Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

e14phil — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 10:01:58 GMT

As some one who grew up in the 90s... I love seeing beautiful hand designed 1970s PCBs. Such a wonderful time for electronics that still had soul and a human touch in their creation. I would never replace the convenience of modern ICs and miniaturization ... but this thing looks like it could withstand being run over by a tank!

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

mcb1 — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 04:21:50 GMT

[mention:f80b53cee57c44bc9d7c577d07d7c791:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05]

They certainly don't build them like that any more.

Because the internals have changed, getting calibration instructions are long gone, and you get the 'return to manufacturer' message.

I have to say that I was brought up in the right age to see technology move forward from valves to transistors to silicon blobs.

The price of technology has decreased at such a rate that it would have been impossible to predict even 20 years ago.

That's not to say progress has always been beneficial or enhanced our lives, but it has changed it.

Hopefully your family will appreciate the scope, and be able to report on it in 2057 ... maybe you should include this in your will, and [mention:7d5ee4caf55f4ccaa8b711eb508ecedd:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] can ensure they complete it.

Mark

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

genebren — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 19:47:07 GMT

Nice to see someone take such good care of their tools (toys)!

Great write up, Good work!

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

DAB — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 19:43:14 GMT

Great post John.

My first scope was an old Dumont, which was fine for TV's, but lacked bandwidth for much else.

DAB

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

Jan Cumps — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:32:47 GMT

John, when several things go out of callibration at i similar time, it may indicate that one of the power rails is giving up.

Usually things don’t drift together, and so significantly, without an underlying reason.

... and: great scope and perfectly taken care off.

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

rachaelp — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:03:04 GMT

Excellent post John! Everybody should learn how to use an oscilloscope on an old style CRT type unit like this! It really makes you appreciate how it works and what's going on!

Nice job on the calibration. It's satisfying when you make something work properly as it should again [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-619daede-646a-4792-bb3c-34fb6518c10a/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]

" I will not live to see the condition or functionality of my newer Rigol 40 years from now"

You never know, medical advances could mean you just might! [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-619daede-646a-4792-bb3c-34fb6518c10a/contentimage_5F00_2516.png:16:16] So just in case, I will put the request in now that you do an equivalent update for your Rigol in 2057 please [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-619daede-646a-4792-bb3c-34fb6518c10a/contentimage_5F00_2516.png:16:16]

Best Regards,

Rachael

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

shabaz — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 10:47:01 GMT

Hi John,

Great blog post! Impressive how it is still spot-on once you made the adjustments.

It was interesting seeing the attention to detail in the construction, like the red coax connections with the heat-shrink sleeving on the ends, and the black top-side solder mask on the vertical control board.

RE: Calibration of My 43 year Old BK Dynascan 1460 Scope

dougw — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 07:34:01 GMT

Great job John.

I really miss getting full shop manuals with everything. There was so much to be learned from them and they made the investment less risky.