Products > Test Equipment
Shopping. How long do (chinese) scopes last?
argile_tile:
So I'm thinking "throw away the tek 420a i can't find a power supply replacement*".
I'm looking at Hantek $200 - $500 models. I am unsure which and how long they will last. I am guessing if the power dies they will not be repairable. So how long should I guess I will own it? That would help me decide between models. (EEVBlog gave a horrid review of "touchpad scope" fnf1rn or what - so that's out the window)
Measuring $/(hours_on), low hobby budget.
I very much remember the "scopes in the dumpster" EEVblog episode. I'm unsure if I have money to set down $500 if I know the scope will fry itself in a 2 yr. I'd be the $200 customer or even put off getting one if they are 2yr not 10yr builds. (and the features are changing so quick: Hantek is on the move.)
Should I consider a $500 low-end Keysight or Tek (that appear to be cheap chinese units) as will "lasting longer and better to own", or no, they will die just as soon and be less featured as to new hantek $500?
I'm a linux users I'm not helped by "win10 only", nor will i plug any wire into my PC from any project board. I like "hackable" but - for money - knobs and display and results: are good too.
Tek 420a: slowly had issues coming on - then just stopped. Caps were good. I think the transformer was dead (my chart says - i disconnected it completely after suspicion ran many tests - sometimes using power from the ps), I couldn't be sure. No schematic available u kno. I burned the ps up after about 100 tests transformer I/O i mistakenly shorted it went right to power control IC (i was searching for possible issue that wasn't transformer's fault with just a multimeter). I (assume) I can't replace the ps - there are like 40+ pins to power - at least three voltages, and who knows what they didn't document on 20 pins they didn't document :) Scope obviously was not connected during any test whatsoever - sure it works still.
BillyO:
I have an 11 year old UNI-T that looks like the day I took it out of the box. A round-about estimate is 8,000 power-on hours or about $0.20 per hour. I would not consider UNI-T to be the best made scope out there. I am sure a Siglent or Rigol would be a better bet, but the UNI-T shows no signs of getting worn out or failing. But now it's back in it's box looking for a buyer. YMMV.
The Siglent 2000XP and 1000X-E series scopes (I have both) have web interfaces, Ethernet connectivity, are trivially hackable, and are orders of magnitude better built scopes than the UNI-T. But time will tell...
BTW, my Tek 465 (about 45 years old) is still going strong and it's cost per POH is probably similar to the UNI-T.
james_s:
They're probably fine, but don't throw away the Tek, even with a bad power supply it can be sold. I finally managed to fix both of the TDS400's I have, both had bad power supplies when I got them.
edavid:
Why would you spend $500 on a Hantek when you could get a much better GW Instek, Rigol, or Siglent scope for less?
Instek GDS-1054B is currently $350 from Tequipment with EEVblog discount.
It even has a 3 year warranty.
argile_tile:
--- Quote from: james_s on February 15, 2023, 01:14:28 am ---They're probably fine, but don't throw away the Tek, even with a bad power supply it can be sold. I finally managed to fix both of the TDS400's I have, both had bad power supplies when I got them.
--- End quote ---
I'm unsure anyone would pay what shipping now costs for a Tek 420a with 1 burned out channel (2 good, 1 mostly-good) and no power. Been on the floor for a year. One Nicad battery is damaged poorly charges.
The parts and time to connect 40 "not all known connectors" will cost as much as a UNI-T or Hantek I think. For example: I can say "taken an old PC supply it has 12V 5V", but 5V on a PC supply is thin: the scope uses ALLOT of amps on 5V. It's not cheap to fix at all - I think. And oh did i loose the ROM by having a bad battery?
Unless you have advice :) I actually have a large old OS transformer that "might power it has many taps" ... but I don't want to burn up a good transformer unless I know the specs on the 420a: i would burn out a heavy transformer for no good reason. on the other hand, buying TI discrete parts part by part on mouser for 40 pins connecting them all for the watts this things needs: that's gonna cost allot really.
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