Low frequency Oscilloscope

I would like to get a Oscilloscope, but seeing as I am not yet into Microcontrollers, I don't need one of those fancy 500 in 1 oscilloscopes that cost $3,000. I would like to buy one that has a very low frequency range, around 1hz to 500khz. I don't know what brand to buy, what kind, or anything. When I google searched, they all say "best buy!" Yet I don't know what a "best buy is" Any suggestions?

Here's a link from a thread just two or three down from this one:
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/two-hobbyist-oscopes-for-129-219.31934/

2 MHz for $129 should do you well!
kenjj

You perhaps don't realise what scope specs mean?, the frequency quoted is the 3dB down point. A 2MHz scope will probably struggle with a 20KHz squarewave. You need to be aware of this when using a scope.

Look on e-bay for used scopes, spend a few weeks looking for a good deal. I picked up a working 500khz scope for 30 bucks (including shipping) Auctions last for at least a few days which gives you plenty of time to look up the details of each scope or ask questions in here about them.

Yeah i dont know what 2MHZ and the ratings mean. I was how everybody could even manage to get a 20mhz square wave and stuff. I dont know what you could use tha for except for PCs and microcontrollers. I want one that can measure 1hz to around 500khz. Can they measure low frequency? Im a little confused.

I would buy a used analog scope as Sceadwian has suggested. Tektronix makes nice scopes and a 100Mhz 465B would be something you can grow with. Get the highest bandwidth (Mhz) scope you can afford as there is no point in buying a low bandwidth scope that won't do the job 1 year from now. Make sure it comes with probes because these can be expensive to buy new.

Krumlink said:

I want one that can measure 1hz to around 500khz. Can they measure low frequency? Im a little confused.

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If you just want to start to get familiar with using a scope for audio frequency (up to 20Khz), you can get free software to enable using a pc with soundcard as a very basic scope. It won't be able to measure DC and is also very limited in the voltage range that you can use with it. (low voltage only!)

I have not tried this software:
**broken link removed**

You can also use the sound card as a signal generator etc. see:
http://www.epanorama.net/links/pc_sound.html

When you decide to buy a scope, you could try looking for a simple,medium spec used scope (one with no more than 25Mhz bandwidth should be ok to begin with) on ebay. But beware of any complex,high spec ones going very cheap because of "slight faults" "untested" etc. as they would probably be difficult/expensive to repair.


Or you can even make your own, like on this site:
**broken link removed**

Krumlink said:

I would like to get a Oscilloscope, but seeing as I am not yet into Microcontrollers, I don't need one of those fancy 500 in 1 oscilloscopes that cost $3,000. I would like to buy one that has a very low frequency range, around 1hz to 500khz. I don't know what brand to buy, what kind, or anything. When I google searched, they all say "best buy!" Yet I don't know what a "best buy is" Any suggestions?

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I would not give a nickle for some low freq (bandwidth) Oscope, when you can get fantastic buys on older Tektronix that go from DC to 100Mz or more for a $150 or so.
The fantastic thing about them is that they will usually trigger to about twice their rated frequency!
I bought some almost new junk made by a manufacturer I had never herd of some time ago. Cost me almost $200, the specifications looked good. A short time later I gave it it away, did not have the hart to charge for it.
As a replacement I got a Tektronix 465 that must be at least 25 years old and now I am happy.

Krumlink - let me offer some thoughts in the hope that you may benefit and I might benefit by having others confirm my thinking ( or correct me).

The only repetitive signal that contains only one pure frequency is a sine wave. Any other waveform can be described as the sum of several (or many) sine waves that are at the fundamental frequency or multiples of the fundamental frequency. As a rule much of the energy is at the fundamental frequency with less energy in the multiples. Those multiples are higher in frequency.

The response of the scope falls off with increasing frequency. A scope is used to provide us with a graphical representation of an electronic signal. If the signal is a pure sine wave and is within the limits of the scope it's reasonable to think that we'll see a good representation of what is there - which is of course what we expect. If the signal is anything other than a pure sine wave it then becomes more likely that what we see on the scope is a less accurate representation of reality. Why - because when those higher frequency multiples fall outside the limits of the scope it doesn't faithfully handle them. You'll certainly see something and it may be quite useful but possibly not be accurate.

A square wave contains many multiples at much higher frequencies - hence the statement that a square wave with a fundamental within the limits of the scope may still not be accurately represented.

Krumlink said:

I dont know what you could use tha for except for PCs and microcontrollers. I want one that can measure 1hz to around 500khz. Can they measure low frequency? Im a little confused.

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You don't seemed to have properly understood what Nigel said.

A squarewave contains high harmonics of the fundermental, if you want to view it properly then I recommend going up to the 10th, possible even the 20th harmonic. Therefore if you want to view a 500kHz squarewave then I'd recommend a 10MHz scope.

Below is approximately how a 500kHz square wave will look on a 500kHz scope and on a 100MHz scope.

Thanks so much! You all helped out a bunch! So the higher the Frequency oscope the more accurately it can view the wave! So i should get a 10mhz scope, which is perfect for my applications, where i like to make 2 transistor oscilliators, 555 astable, and other stuff. Thanks so much for your help!!!

EDIT: Forgot to add what scope to get? Im looking for a nice cheap 10MHZ scope. Thanks alot!

Look for a good surplus store in your area.
In Toronto I've seen 10MHz Leader scopes for $125
Here's a link to a local surplus to give you an idea of what's out there.
https://www.torontosurplus.com/

For a Little More .........

blueroomelectronics said:

Look for a good surplus store in your area.
In Toronto I've seen 10MHz Leader scopes for $125
Here's a link to a local surplus to give you an idea of what's out there.
https://www.torontosurplus.com/

Click to expand...

Interesting link....... outrages prices, compared to similar items on Ebay. Looked at a few oscopes, their prizes were at least 50% higher.
OP has not indicated his budget but my personal opinion is that a 10MHz oscopes for $125 is not a good deal, when you can get a Tektronix 100MHz for just a little more money.