Hitachi V-212U Oscilloscope

OK, here's one for the electronics gurus ... a few months ago, a friend, who was moving, gave me a little-used Hitachi V-212U Oscilloscope, still in it's original packaging, in the original box, complete with the manuals.

I've never owned, nor used a scope, so would anyone care to comment on how useful this instrument would be as far as amateur radio applications?

Anyone have any past experience using this particular oscilloscope?

Since it's literally been over a decade (and possibly two) since this scope was plugged in, are there are particular concerns I should be aware of, or anything in particular I should check or do beforehand?

The unit is in pristine condition, not a mark on it, and the power cord and cables appear to be like new.

In short, what do I have here, an instrument that will be very useful once I learn how to use it, or another decoration to add to the many already gracing the shelves of the shack?

A quick spec check reveals this to be a 20MHz unit.

Will work for monitoring your rig's IF and inspecting a received station's audio...or as a tuning scope for RTTY/AMTOR, etc.

Can be set up for trapezoid display (exciter/amp linearity) up to roughly 15M. Built a sampling head.

Can be used for two-tone linearity tests with the appropriate generator and sampling head.

Can be used as a poor man's spectrum analyzer/panadapter with the appropriate pan-display unit. (Several designs exist.)

It's hard to be without one. Each of my operating positions have some form of scope inline. Granted, they're not lab quality but for the more simplistic monitoring tasks I don't need to drag out an Iwatsu or HP unit.

http://www.rigpix.com/rfmeasure/kenwood_sm220.jpg

http://www.foxtango.org/ft-library/F...901_advert.jpg

Each of the units above has a vertical B/W of ~10MHz; out of the box, the Hitachi you picked up will more than suffice for everything except pan-display duties.

I have the same scope... picked it up used for $50.00 :rofl:

Thanks ... sounds like it's a keeper!

Now, must teach self how to use said scope. The included operating manual appears to be a poor translation to English, with errors obvious to even myself. I see numerous sites on the web with basic tutorials on using oscilloscopes. Other than the operating range, I imagine most of these things are pretty similar at the basic level.

Now, off to teach the old dog some new tricks ... :lol:

http://www.hobbyprojects.com/oscilloscope_tutorial.html

http://www.virtual-oscilloscope.com/

First - monitor your audio:

http://www.nu9n.com/scope_your_audio.html

Next - RTTY tuning. There is much more info available online:

http://lists.contesting.com/archives.../msg00237.html

Two-tone test generator. I prefer 1000 and 1800hz, but any non-harmonically-related pair will work:

http://www.circuitsarchive.org/index...Tone_Generator

Poor man's spectrum analyzer/panadapter:

http://www.science-workshop.com/

I'll see if I can find more.

Here's another good one:

http://web.telia.com/~u85920178/scope/osc-0.htm

Man, good stuff, guys! I'll soon add oscilloscopes to the list of trades I'm not a master at ... :D

I have an old scope here and have used it for all sorts of stuff, aligning receivers and whatnot. They are confusing at first but as you use it things start to make sense and you'll find yourself using it more and more. I look at scopes on Ebay pretty often but I'd rather buy one in person since the ones on Ebay usually only tell if it shows a trace and they never come with probes. Handy tool once you start fooling with it.

Hello.

A 20 mHz 'scope and a signal monitor, like a SAM 3, make an excellent cheap spectrum analyzer.
http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/sam.htm