I have a scope collecting dust and need some help

[dragonbat13]

I have a soltec 515-2 that my dad left me.

Is it easy to build some sort of tone generator? I would rather build one than buy one.

What about a load?

What can I do with the damn thing anyway?

I AM TIRED OF LOOKING AT IT COLLECTING DUST AND NOT BEING ABLE TO USE IT TO MY ADVANTAGE!!!!!

I have been looking at schematics and layouts, fixed and troubleshot my amps, had alot of fun.

I work offshore as a mechanic but I also work with electricity. I fool around with 480 volt switchgear and 500 Kw generators that are solid state controlled. I also repair the computers out there. I have the skills but don't know where to look for this scope stuff!!

I really want to use it bad!!! Please help me!

[nickt]

There should be a bunch of signal generator projects on the net - here's one.

http://www.elecfree.com/electronic/1khz ... tor-bc238/

Also it seems to be a standard kit in electronics stores - can't speak for US/UK/Europe but in Oz it's true.

Hope this helps!

[pamaz67]

instead of buying a signal generator, google a little, and probably you'll find some collections of test signal samples that you can collect and run with a cd player ( loop function is required most of the times) .
Signal generator on the cheap and with low distortion.
Ciao

Paolo

[Sonny ReVerb]

This is where a lot of folks start:

http://www.tek.com/Measurement/cgi-bin/ ... illoscopes

[jjman]

I built this one. Found it real cheap but I forget where. I read the sine wave may not be completely clean but I don't have a scope so I can't tell. It sounds clean.

http://www.tequipment.net/ElencoFG-500.html

Some day...............

[d2camero]

If you have a sound card in your computer, and it is close to your bench, you can download free software to generate tones.

Also get a big honking 8ohm resistor (like 50Watts) to use as a dummy load, or else put your speaker cab in another room under a bunch of blankets. Otherwise you'll go crazy while testing.

Here is something you can try with your generator and your meter:

Put 400Hz sine into the input. Turn the volume to a low value. Measure just after each gain stage and see how the signal gets amplified in voltage. Then crank the volume and repeat. See how the wave form starts to become distorted, squished.