Electronic Test Equipment

• Agilent DSO1014A - Agilent page
  • Price: ~$2000 USD (available from Agilent direct or from resellers like Newark)
  • Bandwidth: 100MHz (other versions available, 200MHz is $400 more)
  • Channels: 4
  • Notes:
    • I have one and I find it to be a nice scope, although I suspect the Rigol is just as good (for a fraction of the price).
    • It appears to be a re-badged Rigol scope. http://mightyohm.com/blog/2009/11/agilent-dso1000-firmware-update-confirms-rigol-connection/
  • Agilent Data Capture Software - screenshots and waveform data over USB - no more flash-drive sneakernet!
  • Agilent IO Libraries - GPIB commands over USB, VESA stuff, etc.
• Rigol DS1052E - http://www.rigolna.com/products_ds1000d.aspx
  • Price: $399 @ http://www.saelig.com/PSBEB100/PSPC016.htm
    • Cheaper at other site, eg. DealExtreme
  • Bandwidth: 50MHz (can be hacked for 100MHz?)
  • Channels: 2
  • Notes:
    • There is a hack to enable 100MHz bandwidth, there is some outdated info here: http://mightyohm.com/blog/2010/03/rigol-ds1052e-50mhz-to-100mhz-scope-conversion/
    • Dave Jones of EEVblog likes this one: http://www.alternatezone.com/eevblog/?p=6
• Open Source Oscilloscopes and low-cost oscilloscopes
• Comparison of Tek 2300 and 2400 series scopes.

There are some recommendations on the EEVBlog forums here: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=579.0

• Saleae Logic - http://www.saleae.com/logic/
  • Price: $149
  • Channels: 8
  • Sample rate: 24MHz max
  • Samples: 10B
• Intronix LogicPort - http://www.pctestinstruments.com/
  • Price: $389
  • Channels: 34
  • Sample rate: 500MHz/200MHz max
  • Samples: 2048 (supports compression)

• Fluke 87V, I love mine: http://us.fluke.com/usen/Products/Fluke+80+Series+V.htm
• Fluke 8842A
  • EPROM images: U202B V3.1 759399 REV.B U222 V3.1 765271 REV.B

• Cheap-o hotplate for surface mount soldering
• Audio Circuit collection of Schematics and Service Manuals
• Giant collection of IC pinouts: http://www.kingswood-consulting.co.uk/giicm/

It can be really frustrating to try to fix a piece of expensive test equipment without a manual. There are lots of sources for service manuals, both free and not-free. Here are some of the ones I have found. Please only contribute sites to the not-free section that you have actually done business with (and think deserve a link.)

• Agilent Manual Search - http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/facet.jspx?lc=eng&cc=US&t=80039.k.1&pageMode=TM
  • Mostly newer equipment.
  • They also have an FTP site at ftp://ftp.agilent.com/pub/manuals/
• HP Archive manuals page - http://www.hparchive.com/hp_equipment.htm
• BAMA (BoatAnchor Manual Archive) - http://www2.faculty.sbc.edu/kgrimm/boatanchor/
• Various Scans of HP Manuals, etc. - http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/scans/
  • Lots of military manuals for HP test equipment, I found an elusive manual here. — jeff 12/24/2010 20:56
• K7JRL manuals - http://www.k7jrl.com/pub/manuals/
• ElecktroTanya - Insanely hard to navigate, confusing website, but they seem to have a lot of manuals. Limit 2 per day for unregistered users. Mostly in Hungarian, use Google translate.
• KO4BB's Manuals Repository - http://www.ko4bb.com/manuals/

• ArtekMedia - http://www.artekmedia.com/
  • HP, Agilent, Tek, others. I purchased a manual for an old, obscure HP power supply, and when I had problems opening the pdf they were extremely helpful (and created a new scan for me). Reasonable prices, very high quality scans. — jeff 12/24/2010 20:31