PicoScope 7 Software
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Choosing the correct scope
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Tom-edwards
- Newbie
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- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:18 pm
Choosing the correct scope
I'm relatively new to electronics, but have studied at city and guilds level in the Uk in electronics and electrical engineering but have not used a scope since my apprenticeship about 30yrs ago!
I'm interested in using a scope to check for faults in valve audio amplifiers and ideally to use as a signal generator again for fault finding,checking distortion, power output,etc.
Can someone recommend the ideal starter scope, considering I would be using this as a novice to electronics!!!!
Thanks
I'm interested in using a scope to check for faults in valve audio amplifiers and ideally to use as a signal generator again for fault finding,checking distortion, power output,etc.
Can someone recommend the ideal starter scope, considering I would be using this as a novice to electronics!!!!
Thanks
Re: Choosing the correct scope
I assume you are talking about valve audio amplifiers? If so that means your frequency requirements are easy to solve as you only need a few kHz of bandwidth when all modern scopes offer many MHz.
The main issue will be safety - do you know what the maximum voltage you will be measuring? Most scopes these days will have a max input of well under 100V which is not enough for some valve work. You can use a x10 scope probe but this requires real care (the ground is still ground so can not be connected to any voltage).
You are probably best off using an active differential probe with a scope (http://accessories.picotech.com/active- ... robes.html) or choosing a differential scope such as the PicoScope 3425 which has a 400V input range (http://www.picotech.com/differential-oscilloscopes.html)
The main issue will be safety - do you know what the maximum voltage you will be measuring? Most scopes these days will have a max input of well under 100V which is not enough for some valve work. You can use a x10 scope probe but this requires real care (the ground is still ground so can not be connected to any voltage).
You are probably best off using an active differential probe with a scope (http://accessories.picotech.com/active- ... robes.html) or choosing a differential scope such as the PicoScope 3425 which has a 400V input range (http://www.picotech.com/differential-oscilloscopes.html)