While Stephen did not elaborate on "other desirables" -
When covering the field, it is good to point out the surreal nature of the test equipment market in Murica, as it moves from engineering excellence on to the (ever slightly-sleazy.. like Babbitt) milieu of marketers, of mere repackagers of goods created by less lazy minds. Imagine.. Gigahertz 7104s, for a few $hundred. Items our Lab could not afford are now literally:
pearls before swine. By the pallet-load. A Rorshach ink blot proof of a declining civilization, I wot.
{Oink..}
ie you can afford Two scopes, at least! - when a 500 MHz scope can oft be had for ~100ish or a bit more, if it is shown with a trace.
Of course: a 7000 series, at very least a 7603, but frequently the higher bandwidths will be just as absurdly priced - a daily eBay crap shoot.
I nominate though, for portability - the magic of Tek, executed in the land of Seiko (and of most autos on US roads today) -- the Sony-Tek 335 - weighing a tad over Ten Pounds (4.7 kg.) 35 MHz nom. 1 mV/DIV @ 25 MHz for those audio preamp thingies.
All the delayed sweep bells & whistles of a Titanic-sized, utterly unportative 545 ... shrunk to the size of your average 5+ digit lab dvm. Capable of operation on most any AC or DC voltage around. Of course too, one needs a watchmaker's patience for certain (rare) maintenance efforts - the price of miniaturization. Still, it is a marvel - and in its gold plated attenuator area - a work of art. Even if it didn't work.
It does, however. And because of this ongoing fire sale of our superfluous engr'g. tools: again, buy Two.
(Thus have spare parts for as long as the power grid stays up. Then go solar (or put a paddle on a car alternator and use the creek by your house: 2 amps at 12V is all you need.))
My 1000 ???,
Ashton - who has not yet fully assimilated the pewling surrender of a civilization to Suits, to the crass marketing of megatons of mindless trinkets - and to corporate cubicles with hamster wheels provided for the fungible inmates.
(Y'see ... I once watched someone at Beaverton assembling a 1A1 preamp, way-back, way before terminal National Dumbth had set in.)
