Beginners Oscilloscope - what to chose?

Thread Starter

DK3250

Joined Jul 15, 2020
13
Hi,
I'm a beginner into electronics; making small breadboard assembly.
Now, I want to equip myself with an oscilloscope, price range: 500-1000 USD.
Any input; what to look for, specific brands and/or models, what to avoid, best buy, ...?
Thank you in advance.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
Same here I have an old Tektronix scope I've been using it for about 18 years. No complaints so far. If memory serves, they turn out to be so reliable that Tektronix increased the warranty for that line of scopes to 10 years.

And by the way, it works well and only being a 60 MHz scope I am still able to use the FFT function to adjust transmitters in the several hundred MHz range. That was the best use of my money ever.
 

bob2

Joined Jun 15, 2019
224
Hi,
My opinion is very simple, you don't have to spend a lot to buy a cool oscilloscope.
Now there are many digital oscilloscopes that are good in performance and price, which work normally at frequencies up to 100 MHz.
One of them is FNIRSI-1013D 100MHz.
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
What you need really depends on where your electronic interests are focused.
If you are into radio and high speed communications then you need the highest frequency scope you can afford.
If you are interested in analog circuits, audio, microcontrollers and general electronics, a 50MHz scope will fill 99.9% of your needs.
If you are not sure which direction you will take, Buy an inexpensive second hand analog scope from e-bay or Amazon for a start. If you outgrow it, you will gave got your money's worth out of it by then and it will always be useful as a general purpose tool.
When I retired from Hewlett Packard, 17 years ago, I no longer had access to Hi-Tec test equipment. I spent $40.00 (Canadian) on a second hand analog 50 MHz dual channel scope. It has served me well and is still going strong.
Regards,
Keith
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,712
With that kind of budget I can suggest the following for under $400. You will have lots of change left over to spend on other equipment.

Rigol DS1202Z-E US$299
Siglent SDS1202X-E US$359

If you want to chance a used Tektronix TDS210 there is one on bid now on eBay.
 

Thread Starter

DK3250

Joined Jul 15, 2020
13
Thank you, guys - your response is overwhelming.
I do want a 'full-size' oscilloscope, not a small 'handheld'.
I've checked for used ones on local sites (Denmark) - did not find any.

Did find a decent Tektronix at a local electronics dealer - it is about 700 USD.
Will decide tomorrow, but I think I'll go for this one.

Thank again to all.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,712
Thank you, guys - your response is overwhelming.
I do want a 'full-size' oscilloscope, not a small 'handheld'.
I've checked for used ones on local sites (Denmark) - did not find any.

Did find a decent Tektronix at a local electronics dealer - it is about 700 USD.
Will decide tomorrow, but I think I'll go for this one.

Thank again to all.
You did not say which one exactly.
If I had US$500 to spend on an oscilloscope I would get Siglent SDS1202X-E. You will not be disappointed.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
Now, I want to equip myself with an oscilloscope, price range: 500-1000 USD.
I can think of a number of better things to spend that much money on. How are you set for other equipment (power supplies, signal generators, frequency counters, logic analyzers, DVMs, etc)?

I went for 20+ years without having an oscilloscope. All I had was a logic probe and DVM. When I did start buying scopes, I went for old school Tektronix equipment that I used when I was in college. I've been able to buy 100MHz 3 slot mainframes (7603) for $30 on eBay (with local pickup because it'd cost around $50+ to pack and ship one). Prices are 10X that now.

Which scope you should get depends on what you'll use it for. For the bulk of my work these days, I use a 15MHz analog scope (Tektronix SC-502) in a 4 slot mainframe (TM504) with a signal generator and a dual power supply that I mostly use for the voltmeter function.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
One of them is FNIRSI-1013D 100MHz.
Reports from several sources found the top end ~30MHz but it does have some nice features including an interactive touch screen. There are plenty of good used scopes out there. With the scope, you are going to want a Signal Generator and a Linear Power Supply.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,712
An old used $50 50MHz analog oscilloscope is better than nothing.

For modern digital test and debugging, a modern new 2-channel 100-200MHz digital oscilloscope for under US$400 will take you a long way. It will come with probes, USB, screen capture, FFT, etc.
 
Why offer an oscilloscope for $ 20 when the starting price is $ 500?
You can buy them new for $20.00-$30.00. I definitely didn't want to drag out the big Kikasui or Tektronix in the trunk of the car trying to figure out whether the amp or the radio was bad. It was worth $20.00 or whatever I paid for it assembled.

Mine was missing a power supply/adapter. I put a 9V battery holder on the back. It came with a x1/x10 probe to boot.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
RE: DSO150
Yep I also have one. Cigarette pack sized so fits in your shirt pocket and for the small size an impressive little scope. Doesn't come with a real probe so plan on buying one. Just has a BNC to alligator clip wires.
 

tautech

Joined Oct 8, 2019
383
You did not say which one exactly.
If I had US$500 to spend on an oscilloscope I would get Siglent SDS1202X-E. You will not be disappointed.
If $500 is available SDS1104X-E is a far better choice due to its greater capability and feature set. BW vs more channels, the eternal question !
It's a DSO that offers plenty of additional capability to grow into.
 

Thread Starter

DK3250

Joined Jul 15, 2020
13
Thank you all.
I finally decided to go for the cheapest full-size oscilloscope I could find.
As I'm only a beginner - and as pointed out by many of you - this will probably be sufficient for a rather long period.

After surfing the local shops, I have now ordered Siglent SDS1202X-E.
The local price is equivalent to 500 USD - including our 25% VAT.
Looking forward to play with it....sds1202x-e-1_1.png
 
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