That Scope I Thought Was Overkill Turned Out To Be Worth Every Penny

About two years ago I bought a used Lecroy Wavesurfer oscilloscope for $900 because it was a good deal. I figured my old Rigol was fine for troubleshooting LRU outputs and serial data lines. Then I had to track down a glitch on a Garmin G5000 display bus that only showed up every 20 seconds. The Rigol couldn't trigger on it but the Lecroy caught it on the first try. Has anyone else bought a higher end piece of gear that felt like too much until you actually needed it?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery_black19d ago

Bought a used Agilent spectrum analyzer for about $1500 thinking I was just being extra. Had to track down intermittent interference on a Cessna 172's transponder line a few months later and my old Rigol couldn't even see the signal. The Agilent grabbed it right away and saved me like six hours of guesswork. Sometimes the extra resolution and triggering features just make the job actually possible.

uma_taylor4719d ago

That line about "extra resolution and triggering features just make the job actually possible" nails it. I've been in that exact spot where you're staring at a signal on a cheap scope and you know something is there but you just can't lock onto it. It's like having a key that sort of fits the lock but won't turn all the way. The extra triggering options on a better scope aren't just for showing off, they let you actually define what you're looking for instead of hoping the scope catches it. I wasted a whole afternoon once with a cheap meter chasing a ghost signal that turned out to be a 10 millivolt glitch. The higher end gear just gives you the ability to say "only show me the stuff that matters" and that's why it's worth the money when you really need it.