Everytime there is a video about $50 O'scopes on ebay, *there are no more $50 O'scopes on ebay.*

One place to look for oscilloscopes are generic garage sales. Sometimes, the guy who's selling the stuff has absolutely no idea of what he's selling, so you can snatch a pretty good deal like it happened to me. I saw a Philips PM 3315 125MHz DSO on the table of the guy, and I asked how much he wanted, expecting at least 100€. He said that for 15(!) € he would sell it to me, since "this little TV" (Yes he was calling the DSO a little TV!) only displayed a line when he powered it up, and it was too complex for him to set up and had way too many buttons! It was one of the happiest days of my life, and when I got back on the train I was holding the oscilloscope like it was a child and looking at it with a huge smile (people looked at me like I was mad :D) Apparently, the service manuals for the thing cost more than I paid for it!

I ordered a $30 Scope off Ebay as a parts scope....My Jaw dropped when I opened the box, well packed and the scope looked brand new, no scratches, no dings, couldn't believe my eyes!! Put her on the bench and plugged her in and switched on, HOLY OSCILLOSCOPES!! It fired up, perfect trace on the two channels!! So instead of a parts scope, it will get used. It's a Tektronix 2213 60Mhz two channel scope.

You should do this kind of video as a live feed. We can watch as all the equipment you search for get sucked up in real-time.

The browser extension at 8:16 is called Imagus

True story: since moving to the Philippines, sixteen months ago, I've been missing my bench back in the US, and the abundance of good deals on old analog scopes. I'm watching this video with Dave going on about eBay US and thinking "yeah, I miss that." First scope he drills deep on and it's here, in Taguig. And the seller has like a half dozen old scopes (and thousands of other industrial surplus items, which are my weakness.) Cool.

Honestly if you want a good deal on analog scopes (and lab equipment in general) just go to a local hamfest. Not only are you going to meet the seller, hams are generally very friendly and will tell you about some of the quirks of the one you're looking at ahead of time. The only downside is that if you're not a HAM, they might spend a good 10 minutes trying to convince you to become one, but it's totally worth it to avoid ebay.

Been on the lookout for an inexpensive scope for about a year now. Finally found one for $40 hitache v1060 yesterday on Facebook marketplace 6 miles away from me. The seller picked it up at a garage sale along with some fishing equipment. The person who sold it to them thought it was part of a fish finder, but they couldn't find any of the sensors for it.

I got 2 Telequipment D61-s from my university. Semi-functional, they required some restoration but hey, as long as CRT is good, they can be repared, as they are fully-transistorized design

Often "For parts not working" is often ticked because the seller can't test it or has no idea of how to test it. Unit works fine they just have no clue how to even turn the damn thing on.

Hey Dave, I followed your advice from the last video and scored a lot of 3 Teks 2245A for 160 USD, sold 2 of them for close to that and kept the last one for me. Free scope!

I just watched "The Castle" and it was awesome! Thanks Dave! Straight to the pool room with that DVD!

Dave, great video as always! After reading some of the comments below that say it is impossible, I thought I would post about my personal experience picking up an inexpensive scope on ebay. First, I am in the US and can only speak to my experience hunting for scopes within my country. We all know that anytime you include international shipping into the equation the total cost of an item will increase dramatically, and the valuation of items vary by country as well,... and I do not keep a list of what X goes for in X country,... My personal experience: In Oct 2016 I picked up a Kikusui COR5560U (60Mhz 2ch) in working condition for $37.50 (buy it now) + $14.72 shipping. Grand total was $52.22 for a working scope. Scope only, power cord and probes were not included, but I had those lying around anyways. Adequate probes can also be obtained on ebay for < $10 if you search a bit. The Kikusui was in working condition, but was sold in as/is condition since the seller could not test it beyond power up (they were a general estate/lot reseller). They had 3 of these scopes for sale for the same price, with essentially the same auction description, and in the same condition. All of the scopes appear to have come from the same place (maybe a school), and all three were obviously in need of a good cleaning. The one I picked up cleaned up nicely. While ebay is the easiest to hunt for bargains like this, but you can probably get one even cheaper if you do not mind hunting a bit more, especially offline. Estate sales, pawn shops, garage sales, going-out-of-business sales/auctions, and the like often have awesome deals. Especially when the person selling the item has no idea what it is, and that happens a lot with test gear. Also, if you happen to work for a larger corporation that has research/dev departments, check with the tech guys to see if your company has a surplus department that you can purchase the equipment from. Back in the early 2000's I picked up an HP 1980b for $25 from my company's surplus depot (the guys at the surplus warehouse had no idea what it even was). Honestly, I wish I had not down-sized my classic HP 1980b scope a few years back, but that is a story for another day,... Happy scope hunting everyone!

