If you are on a tight budget I would look for a pre-owned brand name analog or digital oscilloscope.
My first choice would be a Tektronix TDS220. A TDS210 would do as a second choice and it is lower priced.

For a little more than AUD$300 you can get a new Siglent SDS1102DL+ 100MHz oscilloscope.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Siglent...248328&hash=item4d97ed5023:g:~xoAAOSwYB9c5e0h

That's sold by someone in Adelaide! My home town. My impulsive brain says I could have it tmrw.

That one is 100$ more than the Hong Kong one. Do you think it's worth it for me?

 

That's sold by someone in Adelaide! My home town. My impulsive brain says I could have it tmrw.

That one is 100$ more than the Hong Kong one. Do you think it's worth it for me?

It really depends on your budget.
Siglent is a brand name and the SDS1102DL+ will suit your needs for a long time.
You may want to read up on the reviews of that particular scope, and perhaps compare with other scopes in the same price range.

At that price, avoid the impulse to buy now.

 

Here's a small, but fun, little toy that might draw your attention. It's very limited, but useful. I own one and carry it in my car everywhere I go, to use for emergencies on the field.

I bought this today. Thanks for the tip.

I will use this to see what it can do and at least get aquainted with the workings of a basic oscilloscope before making a decision about the big one!

 

It really depends on your budget.
Siglent is a brand name and the SDS1102DL+ will suit your needs for a long time.
You may want to read up on the reviews of that particular scope, and perhaps compare with other scopes in the same price range.

At that price, avoid the impulse to buy now.

So far I think the Siglent one is the way to go but I will wait for a bit before making a decision.

See my post to cmartinez at #23

Thanks Mr Chips; I'll let you (and the other AAC contributors) know how it goes

 

Just to give an example... I have the Siglent 1102CML and recently was working with LR circuits. The exercise was to put a 5VDC signal along with a 4VAC signal and ramp the frequency up stepwise from 10Hz to 10Khz and record values and plot them. Phooey on that. It is a lot of recording and plotting. So... I set my Signal generator for 4Vpp AC sine and set it to sweep from 10-10kHz. Then set my scope to record as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. Plugged a thrumb drive into the scope and downloaded the CSV file to it. Plugged the thumb drive into the computer, opened up ExCel and imported the file directly into the spreadsheet, selected all the relevant cells and asked for a quick analysis and printed out the graph for Peak V over Frequency and there was a beautiful sinewave graph of the output for reactance. Slick as a whistle. That is what the new DSO scopes excel at. Plus a one-button autotune to quickly find the best display for the probe input, all manner of mathematical parameter measurements, etc, etc, etc. 2nd point is you will need a signal generator also. It also doubles as an AC power source when set for 60Hz sine or whatever freq. you use locally. Mine goes up to 20Vpp amplitude and 60MHz frequency.

 

Just to give an example... I have the Siglent 1102CML and recently was working with LR circuits. The exercise was to put a 5VDC signal along with a 4VAC signal and ramp the frequency up stepwise from 10Hz to 10Khz and record values and plot them. Phooey on that. It is a lot of recording and plotting. So... I set my Signal generator for 4Vpp AC sine and set it to sweep from 10-10kHz. Then set my scope to record as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. Plugged a thrumb drive into the scope and downloaded the CSV file to it. Plugged the thumb drive into the computer, opened up ExCel and imported the file directly into the spreadsheet, selected all the relevant cells and asked for a quick analysis and printed out the graph for Peak V over Frequency and there was a beautiful sinewave graph of the output for reactance. Slick as a whistle. That is what the new DSO scopes excel at. Plus a one-button autotune to quickly find the best display for the probe input, all manner of mathematical parameter measurements, etc, etc, etc. 2nd point is you will need a signal generator also. It also doubles as an AC power source when set for 60Hz sine or whatever freq. you use locally. Mine goes up to 20Vpp amplitude and 60MHz frequency.

Ah yes, i see your point about the modern scopes and how well they can interact with computers by creating and sharing data sets..

That must have been a satisfying experience to see the ratio come out to a sine wave!

MS Excel is a very very good product isnt it. I am always amazed at the power of it - especially with the VBA programmability.

I didnt think of a signal generator. I can see it would be a good accompaniment to the oscilloscope.

Thanks very much for your tips Sam.

 

Here's a small, but fun, little toy that might draw your attention. It's very limited, but useful. I own one and carry it in my car everywhere I go, to use for emergencies on the field.

