_[sdiy]_A_Frequency_Standard_for_Poor_People?

[Harry Bissell Jr]

Hi Roman (et al)

Got to admit you have a point.... I have a small
guitar practice amp on the bench... with a 10:1
"probe" made of 100K, 10K resistors and mini hook
jumpers.  

I almost ALWAYS use this, more than the scope and
meter in fact.  (of course that's presuming that
I'm working on AUDIO circuits :^)

There are places that this will not work. You might
hear a signal at some point... not knowing its riding
on some DC offset (bad interstage cap perhaps ?). Yes
the DMM would prlly catch that... but the scope could
walk you through that problem in a lot less time.

I guess I'm just a spoiled brat (some folk might use
stronger language, flamesuit on :^).  I have almost
always had access to 'some' scope, starting with some
small tube jobs built from the carcasses of MANY dead
scopes... through a 10MHz dual trace (with one channel
dead for twenty years - one day I said HELL I'm an
engineer its a damn shame I haven't fixed this yet...
and fix it I finally did :^).  My 'new' scope is a
100MHz analog storage that was discarded as
'unrepairable'... after a 10 hour restoration its as
good as it was new (namely... you have to fvck with
the
buttons to get it to work, but hey it did that brand
new
)  So do not despair. Scopes are out there, and you
can get them for cheap or free.  

Even a BAD scope is usually better than NO scope*

H^) harry

* (we need to discuss "when test equipment LIES"
sometime)

--- Roman <modular at go2.pl> wrote:
> I haven't seen a scope for years and was able to
> build
> a synth. DMM is really usefull, but I also had logic
> tester
> and RF probe. That's all I needed to find unwanted
> oscillations,
> or very short pulses.
> And the best test tool of all, amplifier+speaker :)
> 
> But anyway, DMMs go for about 5USD now, so choosing
> between
> scope or DMM is no issue. Everyone should have DMM.
> 
> Roman
> 
> ---- Wiadomo¶æ Oryginalna ----
> Od: Ken Stone <sasami at hotkey.net.au>
> Do: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> Data: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 19:14:46 +1100
> Temat: Re: [sdiy] A Frequency Standard for Poor
> People?
> 
> >
> >>> A simple DMM is really an entry-level thing. You
> should have one. 
> ><snip>
> >>I seldom disagree with Magnus, but I do to a great
> extent here.
> >
> >>You may be able to effect simple repairs with just
> a DMM, or possibly assemble
> >>simple AND well engineered kits with a DMM.
> >>
> >>Almost ANY other DIY work is going to require a
> scope. 
> >
> >For what it's worth, I survived for many many years
> without a scope.
> >Certainly there are some circuits that simply must
> have a scope to design or
> >set up, a heck of a lot can be achieved using the
> combination of a DMM,
> >analog MM, a logic probe and common sense!
> >
> >That said, a CRO makes life a LOT easier.
> >
> >Ken 
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
> >Ken Stone   sasami at hotkey.net.au  
> >Modular Synth PCBs for sale
> <http://www.blaze.net.au/~sasami/synth/>
> >Australian Miniature Horses & Ponies
> <http://www.blaze.net.au/~sasami/>
> >
> >
>