Tektronix TDS2002B Oscilloscope - Questions

[TravisR100]

I'm looking at buying one of these scopes or general troubleshooting and learning with my cnc electronics. From everything I've read this scope should be overkill for doing what I'm going to be doing wih it. My question is, which probes should I get? Will the standard passive voltage P2220 probes work for most of the general troubleshooting I would do? Or would I also need an active probe or current probe?

Before the replies come in, yes, I know this is way more scope than necessary. I know there are great deals on scopes on eBay. For me, I want the peace of mind knowing that I've got a lifetime warranty by purchasing it new. I'm also a novice enough to know that if I get a used scope that has a problem I'd probably be forever figuring out that it had a problem.

[Al_The_Man]

Rather than lay out alot of cash for overkill, if you just want one for general logic type work
have you looked at the storage 'scope option?
http://www.syscompdesign.com/oscilloscope.htm
You would still need the P2220 probes for it.
Al.

[TravisR100]

I've never used one but I've read a lot of not-so-great reviews on them. I figure the Tek should have a good resale value as well.

[TravisR100]

Any opinion on whether the 1001B would be sufficient? The color wouldn't seem to add much unless you're doing some advanced stuff.

[bharbour]

The 2002B looks like a nice scope. I would stick with the 2002B or maybe the 1012B because of the higher sample rate. 1Gsample/Sec is fast enough to be really useful. Unless the cost difference is huge, the faster sample rate is really nice to have.

Color on a 2 channel scope is not needed in my opinion. It is nice on a 4 channel scope though because you can get a lot of stuff on the screen with 4 channels and color makes sorting that out faster.

Good Luck,
Bob

[TravisR100]

Bharbour, thanks for the info. It actually looks like the 1002 and 1012 have the same sample rate. The 1012 just has a higher bandwidth. The spces are here along with retail pricing:
http://www.tek.com/products/oscillos...s1000_tds2000/
Tek also has a good primer on scopes that really details the differences in a Digital Storage Scope and a Digital Phosphor scope. The primer is here:
http://www2.tek.com/cmswpt/tidownloa...&ci=2280&lc=EN
What's confusing is the spec page I listed above calls these Digital Phosphor scopes right at the top of the page. Yet if you go to the actual data sheet they call them Digital Storage scopes. I'm going to have to call them and find out which it is for the 1000/2000 series.
They even have some listed for sale in their reconditioned inventory at a 10% discount. Most of the 1000/2000 series even say "unused." And they have the same warranty as a new model. The list of unused inventory is here:
http://www.tek.com/cgi-bin/tekselect...s&p_model_flex=

Al, so the passive probes are all I'd really need for the cnc type work? These look to be about $100.

[bharbour]

I looked again on the sample rate and bandwidth, and you are correct that the 1002 and the 1012 both sample at 1GHz. I would still go for the 1012 because of the higher bandwidth, for $200 you get substantially higher bandwidth. I tend to buy the best tool I can afford and keep it a LONG time. Other people may have different thoughts on this.

I can't say anything about the DPO/DSO thing, Tek wanted me to register before they would show me the difference.

Passive probes will be fine for most of what you will want to do. If you start working on VFD's and serious motor drive work, you may want an isolated or differential probe and a current probe. Both are expensive. There are ways to avoid needing either one with varying degrees of (un)safety.

Good Luck,
BobH

[TravisR100]

Wow. Tek just changed that today. Yesterday you didn't have to register to view it.

[TravisR100]

Try this shortcut for the primer document. It should get you around registering.

http://www.tek.com/Measurement/App_N...03W_8605_3.pdf

[bharbour]

Thanks, that shortcut worked. I suspect that the confusion in the naming is that a "digital phospher" scope is a type of digital storage scope. It would be correct to call any "digital phosphor" scope a digital storage scope, but not vice versa. The term "digital phosphor" is a a Tek marketing name. It looks like a nice thing, but I have not missed it on the HP storage scope I have.

Good Luck,
BobH