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If you want to do things right, sometimes you need to do them yourself....

A couple years ago I purchased a 400Mhz 2-channel oscilloscope on ebay for $300 without any specific use for it.  Then this project came along and I suddenly had a very good use for it.  The only scope available to me at OSU was 120Mhz repetitive, meaning I couldn't get good single-shot triggers that showed me what was going on with signals on my data bus.  Also given the only tool available to me at OSU was this oscilloscope that wasn't really of use to me, I decided to start investing in my own equipment as a long-term investment.

So a couple years and hundreds of dollars later here is my current setup:

• HP 54502A 400Mhz 2-channel digital scope

• HP 54503A 500Mhz 4-channel repetitive digital scope

• Velleman 40Mhz 1-channel handheld scope

• 2 rather inexpensive multimeters

• Atten 8502 iron and hot-air soldering station

• Omano bifocal microscope

• Assorted tweezers, pliers, wire cutters, etc.

• All the normal discrete components you'd expect to be laying around

I actually purchased the 500Mhz scope for the power supply.  My 400Mhz scope was dying and obviously needed a new power supply.  The 500Mhz seems to be working OK with the 400Mhz's supply, but someday it will probably die completely. 

Since this has all come out of my pocket, if anyone in industry has old equipment they would like to donate, I would gladly accept it.