Re: Sig gen and o-scopes

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Scott Hanson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <huil888-at-surfside-dot-net>

John -

An o'scope and signal generator are two of the most useful tools you can
acquire for your Tesla lab. The make determining the exact resonant
frequency of primary and secondary circuits very simple, and allow you to
"pre-tune" your coil so that very little dynamic tuning is necessary for
best performance. The used test equipment market is glutted with good used
scopes; nothing fancy is required. If you're shopping for used equipment, go
with a solid-state scope from Tektronix or Hewlett-Packard if you can find
one within your budget. You need to be a little more selective with signal
generators. Actually, the older analog units with a nice big adjustment dial
(I like the Hewlett-Packard 651B series) are easier to use than some later
models. Stay away from digital units that require you to input an exact
frequency via a keypad, etc. What you want to do is to sweep a fairly wide
frequency band quickly, but once you find resonance you need to enough
adjustment resolution to easily adjust plus or minus a few kilohertz. Age is
not necessarily a big factor, but external condition tells a lot about how
much use a piece of equipment has had, and how well it was taken care of.
There is enough solid-state stuff available surplus now that I'd recommend
staying away from the vacuum-tube models unless the price and condition make
it irresistible.

If anyone is interested, I just listed a near-mint condition Kikusui COS5020
dual-channel 20 MHz solid state scope on eBay (item #1781796681) with a
starting bid of $85. This scope literally looks like it has never been used,
and is guaranteed to be fully functional. Kikusui is probably the best known
Japanese scope manufacturer. I have used Kik o'scopes in production test
lines, and in performance and reliability they were fully the equivalent of
the Tektronix scopes we also used.

Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2002 10:25 PM
Subject: Sig gen and o-scopes


> Original poster: "John Richardson by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jprich-at-up-dot-net>
>
> Hi,
>
> I recently watched TCBOR's Tesla Instrumentation video, and a signal
generator
> and o-scope seem like they would be good additions.  My question is
this-how
> many of you guys use them to find the resonant frequency of your coils,
and
> what should one look for in these units?  A quick e-bay search told me
that I
> could hook up with both for about 80 bucks.  In fact, the older units look
a
> lot simpler to operate than some of the more recent machines.  Should age
scare
> me if the units are in good working order?  Also, would I be limited as to
the
> availability of a high voltage probe for an old tube style scope?  I don't
> think that I would need anything fancy to find frequency, but maybe it's
not
> important enough to warrant the money.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John Richardson
>
>
>
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>
>

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