Oscilloscope spec suggestions for game pcbs

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

what are some good specs to look for when searching for the right "arcade
o-scope"? i would like to check pretty much everything involving arcade
pcbs(including XY). older brand also, cause i'm not wanting to spend to
terribly much money!!

amps?
channels?
Hz?
brand?
???

thanks,
Kelly

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

I've been doing scope research recently with the intention of buying one
(was all set to until I just bought a logic analyzer instead).

It seems the best bang for your buck in terms of digital scopes are the
HP54201A's. They are really 50Mhz dual input scopes, but they seem to go
for around $100 on e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-54201A-300MHz-Digitizing-Oscilloscope-2-HP-Probes_W0QQitemZ7540712607QQcategoryZ104247QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

for example... but if you look under completed items you'll see a number of
them all went for around the $100 mark.

Tek seems to be more expensive, but they have knobs... nothing quite like
knobs on a scope (as HP discovered and later put them back on their scopes
after a foray of knobless scopes).

you can get 4 input scopes but they'll be more... (often quite a bit unless
you get lucky).

Make sure that it comes with the probes... they can be expensive to buy
otherwise.

steve

"Kelly Ray" <kray37nospam@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:iZGdnSI5qcghzJDeRVn-pg@comcast.com...
> what are some good specs to look for when searching for the right "arcade
> o-scope"? i would like to check pretty much everything involving arcade
> pcbs(including XY). older brand also, cause i'm not wanting to spend to
> terribly much money!!
>
> amps?
> channels?
> Hz?
> brand?
> ???
>
> thanks,
> Kelly
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

Steve Muccione <home*DOT*muccione@verizon.net> wrote:
: I've been doing scope research recently with the intention of buying one
: (was all set to until I just bought a logic analyzer instead).
:
: It seems the best bang for your buck in terms of digital scopes are the
: HP54201A's. They are really 50Mhz dual input scopes, but they seem to go
: for around $100 on e-bay.
:
: http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-54201A-300MHz-Digitizing-Oscilloscope-2-HP-Probes_W0QQitemZ7540712607QQcategoryZ104247QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
:
: for example... but if you look under completed items you'll see a number of
: them all went for around the $100 mark.
:
: Tek seems to be more expensive, but they have knobs... nothing quite like
: knobs on a scope (as HP discovered and later put them back on their scopes
: after a foray of knobless scopes).
:
: you can get 4 input scopes but they'll be more... (often quite a bit unless
: you get lucky).
:
: Make sure that it comes with the probes... they can be expensive to buy
: otherwise.


For the signal speeds on game boards, you really don't need fancy probes.
The only 'fast' signals are the initial clock before it gets divided down,
the low order horizonal signals, and the video outs. Game boards are
essentially all digital, so the 'shape' of the signals doesn't matter much,
Something like the 6Mhz bit clock on pacman won't look nice and square with
a cheap probe, but it'll be fast enough to pass the first couple of
harmonics and get a reasonable picture of the signal.:
:
--
Mark Spaeth mspaeth@mtl.mit.edu
50 Vassar St., #38.265 mspaeth@mit.edu
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 452-2354 http://rgvac.978.org/~mspaeth

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

agreed... I was just trying to tell him to watch out as a number of the
scopes up on e-bay don't have probes with them... they seem to go at the
same price regardless, so unless you want to shell out another $20-$30 bucks
for probes it pays to just watch closely and ask the seller what's included.
It's just one of those "assume" issues that can lead to disappointment
(heck.. for a $100 scope, having to go and spend another $20 on probes is
quite a penalty).

steve

"Mark C. Spaeth" <mspaeth@plancherel.mit.edu> wrote in message
news:430de622$0$574$b45e6eb0@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu...
> Steve Muccione <home*DOT*muccione@verizon.net> wrote:
> : I've been doing scope research recently with the intention of buying one
> : (was all set to until I just bought a logic analyzer instead).
> :
> : It seems the best bang for your buck in terms of digital scopes are the
> : HP54201A's. They are really 50Mhz dual input scopes, but they seem to
> go
> : for around $100 on e-bay.
> :
> :
> http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-54201A-300MHz-Digitizing-Oscilloscope-2-HP-Probes_W0QQitemZ7540712607QQcategoryZ104247QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
> :
> : for example... but if you look under completed items you'll see a number
> of
> : them all went for around the $100 mark.
> :
> : Tek seems to be more expensive, but they have knobs... nothing quite
> like
> : knobs on a scope (as HP discovered and later put them back on their
> scopes
> : after a foray of knobless scopes).
> :
> : you can get 4 input scopes but they'll be more... (often quite a bit
> unless
> : you get lucky).
> :
> : Make sure that it comes with the probes... they can be expensive to buy
> : otherwise.
>
>
> For the signal speeds on game boards, you really don't need fancy probes.
> The only 'fast' signals are the initial clock before it gets divided down,
> the low order horizonal signals, and the video outs. Game boards are
> essentially all digital, so the 'shape' of the signals doesn't matter
> much,
> Something like the 6Mhz bit clock on pacman won't look nice and square
> with
> a cheap probe, but it'll be fast enough to pass the first couple of
> harmonics and get a reasonable picture of the signal.:
> :
> --
> Mark Spaeth mspaeth@mtl.mit.edu
> 50 Vassar St., #38.265 mspaeth@mit.edu
> Cambridge, MA 02139
> (617) 452-2354 http://rgvac.978.org/~mspaeth
>