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| Does old test equipment really ever become truly obsolete? |
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| G0HZU:
My really old (and long obsolete according to Keysight) Infiniium 500MHz DSO can display magnitude and phase in FFT mode. It also reports the 'resolution' although I'm not sure this is the same as the resolution bandwidth. The 'resolution' doesn't change if I change the window type for example. Either way, the FFT function is fairly poor on this scope. Not as poor as some other scopes, but poor enough to only make me use it for really quick/casual measurements. I also have a newer DSO here made by Tek (MSO4104) and the FFT function is not nice to use. I rarely use this scope, even for everyday stuff because the UI is so awful. It does have a nice big display though. I think this Tek scope is only about 12-13 years old but it feels very dated. It has the latest firmware so this is about as good as it is ever going to be. The features on the newer scopes from manufacturers like Siglent really do show how restrictive and poor these older Tek scopes are today. It's hard to imagine how this MSO4104 could ever be classed as 'obsolete' in the sense it could no longer be useful in a typical engineering lab. However, in 50 years' time who knows what will change. Maybe the 230V AC mains system will change by then or maybe there will be health and safety regulations that effectively make it obsolete. I still have my first scope here (Tek 585) and I think it is over 60 years old and it still worked the last time I powered it up. I would class this scope as obsolete but I'm sure there are plenty of happy 5xx series scope users still out there. |
| nctnico:
--- Quote from: Aldo22 on May 23, 2024, 02:36:38 pm ---The fact that you can still "use" old equipment (if you have nothing better) is one thing. What is repeatedly recommended to beginners in this forum is to buy a 30-year-old 20MHz CRO because it is "better" than, for example, a Hantek DSO2000 for a similar price. Is that nonsense or can you say that with a clear conscience? --- End quote --- It is not nonsense, it is utter nonsense. The same goes for every bench DMM thread. Someone will come in and go harping on about some ancient 6.5 digit HP / Agilent DMM with little features and a crappy VFD or LCD display. |
| coppercone2:
what the hell features are you looking for. even the new stats feature that you get on the new DMM truevolts, try using that in a company. like I wanna see someone that actually made a decision with it. you end up writing down V or A or Ohm. historgrams and graphs are open to interpretation and no one can make a decision with that.causes confusion then you get some other BS thats not even optimized. The beeper is useful and the diode test, well you wanna get a fluke for that since it goes to a higher voltage anyway. Most people end up using the hand held 4.5 digit DMM because its calibrated and they can walk around with it, it has a clock display. then I end up with a high end DMM on my soldering workstation permanently in continuity mode and TONS of stuff in modern electronics are too unstable to use with the high resolutions anyway do i even use the true volt unless I have to? No. it takes too long to boot up. I have a 34401A under it that gets used all the time over the fancy 7.5 digit meter that has to spool up the OS for way too long and annoys me with its bright light seriously it feels like a joke when you need to wait for equipment to setup in a work environment. and you know I will round it down to 10 mV because its going to just create confusion or be incompatible or cause too tight a spec for no reason or just drift way too much to be of any use |
| DimitriP:
--- Quote ---ancient 6.5 digit HP / Agilent DMM with little features and a crappy VFD or LCD display --- End quote --- HP /Agilent 6.5 digit display ARE the "features". The rest is eye candy, design, procurement, production and future service , calibaration and warranty "optimization". Now, if I could get my hands on one of those "ancient, 6.5 digit HP /Agilent DMM with little features" , "cheaply" I would be happy ! :) |
| tggzzz:
Don't be silly, DimitriP and coppercone2. Newer is always better. Directly something newer arrives, all older stuff becomes useless - and it is immoral to let newbies use anything except the newer stuff. |
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