Tektronix 2246 pros and cons?

[tatel]

I have found a Tektronix 2246. Owner says it's working and provided pictures with traces on the screen. So at least CRT and one channel are working.

However, I have read somewhere it's full of unobtanium hybrid parts.

Price seems good for Europe.

Would you get it?

Any caveats?

[wn1fju]

It does have some hybrids, but not as many as some of Tek's other models (e.g. 24xx).

I have a 2246 and it is one of my favorite scopes, but at 100 MHz, it is obviously less suited for many modern applications. 

You didn't mention the asking price, but here in the USA, you can typically find these for less than $100 in "untested" condition.  You could always ask the seller to show you pictures with the scope working on all four channels and/or with various timebase settings.  That at least would verify most of the hybrids are OK.

[tatel]

I'm afraid price is twice that here. But, hey, an EBay 20 MHz dual-channel Hameg would be the same price, delivered.  They ask even €350 for these Hamegs! This will be almost a local pick, just some 100 kms from home. So, not that bad, I would think. Will see.

I want it to do PE-connected work, so maintaining my entry-level GW Instek DSO safe. Destroying it would set me back above €500 right now.

Also I want to see what's that makes analog oscilloscopes so appealing to so much experienced people. I hope it's not just nostalgia.

Thank you!

[martinr33]

It wasn't nostalgia, but...

I have a 2467B, a 400MHz scope that can catch and display a single pulse just a few nanoseconds wide. Digital scopes used to need a repeating waveform and multiple samples to get a good image.

Now, though, $1k and a bit of hacking will get you an 8MS/sec Rigol with logic analyzer capability.

So my analog scopes (and early digitals) are now retired.

[tatel]

Yep. MSO5074 and his siblings are really impressive.