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How much Oscilloscope is enough? - Printable Version

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How much Oscilloscope is enough? - Joe Rossi - 09-14-2014

I was looking at some PC based 'scopes. I have this huge Sencore SC61 unit that weighs at least 25 - 30 pounds, 60 MHZ usable to 100 MHZ. I'd like to sell it because I don't think I need to go that high doing tube radio repair/ restoration, and frankly, I don't have the room to use it. Would 20 MHZ be adequate? Hantek makes a PC based 20 MHZ unit for $69 and a 50 MHZ unit for $149. Any thoughts? Thanks! Joe

RE: How much Oscilloscope is enough? - morzh - 09-14-2014

For AM raio it is enough, for FM you need more.
I rarely use scope on radios....maybe for output. Or to check oscillatiors.

RE: How much Oscilloscope is enough? - K7Sparky - 02-03-2015

Do you do any electronic repair other than old AM tube gear?

What have you used your scope for in the last XX years?  A good chance the upper frequency response will not change.

All the PC base stuff is getting better and cheaper.

There also older compact scopes that show up now & then.

Scopes are one of those things you don't need till you need.

Rule 1 if you are selling you get almost nothing.
Rule 2 if you need one they are all $$

PC base makes capturing nifty pictures easy from what I  can tell.  I still have to try using a digital camera capture a trace.

Good probes can be as expensive as used scopes.  Again it depends on band width.  Probably want to keep your probes.

RE: How much Oscilloscope is enough? - tom.seeger - 04-25-2015

(09-14-2014, 04:21 PM)Joe Rossi Wrote:  I was looking at some PC based 'scopes.  I have this huge Sencore SC61 unit that weighs at least 25 - 30 pounds, 60 MHZ usable to 100 MHZ.  I'd like to sell it because I don't think I need to go that high doing tube radio repair/ restoration, and frankly, I don't have the room to use it.  Would 20 MHZ be adequate?  Hantek makes a PC based 20 MHZ unit for $69 and a 50 MHZ unit for $149.  Any thoughts?  Thanks!  Joe

I briefly used the 20 MHz version with signals in the 1-2 MHz range. The display looked kind of rough and coarse. So if it was me, I'd spend the extra on the 50 MHz unit. Other than that it worked well, and I think they are adequate for occasional use.