Looking for info on oscilloscope

Cue Crazy

Cue Crazy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A buddy of mine found this while cleaning out a foreclosure, and gave It to me. It looks like a really old analog scope Made by Techtronics. I believe It was Gov. surplus maybe used by the Navy or something? I'm not sure Myself, but never the less the price was right, and It didn't cost me a dime. My hope Is to use It as a simple bench tester for DC motors and such, so that I don't have to dig around for the correct voltage supply every time I want to test something for function. I'm not real familiar with the use of these, so wondering If someone can tell Me if It would work well for that? Also is there anything else that It could be useful for? It's a beast, Fairly big, and heavy duty feeling compared to the newer digital scopes. Really just looking for any info I can get. I have a set of test leads for It, but from some of what I've read, I think I would have to buy another type with the correct connections for testing motors. The set of leads I have are the spring loaded type with the trigger. Like I mentioned I don't know much about these, just wondering If It's something that could be useful.

Greg
 

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I know nothing about scopes, so I can't help you. Are you sure that isn't a really high tech version of pong? :p

Kelly
 
Kelly_Guy said:
I know nothing about scopes, so I can't help you. Are you sure that isn't a really high tech version of pong? :p

Kelly
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LOL that old school screen makes It look like It. This thing may even predate Atari for all I know. I'm still working on that other project, and have not had a chance to look this thing over really good yet, so I'm not sure what year It is. I tried to research the model number, and found only minimal info. I did find another model from the same company though that looks almost identical to it. Still limited info on that one too. If It's only use to Me would be a simple bench tester, then that would be a plus in Itself. I need to figure out how to set it up for that though, and what settings It should be on. I found some videos online showing how to use them, and some of that was useful, but this thing has more button and dial features then the ones in the videos, and I'm not sure how to set the ones that were not covered in Them.

Greg
 
Do you know what OHM's law is, a sine wave,etc etc? You are going to have a steep learning curve. better off with an ohm,volt and amp meter.

Good luck with your pursuit.......
 
It's not going to work for testing your motors. It will test for Voltage and will display voltage over time depicting it as a wave form on the display. Based on what I can see from the picture, it is a fairly high end analog scope from the early 90's likely not worth much more than you have into it. And you can probably find a schematic to add on and turn it into a pong machine.

Good luck.
 
Yes I suppose I know what Ohm's law & sine wave are, but that doesn't necessarily mean I fully understand it or how to calculate things. There are videos on the web though with the formulas, and I understood some of It, but yeah I admit a lot of It is over My head at this time, and the analog scopes they used in the video had far less functions then this one, so I have no idea what the extra settings do.

I wasn't so much hoping to use It as a scope, as I was hoping to use It as a simple variable power supply. I thought I had seen them used like that before, but researching It just now I see that must have been mistaken, and from the sounds of things I may have a large paper weight here. Just glad I didn't pay anything for It.

Thanks For the info fellas, much appreciated.

Greg
 
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What you have is a scope ,not a power supply.
They are really usefull things to have.
You can connect it to you electric motors while it is running and see how good the signal into the motor is or how bad it is coming out.
You can also set up transducers to it and use them to measure things.
You can measure temperature, pressure, length to very small amounts, certainly sub micron amounts, rpm or rps(hz) of a motor/engine. You can even measure the frequency of vibration at various places along a cue. You just need the right sensors in the right range and away you go.
There is bunches of info on the net about them.
The newer scopes have record and playback and storage functions that are very useful especially when diagnosing functions in an engine that is running in real time or recording the frequencies of a cue at 3 or 4 different places at the same time.
Neil
 
conetip said:
What you have is a scope ,not a power supply.
They are really usefull things to have.
You can connect it to you electric motors while it is running and see how good the signal into the motor is or how bad it is coming out.
You can also set up transducers to it and use them to measure things.
You can measure temperature, pressure, length to very small amounts, certainly sub micron amounts, rpm or rps(hz) of a motor/engine. You can even measure the frequency of vibration at various places along a cue. You just need the right sensors in the right range and away you go.
There is bunches of info on the net about them.
The newer scopes have record and playback and storage functions that are very useful especially when diagnosing functions in an engine that is running in real time or recording the frequencies of a cue at 3 or 4 different places at the same time.
Neil
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Thanks for the info Neil. Yes I went back a researched and realized I was mistaken. I think when I saw someone using one a long time ago, that I assumed they were using as a PSU also, but apparently It was an external supply they were using, and they were just using the scope to get readings back from the motors. I may have even heard someone using the term bench tester, and I mistakenly thought It was also powering the motor. I just got this and have many other irons in the fire right now, so haven't been able to research very much, but yes what little I have, I found that there is much useful info out there. If I can learn to use the thing, and figure the math out, then It could be useful with some of the machines & controllers I suppose. LOL, maybe I'll just stick It under the bench let It gather dust until I have the time and nerves to learn to use It. Watching the videos I think I was getting the basics of what they were showing, and how the wave is slowed down, and used, but I'd have no idea what some of the calculations were had they now laid them out. Some of the things You mention I didn't even realize It could measure. Thanks for the info

Greg
 
Cue Crazy said:
My questioning was mostly pertaining whether it had any usefulness in testing motor and controllers used in building cue Making machinery.
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Greg, you will drive yourself nuts getting any useful information out of that scope. That is unless you know how to use it. It is not worthless to someone who has a need for it. It takes quite awhile to understand them and that goes with allot of knowledge in electronics. The newer digital scopes have an auto set function that helps out quite a bit. Sell it on E-bay if it still works. For the record, I have never used mine for building cues however, I am about to. One of my new cnc machines is locking up Mach3 when I turn on my Precise spindle. I need to track down some electrical noise and kill it.

