Free Oscilloscope

Hi guys,

I have an old Tektronix 422 portable OScope, I was too lazy to take a picture so I found one on the web: [url]http://www.biocomp.net/o11915.htm[/url].

This scope was given to me many years ago when I did not have one and I would like to pass it on to someone else who does not have a 'scope. It is only a 10 mHz two channel scope but is still a whole lot better then nothing. It could stand to have some tuner cleaner squirted through the controls as it has been setting for a few years.

The only stipulations are that you have a need for a 'scope and won’t just turn around and sell it and that you will pick it up or pay shipping. You can send me an email at birt_j@ soigeneris.com

Alright, I’ll bite. What’s it weigh so I can estimate shipping? Looks like it could be hefty. I’ve yet to need a scope with the FEZ boards, as they have just worked for my projects so far. Would be fun to take a peek at the different signals, though. I can also use it to debug occasional glitches in my model train control system. it will help me figure out how many engines I can run at once before I pop a circuit (don’t really want to ‘live test’ the breaker).

TIA,

Eric

Just in case the shipping cost would be too high,
I have been using thid 200$ quad channel scope (2x analog + 2x digital) for a couple of weeks, it is lightweight and powefull yet !
Battery powered, I can cary it on fields…

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-quad-4-channel-digital-storage-oscilloscope-p-736.html?cPath=174

@ Nicolas: nice product, what’s the screenresolution?

So far the oscilloscope nicolas pointed out is “ok”, nothing more.
Chris does not like these scopes at all :stuck_out_tongue:

I am looking for a scope too. However, seen the price of most oscilloscopes, I would rather buy an expensive one which is decent and of high quality which lasts a lifetime.

If you want it portable you could look at the pico scopes, which are usb powered, but more expensive.

Robert is right - this is not an utra precise mesurement tool. I spend a few hours calibrating it and it is far to be perfect. The GUI takes some time to understand too (and is sometimes a pain). I would say the vertical precision is right now of about 10 to 20%. The screen resolution is not very high, but it is so damn small ! The effective bandwith is about 15Mhz (144 MS/s) on a single analog channel, half if using 2 analog channels (72MS/s / channel).

However, if you are tight in space, and want a small pocket tool to see what is happeping, this is “ok”. This is a good tool for the price (That is also all the money I could spend right now). If you want a lifetime tool for more than “viewing” what is happening and measuring peaks accuratly, you may look for another device…

What is great is that it is an open-source device : you can modify its software, and I think in few months we will see alternative software for it (people are working on a quick spectrum analyser function using FFT, and I2C and serial analyser, etc).

This is a memory scope : You can capture a PWM pin for 1s, the signal moving very fast, and then stop the capture and scroll back slowly to see what happened. This is not something you can do with a traditional analog scope.

So : as most products, there are pros and cons (especialy for low cost products).
I have to say that at work I have an old but good 2x 100Mhz traditional analog scope (35 pounds…) that I can use if I need !

Nicolas3, i think you replied to the wrong thread :wink:

EriSan : thanks, corrected. I don’t know what happened, I was watching 2 threads, and when I replied to the other one, it replied to both at the same time ! :smiley:

I actually have a job that involves electronics, so my opinion comes from “I don’t’ want to mess with it, I want it to WORK” :wink:

I avoid all cheap electronics tools, because the accuracy of the test instrument will always be in question.

When I troubleshoot electronics, I want to get the fewest variables possible, to eventually solve for one variable which triggers the issue. This can be impossible when the test instrument itself is a variable, and thus, the point of even having the test instrument in the first place is negated.

@ EricH: I’ll put it on the scale tonight and let you know how much it weighs. If you can give me your zipcode I’ll estimate shipping for you.

05408 in the beautiful state of Vermont, where it seems to rain every weekend (so far this summer at least).

Jeff - I found the weight… ~23 lbs. I added a few pounds for good measure and came up with $32 via UPS ground. Paypal would be my preference for payment.

Sorry for taking so long in getting back to you, I have been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest ???

I just weighted the scope and you were pretty close with the weight. I just ran a quick shipping estimate through my UPS account and came up with $24.00. Just send it to my PayPal account at birt_j@ soigeneris.com and I’ll get it on its way to you. It has two decent probes with it so you should be all set.

As I mentioned it you use some tuner cleaner to clean up the front panel controls it would help a lot.If you have experience with CRTs you could also probably pull the focus in a bit tighter as well.

Thanks Jeff! The notification from PayPal should have the shipping address. You have a lot of one legged butt kickers in Missouri? They must do some kind of karate kid crane kick to pull that off!

Jeff -

I wanted to post another thank you here for supporting the community (and me) with this offer. My 7 yr old son is quite intrigued with all the knobs and levers on the scope! It’s added another level of coolness to what he has coined our ‘inventing room’.

Eric

Glad your having fun with it Eric. A friend gave it to me years ago when he got a better one. I’m glad to pass it on to someone else that can have fun learning to use it.

If you have a signal generator your son could have a lot of fun displaying lissajou patterns: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissajous_curve[/url]

Eric, I found the second probe tip today (you may have noticed one was missing.) I’m sending it out in todays mail.