The oscilloscope is a particularly useful item of test equipment that can be used for testing and faultfinding a variety of electronics circuits from logic circuits through analogue circuits to radio circuits. Anatomy of an oscope an overview of the most critical systems on an oscilloscope the screen, horizontal and vertical controls, triggers, and probes. Alfred haas oscilloscope techniques gernsback library inc. The spectrum analyzer is to the frequency doma in as the oscilloscope is to the time domain. An oscilloscope is an instrument that allows signal voltages to be displayed, usually as a 2d graph of one or more voltage signals plotted as a function of time or of some other voltage signal.
Using an oscilloscope tips and tricks for someone using an oscilloscope for. Find these and other hardware projects on arduino project hub. The main purpose of an oscilloscope is to graph an electrical signal as it varies over time. The modern oscilloscope with hardware ddc and overlapping fft is capable of far more than a traditional oscilloscope. The voltage vertical shift knob can then be used to set the vertical origin. Understanding the basic oscilloscope specifications can provide an understanding of the limitations of any given test instrument and also help in the selection when one needs to be hired, bought or even booked out of a common store. Oct 20, 2017 in these situations, probes are essential. It will key the oscilloscope to start measuring when the signal voltage passes a certain level. On digital scopes, there may be a pushbutton, but you may have to locate the options in a menu. The modern oscilloscope is an invaluable tool used by researchers, engineers, technicians, students and hobbyists to design, debug, deploy and repair todays electronic designs. Read through each section and follow the directions. Manual measurements rely upon the graticule on the display and the vertical. Using an oscilloscope tips and tricks for someone using an oscilloscope for the first time.
For example, a television technician can use an oscilloscope to measure signals from a television circuit board while a medical researcher can use an oscilloscope to measure brain waves. This simple graph can tell you many things about a signal, such as. In most cases, an oscilloscope shows repeating events although there can can be a slowly varying envelope. All oscilloscopes have some basic controls in common, be sure you can identify these controls on your oscilloscope. A pulse trigger tells the scope to key in on a specified pulse of voltage. This is basic presentation on lab scopes for the ones just getting started but may be and for those technicians wanting to refresh their basic knowledge of using an oscilloscope for diagnostics. Emi debugging with an oscilloscope enables correlation of interfering signals with time domain while maintaining very fast and lively update rate. It is necessary to know how to use an oscilloscope properly to be able to make the best use of it. Push the frontpanel default setup button to set the oscilloscope to a known starting point.
When set to 10x, the oscilloscope reading will be one tenth of the actual signal. Purpose understand, read, and use the controls and features of an oscilloscope. This is useful for measuring such things as clock frequencies, duty cycles of pulsewidthmodulated signals, propagation delay, or signal rise and fall times. Oscilloscope lexicon a glossary covering some of the more common oscilloscope characteristics. Oscilloscope basics readonly cooperative extension. On older analog scopes, these are mostly controlled by a dedicated switch for each function. Digital oscilloscope set up and tutorial using hp 54645d digital storage oscilloscope.
Debugging emi using a digital oscilloscope summary. Oscilloscope fundamentals case school of engineering. Therefore, the oscilloscope analog bandwidth bw scope needed is 334mhz. Use the tds3034b oscilloscope to measure the amplitude, frequency and period of signals. The basic operation and use of an oscilloscope require users to have a good idea of how to use an oscilloscope. Oscilloscopes are used by everyone from physicists to television repair technicians. Most oscilloscopes can perform at least two mathematical operations on the waveforms. Introduction to oscilloscopes worksheet this worksheet explains how to use an oscilloscope to make basic measurements of waveforms.
If the trigger mode is auto, then the oscilloscope will continue to sample even without a trigger. You will be redirected to the secure calnet login page. Basics of digital oscilloscope basics of electrical engineering. Power up the oscilloscope by pushing the power button. This article is based on a threepart videotape series hp pin 90741d originally developed to. Jan 03, 2018 basics of manual and automatic oscilloscope measurements january 3, 2018 by david herres leave a comment other than displaying electrical signals in realtime and stored in memory, an outstanding capability of our modern digital storage oscilloscope is to measure those signals automatically or manually and to display the results. Modern oscilloscopes perform many functions automatically, so the controls and display can be confusing. To create this article, people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Using the calculations show previously, the highest frequency component or signal bandwidth bw signal is 167mhz. Once these concepts are mastered, the only remaining hurdle for you is to locate the controls on the scopes front. An edge trigger can be set to catch on a rising or falling edge or both. This collection of exercises is intended to get you started on some of the basics of operating scopes. In order to start from a uniform setting, reset the oscilloscope to its factory default values by pressing the saverecall button, and then using the softkeys to choose the \factory default setup.
Most scopes produce a twodimensional graph with time on the xaxis and voltage on the yaxis. How to use an oscilloscope, a tutorial for beginners. The concepts presented in this primer will provide you with a good starting point in understanding oscilloscope basics and operation. Once can easily select the value of horizontal and vertical boxes by using the time per div and volts per div setting of the oscilloscope. A digital oscilloscope acquires a waveform by conditioning the input signal in the. Theory the oscilloscope is used as a tool for testing electrical components and circuits. Basics of using the tektronix 3012 digital oscilloscope. Set the bk 4040 to generate a sine wave, set the frequency to 50 hz, and using a voltmeter set the output voltage to 1 volt peak. Then, read the manual provided with your oscilloscope to learn specific information about how to use it in your work. Connect the output of the bk 4040 to one of the inputs of the agilent oscilloscope. Along with measuring times and voltages accurately. Basics of oscilloscopes how to use an oscilloscope rigol. The oscilloscope can display information over roughly 10.
