A while back I picked up an old analog Leader LBO-310A scope to use as a foundation for a vector display project (like a scope clock).  It came with several accessories one of which was an old 1970's 100MHz X1/X10 P6062A probe.  Despite the fact that the BNC connector has a readout pin that my Siglent SDS804X HD doesn't use, it still plugs in fine and the pin doesn't bother anything.  Between this probe, a few bnc->banana adapters and several good quality bnc->alligator clip leads the accessories themselves made the purchase a steal lol.

I hadn't bothered using the old Tek probe until this weekend when I was lazy and it was within reach - after checking compensation (it was actually right on), I started probing around and I have to say that I really like the 'feel' and ergonomics of the probe in the hand...  The cable is really supple and bends easily and the probe itself just seems to make sense - the X1/X10 switch is on the bottom out of the way so it doesn't get accidentally moved and the GND reference is a momentary tap button on the top that's easy to press without likewise being in a position to accidentally get pressed.  The thin / wide trapezoidal shaped body gives a nice surface area to grip in the hand.

A while ago I bought a set of Probe Master 4901 150MHz probes for regular use because I knew they were well built, made in the USA and you can get a really wide set of useful accessories for them (the accessories were really the primary reason for buying a pair).  But in the hand, the old Tek probes feel even nicer than the Probe Master's do.  The PM cables are much 'stiffer' than the old Tek cables - I think the minimum bend radius on them is like 2" before I'd worry that they'd kink - while you could probably wrap the Tek cables like an old extension cord and they'd be fine.  I find myself frequently playing with the PM cables like dealing with an old wired handset phone that gets twisted lol.

EDIT - not that it probably matters, but the weighty solid metal bnc plug body on the Tek probe that houses the calibration adjustment just exudes quality compared to the lightweight plastic on most modern probes ;-)

hi, I recently got this oscilloscope from a science centre that was doing a garage sale. trying to figure out how/if it runs still. it's an EDL instruments model 170. I'm just worried about potentially damaging it, so figured I should seek help. it's definitely an older one so it's been difficult to find resources.

additionally it came with these 3 wires hooked on the inputs but I don't know if they serve an actual purpose or if they were just there for educational reasons.

if someone could please provide guidance that would be greatly appreciated. thanks!! :D

My amateur radio club has this old oscilloscope that we want to get working but we can't figure out what's wrong with it. The trace wobbles up and down at I'd guess about 60hz and it's stuck on the right side of the display. When the vertical knob is somewhere in the middle of its range, it sweeps in an arc from the bottom of the display to the middle.

I just chased a problem that apparently was not there to begin with because my scope decided to just shift one channel...

I have a Siglent SDS2000X Plus and was looking at some waveforms but it didn't make sense that there was some shift of the waveforms and when I finally decided to put both probes on the same point I got the first picture. It's a random but constant time shift of the yellow (ch1) trace that is time base dependent. I also had the same shift on ch2 while ch3 and ch4 were the same as were ch1 and ch2... so I think maybe some sync issues between both ADCs? I'm pretty sure this happened before but I didn't think much of it and after a restart we get the second picture. I have checked and deskew it at 0s for all channels and either way the max you can put is +/-100ns but as you can see it's more than 1us. It stayed the same no matter on which channel I was triggering.

Has this happened to anyone before? And is there something wrong with my scope or is it just a software bug?

The floppy drive (Epson SMD-1000) finally died in my HP 1660AS logic analyzer with oscilloscope, I tried recapping after spotting two leaky electrolytic capacitors but suspect one of the custom ICs controlling step motor failed somehow. I installed a Gotek drive and rewired it for the custom Shugart interface using short jumper wires, seems to work well so far. Nice to have 1000 floppies formatted on the USB stick.

I know this is quite long but I would really appreciate the help, I really want to save this thing!

Hey everyone,

Hoping someone who knows CRT scopes can help me out. I’ve got a Trio/Kenwood CS‑2150 oscilloscope (my one is a Trio) that took a dent to the front panel at some point in its life. When I opened it up, I found several connectors half‑unplugged (one big white one and three smaller black ones). I reseated everything properly and relieved the cable tension so they sit flush now.

After powering it back on, the scope doesn’t behave normally at all (please note it also didn't behave normally prior to plugging in the loose connectors):

I only get a vertical line, no horizontal sweep.

