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| Why did Tektronix stop making the great scopes? |
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| dom0:
--- Quote from: Wuerstchenhund on December 25, 2014, 03:08:51 pm --- --- Quote from: N2IXK on December 25, 2014, 02:31:04 pm ---Because they are referring to "well logging" in the oil and gas industry, where analog TEK scopes were a well established standard, and are apparently still in demand (even the lousy 900 series stuff): http://www.logwell.com/tech/oscilloscopes/Tek_T922R.html --- End quote --- It's hard to believe that no-one has come up with a solution based on a modern DSO, which I'm sure would be much more reliable and economical than buying and canibalizing old analog bangers. --- End quote --- What do they use them for? "Well logging" sounds at least to me like a job that a Yokogawa scopecorder is the ideal tool for. I "grew up" with an analog scope (single channel Hameg from the 60s), liked it, very easy to use, very reliable and solid. Bought another Hameg (2ch 35 MHz) a few years ago, liked it too, machine built in the 2000s. Lot more plastic, but still good mechanical construction. Made the switch to a cheap DSO a while ago, never looked back, never missed anything feature-wise. Sold the 2ch Hameg (no personal connection), kept the 1ch, still use it sometimes to monitor signal generator outputs when DSO is occupied. Still works. Dust everywhere inside, some botchjob inside at the HV PCB (yes, they used all silicon and FR-2-like (Hartpapier) PCBs), no leaked caps, nothing. Never removed the dust in fear of disadjusting one of the great many trimpots in there. I think, in conclusion, that there are lots more useful analog T&M devices than scopes, which are not overly useful today, except for nostalgia. A nice analog function gen, pulse gen, filter, RMS meter ... (wave analyzer, love my 3581a) has a lot more use today. There are no digital generators, for example, that can match the signal purity of a good LF gen. Even some >30 year old LF gen can achieve less than -80, -90 dB THD. Try that with a 9, 12 ... 14 bit DDS gen... (If you don't know Hameg, they're a German T&M manufacturer now bought by R&S. They mainly did low-end stuff for small companies and hobbyists. They have quite a reputation in Germany for their good value for money ratio and the robustness of their devices. Most of their stuff is based entirely on off-the-shelf components, so unlike Tek and HP devices you'll seldom run into issues with replacement parts availability — no custom chips, elaborate hybrids etc etc. But to be fair, their stuff, especially their scopes, have much much lower specs than what Tek did back in the day.) |
| Wuerstchenhund:
--- Quote from: dom0 on December 25, 2014, 06:44:12 pm ---What do they use them for? --- End quote --- I guess this is it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_logging Seems like a pretty standard logging task that could easily be done with any decent logger, DSO or acquisition card. --- Quote ---"Well logging" sounds at least to me like a job that a Yokogawa scopecorder is the ideal tool for. --- End quote --- You're right, Yokogawa is probably one of the names that would come to mind for tasks like these. It seems the main issue is that the scope has to be somewhat rugged as it is mounted in a truck, but that should be doable with a modern scope (which should be a lot less sensible to vibration than the old Tek bangers they seem to use). --- Quote ---I think, in conclusion, that there are lots more useful analog T&M devices than scopes, which are not overly useful today, except for nostalgia. --- End quote --- I fully agree. It's certainly nice to get an analog scope for nostalgia, especially if it is free or really cheap. But in this day and age I think it's silly to invest serious money in an analog boatanchor or buy one as primary scope. --- Quote ---A nice analog function gen, pulse gen, filter, RMS meter ... (wave analyzer, love my 3581a) has a lot more use today. --- End quote --- Yes, because (as you state correctly) an analog function generator can still offer some serious advantages over a digital one. The same can't be said for analog scopes, which lack in performance and capabilities compared with modern DSOs. --- Quote ---(If you don't know Hameg --- End quote --- I know Hameg quite well, the first scopes I ever used were Hameg analog scopes (HM203, HM205 and such). --- Quote ---They mainly did low-end stuff for small companies and hobbyists. They have quite a reputation in Germany for their good value for money ratio and the robustness of their devices. Most of their stuff is based entirely on off-the-shelf components, so unlike Tek and HP devices you'll seldom run into issues with replacement parts availability — no custom chips, elaborate hybrids etc etc. But to be fair, their stuff, especially their scopes, have much much lower specs than what Tek did back in the day.) --- End quote --- Their reputation wasn't limited to Germany, they're known pretty much throughout Europe. Hameg's reliance on standard parts was indeed a big plus and made them easy to repair. I wouldn't say they were lower specs than comparable Tek scopes, it's just that Hameg stayed within the lower bandwidths while Tek also made high-end scopes. But a 100MHz Hameg could hold its own very well against a comparable Tek or HP scope. |
| dom0:
--- Quote from: Wuerstchenhund on December 25, 2014, 07:31:45 pm ---Hameg's reliance on standard parts was indeed a big plus and made them easy to repair. I wouldn't say they were lower specs than comparable Tek scopes, it's just that Hameg stayed within the lower bandwidths while Tek also made high-end scopes. But a 100MHz Hameg could hold its own very well against a comparable Tek or HP scope. --- End quote --- Indeed, I did mean this and not that a Hameg scope is worse than a comparable Tek :) |
| Rupunzell:
The death of CRT O'scopes is directly related to the rise of DSP and computing in general. As the electronics world became more and more data centric and digital, the need and understanding of all that analog stuff fell by the way side along with the appreciation of what analog CRT based O'scopes do best. For most users, interpreting the CRT display can be tiresome with much hassle and futzing. If one is dealign with repetitive pulses, what matters most is on-off, time, amplitude and at time maybe spikes, glitches and noise. For the analog folks, that CRT display can contain a host of extremely important information that can tell much about what is actually happening. One of the core and key technologies for tek was their CRT expertise and vertical integration allowing them to build everything from the ground up. This worked against them as low cost and "cheap" instruments began to flood the market. To this day, I'm not fond of these low cost alternatives for a host of reasons. This along with the rise of DSO and digital and being purchased by Danaher Corporation has turned tek into a zombie company. All that has happened is a reflection of how the electronics industry has changed over the years. Most every company purchased, run by Danaher Corporation has become second-rate. They are much about profit for their share holders and little about actual product. |
| Hydrawerk:
--- Quote from: Richard Crowley on December 24, 2014, 01:23:39 am ---Does ANY modern equipment still use CRT technology? --- End quote --- It depends on what you call modern. http://www.gwinstek.com/en/product/productmcategory.aspx?pid=3&&mid= |
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