Ltd. Siglent Distributor NZ.
    • Taupaki Technologies Ltd.
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2019, 03:51:17 pm »
Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019? Why?
Nope, never anymore.

Why do you ask is more important ?
Avid Rabid Hobbyist
Siglent Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SiglentVideo/videos
 

Online Bud

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6860
  • Country: ca
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2019, 04:01:18 pm »
It is not that i "still" use them, they are  primary tools in my shack, as i deal with RF stuff, analog scopes give best buck per MHz.
Facebook-free life and Rigol-free shack.
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Online med6753

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 11311
  • Country: us
  • Tek nut
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2019, 04:04:20 pm »
9 analog scopes vs 1 DSO. I think that answers your question.
An old gray beard with an attitude.
 
The following users thanked this post: 001, Tom45, Electro Detective

Offline Stray Electron

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2034
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2019, 04:05:51 pm »
  Nope. When I got my first DSO, a HP 54510A, and I tried it I was so impressed with it that I gave away all of the analog scopes that I had and I've never looked back. I had very expensive HP 1726A analog storage scope and we'd been trying for weeks to catch a fast pulse in a flash lamp circuit and could never catch it but the FIRST time that we tried the 54510 it caught it.  We turned around and ordered a second HP 54510 that very same day.
 
The following users thanked this post: thm_w, Yansi, Mr. Scram

Offline 001Topic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1170
  • Country: aq
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2019, 04:06:47 pm »


Why do you ask is more important ?
 


I use one. But is it time to upgrade to DSO now?
 

Online tautech

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 28058
  • Country: nz
  • Taupaki Technologies Ltd. Siglent Distributor NZ.
    • Taupaki Technologies Ltd.
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2019, 04:08:37 pm »


Why do you ask is more important ?
 


I use one. But is it time to upgrade to DSO now?
How could I know ?  :-//
Avid Rabid Hobbyist
Siglent Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SiglentVideo/videos
 
The following users thanked this post: Ysjoelfir

Offline Mr. Scram

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9810
  • Country: 00
  • Display aficionado
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2019, 04:14:28 pm »
Dave made a somewhat relevant video.

 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline Stray Electron

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2034
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2019, 04:17:28 pm »
  It depends on what you're doing. If you're just looking for a waveform and your analog is fast enough then it's fine. But if you want to store the waveform or to measure it's parameters then a DSO is much easier to use, particularly on single shot events. Even the almost 20 year old HP 545510 will quickly and easily measure frequency, period, peak voltage, RMS average, risetime, and a number of other parameters. The leCroy 935x scopes that I now mostly use will also give you FFTs, power measurements and other very sophisticated math operations.
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline nigelwright7557

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 689
  • Country: gb
    • Electronic controls
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2019, 04:20:27 pm »
Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019? Why?

The main reason I use one is it was cheap and second hand off ebay.
It does most of what I want although recently I have been getting into +20MHz signals and its a bit slow for that.

I actually design USB PC oscilloscopes.
So if I need something to store waveforms I use one of those.

You can pick up a USB PC scope off ebay for peanuts now.

 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline james_s

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 21611
  • Country: us
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2019, 04:21:26 pm »
I still use one occasionally, my primary scopes are DSOs but the XY mode on my analog scope blows away every DSO I've tried for that purpose.
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline schmitt trigger

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2199
  • Country: mx
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2019, 04:21:50 pm »
Back in the early 1990s, when the DSO's record length wasn't deep enough (unless one paid a fortune) I was also designing analog-TV baseband circuits.

To properly see the chroma burst and static pattern in the active video, one had to use an analog scope.
Not any scope, but one which had advanced TV triggering capabilities, i.e. trigger from a specific line. But the resulting display was very dim.

For that reason, Tektronix and other manufacturers also sold waveform monitors, which were specialized scopes for the purpose of viewing analog TV signals, see attached image.
Then Tektronix came out with the VM700, one of the first all-digital waveform monitor.

Ever since I first used the VM700 in perhaps 1995, I have never again used an analog scope.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2019, 04:23:42 pm by schmitt trigger »
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline Stray Electron

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2034
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #15 on: July 30, 2019, 04:31:27 pm »
I still use one occasionally, my primary scopes are DSOs but the XY mode on my analog scope blows away every DSO I've tried for that purpose.

  Very true, analog scopes are unbeatable for making curve tracers and the like.
 

Offline Stray Electron

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2034
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #16 on: July 30, 2019, 04:37:41 pm »
Back in the early 1990s, when the DSO's record length wasn't deep enough (unless one paid a fortune) I was also designing analog-TV baseband circuits.

To properly see the chroma burst and static pattern in the active video, one had to use an analog scope.
Not any scope, but one which had advanced TV triggering capabilities, i.e. trigger from a specific line. But the resulting display was very dim.

   That was the problem that we had when trying to use the 1726 analog storage scope to catch the pulse to a flash lamp.  We could keep tinkering and finally get it to trigger but the pulse was so narrow and so dim that you couldn't see it on the display.
 