I myself pulled a Hameg 60MHz off eBay in Germany more than 10 years ago - and I am still happy with it. From experience in our student lab at Uppsala University where we have several different scopes I can highly recommend the Hitachi scopes. The LG and GW Instek (=TENMA=ATTEN) we have in the student lab are ok, but the "user interface" is not as intuitive, however, if it's your own scope you will get used to it.

I don't need another cheap scope, but good video for how to search for almost anything on ebay. And The Castle is a great recommendation - my uncle is the actor that plays the old neighbour. He has one of the best lines in the movie, which I shouldn't repeat here :)

I was looking for 1st oscilloscope, after watching this video I picked up a Hitachi V-212, listed as for parts or repair, powers on we can’t test further” for $30 + $25 shipping... it’s in amazing condition and works perfectly!

Just a dot in the middle of the screen can be ok, if you are buying a modular scope, with no modules installed. My first eBay oscilloscope purchase was a "for parts" Tek 7623A, that had no sweep, but no modules. I was trying to repair a free not working 7623A, so I had a set of modules. I slapped the modules into the eBay 7623A, and everything worked. I had gotten the 7623A through eBay for $50US... after shipping.

One thing to watch on looking at the pictures, I've been "burned" on things before where they show generic pictures or pick up someone else's pictures of a working one that looks really good but the actual item is in far worse condition than the pictures show (e.g. missing knobs/buttons, dents, etc). It's especially popular in "as-is" items in my experience. The ones I like more are when they have crappy pictures and say its broken including WHAT specifically is broken. At least for computer parts that's a more reliable way to find stuff.

I once had a $30 one. It was an old Monacor Trigger-Oszillograph MO-515. The thing was a huge one channel oscilloscope, but it did the job.

Too funny - I just gave away a working Hitachi V-212 a few days ago to a young kid who was extremely interested in learning about electronics. I didn't need it - I've got a modern 'scope, and it was just taking up space. Great cheap scope.

Bought a broken oscilloscope from eBay for 20 bucks in february. I fixed it (blown .47uf cap parallel to mains and blown fuse replaced) and now a have a working oscilloscope :)

Didn't know the V212s were that common! When I graduated from our equivalent of High School, the lab was going to throw out 5 perfectly fine ones because they got two new Rigols. I took care of them all, sold four of them to dad's work colleagues (industrial automation electronics wizards) for ~50 euros each and kept one for myself. It's the main workhorse at our hackerspace now!

Thanks for the Video! Very Helpful! I have learned so much from your Videos! Thank You...

I got lucky and scored a working KENWOOD CS-5165 (60 MHz 3 channels) for 29.50€ by bidding on "uncommon" scopes like KENWOOD. Not many people bid on them and its allways worth adding them to your watchlist and try your luck.

Dave's Browser plugin is called *Imagus*

Four years later (again) and in Europe the prices are so high they ask if you know a good surgeon because you're going to sell a limb. It's even worse (thanks Covid!) for classic Heathkit stuff which I'd love to own.

I've had the multi-listing thing pull up a "$50" 3D printer before. The actual $50 item was a toner cartridge. TONER CARTRIDGE! Nothing at all to do with 3D printing! But it was there!

