Oscilloscope Archives - Everybody Staze...

Energy Concepts, Inc 30820 20Mhz Scope

2016/04/18 By staze

At a local thrift store recently, I came across an “Energy Concepts, Inc” 30820 for next to nothing ($15). They let me plug it in, and I got two traces, so at that point I felt it was worth buying (hell, I would have bought it if it didn’t work, just so I could fix it). Bringing the unit home, and doing some looking around, it appears to be an Iwatsu 5702 (which is why there’s the Iwatsu pictured to the left). I cleaned the unit up (compressed air, and a rag), and went about testing it’s functionality. It appears to have been owned by the local school district, and I confirmed that the High School in question recently received a STEM grant, so it makes sense that they would have upgraded their equipment.

The unit tested perfectly, being well within calibration on everything I threw at it. The traces were nice and bright. The only downside really being that it came with no probes (I purchased a couple off eBay for $8 shipped), and that being a completely analog scope, it had no measurement capabilities. It also is missing the red time position knob, but that’s no big deal as the shaft of the adjustment is still adjustable by hand, and someday I’ll find something to fit there.

Really, the unit works great. And I look forward to using it and maybe having it be my son’s first scope (generally, analog scopes are pretty indestructible).

For those interested, here are links to the manual, and service manual for the Iwatsu SS-5702, which again, seems identical to the ECI, other than the handle being on the side of the Iwatsu rather than the top like the ECI.

Fender Mini Tonemaster® Amplifier Repair

2014/07/11 By staze 4 Comments

A coworker came in last week with a little mini amplifier (a Fender Mini Tonermaster®) that had stopped working. Being the curious sort, I opened it up, and looked at the main board. I immediately saw that D1 was physically blown (top half had blown off, and was rattling around inside the case). I figured this was probably the only issue, and brought it home to replace that diode (a simple 1N4003). After replacing it, however, the amp still didn’t work… which is why it’s nice I had it at home since I have the gear needed to diagnose the problem there. =)

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Rigol DS2072

2013/12/07 By staze

When I first picked up the electronics hobby, I asked a simple question on the EEVBlog forum: Should I save for a month and buy the Rigol DS1052e (a good, albeit older, scope), or save for 3 and buy the DS2072. Answers were mixed, but most said to buy the DS2072. Then there was Dave (eevblog owner) that posted a video specifically covering the differences. I took all this, and proceeded to ignore it and got the DS1052e. It was a good scope. I used it for several months. But, the opportunity to buy the DS2072 came up, and I took it. Do I regret the first purchase? No. Do I like the DS2072 better, hell yes ((though, I will say, it’s a bit less intuitive, and far more complex. The DS1052e was cake to use, and just worked. I still struggle with doing some basic things on the DS2072, but I haven’t used it as much as the DS1052e)).

So, the real question becomes, what was a big selling point? The fact that someone on the EEVblog forums finally figured out how to hack the DS2072 up to the 200mhz version, and unlock all the options (making an $800 scope into a $2000 scope). I know the scope is miles ahead of my previous scope, but like I said, at this point in my hobby, a lot of it is bells and whistles. The screen is very nice. The 500µV/div setting is very nice. The display persistence is very nice. The LAN functionality, along with the huge memory depth is extremely nice. But for just looking at noise on a voltage rail, or on a CMOS/TTL line, there is very little difference in functionality. Sure, I haven’t found a really intermittent glitch yet that the new scope would catch with it’s 50,000 waveforms/sec update rate… but I’m not sure those are THAT common in repairs.

All and all, I really do like the scope. I think it will serve for several years, and using the trigger out, I could easily slave my old DS1052e off it, and get two more channels.

Would I recommend the scope? Yes, and no. I do like the scope, and I would buy it again in similar situations, but for someone just needing a scope, I would still suggest either the DS1052e for ~$300, or for less than $600, you can get the DS1074z, a 4 channel scope that has almost all the same features of the DS2000 series, AND two extra channels. And for a little more, you can add a 2 channel arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). Totally worth it! Only complaint about the DS2000 is really the seemingly unnecessary complexity.

Special thanks to tequipment.net for the amazing EEVblog discount they offer, excellent customer service, and overall, wonderful experience. Thanks!

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