I would definitle not buy the first 2, preferring the SDS1202X-E.

The SDS 1104X-E now looks to be in stock.

By the way, I've seen some posts on the 1204X-E that suggest it will be 749, not 649.

 

The SDS1202X-E has a really nice display. It's $380-ish with maybe another $20-30 off with the above discount.

Gee thanks for letting us know now. I just bought one. But I pretty much had to buy off of amazon anyway (had gift cards from credit card incentive program). So maybe it would not have applied.

After I ordered I wondered why I ordered,. I already have a Rigol which has served me well. and I can't think of a future project where I really need a scope.

So before you order, make sure you really have a need. For me it was basically free because of the gift cards and plans on selling my Rigol. Also `a few hundred here or there is not going to break the bank. By all means buy one if you need one but if you have a tight budget think about alternatives.

 

Thank you for making this simpler.
I have never used one before and plan to do computer interfaces.
You have narrowed this down a lot.
Now, a lot of the discussions that I have been reading have centered on 2 channels vs 4.
What do you recommend ? It seems to make about a $100.00 difference.

If you have the money, the more channels the better. I am working on a stepper motor project right now and I wished I had 4 channels. But I rarely use more than one anyway so it was hard for me to justify going with 4 channels.

You could also invest in a logic analyzer and get tons of channels if you only want digital. For me a logic analyzer is far more useful than a 4 channel scope. Mine has lots of protocol analyzers available. It was extremely useful when I was trying to get my one wire library working.

 

Gee thanks for letting us know now. I just bought one. But I pretty much had to buy off of amazon anyway (had gift cards from credit card incentive program). So maybe it would not have applied.

No problem, glad to help! To be fair I did mention the discount several times before and it's only with 2 stores that I know of - Selig and TEquipment. To top it off, it's in the range of 20-30 bucks.

 

No problem, glad to help! To be fair I did mention the discount several times before and it's only with 2 stores that I know of - Selig and TEquipment. To top it off, it's in the range of 20-30 bucks.

I like Selig. They always send you extra goodies. Got a pocket knife once and a scope bag when I ordered my scope.

 

...and a scope bag when I ordered by scope.

So you can throw it over your shoulder and carry it around campus?

 

I would agree with the comments above about the potential value of one shot capabilities on digital scopes. I've had a number of event-specific issues to analyze at work (things like supply voltage sag or ground noise issues when motors start and stop) which I could easily see with my analog scope, but I couldn't measure, store, or compare anything because the critical image came and went in the blink of an eye. I resorted to literally shooting high speed video of the scope and then going back frame by frame in order to get images and quantify things.

I eventually got the company to buy a digital scope, and now catching transient events is child's play. We got a Rigol DS1054Z (https://www.amazon.com/Rigol-DS1054Z-Digital-Oscilloscopes-Bandwidth/dp/B012938E76, $350) and I've been quite happy with it, although the only other scope I've experienced was the analog one.

If you don't need to catch transient events like I've been dealing with, an analog scope can do a lot of amazing things. I got mine for $20, sold as-is with no idea if it worked, from a used electronics/computer recycling store, and it's been wonderful for everything but those few work-related issues I mentioned above. Some day I'd like to have a digital one at home, but it's hard to justify the price for how rarely I need the benefits.

 

So you can throw it over your shoulder and carry it around campus?

Just like you cool kids used to do?

 

Hello,

If you want to carry the scope, you could also have a look at some handheld scopes:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-...961623&hash=item2a9a6e4ecc:g:ro0AAOSwbihaPzRv
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-97-S...997988&hash=item4b313392c9:g:mSUAAOSwVtZaFgHv

Bertus

 

@Hextejas
Check out Electric Parts Outlet on Fondren Rd. in Houston. Best surplus shop I’ve been in in decades and they specialize in old/refurbished test equipment. Lots of Tek and HP. Worth the drive.
http://epohouston.com/

 

@Hextejas
Check out Electric Parts Outlet on Fondren Rd. in Houston. Best surplus shop I’ve been in in decades and they specialize in old/refurbished test equipment. Lots of Tek and HP. Worth the drive.
http://epohouston.com/

Holy crap! You people from the big city are so lucky.

 

More than worrying about the size and sharpness of the screen, I would be considering firstly what do I intend to do with the oscilloscope.

Totally agree.

the 465 was the workhorse for IBM and it's a nice analog scope.
The 2200 series has a U700 IC issue, tantalum capacitors and the NVRAM may need to be read and another programmed. The internal batteries are reaching EOL.
The 24xx series, the 2465 is the better scope. The same NVRAM issues. Readouts.

The Tekscopes Yahoo group is an excellent resource.

If your really considering computer interfacing, a scope with protocol analyzers like SPI and I2C would probably be more useful. Or, maybe one that could be firmware upgraded for a fee.

 

The 2200 series has a U700 IC issue, tantalum capacitors and the NVRAM may need to be read and another programmed. The internal batteries are reaching EOL.

You sure about that? the 2225, 2235 and several others don't have batteries or NVRAM.

edit: ah, the 2220 and 2230 are DSO scopes but the 2225 and 2235 are pure analog.

 

@Hextejas
Check out Electric Parts Outlet on Fondren Rd. in Houston. Best surplus shop I’ve been in in decades and they specialize in old/refurbished test equipment. Lots of Tek and HP. Worth the drive.
http://epohouston.com/

Thank you John, I had totally forgotten about them.

George KG5TKY

 

If you buy a used scope, don't forget to get some good probes to go with it. Don't scrimp on probes. The scope/probe system can never be better than the probes.

Years ago I got a good deal on a Tektronix 475. The probes cost me more than the scope. I hindsight I probably should have bought better probes since they limit my 250 MHz scope to only about 200 MHz.