Help me choose an oscilloscope

[Rick]

Hi all

I'm about to buy an oscilloscope (right now, I want chance to use it
to test some stuff before I go back to work in 12 days)

My funds are rather limited, and any not spent on the scope will
likely go to other electronics test gear, of which I don't have much
(I've just got a Fluke multimeter, logic probe and pair of hands).

Please give any advice you can re. reliability, facilities and ease of
use (in that order) of the following choices:

1) Hitachi. V-1070. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Four Channel Portable Scope
with Read Out & Delay. Price Ł225.00

2) Kikusui. COS-6100A. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Five Channel Portable
Scope with Delay. Price Ł187.50

3) Philips. PM 3240X. 50MHz. Dual Trace Portable Scope with Delay &
TV Triggering. Price Ł85.00

4) Philips. PM 3262. 100MHz. Dual Channel Portable Scope with Delay.
Price Ł125.00

5) Tek. 465. 100MHz. Dual Trace Portable Scope with Delay. C/w:
Opt’s: 04 & 07. Price Ł150.00

These include only a "return within 24 hours of purchase if faulty"
warranty.

I mainly do / want to do digital, PIC, 8051, audio, PC interfacing
(especially ADC/DAC) and digital audio, although I can't rule out some
lower RF (I can't afford more bandwidth though).

The Hitachi would be stretching the budget (a lot) but if it is worth
the extra compared to the others, it's possible.

Please help,
Rick.

 

[Grant Erwin]

I would personally not buy a scope sight unseen with only a 24 hour
warranty. Are you aware of the difficulty in obtaining parts for
some of these older scopes? As in, you better buy TWO of them in
case you ever need a part!

I have been burned severely. You have to first make sure the trace is
nice and sharp. If it isn't, then it is possible the CRT is gassy,
and this can cost a whole lot more than the scope is worth to fix.
In other words, it's a showstopper. Many 465's are in this category.

Keep looking. Be very reluctant to part with your money until you are
dead certain you are getting into something good or that you can get
back out of easily. And plan to do a lot of testing as soon as you
get the scope. Check both the probe and 50 ohm inputs on each input,
and try every range possible. If you can, get a scope with a manual
and go through the manual and try to check as many functions as you
can.

Good luck!

Rick wrote:

Hi all

I'm about to buy an oscilloscope (right now, I want chance to use it
to test some stuff before I go back to work in 12 days)

My funds are rather limited, and any not spent on the scope will
likely go to other electronics test gear, of which I don't have much
(I've just got a Fluke multimeter, logic probe and pair of hands).

Please give any advice you can re. reliability, facilities and ease of
use (in that order) of the following choices:

1) Hitachi. V-1070. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Four Channel Portable Scope
with Read Out & Delay. Price Ł225.00

2) Kikusui. COS-6100A. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Five Channel Portable
Scope with Delay. Price Ł187.50

3) Philips. PM 3240X. 50MHz. Dual Trace Portable Scope with Delay &
TV Triggering. Price Ł85.00

4) Philips. PM 3262. 100MHz. Dual Channel Portable Scope with Delay.
Price Ł125.00

5) Tek. 465. 100MHz. Dual Trace Portable Scope with Delay. C/w:
Opt’s: 04 & 07. Price Ł150.00

These include only a "return within 24 hours of purchase if faulty"
warranty.

I mainly do / want to do digital, PIC, 8051, audio, PC interfacing
(especially ADC/DAC) and digital audio, although I can't rule out some
lower RF (I can't afford more bandwidth though).

The Hitachi would be stretching the budget (a lot) but if it is worth
the extra compared to the others, it's possible.

Please help,
Rick.

 

[Rick]

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 15:55:46 GMT, Harvey White <madyn@ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

2) Kikusui. COS-6100A. 100MHz. Dual Trace, Five Channel Portable
Scope with Delay. Price Ł187.50

Having said that about the Hitachi, if you can't afford the scope, the
Kikusui's features seem just as nice, although I'm curious about that
fifth channel. Haven't seen a scope that does that.

Apparently the Kikusui can display up to 12 traces. I've found one at
eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2552965935&category=4677

I've decided I'll have to wait, and I'm selling my Sun U5 so I can
afford a better (new?) 'scope!

Thanks for the replies, Rick