[geeks] Re: Tektronix TDS 220

[roosmcd at dds.nl]

> On TDS220
> What do people think of these scopes?  I know the brand is well
> reguarded.   I liked it when I use it.

 They replaced all the scopes at our institute with these things recently. 
Personally I don't like them, but I haven't really worked with them; only took 
a quick look. But they look to cheap for my taste..
 
> They cost quite a pretty penny, even used though.  

 Just saw a TDS220 browsing on eBay, $499 starting price. This seems like a 
better deal:

 http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1750164675

 Philips scopes are good, I myself have an older unit which is very reliable 
(100MHz dual channel with delay for $5, which was a pretty good buy) and I've 
also used some of the newer Philips digital scopes extensively and can say 
they're very good. Never liked tektronix ones, but they'll do the job just as 
well :)

 You'll definitely want to have a GPIB option if you're going for a digital 
scope. Of course GPIB cards are rather expensive (I'm still looking for one 
after getting outbid on eBay), but you can export your data to the computer and 
do calculations on it. But for most things an analogue scope is good enough, 
for audio a vacuum tube scope should do OK.

  greetings,
   Michiel

ps. Some (all?) HP/Agilent scopes have games (Doom!) built-in. Also a point to 
consider...