Especially after reading the comments here I would agree with Trevor on this. An analogue scope is, for the most part, far more useable. I have always regarded an oscilloscope as an instrument that needs time and not just a little experimentation and exploration to get to know. This is invaluable! I have the scope I now own by and large because the people I worked with did not understand it or see it's value in use so it was surplus to requirements as I was the only one who ever used it. The number of times over the years I have seen, particularly, students in colleges scratch their heads as they tried to understand, but scopes were somewhat on the sidelines of most courses. I suppose much of the modern push is digital but really one has to know what they are looking at and what to expect. I have never used a digital scope (although have at some point been perhaps confused by a logic analyser which I suppose is a specialised digital scope) but the way I see it an analogue process and display ought to be far more predictable.
Another side point which also occurred to me is that having and old scope (even valve, but I don't mean buy one) which is faulty gives opportunity to investigate scope principles without risk of damaging your daily service instrument. It's not something have had input to recently but do remember when at college I did get the opportunity to investigate a fairly simple fault on a college oscilloscope. It did improve my knowledge and confidence of looking into non everyday things. I remember that fault was something which could likely occur on a modern analogue scope even though the one I was working on was valve.
Tracy
Another side point which also occurred to me is that having and old scope (even valve, but I don't mean buy one) which is faulty gives opportunity to investigate scope principles without risk of damaging your daily service instrument. It's not something have had input to recently but do remember when at college I did get the opportunity to investigate a fairly simple fault on a college oscilloscope. It did improve my knowledge and confidence of looking into non everyday things. I remember that fault was something which could likely occur on a modern analogue scope even though the one I was working on was valve.
Tracy
