Re: Simple spectrum analyzer for pre-compliance

Terry Given wrote:

Joerg wrote:

John Devereux wrote:

John Larkin <jjlarkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:


On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:23:16 +0100, John Devereux
<jdREMOVE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


John Larkin <jjlarkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

[...]


If a decent spectrum analyzer costs $12K, and it may last for 10
years, that's 1200 a year. Less tax depreciation (or just expense it)
that's maybe $800, under $70 a month. That's not even coffee+pastry
money around here. It usually makes sense to buy good new test gear
and spend your time designing products.



Says the guy with 10 identical old scopes he bought off ebay :)



In that case, the older gear is just about as good as the new stuff,
at about 1% of the price. Besides, I like scopes!




Yeah, me too. (I have a couple of older Tek analog scopes, which I
bought *after* the more modern TDS3054).

Anyone used a higher-end modern digital scope?

<http://www.tek.com/products/oscilloscopes/dpo7000/>
<http://www.tek.com/products/oscilloscopes/dpo4000/index.html>


I have, at a client. Let's put it that way: I was not too enthused. There are many things you just can't do with a digital scope, no matter how many bells, whistle and persistence features they add in.

At the end of the day my recommendation to clients whose labs are exclusively TDS and DPO usually is: Go on EBay and bid on a Tektronix 2465.


DPO is a real PITA. You *cant* turn it off, but have to go to the correct menu and press the "clear persistence" button to see a single trace. Grrr....

the really annoying thing is that Tek *could* have added a "no DPO" setting, but chose not to.


I just hope they haven't replaced all of their old-timers with fresh grads without any field experience. IMHO a scope designer should have 10+ years of hardcore analog design work under the belt.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
.

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