Just got a notice yesterday of a B&K curve tracer on eBay. I really don't know what I'd use it for though unless I was trying to match audio amplifier transistors.

 

Just got a notice yesterday of a B&K curve tracer on eBay.

I get notices too, but I'm not interested unless the price is reasonable. That's how I got the Jud Williams. Received a notice, looked at the listing, and bought it.

I really don't know what I'd use it for though unless I was trying to match audio amplifier transistors.

It's handy if you have some house marked devices and want to get an idea of their specs. Most of my transistors with house marking are HP and I have a cross reference guide, but I happened to pick up a couple thousand house marked NPNs (all the same device) and having a curve tracer makes testing more convenient.

My first curve tracer is still working, but it's good to have a spare.

 

I like checking schmitt triggers on one... I believe some scopes have that built in... I think mine does.

 

I believe some scopes have that built in...

I saw a Keysight article that showed a hack for getting an IV curve on a DSO. It was only one trace which isn't very useful.

https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/how-to-use-an-oscilloscope-as-a-curve-tracer

This is probably a more useful way:
https://www.eddybergman.com/2017/06/simple-but-effective-transistor-curve.html



This circuit will only work for NPN transistors and diodes. They gave a circuit for PNP transistors, but nothing for MOSFETs or JFETs.

Still not as capable or convenient as an actual curve tracer.