This ain't your Daddy's 'scope
- Thread starter Honkridge
- Start date
Steverino
black sheep
We just purchased two Tek Scope Calibrators, if I recall they were around $40K apiece, all the bells and whistles, accessories, support. Those sales reps had a good day.
Though Tek still leads the market, there are much cheaper alternatives out there for the hobbyist or small business that may not need NIST traceability or a really high accuracy. Some of the stuff we cal requires a calibrator with a really high risetime.
We've seen some Chinese-made scopes come that engineers bought and sent in that wouldn't meet it's manufacturer's specs right out of the box. We can still calibrate it, but with limitations. There are even spectrum analyzer apps you can buy.
Same goes for Fluke when it comes to cheaper alternatives. They're facing some stiff competition these days and I've even recommended cheaper options to customers that were just as accurate. You just can't drop a cheap DMM from the top of a rocket test stand and hope it'll survive like a Fluke would.
In my little shop, I still have the ol' industry standard Tek 465. Still going. And an old Fluke 8060. Took it to work and had it cal'd, it was still dead on.
Though Tek still leads the market, there are much cheaper alternatives out there for the hobbyist or small business that may not need NIST traceability or a really high accuracy. Some of the stuff we cal requires a calibrator with a really high risetime.
We've seen some Chinese-made scopes come that engineers bought and sent in that wouldn't meet it's manufacturer's specs right out of the box. We can still calibrate it, but with limitations. There are even spectrum analyzer apps you can buy.
Same goes for Fluke when it comes to cheaper alternatives. They're facing some stiff competition these days and I've even recommended cheaper options to customers that were just as accurate. You just can't drop a cheap DMM from the top of a rocket test stand and hope it'll survive like a Fluke would.
In my little shop, I still have the ol' industry standard Tek 465. Still going. And an old Fluke 8060. Took it to work and had it cal'd, it was still dead on.
parrotheada1a
Resident Pitmaster
But does it work for microwave & higher bands? This is interesting, because one of our customers wants us to buy one of these to impedance test their boards.
BlockInlay
Octavate.band
Buy it and rent out the use of it back to them. Yay middleman business!
I hope you guys all get one of these so you can go party with that little [Asian] girl too!
Honkridge
UNACCEPTABLE!
shoeless
Riffin'
I'm intrigued. Who knew you could get a single channel, 200 kHz scope for $25? What times we live in. Let us know if it works or if it's junk. I may just get one myself.
wagdog
Ack
I will report back when I get it.
I watched a couple-few youtube videos and they look usable.
wagdog
Ack
I just bought a signal generator for $5.50. https://www.ebay.com/itm/222616704375
Somebody stop me, please.
Somebody stop me, please.
shoeless
Riffin'
Ha ha, nice. What can it do? Square, sine and triangle waves? DC offset? How high does it go in voltage and frequency?I just bought a signal generator for $5.50. https://www.ebay.com/itm/222616704375
Somebody stop me, please.
wagdog
Ack
Yes, yes and yes. 1HZ to 1Mhz, 0-3v w/9v input. It'll do what I need. I just like that this stuff is so damn cheap, but still usable and useful.
Steverino
black sheep
I'm hearing from my amateur radio friends that spectrum analyzers are also getting within reach of hobbyists. Something else you may want to consider 
Speaking of AR, several years back it was discovered that DVB-T TV tuner dongle (primarily used in Europe for TV) data could be accessed directly, which allowed the tuner to be converted into what is called SDR, or software defined radio. You can get the free driver and software, plug the tuner dongle into your computer's USB port, attach an antenna to the dongle, and you're just turned your computer into a wideband receiver.
The software and computer monitor display a spectrum analyzer type of image called a "waterfall" that allows you to "see" any frequency your antennae can receive, from 50MHz to 3GHz and higher. Receives wide or narrow FM, AM, upper/lower sideband and more. Really fun to play with, using a good antenna you can receive all kinds of stuff from FM stations, taxicabs, ham radio, airports and security to garage door openers to baby monitors.
They've now built entire ham radio transceivers using SDR technology. I have one. It's all software, no super hetrodyne receiver, no tuning or receiving circuitry. Only the output section is analog. Sounds a bit familiar
That being said, I still love my analog SS and vacuum tube gear. Talked to a ham in Namibia today, over 7000 miles away today using that SDR rig.
Speaking of AR, several years back it was discovered that DVB-T TV tuner dongle (primarily used in Europe for TV) data could be accessed directly, which allowed the tuner to be converted into what is called SDR, or software defined radio. You can get the free driver and software, plug the tuner dongle into your computer's USB port, attach an antenna to the dongle, and you're just turned your computer into a wideband receiver.
The software and computer monitor display a spectrum analyzer type of image called a "waterfall" that allows you to "see" any frequency your antennae can receive, from 50MHz to 3GHz and higher. Receives wide or narrow FM, AM, upper/lower sideband and more. Really fun to play with, using a good antenna you can receive all kinds of stuff from FM stations, taxicabs, ham radio, airports and security to garage door openers to baby monitors.
They've now built entire ham radio transceivers using SDR technology. I have one. It's all software, no super hetrodyne receiver, no tuning or receiving circuitry. Only the output section is analog. Sounds a bit familiar
That being said, I still love my analog SS and vacuum tube gear. Talked to a ham in Namibia today, over 7000 miles away today using that SDR rig.