Scope Hunting

[List, Christopher]

For a quick primer on scope usage, go here;
http://www.tek.com/Measurement/App_Notes/XYZs/intro.html

The scope should have a little jack on the front that outputs a
calibration signal - usually a 1KHz square wave. You can use this to try
stuff out. As long as both traces show up on the screen and respond to
voltages, most other problems can be fixed with calibration. Some things
you can check to see how out of calibration it is;

- Changing the volt/div for the verticle section shouldn't cause a
grounded input trace to change verticle position. 
- Check that the volt/div is consistent with the marked values. Even if
you don't know the <real> voltage of what you're measuring, you know
that it should be twice as big at 5v/div than it is at 10v/div.
- Check the same thing with the time base.

Regarding scope hunting, I'm happy to report that the Tek 2215A that I
ordered arrived yesterday, and I think I got a great deal! - I got it
from these guys; http://www.astglobal.com - they were a little slow on
shipping, and they don't always answer the phones, but the scope is in
great shape and it all seems to be correctly calibrated (they didn't
calibrate it, so I just got lucky). Anyway, they wanted $425 for a scope
most used equipment dealers were charging $650+ for! It only had one
probe and no manual - but I have a probe from my old scope. I haven't
figured out how (or why) to use the delayed sweep on the second channel
- so I don't know if that's working, but judging by the condition of
everything else, I'd be surprised if it's not.

- CList

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Bruce_McIntosh at amp.com.au [SMTP:Bruce_McIntosh at amp.com.au]
> Sent:	Thursday, June 25, 1998 3:29 AM
> To:	        -         (052)synth-diy(a)mailhost.bpa.nl
> Subject:	Re: Scope Hunting
> 
> Hi listeners...
> 
> I have an opportunity to buy a second hand oscilloscope for my
> (propsed)
> synth-diy project... but I have never used one before!
> 
> What sort of things should I be looking for when I inspect it?  (Aside
> from
> the obvious ding marks where it was dropped from a great height!).
> 
> BTW it's a Tektronix 465 portable 100MHz.  What sort of money should
> be
> looking at for this 10 year old vintage machine?
> 
> Much appreciated,
> 
> Bruce McIntosh
> Sydney, Australia