Why are proper current probes for scopes so expensive ?

[Martin72]

New ? No Chance....

Best offer until now :

Micsig CP2100B, 1.5Mhz for appx 375€.
Actually I got this and it´s surprisingly good for it´s money.

The only thing you can do, and with a little bit more money than 200$, is looking at ebay or similar platforms for a good old tektronix probe+amplifier.
The A6302 probe got 20Arms/50Apk, a Bandwith up to 50Mhz (?), the probe amplifier AM502B for example allow range steps down to 1mA (!!!).
As I am very confident with the micsig, when I get the chance, I would buy the tek also.
It got degaussing function and compensating measure method - This you´ll find only in actual models from up to 3000 bucks and more.

[nctnico]

I would love to find a clamp on oscilloscope current probe that went from 1mA / 10mA to 10A with a 1MHz bandwidth that was ~$200 but no luck... Any ideas?

Forget about really low currents. For that you'll be better off using a shunt + differential amplifier. Other than that the low cost probes can be reasonable but IMHO the trick is to buy one which doesn't have range settings (or at least as possible). A wider total range means needing more amplification for the lowest ranges and thus more noise.

The 200kHz CP-05A I have shows 16mArms / 100mApeak-peak of noise in the 4A range.

[Martin72]

Hmm...Maybe this is the reason why today´s tek probeamplifier got "only" two ranges….
As mentioned in my micsig thread, the noiselevel comparision between tek a6302, lecroy ap011 and cp2100b, the ap011 got the lowest - and no switchable ranges.

[Martin72]

As I am very confident with the micsig, when I get the chance, I would buy the tek also.

So I got the chance....and lost:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/264738310153?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2546137.m43663.l10137

My bid was 250€...too optimistic.

[nctnico]

As I am very confident with the micsig, when I get the chance, I would buy the tek also.

So I got the chance....and lost:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/264738310153?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2546137.m43663.l10137

My bid was 250€...too optimistic.

You bid way too early and people are also in a bidding war. Don't waste time on Ebay auctions with a bidding war going on. Place a bid in the last 10 seconds with the amount you want to spend unless the price is already higher than your maximum amount. The beauty of Ebay is that there is always a better deal around the corner.

[bson]

+1 , bookmarked this particular page if I'm in the mood just to droll  -> Hioki CT6700 Current Probes as I can not afford them, this one's price can buy many-many DS-1054Z scopes.   

But then you're probably better off buying the branded one for your specific scope, to get the full scope interface with auto-zero, demagnetization, power, gain control, firmware updates, and whatnot without having to push buttons on the probe adapter.  This adds value, obviously.

[Martin72]

Place a bid in the last 10 seconds with the amount you want to spend unless the price is already higher than your maximum amount

Normally, I do exactly so, but today I got no possibility to wait for the last 10 seconds...

[james_s]

You bid way too early and people are also in a bidding war. Don't waste time on Ebay auctions with a bidding war going on. Place a bid in the last 10 seconds with the amount you want to spend unless the price is already higher than your maximum amount. The beauty of Ebay is that there is always a better deal around the corner.

I see that all the time and it baffles me, I simply do not understand why people start bidding when there are DAYS left, sometimes I see something that was just listed an hour earlier that already has 30 bids. I'm left wondering if it's old guys who don't "get" how online auctions work? Unless you just want to kill the BIN option to gamble on getting a better deal there is never a reason to bid before the last day at the very earliest. The ONLY thing it does is jack up the price, the real action always happens in the final seconds. Personally I use a sniping service to bid in the last seconds, set it and forget it, if I win I win, sniping annoyed me for a long time but at some point I realized it was not going away so I joined in. Ebay could eliminate sniping by extending the auction for a period after the last bid so it ends after people stop bidding like a live auction but they've never done this.