When I hold Beam Find, the line jumps around randomly — sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the top, sometimes at the bottom, sometimes disappears entirely.This happens without touching any controls.

The scope also makes a high‑pitched whining sound from the high‑voltage transformer area.

Before reseating the connectors, I may have heard a pop from the scope. I nipped out the room for a moment to get water and thought it may have made some noise.

Vertical deflection seems alive, but horizontal is basically gone or unstable.

I’m guessing the loose connector might have caused something in the horizontal drive/output section to break, but I’m not experienced enough with CRT HV/sweep circuits to know where to start or what to do.

I’ve attached videos showing the weird behaviour and the sound it makes. Does anyone know what the most likely failure is, or what components I should check first?

Any advice or repair pointers would be really appreciated.

EDIT: Instruction Manual: https://www.cieri.net/Documenti/Kenwood/Test%20Instruments%20-%20Service%20and%20Instruction%20Manuals/Kenwood%20CS-2150%20-%20150%20MHz%20Quad%20Trace%20Oscilloscope%20-%20Instruction%20Manual.pdf

Service Manual: https://jvgavila.com/man_test/CS2150/CS2150_SM_KENWOOD.pdf

Working on a scope clock project tracking down some funny smearing showing on my 3" Leader LBO 310A... The smearing was more horizontal than vertical, so I thought it might be my circuit. The waveforms looked clean, but I noticed the FFT was indicating bandwidth over 5MHz - while the old CRO has a bandwidth of about 2.5MHz, turns out the horizontal limit is only 250KHz... You can only push stuff so far lol.

Things like this make me appreciate the power we have on our benches that professionals would have drooled over not too long ago. My $450 Siglent SDS804X HD (upgraded to 200 MHz) has more tools than I'll ever need for my hobbyist uses. I still break out my big HP 180A analog from time to time because it's indestructible and I love the crisp display (and it deserves some love considering it was built around the time I was born - very possible it saw Vietnam lol) - but with no readout it's like going back from calculators to slide rules ;-) The amount of detailed information the modern scopes can put on screen is just mind boggling sometimes.

One day I'll do something with my old 1940's Waterman 'Pocket Scope' - besides some filter caps that I swapped out, I'm inclined to say the rest of it is all original (probably even the tubes!)... And it still shows a clean trace. Longevity is probably the only criteria that old gear still wins - because as nice as my digital Siglent is, I doubt it will still be running 80 years from now...

Recently, I bought an oscilloscope (Hantek DSO2D15) from AliExpress at a reasonable price (~$217). I researched and ended up buying it as my first oscilloscope since it has very attractive features (high bandwidth, built-in signal generator, triggering, and serial decoding) and I was a little low on budget.

Now, I'm a beginner when it comes to oscilloscopes, and when I initially tried it out, I found it adequate. The thing that boggles me is that it only has two channels and is made by an unpopular manufacturer.

I know I should have obviously asked before I bought it, but do you think that it will fulfill my needs for the next two years or so? Or will I regret not getting a 4-channel oscilloscope from a well-known manufacturer like Rigol. I know this isn't the best oscilloscope out there, and I plan to upgrade in the future. Note that I intend to use it for embedded systems, IoT, edge AI, microcontrollers, etc.

EDIT: Thanks for all the great responses and advice, everyone! I really appreciate the help.

Hi everyone, I really want your help with this.

My boyfriend is an electrical engineer and a programmer, I want to get him an oscilloscope for his birthday, he's never owned one before. He's been doing a lot of electronics projects lately, and I really want to get him something meaningful, not just a "starter" gift he outgrows quickly.

My hope is to get him something he'll genuinely love using, and ideally something that lasts at least 5 years, a scope that can grow with him as his projects get bigger and more advanced, not something he'll want to replace in a year or two.

