Oscilloscope

[Trevor]

Hi I have just started in electronics and have started to think about getting an oscilloscope. I don't have enough money for the $400 digital oscilloscopes. My family does not have a lot of money and the ones on ebay are still too much expensive. I'm just wondering if anyone has an old analog oscilloscope that I could have. Thanks 

[torr032]

Don't want to hijack your thread......but I am also searching for a scope and would love to have one. Digital ones are too expensive, USB oscilloscopes are hm So analog one is the best option but the prices are a bit high on ebay plus the import taxes would be as the scope price is. For the price of up to 25 euros I would pay no import taxes.

[mjkuwp]

Trevor, you should set your country flag in your profile or edit your first post or respond to let people what country you are in or even which specific city.  Shipping is a big issue with any of the scopes except for tiny hand-held ones.  welcome!

[TriodeTiger]

I got my first CRO from the US, $80 for a good 60MHz and $80 shipping with no duties or anything. A local technical school had a few fixies that could be had, and even sold after to get a better one. I haven't a clue what kinda hobby stuff you wish to do, but most people tend to only actually look at frequencies and if a signal is on or off or roughly the right shape or duty cycle - so a DIY one with an ADC could be an option, or sound card oscilloscope, etc. for beginning.

[Trevor]

Well the country I live in is the U.S. The state i live in is Minnesota. Hope that helps.

[Electro Fan]

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/ele/4593959434.html
- looks cosmetically nice and has a probe; for $25 it might be worth going to see it and taking some type of test items (batteries, breadboards, etc.) you could run a few tests on

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/ele/4617330559.html

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/ele/4617328925.html
- says OBO ("Or Best Offer")

[BravoV]

Well the country I live in is the U.S.

Frankly speaking, to us that are reside outside US, you live in in a place that what we called "a heaven" of used T&M equipments, cmiiw.

[Electro Fan]

Well the country I live in is the U.S.

Frankly speaking, to us that are reside outside US, you live in in a place that what we called "a heaven" of used T&M equipments, cmiiw.

Yep, not everything goes right or as well as it could or should all the time in the U.S., but in general people living in the U.S. should be pretty thankful and not just for T&M equipment - but maybe for that too

[Trevor]

I saw that one but it would take 3 hours to drive there. I'm not an adult and i cant drive yet. My parents said it was to far. Any suggestions?

[miguelvp]

Do extra chores worth a 6 hours drive? (back and forth)

[Electro Fan]

I think doing the chores in return for the transportation is a pretty good idea.  First you could call the buyer and talk them through some basic tests (see if a battery reads properly).   If it sounds like it is working you could either figure out how to get a ride there (do the chores), or maybe meet the seller half way in between (do half the chores), or maybe they can ship it to you for a reasonable price (do enough chores to cover the $25 plus the shipping).  I'm pretty sure that figuring out how to work with electricity is going to be slightly more challenging than earning a car ride and/or $25-$50.  This could be your first test of how much you want to learn electricity.  Where there is a will there is a way.

[Trevor]

Thanks guys Ill do that.

[Electro Fan]

Burnsville is a city 15 miles south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County in the State of Minnesota.

http://www.mvta.com/Fare_Information.html

[HiTech]

Frankly speaking, to us that are reside outside US, you live in in a place that what we called "a heaven" of used T&M equipments, cmiiw.

Quite true as I am told by numerous international buyers on my eBay auctions. They are willing to pay the extra S&H costs to get their hands on nice test equipment.

As for Trevor's need of a scope, perhaps you can check with nearby colleges, high schools, trade schools, etc. Often they are about to dump older equipment (either selling it online or literally into a dumpster). I've bought some very nice items that way for darn cheap... and I mean darn cheap! A college near me just got rid of several fine working Tektronix 30 MHz & 60MHz scopes for next to nothing. Wavetek function generators and frequency counters went for around $25 and those were the upper end, full featured models.

[nctnico]

I saw that one but it would take 3 hours to drive there. I'm not an adult and i cant drive yet. My parents said it was to far. Any suggestions?

Have it send over by USPS. If USPS can deliver stuff thousands of miles away to my home they should be able to cover a couple of hundred miles.

[GreyWoolfe]

Don't count on that.  The USPS lost over 2 billion dollars last quarter.  Not sure if the post office can find it's own butt with both hands.  The joys of gov't run/supervised entities.