Why does everyone have twenty oscilliscopes?

[xrunner]

Build the 2nd one. 

Yea - like really fast before the first one breaks. 

[dadler]

What if you need to fix your scope? 

Well, if you go back far enough in time - there were no oscilloscopes. If you then go forward in time, at some point there was the first oscilloscope. So, how did they fix the first oscilloscope without another oscilloscope

Same way they wrote the first assembler/compiler ...

[John Coloccia]

Are electronicists hoarders, or is there another reason why everyone seems to have a room full of test equipment?

Because we can't afford two rooms full of test equipment.

Seriously, what am I going to get for an old scope once it's old enough that I have to upgrade, especially now that you can get so much scope so cheaply? I'd rather just dedicate it to some sort of test station, or something like that.

[miguelvp]

I have 4 scopes, well 6 if you count the diligent analog discovery and an FPGA based BeScope, but those two need a PC to work, the other 4 are stand alone.

[-jeffB]

When I was a kid, I desperately longed for an oscilloscope. But I had little money, and didn't know where or how to find cheap used ones, so longing was all I could do, with the intensity that only kids can muster.

As an adult, I got a well-paying job, and I could afford to indulge my childhood longings. Repeatedly.

[c4757p]

I'm just too lazy to get rid of my old crap. Still have to post my TDS-380 for sale before I can buy myself a new scope...

[MadTux]

What if you need to fix your scope? 

Well, if you go back far enough in time - there were no oscilloscopes. If you then go forward in time, at some point there was the first oscilloscope. So, how did they fix the first oscilloscope without another oscilloscope

Was probably more like a gradual process back then. Someone invented variable frequency audio saw tooth generator. You could use a speaker and ears to debug it. Then someone hooked it to the horizontal deflection plates of an electrostatic CRT and put unknown/test signals on vertical plates of that CRT. Adjust saw tooth freq to harmonic/subharmonic of test signal and you had stable display. First simple, untriggered scope was born. Simple to build and easy to repair, but quite useless in today's world. But better than a voltmeter for fast signals

Then they invented scope trigger, trigger holdoff, alternate/chopped sweep, second time base, calibrated timebase, variable gain amplifiers, increased bandwidth, CRT readout..... and you got the late analog beasts that are quite impossible to repair without second working scope, if the fault is somewhere deep inside.

[AF6LJ]

What if you need to fix your scope? 

Well, if you go back far enough in time - there were no oscilloscopes. If you then go forward in time, at some point there was the first oscilloscope. So, how did they fix the first oscilloscope without another oscilloscope

Is this like needing a tube checker to check a tube in your tube checker; so you can check a tube??

[Mr.B]

Is this like needing a tube checker to check a tube in your tube checker; so you can check a tube??

Try saying that 10 times out loud and fast...   

[bills]

I feel inadequate I only have 5 scopes But I am going to buy another one.  rigol 1045 from tequiptment for $375.00 shipped.
The only problem is that I have not used any of the other scopes for years, still I feel the need for something new.
I will give away one or two of the old ones to make room.( yes I can be considered a nut case )
bill

[Electro Fan]

Are electronicists hoarders, or is there another reason why everyone seems to have a room full of test equipment?

Because we can't afford two rooms full of test equipment.

LOL

[TiN]

Only one here, but it's 4G one 

[bills]

Are electronicists hoarders, or is there another reason why everyone seems to have a room full of test equipment?

Because we can't afford two rooms full of test equipment.

LOL

Be glad that you do not have more room, I do and I have stuff I have not seen in years I was looking for something yesterday and found things that I had no idea that I had or where I got them from All I can say is my kids have a lot work to do when I die. I have decided to start giving away some of it , But where to start ?

[vk6zgo]

I have just three:-

A BWD511 that cost me $A225 secondhand back in 1989 or so.
It doesn't work-----legacy of trying to find a triggering fault without another 'scope.("divide & conquer" technique using a DMM didn't work!)

A little 10MHz "Digitech" single channel thingy that I bought to fix the BWD----cost me $A135 from Jaycar.
I did find the BWD's problem with it,but other stuff had been disturbed,so I never finished fixing  that instrument.

The Digitech "croaked" too,but I fixed it with a DMM & a sharp eye

Last but not least,a Tektronix 7613 with 7B53A and two vertical plugins for $A135 at a Hamfest.
Woo-ee! 4 channels!!