Just getting into electronics and cam across the $50 ocilliscope video. I was surprised when I actually got in to ebay and searched. Scored a Tektronics 2235 AN/USM 488, from what I have found it looks to be a US military spec scope. Hope it's a good one for $50. Thanks for the awesome videos!!

Oh I don't know if I told you already but I got that Hitachi scope. It's really accurate, got mine on a garage sale for like, 30 and just needed to do a few little adjustments. Two channel inputs, sync, and a BNC output on the rear that goes on my amp, so I can listen to what signal I pick. Then for a digital scope it might be a bit more pricy.

Hi Dave, Went to my local HAMfest and found a vendor that bought a lot of test equipment at an auction from a Tech Institute that was shutting down. Picked up a GW Instek GOS-6112 (Dual Channel 100Mhz) scope for $50. Found the probes on Amazon $12 for a 2 pack. Also got a GW Instek Dual tracking (30V / 2A) power supply (GPC-3020) for $25 from the same vendor. All of it is excellent working condition. Let the learning begin. :D

Depends on ones needs. I tend to like the old Tektronix 4XX series scopes. I got a working Tek468 for $120 and that has both Digital and Analog in one unit. Still have it its my #1 scope. The main thing is to look for a photo of working scope with sine wave or some kind of trace on Screen..

The hard part is finding one locally online. If you have to pay shipping, you might as well spend a bit more and get an Analog Discovery 2 or something. A good place to find test equipment is a local ham radio swap meet. You can usually get some good deals.

Sometimes one needs luck. 4 years ago I found a dual trace 100MHz digital oscilloscope in a local "empty your attic" fair (very common all around France in spring and summer). It had the user manual and only one probe, and I paid a huge 15 euros. Yes, fifteen.

Well.... Time to list my old scope! Thanks dave:)

I only found very vintage ones in my country, like 1950s or 1960s ones...

My first scope was free. My first MM was free (Simpson P260 w/ the parallax mirror). Free stuff is everywhere, and always has been.

Love university dumpsters. You get really cool things too, like differential input HV scopes. :)

In Germany Hameg is a good brand to buy. They have been acquired by Rohde&Schwarz some time ago. There is a lot of old analog ones in decent condition, I own two myself. And sometimes I can buy old test equipment from my local university, mostly for under 50 bucks. Some labs have stacks of old analog scopes they don't get rid of ("just in case"), or for legal reasons, when it has been bought with money from the government. But there is a good chance they will sell you one for a few bucks. If you know some of the lab staff, just ask them. Some even sell old stuff internally. So if you know someone with access to these selling lists, ask them to tell you when there is something of interest.

I bought an tektronix 545A, from 1959, at our local garage sale, i couldn't test it but when I brought it home it still worked, I paided €10 for it.

I have that Hitachi V212. I quite like it. UPS dropped it and it has a huge dent in it now, some of the plastic broke off... but it works great!

A bought a second hand Dynatec scope on a local flee market website. I personally picked it up at the seller's and checked it on the spot. Including 3 probes and a bunch of BNC-connectors. 100 € Workes like a charm

The Hitachi is nice, my dad has one and it still works like a champ.

Hey picked up a Rigol DS1054Z for $250 on craigslist in the states not long ago. Also was already hacked for full bandwidth and decoders. I am one happy guy.

I followed this then blew it up years ago. Now I have my own channel. Thanks bud.

I picked up from cregslist 2 tektronix 475-A's for 40.00. both needed work, so i made one working one from them. (one had the dm40 option.) and I find it better to look at places like cregslist then flebay, as you can usely get better prices.

thanks for the info i just bought a $100 one of kijiji yesterday but this is useful info

How can you pick up locally when the listing includes shipping price? Do you contact the seller first? I've never seen the option at checkout to just pickup and ignore shipping...

You use the same log in for every eBay site but you need to log in to each site separately. You can also do a search from eBay Australia for sellers that don't specify Australia as a shipping country but the way items are categorised vary from one version of eBay to the next and search results don't necessarily match to the same categories.

