Phoenix Gold Phorum

Hi i need somew help i need a cheap handheld digital oscilloscope i have been looking on ebay for one but i dont know if they work for testing amplifiers, i dont only need it for amplifiers im also using it to test sensors on car and i need to learn how to use one because im taking a course in car diagnostic and use of DMM & oscilloscope where i have to know how to use them.
Here is the one i have been looking on:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Mini-N ... 4ad16f877a

If you know about another usable one i dont care if it is used but it need to be shipped to Norway, i can buy a new one in Norway and its about 200$ i dont want to use more the ca 100$

I have this one and know more then a few installers that have it as well. Great for in car measurements.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Pocket-Siz ... 2a41ca9231

I bought the same one just the knobs are black not silver looks the same though, i payed ca 60$ for it now i just got to learn how i use it.
Thanks for your help ttocs

Dave from the EEV blog on youtube has some nice scope tutorial vids, as well as w2aew and other youtube users. There are always tutorials on youtube (just beware of some that are poorly made and explained).

That should be a good starter scope for ya, but I would of recommended something like Tek, Fluke or TPI. I have the TPI 440 Plus and its pretty damn nice (only problem is the batteries don't hold charge any longer...needs to get replaced).

I will look into it we got two bosch KTS on my work and they have scope and obd diagnostic but its to big and i just need something to learn on i will buy a better one later when i know how they work.

Just remember all scopes have a limit on voltage. The probes have 10x attenuator so you can check out high voltage...carefully of course.

Another tip would be that some amplifiers don't like when you probe the bridged terminals....So what I would do is ground the scope probe to the non-bridging terminals (usually the middle terminals that have continuity between them) and then place the probe on the either of the bridged terminals. If you have two probes you can use each one for each side of the bridged outputs and them sum it up on the scope for a single sine wave form (two wave forms added/summed). This is great for checking the phase of each channel as well to see if they are symmetrical (which should be for any bridged output)



Also check out some old Tektronix manuals such as for the 465....its simple yet very well explained and you should be able to find it online in PDF (if not I can post it here for ya). This manual will explain what everything on scope is for and how to use it...of course yours is a handheld tiny scope and this manual is for a desk top scope from the 70's.

trickyricky wrote:Just remember all scopes have a limit on voltage. The probes have 10x attenuator so you can check out high voltage...carefully of course.

Another tip would be that some amplifiers don't like when you probe the bridged terminals....So what I would do is ground the scope probe to the non-bridging terminals (usually the middle terminals that have continuity between them) and then place the probe on the either of the bridged terminals. If you have two probes you can use each one for each side of the bridged outputs and them sum it up on the scope for a single sine wave form (two wave forms added/summed). This is great for checking the phase of each channel as well to see if they are symmetrical (which should be for any bridged output)



Also check out some old Tektronix manuals such as for the 465....its simple yet very well explained and you should be able to find it online in PDF (if not I can post it here for ya). This manual will explain what everything on scope is for and how to use it...of course yours is a handheld tiny scope and this manual is for a desk top scope from the 70's.

I have looked on those old tektronix there are cheap ones on ebay and i almost bought one but shipping is to much, i will look in to the manual and have a look.
This scope has one probe but i you can record and play them of in the computer side by side, they had one of the same brand with two probes but its 3 times the price and then its better to buy two units lol.
Thanks for the help trickyricky, what happens if it gets to much voltage?