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2Ch. vs 4 Ch. Scope? Strictly for Radio and Amp Repair Hobby

Onelasttime

Sr. Member
Aug 3, 2011
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Ok so I used to have a lot of gear and when I first got out of the hobby around 2001 or 2003 it just sit in my basement. It was all 1980's gear. Had flood damage lost the home around that time as well.

So I have been looking around a lot. I decided at this point even though I know Tektronix analog scopes really well I do not want to go that route. I do not want to have to replace every cap and resistor and still not know what else might go like a power supply or crt. It would be different if I could find something local check it out etc......

So I am going to be buying a new entry-level digital scope. Since I am thinking about getting my amatuer ticket punched I am looking at 200Mhz scopes. 99.9% of the time I have used a scope I have seldom used more than 1 channel. My triggering needs where never that complex and I do not do logic probing/debugging. If I was going to do a lot of logic work I would not use a scope for it.

So while a lot of people seem to think a 4ch scope is the only way to go I do not think I need 4ch. No way could I afford 4ch and 200Mhz. In fact I am looking at the Siglent SDS 1202X-E as my front-runner 2 ch 200Mhz and comes standard with all the things you need to hack or pay big money for from other companies. To get a 4ch in my price range I would have to jump down 50Mhz and then attempt software hack to get up to 100Mhz to stay under $400.On top of that, the 4ch scopes under $400 do not have as many functions and capabilities as the Siglent 2ch I am looking at. Obviously, 50Mhz is plenty to work on CB radio's but I doubt it would take care of me once I start working on and building amatuer gear?

Is there a compelling reason to absolutely lean towards 4ch at lower bandwidth for RF radio and amp hobby work?

I do not think I need MOS or built-in DMM or Sig Gen.

I am getting ready to pull the trigger and just want to listen to other opinions before I paint myself into a corner.

Thanks guys!
 
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I have never had the need for a four traces scope, ever. I like my PROTEK 3502C. dual trace with a component tracer built in. It's all the scope I have needed since 1995.
 
That what I was thinking too guys but everything I read every place else was pushing 4 channel at every turn! It did not make sense to me.

In my mind getting a 2 ch with 200Mhz made far more sense than getting a 4 ch at 50Mhz-100Mhz once hacked.

This assumes it is being used for rf hobby. But since I have been out of this game for a long time I wanted to hear from other's in the rf hobby. I wanted to make sure I was not in error in terms of how I was thinking!

I am kind of old school and I tend to hate menu driven systems and multi-functional controls. I like to either have a control for each function or a true graphical user interface like Windows. So I am going to have to suck it up and just learn how to navigate around this thing.

I am sure it will take care of me for a long time in terms of what it offer's!

If I could have found older scopes locally that I could try before I buy I would have likely stayed old school. I did not want to roll the dice of chance on Ebay when I really need a fully functional scope right now! I did not want to chance getting a money pit. In fact I dislike radio's like the Stryker that have fairly deep menu's for fairly common things. Not that the radio is a bad radio just that I hate that sort of setup. That said sometimes one has to just bite the bullet and accept things. When looking at price and functionality/utility it is hard to go wrong!
 
That what I was thinking too guys but everything I read every place else was pushing 4 channel at every turn! It did not make sense to me.

In my mind getting a 2 ch with 200Mhz made far more sense than getting a 4 ch at 50Mhz-100Mhz once hacked.

This assumes it is being used for rf hobby. But since I have been out of this game for a long time I wanted to hear from other's in the rf hobby. I wanted to make sure I was not in error in terms of how I was thinking!

I am kind of old school and I tend to hate menu driven systems and multi-functional controls. I like to either have a control for each function or a true graphical user interface like Windows. So I am going to have to suck it up and just learn how to navigate around this thing.

I am sure it will take care of me for a long time in terms of what it offer's!

If I could have found older scopes locally that I could try before I buy I would have likely stayed old school. I did not want to roll the dice of chance on Ebay when I really need a fully functional scope right now! I did not want to chance getting a money pit. In fact I dislike radio's like the Stryker that have fairly deep menu's for fairly common things. Not that the radio is a bad radio just that I hate that sort of setup. That said sometimes one has to just bite the bullet and accept things. When looking at price and functionality/utility it is hard to go wrong!

Thanks guys for the input and letting me bounce things off you.
 
I ordered my scope from Amazon because I have Prime and get free 2 shipping. I had the scope at my door in less than 24 hours. I have not opened it up becasue I hurt my arm working on my car.
 

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