Two Hobbyist Oscopes for $129/$219

I just got this offer in an email:
**broken link removed**

Since I see a lot of queries within these forums about what oscilloscopes are good for a student or hobbyist, I thought people here would be interested in these Velleman units. One has a 2MHz bandwidth, the other 10 MHz. These should be sufficient for "is it alive" studies and general troubleshooting in slow analog circuits, like guitar amps.

kjennejohn said:

I just got this offer in an email:
**broken link removed**

Since I see a lot of queries within these forums about what oscilloscopes are good for a student or hobbyist, I thought people here would be interested in these Velleman units. One has a 2MHz bandwidth, the other 10 MHz. These should be sufficient for "is it alive" studies and general troubleshooting in slow analog circuits, like guitar amps.

Click to expand...

Sorry, people, the web address given only works through my email account. Here is tequipment's URL:
http://tequipment.net/

It opens to a home page that displays ads for these two oscopes, at the prices mentioned.

Sorry for any inconvenience,
kenjj

A 'scope with only 2MHz bandwidth will round off the corners of square-waves at audio frequencies.
I didn't know a 'scope would have such a low bandwidth.

I have a 500khz scope. Analog though.

That OWON EDU5022W/BAT looks pretty attractive for $395 (same link as above, just scroll down a bit). 2 channels with color LCD screen, USB port for downloading screen images, and with 25 MHz bandwidth (presumably with both channels running, but bears checking) and includes the battery too. Seems like a deal to me. Heres the manual https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2007/08/EDU5022_manual.pdf. How does this unit compare to other beginner's scopes out there?

I'm trying to get one of those OWON EDU5022 units, the non battery unit is slightly cheaper at $328 hard to resist at that price.

The Velleman units are very simple, not worth it.

A nice alternative would be the PoScope, but I like the buttons and knobs over a displayless USB scope.
http://po.labs.googlepages.com/usbosciloskop

RadioRon said:

That OWON EDU5022W/BAT looks pretty attractive for $395 (same link as above, just scroll down a bit). 2 channels with color LCD screen, USB port for downloading screen images, and with 25 MHz bandwidth (presumably with both channels running, but bears checking) and includes the battery too. Seems like a deal to me. Heres the manual https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2007/08/EDU5022_manual-1.pdf. How does this unit compare to other beginner's scopes out there?

Click to expand...

The thing about the Owon oscopes that put me off is the manual and its rampant Chin-lish. It mentions serial and USB communications in the features, but says nothing about using the serial and precious little about using USB. Also they mention a battery option but say little about that. The 60 MHz scope looked good for the battery option, but the distributor told me in an email that a battery wasn't available for it?!

Yes, this is a nice 25MHz hobbyist scope, for sure. I got an email about this and posted it in a few forums. I got two or three howls about how 25 MHz wasn't worth bothering with.

However, I posted this for all the starving students/hobbyist-with-family looking for something around $100. This is the closest in a new unit I've seen so far.

Getting back to hot(?) bargains: the Instek model GDS-2204 looks HOT!
https://www.tequipment.net/InstekGDS-2204.html

I just got an email 2 days ago. It's going for $1800, $1636 with coupon(sorry, don't know how to get the coupon page up!). !GULP! THE PRICE! you say! It has EVERY feature my $2200 Tektronix TDS-2024B has (4 chan., color LCD, 200 MHz BW, 1GHz sample rate, math functions and auto measurements galore, no battery), but includes more sampling memory AND A BATTERY OPTION FOR REAL! The battery is an extra $385. This meets or exceeds the Tektronix for $400 - $600 less, without the battery, and the manual is a joy to read! You professional bench techs might want to consider this. If only I'd seen this before buying the Tek...
The $2200 I paid for the Tek was after an extensive search; these normally go online for $2400 or more, and you wait 2 to 3 weeks.

The Po scope looks interesting. I'll have to check that further...

Later!
kenjj

I've been waiting for a deal on the TDS2024B on ebay for a while now. I saw the Instek before, but as the price was fairly close to the Tek price, I decided to go for Tek. It takes a pretty serious saving of $$$ to sway me away from the TDS series. Then again, $1636 is getting very serious indeed. Wish we had more user feedback on the Instek lineup.

