O-Scopes

[Field_strength]

I'm just getting into broadcast engineering. Do you guys use oscilloscopes much, or are they just kindof a fancy toy for broadcast engineers? I guess I'm asking if I should invest in one or not. If so, any suggestions on good models?Thanks

 

[mr_elbows]

it's like any other tool..........learn to use it and you will find more and more uses for itmy advice would be to find an old HP or Tektronics and learn to use it, then see if you 'need' one in whatever work you doand it's an 'oscilloscope', not an 'O-scope'

 

[AKLes]

I quickly learned, in my TV engineering days, that I couldn't live without a really good 'scope. Tektronix makes good ones; HP's were better but much more spendy. Leader also makes good ones, about equal (IMHO) to Tek's and they're much more cooperative when you need stuff like replacement probes. Note, I used to work for Tek, so know of what I speak on their customer service (service? What in Hell is "service"?) policies.However....In radio I found I wasn't using a scope much at all except to check modulation at the AM site. Might have been handy for some audio stuff but, in these days of doing very little component-level repair, questionable. I still have two at the AM site I work on a volunteer basis but they're more in storage there than anything else.

 

[Andy_Brown]

In college I learned on a Dumont scope! Ouch, I be old ... The first two AM's I worked at had no scopes. I bought myself a Sencore 60 MHz dual trace back in the late 70's ... it's still in the basement and sort of works (1 trace needs help - one of these days I'll figure out what's wrong with it - maybe). Scopes were invaluable in fixing two way comm gear, tuners, anything audio, anything video ... back in the days of analog based digital free circuit boards ... from '85 to '94 I worked in the TV station and there wasn't a day gone by I didn't use a scope, spectrum analyzer (can't be in the satellite game without one), various signal generators, and an assortment of probes and clips that took me 20 years to build up ....But here's the important news:You can turn any laptop into an oscilloscope and/or various relevant analysis tools.If I was starting out today, that's the direction I would go. A good laptop first, thensome kind of package like this:http://www.pc-oscilloscopes.com/300...roducts_Pages/Software/PCOscilloscope.htmJust like with regular test equipment, it helps to know what it's intended use would be,since cost is directly proportional to freq. range and sensitivity and accuracy.