26-01-2016, 10:10 PM
We have a few 24xx models at work, including the 2465B. They're good, but not the most reliable things in the world. Essential to keep the covers on otherwise things cook!
We also have a lovely old Philips PM3295 (IIRC), which is a 350MHz beast. Ignoring the 50MHz difference, it's every bit as nice to use as the Tek, and was a fair bit cheaper at the time. Only fault is the LCD backlight inverter only works occasionally (it's an old EL type - might be possible to replace with white LEDs today?). Given the choice, the Tek would be the logical one to rescue because more of them were made and they are much better known and spares can be found if you're patient. But part of me likes to support the underdog, and there's no doubt that Philips made some great test gear. Still, no-one ever got fired for buying Tek, to coin a phrase
Today, I'd buyHP Agilent Keysight if spending real money. Tek aren't really in the game at the moment - no-doubt they'll fight back in time... The only problem Keysight have is their "megazoom" ASIC - it might be blisteringly fast (in terms of waveform updates per second), but the sample memory is on the ASIC, so is tiny compared to the cheap 'scopes that just use DDR3...
It's well-known that Rigol OEM'd the entry-level Agilent 'scopes a while back, but Rigol learnt rather too much during this! A friend of a friend works for Keysight, and denies this ever took place, but the evidence is pretty conclusive.
We also have a lovely old Philips PM3295 (IIRC), which is a 350MHz beast. Ignoring the 50MHz difference, it's every bit as nice to use as the Tek, and was a fair bit cheaper at the time. Only fault is the LCD backlight inverter only works occasionally (it's an old EL type - might be possible to replace with white LEDs today?). Given the choice, the Tek would be the logical one to rescue because more of them were made and they are much better known and spares can be found if you're patient. But part of me likes to support the underdog, and there's no doubt that Philips made some great test gear. Still, no-one ever got fired for buying Tek, to coin a phrase
Today, I'd buy
It's well-known that Rigol OEM'd the entry-level Agilent 'scopes a while back, but Rigol learnt rather too much during this! A friend of a friend works for Keysight, and denies this ever took place, but the evidence is pretty conclusive.
