looking for recommendation on a scope

[starfighter2]

Thanks everyone, I was able to find a Tektronix 465 locally for under $100 that works great and has all the features you all have recommended with a bag of test leads. now its time to play. I would like to try tis out with my asteroids issues.

 

[channelmanic]

Sweet!

I love happy endings.

 

[cwilkson]

Thanks everyone, I was able to find a Tektronix 465 locally for under $100 that works great and has all the features you all have recommended with a bag of test leads. now its time to play. I would like to try tis out with my asteroids issues.

The Tek 465 is a great scope to use. And my understanding is that if anything goes wrong with it, it's fixable. Unlike the more modern scopes. The only questionable components to find are the 2 nuvistor input tubes. Everything else is solid state and there are no Tek proprietary IC's. Just standard transistors and common ICs. But if it's still working now, it'll probably work forever. The 465 is built like a tank.

Yeah, happy endings are...happy! Congrats on a great purchase.

 

[channelmanic]

Nuvistor tubes can be found at area hamfests.

If you don't know where one is, find an amateur radio operator and he or she will tell you. They will also tell you who in the area is a tube hoarder that will probably have what you need.

 

[Malice95]

Would a Tektronix 2215A 60 mhz be a good choice for a first scope?

What features or triggers do you find valuable when working on
arcade pcbs using your scope? Its tough to know if I am buying something
that I will outgrow in a short period of time.

 

[cwilkson]

Would a Tektronix 2215A 60 mhz be a good choice for a first scope?

Yes. That's a good choice.
Hmmm. Off the top of my head...(it's been a while since I dug around on an arcade PCB...dual channels are an absolute requirement for any scope. X-Y-Z is good to have for vectors. Delayed sweep lets you zoom in on a portion of a signal. P-P Auto trigger is great for quick/easy setup. Single shot is great if you are setup to make use of it, but not as useful without some type of storage capability. In the analog scope case, that means a fairly nice external camera. You'll love TV trigger for raster stuff. External trigger input makes life a lot more enjoyable too. You can just clip that onto a "master" signal and move your probes around the circuit without losing your sync. That is assuming that all the signals you probe are time-related to the master.

 

[Alpha-tron]

I am use to the old 7000 series of Tektronix scopes.
I have one of these in my garage. 7704
They work great but they are big and a bit of a room heater.

I use put mine on a cart to wheel it around.

 

[Malice95]

I am use to the old 7000 series of Tektronix scopes.
I have one of these in my garage. 7704
They work great but they are big and a bit of a room heater.

Wow that thing is a beast.. is there anything you use on it that a 2215 wouldnt offer when you work on pcbs? I want to make sure I dont underbuy and regret not having a useful feature later but I dont need a 100 useless features I'll never use.

 

[channelmanic]

Most people use just a few functions and that is it.

I like my TDS210 from Tektronix as it tells me on screen the frequency of the signal I'm looking at which comes in handy when checking those pesky 74LS161 and 74LS163 chips.

Other than that, I set the trigger on my scope and just use the timebase control to flip back & forth to see the signals as I want/need. I rarely do any other adjustments or changes.

The bells and whistles are nice but when do you really use them? That 2215 will do more than enough for you in the hobby. At 60MHz it'll handle whatever you'll want in a home repair environment. It's rare to hook a scope up to something over 20 to 30MHz anyway. Most of the old boards are far under that and I don't know anyone that uses a scope to troubleshoot the faster PC based games.

 

[Malice95]

Thanks for the advice all. I ended up buying the Tek 2215A I showed
pictures of before. I didnt get a killer deal ($200) but I was able to pick
it up locally, make sure it worked, and the guy supposedly fully tested
and calibrated it so I should be good to go. Now I just need to figure
out how to use it

 

[cwilkson]

Thanks for the advice all. I ended up buying the Tek 2215A I showed
pictures of before. I didnt get a killer deal ($200) but I was able to pick
it up locally, make sure it worked, and the guy supposedly fully tested
and calibrated it so I should be good to go. Now I just need to figure
out how to use it

Cool. If you didn't get the manuals with it, the PDF version is easily found online. Good luck with the new toy!

 

[Alpha-tron]

Wow that thing is a beast.. is there anything you use on it that a 2215 wouldnt offer when you work on pcbs? I want to make sure I dont underbuy and regret not having a useful feature later but I dont need a 100 useless features I'll never use.

For fixing PCB boards it's over kill but it has been put to use many of time and it paid for itself even tho it was bought brand new.

The 2215 would work well..