All "goers" except the BWD,but I might have another go at it.

I saw a Hantek 6022BE on "Gumtree" & thought of buying it to make up the number to four,& also so I could point at it & go into peals of insane laughter ----but perhaps not!

I only have one functional laptop at the moment,so would be stealing this one every time I wanted to fire up the Hantek.

[rs20]

I have a Rigol DS2000 (2 channel, 200 MHz) series and a old Tek 754C (4 channel, 500 MHz). Between them, I more-or-less have:
-- 4 channels
-- 500 MHz
-- Serial protocol decoding
-- VGA output
-- USB output
-- Network output
-- Lots of waveforms per second
-- etc etc

Now I challenge you to find a single scope that gives me the same functionality for less cost than the two scopes I have!

[nbritton]

I have a Rigol DS2000 (2 channel, 200 MHz) series and a old Tek 754C (4 channel, 500 MHz). Between them, I more-or-less have:
-- 4 channels
-- 500 MHz
-- Serial protocol decoding
-- VGA output
-- USB output
-- Network output
-- Lots of waveforms per second
-- etc etc

Now I challenge you to find a single scope that gives me the same functionality for less cost than the two scopes I have!

A hacked Rigol MSO4014, currently on sale at tequimptment.net for $2594. Has everything you said plus:

-- 16 channel logic analyzer
-- 4GSa/s
-- 140 Mpts

[Neganur]

It's actually something that has annoyed me in the past when I wanted to buy a Tektronix 7104. There are folks who sit on 3-4 of them and only ever fire one up to look at the trace and shut it down immediately because they're afraid to wear the screen out. The market is swept clean by collectors, and those who would use the scope as their main instrument are unable to get one. If you happen to ask if you could buy one of the extras you get replies like "it's not a scope meant for every day use" implying that for some reason you're not worthy of using it.

I guess those with many older tek scopes are very often people who repair/restore them and/or used to do so in their professional life. I also think that modern scopes are powerful in so many ways that you simply don't need more than one good one at home (unless for some reason you need the # of channels maybe?). But given the opportunity, why not pick up another when it's cheap. You can always sell it again when you're tire of looking at it

[Smokey]

What a funny topic.  I laughed at first..  Then i counted scopes.
 9 counting usb daqs. 
When is that test equipment support group meeting again?

[bills]

We ( I was going to say He who has the most stuff wins) that have the most stuff wins.
but there seems to be women that has more stuff than me. 

[pickle9000]

I only have four (now).

[Alex Nikitin]

Well, I have only four scopes. The oldest one (and probably the most treasured) is the Sony-Tektronix 305DMM portable, battery powered 5MHz dual-channel scope. I've bought it over 25 years ago and paid the price of a small car for it (about a year of my salary at the time). It is still on active duty on my bench paired with the Amber 3501 audio analyser.

I also have Tektronix 2465BCT which is my main scope, Agilent DSO3062A for times when I need a digital one (not often, though it may see more use when I'll measure LF noise on my voltage references) and Tektronix 2213A (got it for free at work about 10 years ago, with completely blown input stages in both channels, repaired it and now it is a spare scope in the lab, not getting much use.

Do I need sixteen more scopes? Not really, as I have a collection of over two hundred cassette decks, which takes some space already  .

Cheers

Alex

[lowimpedance]

I have a collection of over two hundred cassette decks, which takes some space already  .

Cheers

Alex

Cassette decks !! ,  you collect them or is there another reason ?. A photo of the storage room would be interesting then followed by the other two storage rooms of tapes. 

[Psi]

Because..

Oscilloscopes Start Creeping Into Living Locations, Owners Start Craving Oscilloscope Positions Everywhere

And the recursion of an acronym that contains itself twice drives us all mad.

OSCILLOSCOPE

[tec5c]

To conclude the OP's statement... they don't.

[Ivan7enych]

10 years ago, when my old the only one analog oscilloscope has died, I felt myself like a blind man... That's why I bought a second one. Then I repaierd it (zener diode in power supply died), then gave to my fiend...

Now I have 3 scopes -
rigol mso2072a (use it most of the time),
old Tek TDS744a (hacked to 784a) - used sometimes for high frequency,
and usb velleman PSU1000 scope - use it very rarely to do some repair in my car.