Offline maxwell3e10

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 869
  • Country: us
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #17 on: July 30, 2019, 04:49:20 pm »
In my self-imposed challenge of doing hobby electronics on lowest possible budget, my home setup is a used analog scope ($50) and an LHT00SU1 USB logic analyzer/1 ch scope ($25)
 

Offline tggzzz

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 19194
  • Country: gb
  • Numbers, not adjectives
    • Having fun doing more, with less
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #18 on: July 30, 2019, 05:09:00 pm »


Why do you ask is more important ?
 

I use one. But is it time to upgrade to DSO now?

Yes on Tuesdays, no on Thursdays.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 
The following users thanked this post: tautech, 001

Offline bob91343

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2675
  • Country: us
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #19 on: July 30, 2019, 05:09:17 pm »
My usual unit is analog.  If I need more careful analysis I break out the digital.  In summation, the digital gets used very little.

The analog is 150 MHz and the digital 500 MHz.  Nice thing, the analog is smaller.
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline tggzzz

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 19194
  • Country: gb
  • Numbers, not adjectives
    • Having fun doing more, with less
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #20 on: July 30, 2019, 05:11:18 pm »
  It depends on what you're doing. If you're just looking for a waveform and your analog is fast enough then it's fine. But if you want to store the waveform or to measure it's parameters then a DSO is much easier to use, particularly on single shot events. Even the almost 20 year old HP 545510 will quickly and easily measure frequency, period, peak voltage, RMS average, risetime, and a number of other parameters. The leCroy 935x scopes that I now mostly use will also give you FFTs, power measurements and other very sophisticated math operations.

Capturing single shot events is the only killer use-case for digitising scopes. Everything else is down to convenience and cost.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Online tautech

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 28058
  • Country: nz
  • Taupaki Technologies Ltd. Siglent Distributor NZ.
    • Taupaki Technologies Ltd.
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #21 on: July 30, 2019, 05:15:21 pm »
The analog is 150 MHz and the digital 500 MHz.  Nice thing, the analog is smaller.
Really ?
Other way around here.

This, my only working CRO (15 MHz) is bigger than my 500 MHz DSO.
Avid Rabid Hobbyist
Siglent Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SiglentVideo/videos
 
The following users thanked this post: 001

Offline Mr. Scram

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9810
  • Country: 00
  • Display aficionado
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #22 on: July 30, 2019, 05:16:35 pm »
  It depends on what you're doing. If you're just looking for a waveform and your analog is fast enough then it's fine. But if you want to store the waveform or to measure it's parameters then a DSO is much easier to use, particularly on single shot events. Even the almost 20 year old HP 545510 will quickly and easily measure frequency, period, peak voltage, RMS average, risetime, and a number of other parameters. The leCroy 935x scopes that I now mostly use will also give you FFTs, power measurements and other very sophisticated math operations.

Capturing single shot events is the only killer use-case for digitising scopes. Everything else is down to convenience and cost.
Decoding digital signals while viewing the waveforms, FFT, math, capturing waveforms for further processing on the PC. I could name a few.
 

Offline tggzzz

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 19194
  • Country: gb
  • Numbers, not adjectives
    • Having fun doing more, with less
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #23 on: July 30, 2019, 05:30:08 pm »
  It depends on what you're doing. If you're just looking for a waveform and your analog is fast enough then it's fine. But if you want to store the waveform or to measure it's parameters then a DSO is much easier to use, particularly on single shot events. Even the almost 20 year old HP 545510 will quickly and easily measure frequency, period, peak voltage, RMS average, risetime, and a number of other parameters. The leCroy 935x scopes that I now mostly use will also give you FFTs, power measurements and other very sophisticated math operations.

Capturing single shot events is the only killer use-case for digitising scopes. Everything else is down to convenience and cost.
Decoding digital signals while viewing the waveforms,

A logic analyser is better for that.

Quote
FFT

Spectrum analyser or modulation domain analyser are better for that.

Quote
math, capturing waveforms for further processing on the PC. I could name a few.

Can be done using other techniques (see before digitising scopes were usable), but convenience is a factor!
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 

Offline Mr. Scram

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9810
  • Country: 00
  • Display aficionado
Re: Do You still use analog oscilloscopes in 2019?
« Reply #24 on: July 30, 2019, 05:42:13 pm »
Convenience is a huge factor. If you value your time even just slightly having the ability to do something easily is a huge boon. With patience and skill most things can be done with basic tools, but our time on this planet is limited. Oscilloscopes are a means and generally not an end and being able to do something the hard way doesn't mean wanting to it that way every time. Obviously FFT could be done better but typically at a huge cost. It's generally many times the price of a decent oscilloscope. Having basic FFT capabilities in a device already on your desk can be quite beneficial. Logic analysers don't always display the analogue waveform in which case it can be hard to troubleshoot your issue if it's to do with signal integrity. Having MSO capabilities to correlate analogue and digital can be very useful.
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf