State of the art oscilloscopes - 10 years ago

[Howardlong]

Folks,

I came across this online this morning, a review of 20 odd scopes ten years ago.

http://david.alfa-romeo.eu/elektro/Elektor_Electronics/2004/Elektor%202004-10.pdf

I still have the TDS2024 that I bought around that time, and I did have a scope very similar (certainly in specs) to the the GW Instek GOS620, but ISTR it was rebadged.

Pretty much under $1,500 it's all CRT apart from one outlyer that isn't recommended "for serious use".

[Muttley Snickers]

Not quite 10 years ago, I spent all of my superannuation on a TDS-1002 with the TDS2MEM Compact Flash Module.

Not worth their weight in mud these days.   

But I still love it to bit's, my best investment yet.

Muttley

[kado]

Hi, thanks for sharing this link.

Beside the Oscilloscope-Test there is a interesting article about a "poor man's (active) probe".

Anybody who has built this probe in the past? Is this circuit worth to build and test it or did anybody have another / better solution for homemade active probes?

Karsten

[HighVoltage]

10 year ago, I used the Fluke PM3394B digital / analog combiscope and for some applications I still have them in use today.
Thanks for sharing this great article

[mikeselectricstuff]

Most of those, like all the CRT ones,  were hardly state of the art 10 years ago - more like 15-20

[rs20]

A mini-highlight for me is page 21, the Game Boy Car with two 3.5mm plugs that turns your Game Boy into "a digital scope". An early version of today's crappy mp3-players shoehorned into terrible oscilloscopes.

2 channels, Bandwidth 0.1MHz, 1MSa/s. It has FFT!

[Howardlong]

Most of those, like all the CRT ones,  were hardly state of the art 10 years ago - more like 15-20

Agreed, I presented it more to show the value we enjoy these days, but I couldn't think of a catchy way of saying that.

Cheers, Howard

[EEVblog]

Just did a TDS220 video. It will be 20 years old in a few weeks 

[tautech]

Just did a TDS220 video. It will be 20 years old in a few weeks 

Look forward to that.
I was given a "no-go" 210 a few years back, fixed it up and flogged it as I had a 2012B....now thats busted. 

[Howardlong]

Hi, thanks for sharing this link.

Beside the Oscilloscope-Test there is a interesting article about a "poor man's (active) probe".

Anybody who has built this probe in the past? Is this circuit worth to build and test it or did anybody have another / better solution for homemade active probes?

Karsten

I built one Jim Williams style a few months ago, and in fact that was how I found the whole magazine this morining even though I was only after the article about the probe, found scope article. My intention was to build it on a proper PCB instead, as I'm getting the chemicals out for doing a couple of other boards of my own design for something else anyway.

The one I built Jim Williams style works but to fudge the front end capacitance I used a chip cap, and the response is hardly flat.

[coppice]

That list of scopes captures an interesting moment in time. There are two Agilent digital scopes. One has a CRT and one has an LCD. 

[wn1fju]

Why stop at 10 years old?  In addition to my new Rigol DS1104Z, I also have in my collection (see http://emperoroftestequipment.weebly.com/):

Fluke PM3390B
HP 1980B
HP 54112D
HP 54615B
Tek 2213A
Tek TDS350
Tek 7603
Tek 7633
Tek 7904 (7000 series scopes with about 20 plug-ins)

among others.  While the waveform update rates are atrocious, the memory is tiny or non-existent, the measurement capabilities are poor, they are large, heavy and power-hungry, all unlike the Rigol, at least they don't lock up sporadically on boot-up, there is no delay jitter and the AC trigger coupling works!

[Alex Eisenhut]

Just did a TDS220 video. It will be 20 years old in a few weeks 

I wonder if there would be any interest in a review/opening up of a Tektronix 547, it's probably 50 years old.

[PlainName]

the Game Boy Car with two 3.5mm plugs that turns your Game Boy into "a digital scope"

Got one sitting on the shelf. Brilliant thing, albeit with limited spec.

[denelec]

I wonder if there would be any interest in a review/opening up of a Tektronix 547, it's probably 50 years old.

Wow! We had exactly this kind of scopes in the labs at University (late '80s).  We also had HP tube based signal generators.
State of the art material (in 1955). 

[cncjerry]

Why stop at 10 years old?  In addition to my new Rigol DS1104Z, I also have in my collection (see http://emperoroftestequipment.weebly.com/):

Fluke PM3390B
HP 1980B
HP 54112D
HP 54615B
Tek 2213A
Tek TDS350
Tek 7603
Tek 7633
Tek 7904 (7000 series scopes with about 20 plug-ins)

among others.  While the waveform update rates are atrocious, the memory is tiny or non-existent, the measurement capabilities are poor, they are large, heavy and power-hungry, all unlike the Rigol, at least they don't lock up sporadically on boot-up, there is no delay jitter and the AC trigger coupling works!

Hear! Hear!  Man how I agree.  Another good example are the Tek TM500 series.  With very few exceptions, the modules are easy to repair.  The power supplies in particular are pretty clean and functional.  I have three racks of them and am able to power separate sections of my projects with current limiting per stage using them.

