Looking for O-scope suggestions / reviews

[boroko]

I loved seeing the old Tek. I just recently had the chance to put my old single channel Tek scope back into useful service. I know a couple of guys that are into tube guitar amps. They are learning to change old capacitors and test tubes and things like that and are eager to learn because of their beloved hobby. I find myself answering questions for them and am excited to be passing little bits of the torch. The audio spectrum fit nicely into the scope's range and gave someone a chance to see into a new world.

Bo

[rmteo]

No USB here either.

[WOZZY-2010]

That old Tek 502 was given to me for by an aquaintance.
It was stored in a humidity free clean room for nearly 35 years.
It was installed in a custom instrument rack that was never actually used.
When I got it about 15 years ago, it was basically brand new and still shiny.
Even the fan filter was shiny.
The beam is extremly fine and shows a lot of detail.

Takes a good 30 to 45 minutes to warm up but once it does it performs very nicely. Sometimes I need to work the switches back and forth a few times but it never fails me.

I also love that old Hp oscillator.....Especially the humm that it sings along at whatever frequency it's outputting

Bob

[Byte_Butcher]

OMG!

My very first scope was a 502 Dual beam scope JUST like that one!

Mine wasn't nearly so pretty. It was kind of banged up and had a hard life, but it worked just fine. The calibration wasn't even too bad once it had warmed up for an hour...

I paid $20 for it, very used at Mike Quinn Electronics back in about 1975-76.

The dual beam CRT is a neat thing. It's got 2 electron guns and it can display both traces without any need to "alternate" or "chop".

Yours is in beautiful condition!


steve

[WOZZY-2010]

Of course the downside is that it's 3 feet deep and weighs over 50 lbs.

It has two suitcase handles on top to be able to lift it.

I really do take pride in owning it, but unfortunately my garage is not nearly as as good of an environment, as the instrumentation storeroom at the Ford Rouge River plant.

It was to be a part of a split film anemometry system for measuring the minute high frequency dynamic fluctuations in aerodynamic flow around automobiles.

Shortly after it was designed, a company named TSI began to manufacture off the shelf laboratory multi-axis split film anemometry systems, that were far better than Ford's home brew system. So they purchased one of the TSI systems and that's how this scope became the store room queen.

I think I've found a new home here at PB Forums, because most people I know just think that it's old junk.

Bob

[Byte_Butcher]

I think I've found a new home here at PB Forums, because most people I know just think that it's old junk.

No. not junk! It's a beautiful old piece of equipment, designed and built with pride to last a lifetime. With good care that thing will last longer than any of us.

Remember the VW in the Woody Allen film "Sleeper"?
Someone will dig that thing up 5000 years from now, plug it in and it'll still work fine after it's warmed up for 20 minutes. They just don't make them like that any more.

If I could buy a new scope with all the "modern day features" (USB and all) and it was built to the same level of quality and durability that your 502 is... I'd buy it. And I wouldn't care if it was 3 feet deep and weighed 50 lbs.

Take good care of that one. It's a beauty. And the signal generator too.


steve

[Byte_Butcher]

Walter,

You ordered your Owon from Saelig?

How was Saelig to deal with? Did they ship right away, no unexpected problems, etc?


Thanks!


steve

[ScaleRobotics]

Hey Steve, yes I bought from Saelig. I think they shipped it within two days of purchase, then it took another week UPS ground from New York. Nothing bad I can say about the experience.

The scope was clean. Lots of plastic, but it feels pretty sturdy for the price. I like the feel of the dials, and all the buttons work!

I think the battery model is exactly the same, only with .... a battery. So if you ever want to use it standalone without AC power nearby, you can buy the battery.

The USB connection is more of just a way to download a gif picture of what is on the screen. It has a "live" mode as well, but it is pretty choppy on the computer. I have not played around with the USB connection too much, except to show a few wave forms on the forum. It also has a way to download the datapoints from the wave form, but I have not tried that.

There is no fan to make noise. The probes are good enough, that I have not been tempted to swap my fluke probes over yet.