I have what seems a simple question, but I am sure is not so much. Backgrounder: I am just an electronics hobbyist who has never worked in technology or electronics as a career. Was trained in electronics maintenance and repair in the late 1970's through the military, but never used what I learned to any great extent since then. Most of my efforts in the last 30+ years have been focused on antique radios and vacuum tube test equipment, the majority of the test gear being service grade and pre-WWII.
Over the last 10-12 years, I become enamored with Tektronix and HP equipment, and have collected a sizeable number of cast-off oscilloscopes, signal generators and counters from the aforementioned companies, all being produced from the late 1950's to 1970. As I have delved ever deeper into the more modern lab-grade test equipment, I have found that I am becoming limited in my restoration efforts due to bandwidth. My two bench 'scopes are a 564B Mod121N, and a 561A. I also have my recently acquired 549 Serial #101, and a 545B. The 545B suffers from HV transformer disease, and is currently in a rather long queue awaiting repair. The 549 is special due to it being the first production unit, therefore I am loathe to use it except to just maintain it in an operational state. It appears to have a good CRT, but has some minor issues and needs calibration.
Given the above, I am therefore limited to at most 30 MHz, but in practical terms, just 10 MHz. From what I know, I have three options: I can purchase a more modern 'scope that can get me to 100 Mhz. or higher, go with sampling, or do without. The last option is not really feasible, as I am running into issues with the calibration of some of the instruments in my collection. I have just done a restoration on a Type 114 Pulse Generator. Do not need it, but find it an interesting piece of equipment. While I can perform most of the calibration procedure, I cannot check the risetime as my equipment isn't capable of going into the the nanosecond region.
I am not keen on getting a newer 'scope. At this juncture, I wish to limit my endeavors to "hollow state" devices, or hybrids with transistors and tubes. While I used 465 and similar oscilloscopes in the Navy, the idea of poking around inside them I find rather daunting.
That leaves sampling. This is an area I am almost totally unfamiliar with, but find fascinating. Over the years, I have collected a Type 3S76 and a 3T77A. Both units are literally pristine in appearance, but inoperable. I have also acquired a 3S2 and a 3T2. These units, while repairable, are in a sad state. Both are absolutely filthy, and the 3T2 has been dropped savagely. While the 3T2 is not bent or twisted, a good number of the transistors are MIA and even a couple of the transistor sockets are broken. The PCB's appear OK, not being cracked, broken or have jacked up traces, but even some of the passive components are damaged.
It has always been my intention of going into sampling, and eventually getting the above mentioned plugins working. The 3S76 and 3T77A have already been thoroughly cleaned, inspected for obvious issues, and lubricated. I have also checked the tubes and transistors and have found none obviously bad. It is just a matter of diagnosing whatever is wrong with either one, or both of them.
My questions are whether I can adequately engage the higher frequencies with the old systems I do have, or whether I should just bite the bullet and go with more modern equipment. I have very little interest in SMD, IC's, digital devices, etc. Just wanting greater bandwidth. What are the cons of sampling?
Thank you all for your input, it is much appreciated.
Dave