RadioRon said:

Then again, $1636 is getting very serious indeed. Wish we had more user feedback on the Instek lineup.

Click to expand...

OK, to put this into perspective:
To get the battery option on something like the TDS series, you need to go to the Tek TPS series. You get the battery and, to my mind, an unneeded mem card slot, SD card I think. For $3200!

The Instek, if you get the coupon deal, is $1638 + the $385 battery (factory installation only), $2021! The difference between them: 3200 - 2021 = $1,179! Half the cost of a TDS model! I haven't factored in tax, which is less on the less expensive unit, natch. You can go to the link I provided and find a link to the manual for the Instek unit. Read up! You'll be impressed!

As I read the Instek manual, I was struck how close their manual ran to the Tektronix manual for the TDS-2024B I had. The only obvious weirdness was in the memory allocation.
The TDS claims 600 points per channel in their brochure, the specs, and at the start of the manual. At the end, though, in the details section, it says less points are used at the highest two or three speeds. It states that less points are used, and algorithms are used to fit the data to the display.
The GDS says it uses 500 (less than the TDS), 5000, 12,500, or 25,000 points! This is a He** of a spread! The user can configure memory usage for one, two or four channel collection, and sweep settings have an effect on these numbers. Look this up on page 105 of the .PDF of their manual.

If I didn't already have the Tek I would go for this beauty. I may spring for this unit and sell off my Tek to defray the cost. My Tek is not a year old and the warranty is three years and transferable, hardly used, still in great shape, I even still have the box it came in. It will probably go on Ebay.

Any takers?
kjennejohn@yahoo.com.

Later!
kenjj

Yeah, the Instek units sound like great items, but... what if they are unreliable dogs? IIRC, the new TDS -B series come with lifetime warranties and a great track record, whereas GW Instek are three years and a lot of internet forum conjecture.

It makes me sad, because the Instek GDS units look like they could be a really good bargain on a decent scope and nobody knowns real details about them. Their lesser GOS scopes have gotten a few good reviews - and no negatives that I have come across.

There are some nice PC-based oscilloscopes out there that are pretty cheap yet have some neat capabilities since they hook up to a PC. Look on eBay.

Lol i like the fluke 337-b It comes with a free football! LOL

I'm considering buying a scope, and found one in my city for $180 CAD. It's a Hitachi V-650F. I've been trying to find information about it on the net, but so far I havent been able to find much.

According to what I have found, it is a 3 chanel scope with a 70Mhz bandwidth. If anybody has any info on this type of scope, please let me know. Also, what do I look for when testing it out? Is there an easy way for me to check accuracy without the aid of another scope?

I use the Velleman HPS10 scope and find it invaluble for what I work on (mainly lowish frequency stuff).

Well worth every penny I spent on it. I'd advise you to get a 9-12v power supply and a set of NiMh AAs for it though.

It has its faults - bandwidth being one of them but for digital work and basic audio and analogue its fantastic.

I have never regretted purchasing it and I paid around $200 for my one (with the 2$ to £1 conversion rate at the moment).

For anyone considering the Instek GDS-2204- Please read

I was looking to buy a new oscilloscope and had heard some good things about the Instek GDS-2204 Oscilloscope. As a result I decided to order one.

The unit I received was defective. All I got was noise for the signal trace. Fine- things get damaged in transit- no big deal.

I call the distributor who tells me to call Instek.

I call Instek and they want me to send the scope back, (a week to California - a week to get back - and repair time) to have it repaired. I need to the scope now, not in three weeks. I ask them to cross ship me a new one and bill my credit card. They refuse to. I point out that this really isn't acceptable when it comes to this class of equipment and the guy I am speaking to tells me "Well, I don't care."

I was never rude, I was never abusive (In fact I was very polite). I asked him "Did you really just tell me you don't care?" He said "Yeah, I don't care. That's our policy." I was dumbstruck. This was not an oscilloscope that I had used for a few weeks and had failed. It arrived broken. Every other manufacturer I've dealt with would have replaced it instantly, no questions asked.