So many of the experiments in the advanced labs make use of oscilloscopes and. An automotive engineer uses an oscilloscope to correlate analog data from sensors with serial data from the engine control unit. Digital oscilloscope set up and tutorial using hp 54645d digital storage oscilloscope duration. A scope samples the voltage and displays it on a screen that is. Best way to get good at using an oscilloscope is to practice taking measurements and refer to the manual. Oscilloscopes are devices used to display timevarying voltage signals. You will learn what an oscilloscope is and how to use oscilloscopes. Understanding oscilloscope basics is critical to almost all product design. The mostused oscilloscope probe attenuates the signal by a factor of 10.
The manual provided with your oscilloscope will give you more specific information about how to use the oscilloscope in your work. When set to 1x, the oscilloscope will display the actual signal to scale. A medical researcher uses an oscilloscope to measure brain waves. The following steps will describe how to automatically create a stable oscilloscope display using a 1 khz, 5 v pkpk square wave. By setting the oscilloscope in parallel with various components in a circuit, voltage across the component can be accurately read and. To understand how to use an oscilloscope, users must understand all oscilloscope controls, such as vertical sensitivity, beam finder, and delayed sweep controls. Since its invention more than 100 years ago, new types, features and functionalities have been introduced. An oscilloscope s primary function is to provide a graph of a signals voltage over time. Beginner oscilloscope tutorial university of nebraska. Oscilloscope uses include analysis of electronic equipment. This application note provides an overview of basic oscilloscope fundamentals. Probe compensation before using the oscilloscope probe, the oscilloscope must be calibrated, or compensated, to account for the nonideal effects that the probe has on voltage measurements. Username password what department is this class for. This article explains the difference between oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer using examples.
Properly use oscilloscope to prevent risks to safety and equipment damage. I will also show you a few examples of how these controls work on my oscilloscope. Basics of manual and automatic oscilloscope measurements. A 334mhz oscilloscope is generally not available on the market, but a 350mhz is.
Quite simply, an oscilloscope is a diagnostic instrument that draws a graph of an electrical signal. A comparison between oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers. Many engineers, scientists, and technicians pick the oscilloscope as their primary measurement tool because of its range and versatility. Basics of oscopes an introduction to what, exactly, oscilloscopes are, what. In the first case, we see that both scales are arranged at one. We will use oscilloscopes when we need to observe the exact shape of a voltage signal. Primer xyzs of oscilloscopes university of colorado boulder. It is important to note that spectrum analyzers can also be used in the fixedtune mode zero span to provide timedomain measurement capability much like that of an oscillos cope. Feb, 2017 in the video, i talk about why 10x probes are useful, how to tune the compensation capacitor in a 10x probe, how to measure periodic signals, and how to set up a single capture trigger for a. The oscilloscope is arguably one of the most useful general purpose tools ever created for use by electronic engineers. Inside the oscilloscope user manual there should be a similar curve for the passive probes that came with the oscilloscope. Basic techniques of waveform measurement using an oscilloscope copied from. Basics of oscilloscopes the modern oscilloscope is an invaluable tool used by researchers, engineers, technicians, students and hobbyists to design, debug, deploy and repair todays electronic designs. Visual representations and wide measuring range are probably the major reasons scopes are so widely used.
An oscilloscopes primary function is to provide a graph of a signals voltage over time. Beginner oscilloscope tutorial contd once youve learned the basic oscilloscope controls, here are a few other things that you should know about. A shortish guide to using an oscilloscope an oscilloscope is a test instrument that allows you to see how the voltage at a point in a circuit varies with time. Oscilloscopes come in two basic types, analogue or digital, and support various features and functions useful for measuring and testing electronic circuits. Oscilloscopes are also used to measure electrical signals in response to physical stimuli, such as sound, mechanical stress, pressure, light, or heat. At its simplest level the oscilloscope allows users to visualize the behavior of a signal by displaying its voltage over a time period. Oscilloscope basics todd montevideo director system protection and control wisconsin public service corporation purpose of today purpose of this training is to help you to set up the scope properly to take meaningful measurements. Basic techniques of waveform measurement using an oscilloscope. Oscilloscopes are often used to get detailed timing information of a signal, or the timing relationships between several signals. In this tutorial, you will learn about the basic controls that youll find on any oscilloscope.
Then press the ch1 and ch2 buttons to turn on both of these channels. A basic understanding of the terms and what they mean is very useful. The gfg8219a function generator the function generator is used to generate test signals when testing circuits. The specifications for oscilloscopes can sometimes be confusing. Basic operation and uses of an oscilloscope bright hub. Basics of manual and automatic oscilloscope measurements january 3, 2018 by david herres leave a comment other than displaying electrical signals in realtime and stored in memory, an outstanding capability of our modern digital storage oscilloscope is to measure those signals automatically or manually and to display the results. Nov 20, 2019 wikihow is a wiki, similar to wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are cowritten by multiple authors.
Detailed information is contained in the tektronix 3012 users manual. Service information from hewlettpackard marchapril 1980 text, image compilation, and document reassembly by perry sandeen 32016 hp editors note. The trigger mode determines whether or not the oscilloscope outputs a waveform. An edge trigger is the most basic form of the trigger. We might use an oscilloscope to find the relative time delay between two signals. Dont worry too much about the specifics of which knob and button does what, but pay attention to what the do. If you are using an oscilloscope for the first time, read this book to get a solid understanding of oscilloscope basics. Some introductory exercises for students in the advanced labs. To familiarize oneself with the use of the agilent s4622a oscilloscope in conjunction with the bk 4040 function generator 1. Basics of digital oscilloscope basics of electrical.
144 22 1165 728 243 1246 300 51 71 517 1420 164 380 534 616 698 495 1056 1346 73 1551 491 750 1411 1370 452 580 1147