On 2015-Aug-17, at 3:32 AM, Noel Chiappa wrote: >> From: drlegendre > >> Sigh.. and here I sit, yet again, with neither a logic analyzer > > I've bought Tek 1240's (which are really nice units, although of course > without the capabilities of today's - but still a lot more powerful than the > earliest LA's) on eBay for as little as $25 (albeit without leads), and I > gather there are modern units which plug into a PC with a UCB port for not > much more money. > > Yes, a lot of the older machines were built without benefit of them (pretty > much all their builders had was 'scopes), but there are so many things where > one cannot easily create a 'scope loop, and for investigating those, a logic > analayzer is the perfect tool. > > It's just a critical tool to have if one is going to _repair_ old computers - > only slightly less critical than a VOM. No ifs, ands or buts.
Well, a DSO (i.e. any modern scope) obviates the need to create scope loops in servicing as we used to have to do with analog/non-storage scopes. I suffered with a low-end Tek analog scope until a few years ago; have been using a Tek DSO for the last few years. While there are occasions I'd like to have an LA, I can't say there are any instances where I've had to have an LA (I still don't have one). From a usefulness perspective I'd get a DSO long before an LA.