I also love my TDS744a/784a and my more recent TDS3054b.  Both old but I see everything I expect to see with them and they don't lock up, jitter, freeze and stutter as some.  I also don't need firmware after firmware upgrades. 

[Zero999]

http://david.alfa-romeo.eu/elektro/Elektor_Electronics/2004/Elektor%202004-10.pdf

The quiz is interesting.

Anyone get it?

[Alex Eisenhut]

I wonder if there would be any interest in a review/opening up of a Tektronix 547, it's probably 50 years old.

Wow! We had exactly this kind of scopes in the labs at University (late '80s).  We also had HP tube based signal generators.
State of the art material (in 1955). 

Sweet! I was in college in the early '90s and I used my 547 at home. I did the lab assignments with my Amiga and video capture system to insert pictures in the word processor. Not too bad looking on a 24 pin printer either!

[Howardlong]

Why stop at 10 years old?  In addition to my new Rigol DS1104Z, I also have in my collection (see http://emperoroftestequipment.weebly.com/):

Fluke PM3390B
HP 1980B
HP 54112D
HP 54615B
Tek 2213A
Tek TDS350
Tek 7603
Tek 7633
Tek 7904 (7000 series scopes with about 20 plug-ins)

among others.  While the waveform update rates are atrocious, the memory is tiny or non-existent, the measurement capabilities are poor, they are large, heavy and power-hungry, all unlike the Rigol, at least they don't lock up sporadically on boot-up, there is no delay jitter and the AC trigger coupling works!

Well that was another hour of my life gone reading that!

I'm interested in how you find the HP 1980B? I have one on its way to me that I bought a week or so ago, I always drooled over them when I was in my teens, never had my hands on one though. I can imagine the UI being a bit frustrating what with the single knob. My favourite scope from a UI perspective remains the Tek 24x5 series, it's all there, right in your face, almost no menus apart from for measurements and service, and they are simplicity itself.

[wn1fju]

For Howardlong:

Yup, the HP 1980B user interface is a bit annoying with the single knob to adjust all parameters.  The tactile feel of the front panel is also a bit anemic.  The "buttons," if you can call them that, do make a click sound when pressed.  But if I remember, that is produced by a single solenoid that taps something upon any button press.  But, the 1980B single knob pales in comparison to my HP 54112D - that one makes me want to throw something through the CRT whenever I fire it up.  HP was proud of their 1980B when they designed it as the first microprocessor controlled scope.  The four channels are nice, the spec-ed bandwidth is easily exceeded (as are most specs that HP conservatively published).  That all being said, at least in the decades long ago, the "theorem" seems to be:  Tektronix = oscilloscope, HP = spectrum analyzer.  Can't go too wrong by that.

[Howardlong]

Agreed, although I have a Tek TDS460A here that I really struggle to fathom out every time I attempt to use it for more than anything rudimentary: I am still trying to figure out how to get a dual time base sweep on it. I have no real intention of using it for real work, it's become merely an academic exercise.

The real scope for real work here is an Agilent 54831D 600MHz which, as you suggest with HP stuff, exceeds that, I measure 528ps rise time and 791MHz 3dB using a Jim Williams pulse generator and RF signal generator. The Tek 2467B I have goes to 551MHz 3dB, but doesn't fair as well on a pulse test, with 990ps being the best I can muster out of it if using the built in measurement system, although if I measure if with the cursors carefully on 500ps/div I measue 780ps.

Anyway, I am looking forward to trying out the 1980b when it finally arrives. It has the four channels, digital storage, plot/sequence and key sequence ROM options whatever they do. I'd imagine the digital storage is little more than just that, a screen shot almost, and the single shot sweep in particular looks really a bit limited from the limited information I have.

[westfw]

Just did a TDS220 video.

I bought a TDS210 back when they were new.  It was "OMG - a scope that will fit on my desk instead of needing a lab bench!  Sold!"

[coppice]

Anyway, I am looking forward to trying out the 1980b when it finally arrives. It has the four channels, digital storage, plot/sequence and key sequence ROM options whatever they do. I'd imagine the digital storage is little more than just that, a screen shot almost, and the single shot sweep in particular looks really a bit limited from the limited information I have.

When I first saw a 1980b I thought it was a thing of wonder. I wondered where these guys had got the budget to buy one. 

The 1980b is really uninteresting when you use it for single shot storage. However, if you have the right plugin it will give you 1GHz bandwidth as a sampling scope, and that was pretty exotic in its day.

[RJFreeman]

Just did a TDS220 video.

I bought a TDS210 back when they were new.  It was "OMG - a scope that will fit on my desk instead of needing a lab bench!  Sold!"

I purchased a 210 with the FFT/comms module soon after they came out as well, it was compact, relatively affordable (for the day), and very portable (I got the carry bag with it also)  and I still use it to this day particularly for field service....

[Muttley Snickers]

I think that Tektronix should re-release the TDS200-1000 series cases as a promotional lunch box or tool box, I'd buy a couple.

 

Muttley