Got myself a GW Instek 806 for about £120 on ebay. Couple of cheap probes and it works great for the hobbyists stuff I do.

It is possible. I found a Leader 1021 a few months ago for about $42 shipped. It works great. Took quite a while though, you have to be patient.

When you make a ebay account, its universal. So i assume your aussie one would work on usa one. Its like amazon, one account, and you can login to all the different country variations of that site.

Always check the search by distance option, as the amount of sellers who cannot adequately pack an item to prevent damage in transit is astonishing. If local pickup is offered, ask to schedule an inspection. Cash offers at time of inspection are almost universally welcomed, as they won't have the fees that a sale on the site would.

I just snagged an old Good Will instruments GOS-622G for 21 dollars US! It's branded Energy Concepts inc. 20 Mhz and it works great! Someone had "wonked" all the settings and thought it was dead. It's perfect for my old C64 and Amiga stuff!

It took me about 3 months but I did finally manage to get one for £60 (I live in the uk and there isn't a lot of reuse of products over here. The UK really has embraced the disposable electronics fad) I cleaned it up and repaired a duff channel and found it was too big for my bench (Corner desk in my bedroom) and then sold it for £150 :)

If worried about shipping costs. Click "Closest" first for distance and see if anyone's selling one locally. If so? Then contact the seller and ask if you can purchase and pick up locally. If they flat out say "Shipping only, no local pickup" and they are within driving distance? I would still ask. If they refuse, then walk away. Many times people will jack up the shipping and handling costs beyond reality so they can pad their $$$. I think Dave mentions this, but I'm running late for getting into work.

Recently I got my first scope Tektronix T922R. Massive rack beast but works beautifully. Not very expensive and very nice trace

I don't know if it does anything, but if I come accross an offer like the one from elec-mall, I report them to ebay for listing practices. The abuse of multi item auctions makes search by price pretty useless, especially when the second product isn't even mentioned in the title.

I already have a decent Techtronix digital scope but decided to buy an analogue scope earlier in the year. Ended up picking up an old 10MHz Philips dual-channel jobbie from a local valve enthusiast for £25, collected myself. Works just fine, nice scope actually. It's a heavy brute (from the early '70s) but it does the job. The Techtronix was the better score actually, they're worth up to £600 second hand but I got mine for £270. The Techtronix is a TDS2022B, the Philips is a PM3110.

I recently picked up a working Yokogawa DL1540 150MHz DSO from eBay for £115. Best part? came with a BRIEFCASE FULL OF PROBES. Over 15 decent probes, probably worth as much as the 'scope. The floppy drive and printer still work as well!!! Anyone know how much this scope would have cost new?

Not all airplanes have wipers, for instance the Bombardier Challenger 300 business jet doesn't, instead it relies on a special window coating. It's certainly rated for IMC conditions.

I see a lot of comments right now either arguing the "ebay" or the "50$" part. Depending on where you live and where the scope comes from, you likely have a point. However, I believe it's also likely that you can find an analog oscilloscope for a bargain price if you keep your eyes open. Check some of the following local places, if available: Schools, Colleges, Universities, Military Training Grounds (highly recommended), Repair Shops (Cars, Electronics, you name it), Hacker or Maker spaces (people will hook you up) Make sure you get to talk to someone who actually knows what these devices are and where they could be stored. Pretty much all larger education places have huge stockpiles of old electronics and other equipment that have been forgotten about once a certain project ended. Asking the secretary will not get you very far.

Things are very different for different markets/countries. You have to switch on your brain and learn for your market. Dave is in a more lucky position than most countries I think. Especially when it comes to defective things. Here they sell for basically the same as working devices. You have to become a little ebay expert for your market. Look around for what things sold to get an idea of the price on your local market. And be patient. In a lot of markets the scopes are more expensive because there are not as many. Also the "buy locally" thing is a bad idea when you are not in a big city and not very mobile... For example for the tektronix, the cheapest this sold around here (shipped) is around 100 EUR.

