Hitachi Oscilloscope owners?

[steve30]

Just wondering if we have anyone here who owns a Hitachi oscilloscope?

The first scopes I learned to use at college a few years back were the old V-212 and newer V-252.

I've wanted my own for some time so I recently bought a Hitachi V-222 off ebay. Its a really nice little unit . I pondered buying a scope with luxuries like cursors but decided I didn't really need that.

At my current technical college, we have tons of Hameg model 203s. These are decent little scopes, with pretty much the same spec as these Hitachis, but I really don't like the controls on them. The knobs and switches just don't seem to be as logical/well designed as the Hitachi.

My only complaint about the old Hitachis is the Volts/div knobs. They are very stiff and not very clicky. Fortunately, the ones on mine seem clean, and hence work fine, but one of the ones I used at college was bad tot he point where it was virtually unusable, and just as stiff/unclicky as mine.

Here's a picture:



(hires: http://stevecoates.net/hitachiv222_full.jpg)

I'm also not too keen on the colour scheme. I much prefer Tektronix blue

[mariush]

A good member of this forum gifted me a Hitachi V-665 (60mhz), I only paid for shipping. 

It works great, very happy with it. 

Yes, it's a bit more difficult to used compared to how Rigol scopes seem to be in videos but I'm ok with it. Knobs feel fine on mine.

[david77]

I've got a V-515B 50MHz 2 channel scope and I quite like it. It's never gone wrong in the 12 years I owned it. Can't complain about the switches, they work fine. I do love the toggle switches Hitachi used, they're a joy to play around with - very nice clicky action .

[steve30]

The toggle switches on this V-222 are lovely. Its sat next to me on the desk now and I can't help but fiddle with them.

I seem to recall that the Volts/div knobs on the more modern V-252 model were much better, but I haven't used one in ages, so my memory might be playing tricks.

Can't compare this to a digital scope as I have never used one, but I do like having lots of knobs and switches. I would probably prefer that to a menu based system.

[felixd]

I've just bought HITACHI V 1085 (100MHz,4ch). Came today.
I've bought it for 100$.
Works like a charm.

[nanofrog]

I seem to recall that the Volts/div knobs on the more modern V-252 model were much better, but I haven't used one in ages, so my memory might be playing tricks.

Have you cleaned the switch contacts and lubricated them?

Could make quite a bit of difference.

[microbug]

I seem to recall that the Volts/div knobs on the more modern V-252 model were much better, but I haven't used one in ages, so my memory might be playing tricks.

Have you cleaned the switch contacts and lubricated them?

Could make quite a bit of difference.

I have a Hitachi V-223 (identical apart from it has the option for a delay between sweeps) and cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner (from Amazon, nothing fancy) made a big difference. Before doing so switching between settings on practically any knob caused a large spike to appear momentarily on the screen but now it's much better.

[steve30]

I haven't cleaned the contacts yet, but I will give it a go sometime.

I doubt the actual contacts are dirty though as the switches which between each setting very cleanly with no noise. Its just very stiff .

[KJDS]

I've still got a few V552 that need fixing. They are good analog scopes, but as I can't find a service manual it does make repairing them a pain.