Introduction To Oscilloscopes

What is an Oscilloscope The oscilloscope is basically a graph-displaying device that draws a graph of an electrical signal. the vertical (Y) axis represents voltage and the horizontal (X) axis represents time. The intensity or brightness of the display is sometimes called the Z axis.

Types of Waves Waveform shapes reveal a great deal about a signal. Any time you see a change in the height of the waveform, you know the voltage has changed. Any time there is a flat horizontal line, you know that there is no change for that length of time. Straight, diagonal lines mean a linear change

Basics of Measurement Frequency and Period If a signal repeats, it has a frequency. The frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) A repetitive signal also has a period, which is the amount of time it takes the signal to complete one cycle. Voltage Voltage is the amount of electric potential between two points in a circuit. The voltage from the maximum peak to the minimum peak of a waveform is referred to as the peak-to-peak voltage. Amplitude Amplitude refers to the amount of voltage between two points in a circuit. Amplitude commonly refers to the maximum voltage of a signal measured from ground, or zero volts.

Types of Oscilloscopes Cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO) The earliest and simplest type of oscilloscope consisted of a cathode ray tube, a vertical amplifier, a time base, a horizontal amplifier and a power supply. Dual-beam oscilloscope The dual-beam analog oscilloscope can display two signals simultaneously. A special dual- beam CRT generates and deflects two separate beams.

Types of Oscilloscopes Digital oscilloscopes While analog devices make use of continually varying voltages, digital devices employ binary numbers which correspond to samples of the voltage. In the case of digital oscilloscopes, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used to change the measured voltages into digital information.

Mixed-domain oscilloscopes A mixed-domain oscilloscope (or MDO) has three kinds of inputs, a small number analog channels, a larger number of digital channels, and one RF channel. It provides the ability to accurately time-correlate analog, digital, and RF signals with each other. Types of Oscilloscopes

Handheld oscilloscopes Handheld oscilloscopes (also called scopemeters) are useful for many test and field service applications. Today. Mixed-signal oscilloscopes A mixed-signal oscilloscope (or MSO) has two kinds of inputs, a small number (typically two or four) of analog channels, and a larger number (typically sixteen) of digital channels. Types of Oscilloscopes

Operating The Oscilloscope Proper Grounding Ground your oscilloscope by plugging its three-pronged power cord into an outlet grounded to earth ground. Grounding the oscilloscope is necessary for safety. If a high voltage contacts the case of an ungrounded oscilloscope –

Operating The Oscilloscope Connecting the Probes Now you are ready to connect a probe to your oscilloscope. A probe, if well-matched to the oscilloscope, will enable you to access all of the power and performance in the oscilloscope and will ensure the integrity of the signal you are measuring.

Operating The Oscilloscope Calibrating the Instrument When using an oscilloscope, it is very easy to plug the oscilloscope probe in and start to make measurements. There is a built in calibrator on virtually every oscilloscope for this purpose.

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