Hi, I'm a newbie to electronics and I bought a scope following your first video advice. What if you bought a working scope from ebay (tektronix 2430A) and it fails within a month? Is there anything I could do to try to repair the thing? Which are the most common malfuction causes for these scopes? In this case, the scope works fine for five minutes or so, then the trace freezes and eventually nothing works at all.

Even if you put for scrap/parts/not working a buyer can still open an item not as described case and get their money back. A big gripe for a lot of sellers. But you do get those sellers that say not working and they have ripped parts out so its incomplete.

I've had many Kenwood car audio decks. I had no idea they made oscilloscopes.

I bought a Tektronix 2225A like 2 months ago for 38€. Seller said it was broken, but it arrived fully working so there's that. Still missing a good probe though :/ Really nice video, thanks a lot!

Laughed at The Castle references. The greatest Australian movie ever made? :) Another top tip for finding a cheap oscilloscope locally, from online auction sites / marketplaces etc in your country, if you do NOT live in an English speaking country: Search for "oscilloscope", in English. Sometimes people with no idea what they are selling just write down whatever the product name on the front panel is, and pretty much all oscilloscopes have the word "oscilloscope" written down along with the make & model. :) Another potential source could be local oldschool one or two man electronics repair shops, if there are still any. Usually the shops that are still around have been around for decades, and almost everything is kept for spares, including the test equipment, so there may be an old, nowadays replaced scope hiding in the corner somewhere. These will be well used units, but may be cheap or even free for someone who's coming to ask for one and is willing to carry it away.

what is better: 2x10MHz but tested by trusted person or with better frequency but from eBay?

wooow I learned with a hitachi like that

Last year I was able to pickup a Kikusui 5020 Dual Channel 20Mhz in great condition for $60 AUD (ebay) in Sydney and I traveled from the Blue Mountains to pickup. Great Deal but this year it is almost impossible to find an Analogue Oscilloscope listed in Oz from under $200 AUD..

And Dave is a fan of The Castle! I can't love this guy any more. Classic movie about a bloke who really loves his wife and family. What a top guy!

Hi, Do you have any recommendations for a entry level automotive oscilloscope?

My first scope arrived today LG OS 5100A

I just got an old Siemens Oscilloscope with 2 channels and 20MHz for local pickup on ebay for 9 Euros last week. Was looking for a few months until I found it. And its working perfectly. So this is possible

Dave...I Watched that Video...took me a year to Find a Scope for $50 on EBay! I scored a 100MHZ HP in Perfect Shape & Like New with Front Cover, Utility Bag, Service Manual and Both HP Probes!! It Popped-Up and I jumped on it!!! Most Scopes on EBay are Sold by people who make a living scouring EBay and/or Auctions and Reselling at Inflated Prices. Anyway...I am Living Proof that it can be done.

About 3 months ago I scored a Hitachi V1050F 100mhz dual channel buy it now for $49.99. Free local pickup. It works awesome. It was located about a mile away from Keithley Instruments old HQ. Cleveland area is great for used test gear.

The plugin is Hover Zoom :)

@19:56 don't forget to check the shipping charge- here it's $100. (or perhaps that's because NY to Aus)

This where working with a university is useful. I picked up a HP5454C 4 channel 2 Gsps from computer science dept of my university as they had binned it due to its big size. I recovered it an love to use it with its coloured LCD. Probably its one if the first scopes with lcd and coloured display.

I found one several years back at a deseased estate garage sale for $5 . check out amateur radio hamfests quite often they go for around $5 to $20 .

Beats my only personal scope... an old 1963 Heathkit 1012. Vacuum tube based, 1 channel AC with Banana jacks. Works great, but not super practical (one of my college professors gave it to me, it was his first scope and he built it). Seeing this reminds me that I probably should find one of these $50 wonders since I'm no longer in college (and don't have lab access, obviously).

I can beat that, I found an $800 eBay scope at Goodwill for $75!

Alternate title: Ebay Time With Dave!