Jim.
 
If anyone is into setting up Stereo equipment like amps and such. This is the machine to have to properly setup amps. It can tell you if your amp is clipping or not at a certain frequency level. Clipping speakers is the number one reason for speaker malfunction.

It has all sorts of uses, but thats what i use one for.


How much do you want for it, i picked mine up at a swap meet.

You could sell it over in a Audio Forum in a heartbeat. Just some advice.
 
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Mc2 said:
Greg, you will drive yourself nuts getting any useful information out of that scope. That is unless you know how to use it. It is not worthless to someone who has a need for it. It takes quite awhile to understand them and that goes with allot of knowledge in electronics. The newer digital scopes have an auto set function that helps out quite a bit. Sell it on E-bay if it still works. For the record, I have never used mine for building cues however, I am about to. One of my new cnc machines is locking up Mach3 when I turn on my Precise spindle. I need to track down some electrical noise and kill it.

Jim.
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Jim will the digital scopes read analog though? seems like I've read about the issue with the spindle you mention or something similar On cnc zone. not sure If It was locking up like Yours, but it had something to do with interference. Probably a different issue then yours though. Do you have it setup to power up the spindle from mach3, or manually?

Greg
 
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I've got two similar to yours. They are available if anyone wants to make an offer.

Originally we tried to use them for toning wood, but found something better and much easier to use.
 
Travis3c said:
If anyone is into setting up Stereo equipment like amps and such. This is the machine to have to properly setup amps. It can tell you if your amp is clipping or not at a certain frequency level. Clipping speakers is the number one reason for speaker malfunction.

It has all sorts of uses, but thats what i use one for.


How much do you want for it, i picked mine up at a swap meet.

You could sell it over in a Audio Forum in a heartbeat. Just some advice.
Click to expand...

Funny that You mention that. The guy that gave It to me use to work at a place that installed stereos and made custom boxes before he moved down here. I think his buddy owned the place. He has mentioned to me before that He would like to open His own shop someday.

Setting the amps up.... Do you use a digital or analog unit? I'm assuming Your referring to setting the Gain. Back in the old days I use to just do that by ear, but I see now days some people use a scope for it. Don't they make some nice little compact digital units that are portable for that?

Thanks Greg
 
Cue Crazy said:
Jim will the digital scopes read analog though? seems like I've read about the issue with the spindle you mention or something similar On cnc zone. not sure If It was locking up like Yours, but it had something to do with interference. Probably a different issue then yours though. Do you have it setup to power up the spindle from mach3, or manually?

Greg
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Greg, yes, a digital scope will read analog signals. I use it this way all of the time. The scope has a digital to analog converter built into it. The issue with the spindle is noise. I started having this issue when I set my Gecko 540 up to switch the spindle on and off with a relay. I should point out that I believe it is my smooth stepper that locks up causing issues with Mach3. This is a common issue with variable frequency drives used in cnc machines. This particular spindle is a precise super 70 similar to a router in the respect that it uses dc brushes. This type of setup does produce allot of noise. This issue seems to go away if I plug my spindle ac cord into a different outlet in the room. I am one of the most qualified to find this issue. Kind of like a mechanic working on his own car. LOL

Jim.
 
Mc2 said:
Greg, yes, a digital scope will read analog signals. I use it this way all of the time. The scope has a digital to analog converter built into it. The issue with the spindle is noise. I started having this issue when I set my Gecko 540 up to switch the spindle on and off with a relay. I should point out that I believe it is my smooth stepper that locks up causing issues with Mach3. This is a common issue with variable frequency drives used in cnc machines. This particular spindle is a precise super 70 similar to a router in the respect that it uses dc brushes. This type of setup does produce allot of noise. This issue seems to go away if I plug my spindle ac cord into a different outlet in the room. I am one of the most qualified to find this issue. Kind of like a mechanic working on his own car. LOL

Jim.
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Thanks for the info Jim, Hope You are able to figure out the spindle issue without pulling too much hair out in the process. I usually do most work on our vehicles Myself, not sure that I'm the most qualified LOL, but the few times I got lazy and let a certified mechanic work on anything, when I got It back there were other problems that had nothing to do with the original repair. I remember having someone replace the fuel pump one time, simple job, just didn't want to drop the tank and deal with the mess, so I let someone else do It. Got It back, of coarse the injectors were clogged, spark plugs fouled, but they managed to break the harmonic balancer. The mechanic tried to tell Me that It was already broken but I knew that what really happened was that someone pried on It with a crow bar so they could get up against the firewall and they broke the thing. The old school balancers you may could get away with that, but not on this car, and someone apparently did not realize that. I haven't taken a vehicle to a mechanic since, other then for body work, and even then the work was done very poorly. I guess the old saying rings true, if you want something done right, got to do It yourself.

Greg
 
Cue Crazy said:
This one looks a lot like that model, but the only number I can find on It is- Lr37158
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I think that Lr37158 is a certification. Yours is not a 465B based on the picture. Does it say how fast it is ? (20MHz, 40MHz, 100MHz, 200MHz, etc) Tek made a lot of different models.

Dave
 
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