I am a retired electrician and am starting a small vintage audio/stereo business. I have a very strong field in controls and commercial electrical. I have a basic idea of audio units and have been able to repair analog equipment out of the fifties, sixties and seventies. A lot of units have printed circuit boards and I have been able to repair them.
I picked up a really clean Tektronix 2445B, 200 MHz Oscilloscope but the cables are missing. I could sure use some help with the correct cables for using on audio and speakers. I have used a lot of electric test equipment, but I know nothing about an oscilloscope. The manual mentions P6137 and P6133 but I really want the cables that will work for my application.
Any guidance would be much appreciated.

 

Welcome to AAC.

For the most part all you will need are one or two decent 10x probes. You will need to learn a fair amount to make the scope useufl. What did you plan to do with it?

 

I am a retired electrician and am starting a small vintage audio/stereo business. I have a very strong field in controls and commercial electrical. I have a basic idea of audio units and have been able to repair analog equipment out of the fifties, sixties and seventies. A lot of units have printed circuit boards and I have been able to repair them.
I picked up a really clean Tektronix 2445B, 200 MHz Oscilloscope but the cables are missing. I could sure use some help with the correct cables for using on audio and speakers. I have used a lot of electric test equipment, but I know nothing about an oscilloscope. The manual mentions P6137 and P6133 but I really want the cables that will work for my application.
Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Standard scope probes will work.
https://probemaster.com/oscilloscope-probes/

 

I added a divide by 10 circuit (180Ω/20Ω) connected to a BNC socket on my dummy load, and connect it to the scope (on x1) with a standard BNC lead.

 

You could try these as a slightly cheaper option:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38574809...K7yUKehwY9wvHSapDVgi4aZg==|tkp:Bk9SR671z8PfYg

it is worth having the X10 option, resulting in a higher input impedance (and higher input voltages).

With audio signals limited to 20kHz there is no need for probes capable of handling the 100s of MHz.

 

If you want to do it on the cheap, you can do it with ordinary hookup cables, banana plugs on BNC coax cable, or you can DIY your own x1 probe with RG-174 coax cable. You can also DIY your own x10 attenuator as Ian suggested.

Give yourself a treat and purchase a proper x10 probe. It doesn’t have to be a recognized brand name probe. Shop around for best price.

If x1 probes will save you money, go for it. You can always get x10 probes later.

For audio work, you don’t need two channels and two probes. You can get by with a single channel.

 

Welcome to AAC.

For the most part all you will need are one or two decent 10x probes. You will need to learn a fair amount to make the scope useufl. What did you plan to do with it?

It is all new to me, I also have a nice RCA signal generator and I have heard you can even balance speakers, etc. It is all new and at 74 I just want to learn. Thank you.

 

I added a divide by 10 circuit (180Ω/20Ω) connected to a BNC socket on my dummy load, and connect it to the scope (on x1) with a standard BNC lead.

Thank You.

 

If you want to do it on the cheap, you can do it with ordinary hookup cables, banana plugs on BNC coax cable, or you can DIY your own x1 probe with RG-174 coax cable. You can also DIY your own x10 attenuator as Ian suggested.

Give yourself a treat and purchase a proper x10 probe. It doesn’t have to be a recognized brand name probe. Shop around for best price.

If x1 probes will save you money, go for it. You can always get x10 probes later.

For audio work, you don’t need two channels and two probes. You can get by with a single channel.

Thank you.

 

You could try these as a slightly cheaper option:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385748093375?hash=item59d060c9bf:g:QscAAOSwmJFkrO~C&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAAwKybDQb9Q+f7vUcZtmcZD8OVFiJKsdnf4Xnz2PMETmJr8xudgZIDBKqL0E09VS85BgR/aC7WTUb9fO8nLcpFIw83cWP3XaLriRi6Dtwa6qoBV7f5KWhBodXvLBQZkfnJ4LkWsxQ8eJLJ3Ru5ZPQ5E8CBrN2Xkobrobd8a71w01JP20y1qV5WW8/BhFMm/at9QmuapRRMAaN1oOQmu5CEdl/hKq7tTa6rPyn0dH+OzcK7yUKehwY9wvHSapDVgi4aZg==|tkp:Bk9SR671z8PfYg

it is worth having the X10 option, resulting in a higher input impedance (and higher input voltages).

With audio signals limited to 20kHz there is no need for probes capable of handling the 100s of MHz.

Thank you.

 

The manual mentions P6137 and P6133 but I really want the cables that will work for my application.

There's no reason why those probes wouldn't work for your application. A benefit of using Tektronix probes is that when they say a "system" has a certain bandwidth, that's the 3dB down frequency for the probe and scope together. If you use generic probes, you'll be 6dB down.

 

The probes that switch between 1X and 10X are handy, (post #5) since you can easily switch between the two without having to disconnect them.
The trick is to remember which position the probes are set to.
For most of you work with audio the 1X setting should be fine, but for any high impedance measurements you would want 10X.

 

There's no reason why those probes wouldn't work for your application. A benefit of using Tektronix probes is that when they say a "system" has a certain bandwidth, that's the 3dB down frequency for the probe and scope together. If you use generic probes, you'll be 6dB down.

Thank you.

 

If you want to do it on the cheap, you can do it with ordinary hookup cables, banana plugs on BNC coax cable, or you can DIY your own x1 probe with RG-174 coax cable. You can also DIY your own x10 attenuator as Ian suggested.

Give yourself a treat and purchase a proper x10 probe. It doesn’t have to be a recognized brand name probe. Shop around for best price.

If x1 probes will save you money, go for it. You can always get x10 probes later.

For audio work, you don’t need two channels and two probes. You can get by with a single channel.

Thank you.

 

The probes that switch between 1X and 10X are handy, (post #5) since you can easily switch between the two without having to disconnect them.
The trick is to remember which position the probes are set to.
For most of you work with audio the 1X setting should be fine, but for any high impedance measurements you would want 10X.

Thank you.

 

The probes that switch between 1X and 10X are handy, (post #5) since you can easily switch between the two without having to disconnect them.
The trick is to remember which position the probes are set to.
For most of you work with audio the 1X setting should be fine, but for any high impedance measurements you would want 10X.

Thank you.