test equipment / Re: Z80 / Z84C Swap (Doh!)

[Brent Hilpert]

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.