BK Precision 1479A 30MHz oscilloscope
 

I got a great deal on this. Super cheap, solid and working. No probes but I jumped the test output to the channel B input and the 1kHz square wave looks good to me. Now I just need to clean some flaky pots and to know what to look for in probes... not to mention how to use one of these. :)

So many troubleshooting procedures require an oscilloscope, I just had to start sniffing around for a good deal on a decent older unit.

Probes should be no problem to find. A scope like that will be fine with generic X1/X10 switchable probes like these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-X1-X10-...-/271499754154

That's a great little scope! Made by Kenwood in Japan.

Excellent, thanks for the link.
Cool! Probably even better than I thought. Seems it's one of the last to use a 5" round CRT, probably easy to replace should that ever be necessary.

Noice.

I found the same probes on amazon.ca. I can avoid the USD markup there and save a decent amount.

By the way, does anyone know exactly which Kenwood scope this crosses to? I checked Google images and couldn't find an exact match. To me the badge-engineering is a bonus, I've found that sort of thing interesting since we got a 1984 Mercury Lynx (Ford Escort) in 1992. I also have an old Philips CATV converter that is a re-badged ViewStar with a nicer label, and that Mitsubishi-made Electrohome (not my daily-use console). Then there's my Sanyo lead sled - who knows what that is under the hood.

Probably the CS-1500 series, not all were marketed in the west. B&K scopes were "custom" Trio units, with added serviceman's features not available on stock Trio/Kenwood scopes. Your internal circuit boards will have the series in 4-digit fashion - 1510 or 1520 for the 1500 series scopes. The CS-1570 is close, but with the B&K mods.

Kenwood, Hitachi, Kikusui, Sony and Leader all made Oscilloscopes in Japan. Sony even paired up with Tektronix for a run of scopes in the 70s. Now, all the Asian stuff is Chinese (Sino) made, and probably by one or two manufacturers. Tenma, Lodestar, Elenco, all just names badged on Chinese test equipment.

I haven't opened it yet, will have to soon. Pretty cool it has extras over a stock Kenwood though.

I've seen those names on newer scopes and was suspicious of them from the get-go. I'm certainly not a fan of *that* kind of badge-engineering, yikes. That's the kind of over-thought plumbing that will stop itself up. One reason I like the B&K is because of its clean and simple yet well-equipped design.

I've owned my 1479A for about 20 years now. Really like it! So does "Knight".

Good for you!

You'll like the 1479A, they're a real workhorse, simple and dependable. I had one on the bench for years and finally upgraded to a B&K 2120B.

Seconded, the B&K Precision 1479A is a favorite workhorse scope of mine. A very simple, has what service techs need, and very well made, dependable scope.