I love that website cmartinez! https://www.banggood.com/ thanks for the intro

 

I love that website cmartinez! https://www.banggood.com/ thanks for the intro

Careful! ... when it comes to BangGood, it's quite easy to start buying things you love, but don't need...
Anyway, I've bought things aplenty from them, and they've never disappointed. Only drawback is that delivery times are a little too long where I live, in the order of 3 to 6 weeks.

 

I actually took out a loan to buy my first scope. It was a Tektronix 2236 @ $2495.00 USD (ca. 1981). It did wonders for my credit score and I had no problem with the $220/mo. payments

 

I actually took out a loan to buy my first scope. It was a Tektronix 2236 @ $2495.00 USD (ca. 1981). It did wonders for my credit score and I had no problem with the $220/mo. payments

Wow... back then I was a 17 year old squirt who would've sold one of his internal organs for an instrument like that ...

 

When I bought my Siglent there were multiple reviews on Amazon as to there was a defect in them. They worked but not all of the infrequently used features worked correctly. I priced them at AliExpress and bought it from the US distributor as cheaply as anywhere else. The only problem I have had is one of the hoods for the probes mini grabber melted on a hot component and was not covered under warranty. Bought another pair of 100MHz probes from AliExpress cheaper than the same ones from the distributor. I like AliExpress better/cheaper than BangGood but like all chinese vendors caveat emptor and be patient with delivery. The eBay chinese goods seem to be mostly from Hong Kong and a couple of days faster delivery but still a couple of weeks typical.

 

Wow... back then I was a 17 year old squirt who would've sold one of his internal organs for an instrument like that ...

OMG -- no need to do that! The instrument itself was collateral for the loan and the term was 12 months. I still have it BTW.

 

I believe my first scope was a Tektronix 422 bought at a Dayton Hamfest for $300 in 1980. I still have it and still use it occasionally.

 

My first scope was a rack-mount duMont. My high school teacher gave it too me with the promise not to tell anyone. CRT died.

then I bought a real boat anchor. An military tube/transistor hybrid that weighed 110 lbs. Huge.
Then a Kikisui COS series scope (100 Mhz).

I have a Tek TDS340 (100 MHz) that needs two upgrades: 1) replace the Dallas RAM. 2) replace the floppy with a USB drive. I have a DSO150, the $20 scope.

I have two Tek 22x series (battery powered CRT), but never working. One needs a battery holder which probably has to be 3D printed.

 

The eBay chinese goods seem to be mostly from Hong Kong and a couple of days faster delivery but still a couple of weeks typical.

Lately the good sellers have warehouses in the US so shipping is 3-5 days.

 

Lately the good sellers have warehouses in the US so shipping is 3-5 days.

Yes, and as a matter of fact, I later found out that Amazon does sell the same tiny scope that I bought from Banggood. Although the delivery times vary widely since Amazon represents many other different vendors.

 

Well there is Amazon and then there are Amazon vendors who are some of the same ones on AliX, BanG, and eBay. With the same slow boat/plane from china. Amazon is a bit more picky about their vendor's reliability than the others and their prices are typically higher.

 

Amazon is a bit more picky about their vendor's reliability than the others and their prices are typically higher.

Yes, but the risks of being unable to return a defective item, or of being ripped off, are much diminished.

 

Recently, I ordered from Amazon a water pump for a Maytag clothes washer. The pump arrived in a few days but it leaked and Amazon refunded it promptly. I reordered the pump from another supplier and again it arrived within a few days.

An auto alternator arrived in a few days after ordering.

Two batteries and charger for a Nikon camera ordered on Sunday arrived on Monday.

 

So far my china dealings have been good moneywise. I learned to check/test incoming items upon receipt and have been quickly reimbursed for any that were bad or not received. Not very often but it does happen. Now as to quality... I am convinced some of the parts I have received were probably sold as scrap and not as good parts to the vendors who resold them as parts. ie Defective or missing markings, bent pins, marginal product quality test results, etc. But at a price 1/10 of what US vendors sell for. Good for my own use to play with but not what I would use commercially selling/repairing to a customer. I also buy quite a few used books online and it's the same there. Books not the quality condition as advertised, badly marked-up pages, missing pages, wrong book, never received/lost in shipping, etc. Same results with being refunded by vendors and told to keep bad/wrong books. Also at a substantial discount with a 1-2 week delivery time even from US vendors and about the same time from UK vendors surprisingly. Just have to be patient and buy sight unseen and rely on the vendor.