Hello All,
I’m looking to get myself another 'scope. I’m not fussed about it being new, or digital, but I’d like a bandwidth of 40 or 50Mhz (as far as the beer tokens will take me of course). I can recall seeing adverts for places selling surplus kit in the amateur radio press, but not of recent. I was wondering if anyone could point me towards such an outlet? Any thoughts much appreciated.
73,
Dave M(W)0MYA
In reply to M0MYA:
eBay
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to G1INK:
That PM3082 is a good price. 100MHz is not bad as my 'scope is only 50MHz B/W job. However, that PM3082 looks to be lacking hard knobs. I’ve too many years of twiddling knobs to cope with these push button software driven things. Something Agilent (nee HP) learnt in the 80s when they restarted fitting rotary controls.
Still the price is tempting…
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to G1INK:
Thanks Steve, thats exactly the kind of thing I was after.
Andy: There’s lots of interesting scopes on eBay, unfortunately, I break out in hives when I have to bid rather than buy. Odd, because when I’m selling, I love watching the bids tick up! 
73 to you both,
Dave MW0MYA
In reply to M0MYA:
I found this while Googling oscilloscopy stuff. I thought it was sufficiently astounding to share:
73,
Dave MW0MYA
In reply to M0MYA:
I guess you’re just too young to have ever used a Tektronix 4010 vector graphics terminal. We used to have them connected to the PDP-11/44 at Uni from where you could either use Unix ( real Unix ) or use the 44 as terminal onto the Amdahl VM/470 or the DEC-10 or DEC-20.
Just shows what you can do with three DAC-08s driving the X, Y and Z inputs of a scope.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
(definitely off topic here)
Now yer talkin’ … I wrote a graphics driver for one of those in FORTRAN. I probably still have the 4010 manual with the control codes in it somewhere …
Ours were attached to a GEC 2050 used as a remote node to both an ICL1903T and an IBM 370/195. I remember writing a bit twiddling routine in IBM assembler to handle the 4 by 6 bit words (24 bits) from the ICL tapes … oh happy days!!
73
John GM8OTI
(computing dinosaur)
In reply to M0MYA:
Well, I had me a very nice Trio 40 meg scope from Mr. BVE, works like a charm and is another one of those “you can find more jobs for it than you ever thought possible” bits of kit.
I thought as the thread is OT anyhow I’d post the following:
It takes a 50MHz scope and alters the firmware via a serial connection to let it know it is in fact a 100MHz scope! I think it embodies the amateur spirit quite well. Maybe also see:
A homebrew 40MSPS digital scope built on a single sided board.
73,
Dave M0MYA
In reply to M0MYA:
I got a scope from a “Free to a good home” advertisement and I for six months I wondered what I did without it. After that it was resigned to being turned on while connected to a little oscillator circuit to impress muggles visiting the shack. Along with some green screen monitors decoding packet messages like something out of ‘The Matrix’ it gave the shack a real mad scientist lair feel. I can probably count on one hand the times I used it since but it is a nice tool to have, hence the reason I keep it, but never upgraded to something more modern.
Regards Steve GW7AAV
In reply to M0MYA:
The Trio scopes are really quite nice. Mine doesn’t get enough use to warrant anything more expensive even though something with a DC-daylight B/W would be simply cool to have. So I “make do” with a 50MHz B/W. However, if anyone has a Tek or HP digital scope with a single-shot B/W in excess of 300MHz they don’t want and are prepared to exchange for a sting of beads then please get in touch.
One thing to watch for… my Trio is a portable model and hence a wee bit more compact that similar scopes. It took ages to get used to the fact the graticule is only 8 units high not 10. Very tricksy as a certain Mr. Gollum would say!
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to M0MYA:
Stewarts of Reading is where I’d like to go to get mine. 100 MHz scopes of different sorts for under £100 + probes + VAT] . www.stewart-of-reading.co.uk/ Sadly this plan has gone awry and my savings must be spent on a new garden fence. Sob.
73
David
In reply to 2E0DAI:
I’d forgotten about that company David. In the dim and distant past a spotty FMF-to-be got a reconditioned and calibrated AVO8 Mk. X as a 17th birthday present. I can’t remember if it came from them or one of the other test equipment companies that advertised in the back of Wireless World 30 years ago.
I still have that AVO and use it now and then. I can remember it cost £65 inc p&p which was about the same as a 3 bed-semi in those days! It’s still brought out for proper analog jobs but most of the time I use a 4-3/4 digit DMM bought for under a tenner. Last time I checked, the 15V battery was reading over 14V. That would be 2007 and the battery had a sticker saying I installed in in 1996. You can still get the battery (BLR121???) but I think I’d just bung 5 CR2025 cells in series in it should it ever need a new battery as the real battery is a silly price.
Andy
MM0FMF