I got the Hitachi V650 on Ebay a few years ago but it took a long time to find a good one under 100 dollars

I found one in my uni's garbage area. Trigger circuit was out of sync, took me an hour to fix it, sold for $115 on ebay.

Here in Sweden i had to wait a couple of years to be able to get ANY cheap one. It seems like there are just a small amount of test equipment here, or people just recycle them.

Mine is a BK Precision 30mhz dual trace. I got it for $50 from a local Craigslist seller (Detroit area). It works great.

Tenma makes some pretty good scopes as well.

I bought a Tektronix 2465B localy here in Norway for 65$ fully working with probes. I hope it's an ok scope i didnt do any research before i bought it.

Is there any way to replace the a broken tube display on an oscilloscope to a digital LCD display??

the problem isn't finding a scope for $50. It's finding a $50 scope that will ship for less than $60 bucks. I've noticed alot of people will list "local pickup" as an option, so it shows as free shipping when sorting that way. The best scope deal i've found is a single channel 5mhz Heath for $40, that needs $75 worth of parts to get it functional... Deals are out there, but you have to put work and time into finding one.

I know that a video's topic can't be true for every country, especially this kind. I just checked here in Italy and for like 100 euros you can get one of those really old small oscilloscopes and usually those are in pretty bad shape and sometimes in need of some kind of repair. I guess I'll need to look around quite a bit...

I think I mostly watch this channel to try to understand how electronic stuff works. I don' t want to like blow a lot of cash trying to make electronic stuff. So I think really I don't need an oscilloscope because I am mostly never going to make electronic stuff. I have not thought of a weird new product that doesn't exist, in which case I could try to do that, but probably someone would immediately clone it. But I think a triggered digital scope would be more useful than these oscillations type of thing, Yesterday I got an alarm/clock radio off of the internet for $5. I was thinking of trying to use the tuner knob/ferrite etc to tune low frequencies like HAM radio, and feed them into a bt878 card I modded for sampling. But already I am getting a bit weary of the technical costs etc. You'd think people would just want to unload analog scopes. Here in Ottawa, there is a NEVER ENDING flow of projections tv for free saying you need to carry it out yourself.

I pulled something like this out of a skip bin at uni, works perfectly, just needed probes. Happy as a clam.

Hitachi V-1100A scored for just under 50 quid plus shipping at Ebay Germany. Sold as defect for lack of knowledge of the seller. Wonky electrolytic caps, but it works. will require some attention soonish, though. A great score, but the search lasted for well over a year. When looking at some of the auctions and how they ended, I understand what "stupid German money" means… Thanks to the EU, living near the border is very helpful to German buyers. :oD The Netherlands and Belgium are fairly close to my place. Ebay.be and ebay.nl are often worth a closer look.

LOL casually I was looking for a backup oscilloscope for my trusty HITACHI 252 20Mhz, guess I'm gonna have to wait for the eevblog effect to wear out

Would be nice if Dave can find the time to make a vid on his thoughts on cheap used DSOs from ebay. I recently scored a nice one, Tek TDS420A (4ch 200MHz analog b/w) for the approximate equivalent of AUS$150. It has the extended memory option (still only 120k lol), and came with 7 Tek 200MHz 10x probes (3 switchable) and 2 other German made probes. Condition is great, and even though it's old and only has a 100Ms/s digital rate, I'm well chuffed with it

better than expected.

Speaking of oscilloscopes.....I bought a Marantz ST-8 Esotec tuner with built in scope at a flea market for 40 bucks about 17 years ago. Was in mint condition. Looked online for any info and didn't find anything.......because that tuner was so rare! Ended up selling on eBay for 1200. Should've kept it.

Quite hard to find a CRO that shipped to Thailand in reasonably cost. Although it is possible, I just got the Leader 8042 dual trace 40 MHz Analog Oscilloscope locally in reasonable prices (with free shipping!). My personal advice is to keep monitoring the forums, especially in the HAM radio and audio community. I find it somewhat easier to find one there. Good luck hunting!