Does anyone know of a decent frequency generator that is good for beginners?

 

Does anyone know of a decent frequency generator that is good for beginners?

Yes.

 

Do you mean a signal generator?

 

Yes.

 

It would help me find the resonant frequency of tesla coils.

 

The usefulness of the response will depend on the amount of details given in the question.
Here is how you would ask the question.

I need to find the inductance of a tesla coil.
Hence I am seeking a sinewave signal generator that will output 0-f Hz with a voltage of v Vrms.
My budget is $D.

Note:
Coils by themselves do not have a resonant frequency. The resonant frequency of an LC circuit is given as
1/ω = √(LC)

 

Why would you want to know? A Tesla coil is powered by pulses and rings at its self-resonant frequency determined by parasitic capacitance.

 

The uninitiated will often believe fantastic, but misleading information until their own experiments convince them otherwise.

 

Thank you all for your responses.

My budget is $200.00
I would like a signal generator capable of creating at least a square, triangle, and sinewave at a max frequency of at least 20MHz
with an adjustable peak voltage of 0-20 volts.

 

My budget is $200.00

I have one of these. FY6900-60 There are different versions in the 100 to $200 range. My one is a -60 which cost more.
Output is 24Vp-p, 20vp-p at higher frequencies.
This type has two outputs. It is probably more than what you need.
"Arbitrary" means you can make almost any waveform. More than square ---- sine.
It can talk to a PC. You can draw a waveform on the PC and download it. If you need a clean 20mhz square wave don't get a 20mhz generator!
It can have one output effect the other. Like making a 1mhz signal that is am or fm modulated by 2khz audio.
When looking at a generator, a square wave at max frequency will not look good.
There are other companies that make what looks just like this with different software. Different name. Made in the same plant. lol

 

You wouldn't happen to have a link for that would you?

 

user manual
amazon I got my generator from China but amazon is a good place.
I helped design some high-end generators and have some from different companies. When you put $10,000 into an ARB generator it comes in a very strong box. The FY products come is a low-cost box. It is a $100 generator. The products I worked on, you cannot get a replacement knob for $100. It will do more than you want and will not cost big $$$.

The PC software is hard to use but you probably will not use it anyway.
I am not certain it will output all the volage you want. If you want, I could go check it out. My memory (not good) maybe it cannot reach +20V but defiantly +15V. The manual "24Vp-p" which is 12v zero-P, then there is +/-12V of offset.

 

Thank you all for your responses.

My budget is $200.00
I would like a signal generator capable of creating at least a square, triangle, and sinewave at a max frequency of at least 20MHz
with an adjustable peak voltage of 0-20 volts.

AWG/FG max frequency is always with a sinewave.
Your choice might be influenced by the scope you have as some AWG's couple to the scope to provide stimulus for Bode plot sweeps for example.

 

max frequency is always with a sinewave.

A sinewave will be down -3db (or some amount) at the max frequency.
On many generators the square wave turns sine at the max frequency. There is not enough bandwidth to produce any harmonics.

Here is the specs.
Frequency≤5MHz: 1mVpp~24Vpp;
5MHz<Frequency≤10MHz: 1mVpp~20Vpp;
10MHz<Frequency≤20MHz: 1mVpp~10Vpp;
Frequency>20MHz: 1mVpp~5Vpp
The 20mhz output is only good to 5Vp-p because the output amplifier has slew rate limitations. It simply cannot move the output 24V that fast. This is pretty common.

 

A sinewave will be down -3db (or some amount) at the max frequency.

Correct and datasheets specify this amount.
Example from SDG1000X Output spec:
Amplitude flatness +0.3 dB 50 Ω load , 2.5 Vpp, compare to 10 kHz sine,

On many generators the square wave turns sine at the max frequency.

This can be an illusion due to rise/fall times and BW of the scope.
Things are not always as they seem......

 

This can be an illusion due to rise/fall times and BW of the scope.

I have a 500mhz scope at home and a 15ghz at work. When I look at signal generators, I am looking at the rise and fall time and bandwidth of the output amplifier of the generator's output amplifier.

 

Thank you ronsimpson for sending me a link.

 

Thank you both for your responses.

 

I have a 500mhz scope at home and a 15ghz at work. When I look at signal generators, I am looking at the rise and fall time and bandwidth of the output amplifier of the generator's output amplifier.

Certainly output stage slew rate determines faithful reproduction of any waveform which to some effect we can determine from FG/AWG specs. Square and pulse are the toughest to have quick and few are in the low single digit ns.

A while back wanting fastest that was cheaply available I got a Leo Bodnar 10 MHz 30ps pulser yet even the risetime of my 2 GHz DSO adds some 200ps to.
Fun tool anyways allowing characterising of probes and scopes, even just for the hell of it.

 

On many occasions it is possible to buy used equipment, in good working condition, for much less than new prices. Many test equipment rental companies will sell used working equipment for good prices. If you are able to repair them, then non-working equipment can be really cheap. BUT for that to be a wise choice you need to be able to fix them yourself.