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Re: [TenTec] more oscilloscope questions

To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] more oscilloscope questions
From: "Dr. Gerald N. Johnson" <geraldj@weather.net>
Reply-to: geraldj@weather.net, Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:23:53 -0500
List-post: <tentec@contesting.com">mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
One thing the 465 did really well was to show single events. I remember 
using one to check a 100 nano second pulse that I triggered by hand. In 
full room light, the 465 had plenty intensity to show that pulse and 
burn it into my eyes while sweeping at 100 ns per cm. I bought the 475 
after that and while it does have twice the bandwidth and 2.5 times the 
sensitivity, its CRT can't do what the 465 did.

73, Jerry, K0CQ

On 7/11/2010 1:49 PM, Charles P. Steinmetz wrote:
> Mike wrote:
>
>> What about the more uncommon brands? Outside of Tek, B&K, Sencore are a
>> number of more high end and less expensive scopes. I am sort of "Joe
>> average" ham - build some, design a little, and want to design more and be
>> able to troubleshoot deeper.
>
> Outside of Tek and HP, there simply isn't much that passes as a
> useful scope.  Phillips and Hitachi both made some OK scopes, but
> B&K, Leader, and Sencore never did IMO.  The lesser scopes don't
> trigger properly, drift, don't hold calibration, have nonlinear
> sweeps, have peaky high-frequency responses, intermittent switch
> contacts, etc., etc., and are often unreliable and
> failure-prone.  IME, the Tek 22xx "value" series shares some of these
> attributes -- I'd stick with the 4xx or 24xx series if the price is>  $75.
>
> Can someone get by with less?  Sure -- just like Isaac Stern will
> sound good on any fiddle you hand him.  But the casual user is even
> more in need of decent equipment than the expert, because (s)he needs
> to be able to count on it without having to work around and take into
> account a host of irregularities.  And since good HP and Tek scopes
> are available for so little these days, there is just no need to
> consider others unless the budget is truly miniscule (<  $100).
>
>> I don't think I need a 200 MHz all-the-bells-and-whistles scope, but I'm not
>> sure a 50 MHz is the best choice either - at least based on the information
>> I received from some of the knowledgeable guys here.
>
> There is a reason that the 100 MHz dual-trace delayed-sweep
> "portable" bench scope is, and has been for 40+ years, the workhorse
> of the industry.  Since you can get a good one for $100 or less if
> you shop carefully, why not, unless you're looking for something
> cheaper than $100.  As for the presence or absence of features, any
> HP 17xx or Tek 4xx or 24xx comes with a set of features that you will
> eventually be very glad you have, even if you do not yet know what they do.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Charles
>
>

  Agreed, 73, Jerry, K0CQ
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