(sot) O'scope question

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orange_glow_fan

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Jul 18, 2013, 8:57:53 AM7/18/13

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Hi,

I was wondering if one could use the o'scope clock board from Sparkfun Electronics to drive an old Heathkit vector scope such as this one on Ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-VINTAGE-HEATHKIT-VECTOR-MONITOR-MODEL-IO-1128-MONITOR-SCOPE-OSCILLOSCOPE-/111073790460?pt=BI_Oscilloscopes&hash=item19dc8389fc

and what would be involved..

Thanks,
Kerry

Oscilloclock

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Jul 19, 2013, 8:23:48 AM7/19/13

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Hi Kerry,

Contrary to what you might think from the e-bay listing, a Vectorscope is most certainly NOT an oscilloscope, and does not have X, Y, and Z (intensity/blanking) inputs. A vector scope allows one to visualize the color composition of (analogue) NTSC television signals. The input is usually a single composite signal. The 'vector' name relates to the fact that the _phase_ of the signal with respect to another reference is used to encode colour, and the vector scope lets you see those phase relationships. (Not a very precise explanation I admit!! :)

That's not to say you couldn't do a mod and tap into the X and Y amplifiers, and install a decent blanking circuit, but it might be a bit advanced. It would surely look nice, though!

I've been doing something similar with a Heathkit recently, over at http://oscilloclock.com (no plug intended). A future post will illustrate a bit more what needed to be done.

By the way, I LOVE vector scopes! I have a salivatingly valve-packed Tektronix 529 Vector Scope, which I have mounted on a sliding and rotating rack in my shop - see http://oscilloclock.com/history/tektronix-529-vectorscope.