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Old 5th Dec 2011, 8:17 pm   #1
John Engineer
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Default Gould DSO4064

Hello

I have the offer of a Gould 150mhz DSO4064 Oscilloscope

I just wondered if anyone can shine any light on this scope please

1) is it any good
2) is it reliable
3) can you still get the service manuals for this scope
4) what is the right price to offer for this scope
5) how old is the scope, when was it manuafactured


any additional info on this item would be appreciated, would love to hear from someone who owns one.

Thank you in advance for any feedback

Regards
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Old 7th Dec 2011, 1:43 pm   #2
Oldtestgear
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

Hi,
No one else has made an attempt to answer, so here are my thoughts:
1) & 2) A: It was made by Gould so was built to a price & it shows. Reliabilty was never great in my limited experience with this maker. Feature rich though.
3) A: some manuals can be found in the hands of enthusiasts & information is usually shared.
4) A: Look on ebay for a guide price but free is often best. That way if it bursts into flames there is nothing lost. Yes, I have had a 1604 burst into flames on me (twice!) due to dodgy tants.
5) 1980s I think.

Gould & Telequipment (before Tel was bought by Tektronix) were good manufacturers of relatively low cost scopes. Cost cutting was common & (very) long term reliability suffered as a result. Of course these things were never intended to be in service 25+ years later & so a few failures along the way should be expected. Even the Tek scopes from the 1980s have a few gremlins which bite the unlucky every so often.

FWIW

Phil
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Old 7th Dec 2011, 6:20 pm   #3
Leon Crampin
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

When changing jobs years ago from a Company which used Tek scopes exclusively, to one where Gould scopes were in use for me, there was absolutely no comparison.

The Teks earned my absolute admiration - used sometimes in the field, in the rain and powered by a diesel generator they exceeded all calls of duty. Not 100% reliable but very good in relation to their complexity. Service turnaround from Tek was good.

The Goulds I'm afraid were at the opposite end of the scale - I was devastated. I found it hard to believe that anyone could design such poorly made and poorly performing instruments. I had a 4 channel digital storage 'scope which generated so much (variable) internal noise, the display needed a lawnmower. Never, ever again.

Find the simplest Tek which will do your job, preferably without custom active components. For general work I have a 453 portable - simple, reliable and above all else, fixable. It triggers beautifully when, and only when it should.

Tek documentation is fully available and is of the very highest order.

Leon.
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Old 7th Dec 2011, 6:27 pm   #4
ppppenguin
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

While I don't have Leon's direct comparative experience I would steer clear of that Gould unless the price is very low indeed. Under (say) £25 you haven't invested much so if it's ultimately a write-off it won't matter too much. Tek every time for me at the high quality end of scopes. For everyday simple modern scopes there are Hameg, Iwatsu and perhaps others that are often available for not much money and are simple to use.
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Old 7th Dec 2011, 11:32 pm   #5
Marconi_MPT4
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

I recall using a 4 channel Gould analogue oscilloscope some 20 years ago for R&D work on tape drives. Although it performed to spec, it suffered from excessive Y axis dc drift that took 20 minutes to settle down from switch on. It was returned to Gould for repair but they declared it was within spec! The equivalent Tek and HP oscilloscopes by comparison had negligible drift.

Some five years later at another company, the engineering dept had one of the first digital Gould scopes with a built-in printer. That was painful to use as often the trace print out was misaligned with the graticule.

In my experience most Tek 'scopes were among the best, you got what you paid for with first class support. But there are also some good cheaper alternatives. In my own workshop, although old I use a Telequipment D83, Hameg HM203-4 for general look-see measurements and hope to repair and add a Tek 5441 storage scope with 5A48 and 5B42 plug ins.

Cheers

Rich
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Old 7th Dec 2011, 11:42 pm   #6
theoldtrout
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

I had a couple of the Gould 4064 pass through my hands. I could not find any service data anywhere making repairs difficult. As already mentioned, not that well made and only worth having if they are cheap.
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Old 9th Dec 2011, 2:49 pm   #7
TuningIndicator
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

I would avoid any Gould scope like the plague; unless it was free; and even then........
Whilst I don't have experience of digital Goulds, the analogue ones I've used are dire. Appalling build quality, and reliability.
I have to say, the digital Goulds look like they'd be a nightmare to drive; all those millions of buttons......

The Advance era scopes, (i.e before Gould bought Advance and value-engineered all their kit) aren't half-bad in my experience.
My own OS1000 keeps working..........
And as for finding service data for them, good luck!

Mind you, none of them hold a candle to a Tek.
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Old 9th Dec 2011, 8:07 pm   #8
TuningIndicator
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Default Re: Gould DSO4064

Scary looking thing!

http://www.rockford-industrial.com/M...ided_image.jpg
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