What Oscilloscope Do you recommend for Board repairs

KevinSin

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What Oscilloscope Do you recommend for Board repairs

Hello Again,

I'm on the road to building a test bench (something I've wanted for years) and I'm finally getting my sh#t together and accumulating the necessary equipment to repair not only CRT's but also boards. I just picked up a Sencore CR-7000 and am now looking for a good oscilloscope. The only problem is there are many different ones out there and I'm not exactly sure which one I need?

Which one are you using? What do you recommend?

As usual, thank you :)
 
Just pick up a cheap cathode ray tube 100Mhz scope, as long as it is in full working order it is all you will need.
 
So, by cheap you mean about $500?

I definitely want to get a good deal (don't we all) but I really have no idea what is considered a deal and what is overpriced.

I haven't used an oscilloscope since the mid 90's when I was in college. I think we used tektronix 2 channel ones. I see 100MHZ tek ones running about $500 used on CL...Does this sound about right?

Just pick up a cheap cathode ray tube 100Mhz scope, as long as it is in full working order it is all you will need.
 
You should be able to find them a lot cheaper than that on eBay. I would say $250 for one in great shape. Sometimes they show up for a lot less.
 
I have an old Hitachi V-1050F 100MHz scope and it works just fine for arcade PCB and monitor repair. I got it for free from a friend who worked a place that was getting rid of a bunch, but I've seen this model and similar ones on eBay for around $50.

Here's a good review of that SDS6062 digital scope. The reviewer explains how to calculate what bandwidth to look for in a scope, but basically yes, for arcade/pinball stuff 60MHz is fine.

 
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Thanks for the review on the SDS6062. I really like this with the features it has. I like the small size too since I wouldn't have to worry about it eating up test bench space. It looks like $329 new is the best price (as well as the 3 year warranty), unless there is a better price out there :)
 
Digital medium/high bandwidth scopes are nice, but in my opinion are overkill for this hobby. Depending on what aspect of the games you're working on, you may never even need a scope; a logic probe may serve the purpose. I would probably start with a cheap 10 - 20 MHz CRT model and go from there (assuming you're working on classic games; later games may need a slightly higher bandwidth).

That being said, if you want to splurge the digital models do have some nice advantages - small footprint (LCD models), advanced triggers, single triggers, saving captures, etc.

LeChuck
 
For *most* board repairs and monitor fixings, you don't need a good scope. You really don't even *need* a scope. I find that I use the logic probe a lot more often than anything. I only drag out the scope when I need to. And half the time I'm just looking for ripple in a power supply, or checking for hum in audio circuits. I've got a 1980's era Tektronix scope I found somewhere, complete with a huge dent in the side and a couple of broken knobs. It works for what I need it for. Before that, I had an ancient tube type Tektronix scope from the 60's. It took about five minutes to warm up to the point of being usable, but was surprisingly accurate for what it was.

Yeah, some other situations you need a good scope. And I've had times where I've needed to borrow a good one. But I would say that more than 95% of the time, you can get away with whatever you can find at a hamfest for ten bucks.

-Ian
 
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