The guy then says "it was probably broken in transit- we watch the UPS guys throw stuff into their trucks all the time." I said "that's not my problem or my fault now is it? Have you ever considered asking them to stop throwing the boxes around?" and he says "No" and hangs up on me.

That sort of service is absurd! I've never had that sort of experience with Tektronix or Agilent.

I would never post something like this just because of a bad unit- that happens. But when a representative of the manufacturer tells me he doesn't care that his equipment failed and makes no effort to resolve the problem quickly then they obviously have no respect for their customers. (We're talking about one of the most expensive products they make).

Honestly, the scope itself seemed nice enough- bigger than I expected (it's much deeper than the Tektronix) but the screen was nice and clear. But if Instek thinks it's ok to abuse their customers then I think everyone should know about their practices.

If you really want to know the difference just look at the warranties. The Instek is 2 years, the Tektronix 2024B has a lifetime warranty. That says a lot about the faith the two companies have in their products.

I posted a similar review / opinion of my experiences:
**broken link removed**

kjennejohn:

If you are considering getting the GDS-2204 to move it around a lot, don't. It's probably 3 times as deep as the Tektronix TDS-2024B and heavier to boot (even without the battery).

sirket said:

kjennejohn:

If you are considering getting the GDS-2204 to move it around a lot, don't. It's probably 3 times as deep as the Tektronix TDS-2024B and heavier to boot (even without the battery).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, sirket. I just went back and checked the specs sheet again. Sure enough, it's 10" deep! They probably do that to accommodate the battery. And 4.3kg (9.4 pounds) is a tad on the heavy side, but it does run this unit 3 hours, depending on operating conditions.

I also checked the specs on the TPS-2024, the next model up from my TDS-2024B, with battery capability (among others). It's only 6.3"deep, 6 to 8 pounds with no battery/ 1 battery / 2 batteries, and can run 4 hours on a single battery, 8 hours with the two-battery option. And costs $3,220, a pretty penny indeed. I think I'll (have to) stay with the Instek, if I decide to spring for another o-scope.

I think I'll keep the TDS, though. I took it to work to help aid in studying a signal problem, and my boss sorta drooled a little. And he's a guy who knows good equipment and won't scrimp to buy equipment twice as good as the job calls for so he has spare capacity for future work, but shops carefully.

End Two Cents,
kenjj

I also checked the specs on the TPS-2024, the next model up from my TDS-2024B, with battery capability (among others). It's only 6.3"deep, 6 to 8 pounds with no battery/ 1 battery / 2 batteries, and can run 4 hours on a single battery, 8 hours with the two-battery option. And costs $3,220, a pretty penny indeed. I think I'll (have to) stay with the Instek, if I decide to spring for another o-scope.

kjennejohn:

If you missed the other post about my customer service experience with Instek I would read that as well (it was the post before the portability one in this thread). I liked the GDS-2204 when I had it (at least the parts that worked) but their customer service was beyond atrocious.

Believe me- I don't want to sit here criticizing the only reasonably priced alternative to the 2024B. The Instek people just went so far beyond rude I could never recommend them though.

One other thing about the GDS-2204: the case is made of metal and it isn't reinforced. The problem is that when you put the front legs down and press any button on the front you hear a metallic pop (like a Snapple bottle top). It doesn't cause any performance problems, it's just annoying and it happened to my scope and the display model I tried out.

Jeez, that just goes beyond the imaginable! I leapfrogged your earlier post, otherwise I would be telling people to look elsewhere, unless SOMEONE can supply a positive post about this unit.
Like you I have had bad service at the hands of a who-cares phone rep. It was NOT to be repeated, so this place lost MY business. I can only think that the management at that place is insufferable and it comes out in these phone conversations.

So, what did you do eventually? Buy another 'scope? Which brand, and how does it compare?

Later!
kenjj

I went back to the TDS-2024B. The Instek had some features I really liked but the Tektronix just works, every time. And the new 2024's have a lifetime warranty which made my decision easier.

Plus the 2024B is just tiny- even though I need AC power the unit is just so small I bring with me to places I would never bring the larger Instek.

The Instek was a nice scope but the Tektronix was just more solidly built and all my Tek scopes have been reliable as can be.