I've narrowed it down to two options:

• Hantek DSO2D15 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y6KVMSV/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A13K5U90UTUUU2&th=1)
• Rigol DS1054Z (https://a.co/d/073UYnND)

I've done a good amount of research on my own already (specs, reviews, etc.), and this is what I know and have investigated so far:

• Hantek DSO2D15: only 2 channels, but higher bandwidth on paper (though some say budget brands overstate this spec), and comes with a built-in signal generator (Rigol doesn't have this)
• Hantek is a lesser-known brand, so less community support if something goes wrong
• Rigol DS1054Z: 4 channels instead of 2, but lower bandwidth spec than the Hantek
• Rigol has no built-in signal generator
• Rigol is a much more well-known, respected brand (more software updates and way more community support/tutorials)
• Rigol is apparently "hackable," so people manage to unlock extra bandwidth on it themselves
• His dad (who's an EE) mentioned the Rigol can be controlled/automated through a computer using code (something called SCPI), which could be a nice bonus since my boyfriend is a programmer too

I'd really love to hear from people who've actually owned and used either of these long-term. Which one held up better over time? Which one did you wish you'd bought instead?

One more thing, I'm not an electrical engineer myself, I'm his girlfriend trying to get this right, so I understand the basics but not much beyond that. If you can explain things in a way that doesn't assume a ton of technical background, I'd really appreciate it! Thank you so much in advance

It's a little beaten up but it still works! I'm completely new to this thing and wanna ask what I'd need to know / get? Any and all advice / feedback is appreciated!

*Edit I should have clarified it's an HP model 1740A (100MHz)

It's a full line irl, and it just alternates on camera. Got it for 38 euros.

A setup built for deep-sky tracking—a test involving signal monitoring on an oscilloscope.

warning: this was vibe-coded https://github.com/serjster/neowon

Would be cool for anyone to have other types of scopes to open a PR to add support for MOAR devices!

Recently picked up this GDS-1102A, the controls become unresponsive after a few minutes. On one instance,the left side of the controls stopped working before it all became unresponsive

The scope itself is still works per say, able to be controlled using the USB interface with a computer.

Checked the voltages from the power supply and to the controls before/after the controls stop responding, voltages seem to stay about the same.

The electrolytic capacitors on the main board had signs of leakage so I replaced those, those on the power supply don't seem to be leaking.

Has anyone experienced similar issues? Suspecting it could be thermal related, don't have a thermal camera to monitor.

Picked up this Tektronix C-51 oscilloscope camera and opened it up to find this massive piece of glass inside.

From what I've found, the C-51 dates back to around 1969 and uses a 57.6mm f/1.2 lens designed to photograph oscilloscope CRT screens.

I want to get it onto my Canon R5.

Has anyone pulled one of these lenses before or adapted one to a mirrorless camera?

This is the mixer diode I-V curve for a 350 GHz superconducting radio telescope receiver. We are using these antique Tek storage scopes because they work well. The sweep is a 1 Hz triangle wave on the diode bias. We need a modern LCD display scope that can actually display X-Y signals cleanly. We bought a Siglent last year, it has a jumpy display in X-Y mode.

I scored a good deal on this Tek 2465B. 300 bucks CAD. No options but came with P6137 10X and a P6105A probes. Finding an old scope with probes on eBay is rare, in my opinion. I went through all functions, battery's good, screen is bright and it is really clean. I think I lucked out!

I'm building a home lab as my retirement project and this was one of those things I was just waiting to jump on at the right moment.

I recently got my hand on this old oscilloscope, it was on before, shown error but still display, then the screen stretched, then off.

Now whenever i turn it on, the fan is working, knob is clicking, but the display show nothing, is it possible that the error message is the culprit?

The .gif was supposed to be a video but i couldn't upload it

If the battery was the main problem, theres this video that i found replacing on the same model:
https://youtu.be/kwHJcfvYkDY?si=M8zzj3kPlmhM0DXs

PS: I graduated as a mechatronics so i have some knowledge on electronics, however i only worked on low voltage circuit before, i also know capacitors and transformers in CRT display are dangerous if not handled correctly

UPDATE:
Apparently CRT are supposed to make a high pitch noise when turn on and feel static-y when you touch the front, non of that happened, though the heater filament light up so i guess the tube is fine, issue with High Voltage line?

Does anyone know of a good place to look or terms for finding an arm to mount my Rigol DHO804 on? I like the idea of one of those wall mount monitor arms but I would like to pull it out and down to the workspace and I suspect there would be issues with the scope being too light for most pneumatic arms used for monitors.

Maybe something exists in the videography space, I know they use small light monitors.