1. Oscilloscopes
HP 54600B
Digital Oscilloscope
Alex Jones
COE 0501

2. Safety Tips Protect Yourself:
Avoid contact with Voltage or Current Sources •
Use shrouded test leads and alligator clips.
Leads:
Connect to oscilloscope first;
Connect/disconnect at source so loose lead is dead.
Connect probe to ground before connecting to high.
Protect the Scope:
400V maximum on input.
Use probes to reduce high voltages.
Be familiar with user’s guide.

3. Oscilloscopes
Oscilloscopes display the relationship of Voltage vs. Time waveforms for analog and digital signals.
The display is like a dynamic plot. Therefore we must be able to adjust the scales and offsets of the “plot” of the waveform.
Voltage - set the Input / vertical scale factor
Time- set the horizontal / time scale factor
Position (Vertical and Horizontal)
Triggering - when should it start to draw?
Storage - keep a copy
Measurement - measure features of the waveform

4. Front Panel Features Measurement Save/Recall Cursors Storage
Horizontal Position
Measurement
Save/Recall
Cursors
Storage
Autoscale/
Display/Print
Triggering
Vertical Scale
Vertical Position
Inputs
External Trigger
Intensity
Calibration
Ground
Power
Horizontal Scale
What’s wrong with this picture?

5. Task - Front Panel
Draw a picture in your lab notebook of the front panel of your scope.
Every button, knob, and connector should be depicted and labeled.
Use an entire page of your lab notebook for this.

6. Task - Front Panel
On the next page of your notebook, make a list of the buttons, knobs, and connectors on the front panel.
As you learn about each item in the list, write a brief description of it in your notebook.

7. Power Switch •
This switch turns the oscilloscope on
and off.

8. Intensity Knob • This knob adjusts the brightness of the display
If no trace is seen, it may be because the
intensity knob is set too low.

9. Ground Connection •
This connection may be used to ground
probes.

10. Signal Inputs • These connections are used to connect
coaxial cable, probes, etc. to the oscilloscope.
The outside of the connector is grounded.

11. Connecting a Signal £ • Make sure the input voltage level 400 V.
Connect a BNC cable or a probe to a channel
input.
Connect the other end of the cable or probe
to the device to be measured.

12. Task - Calibration Signal
Connect a probe to channel 1.
Connect the red lead to the calibration signal below the display.
Push the Auto-scale button.
Draw a picture of the resulting waveform in your lab notebook.

13. Vertical Section addition menu volts per division volts per division
channel menu
channel menu
position knob
position knob

14. Input Selection Use the push buttons to enable/disable each channel.
These also enable the “soft keys” under the display

15. DC vs. AC Coupling
For digital signals we almost always want DC coupling.
AC coupling centers the signal on 0v
Digital signals swing between 0v and 5v D V

16. Vertical Scale • Use the vertical volts/div knobs (located above
the channel input connector) to scale the signal
vertically on the screen.

17. Task - Calibration Signal
Adjust the volts/div knob so that the entire calibration waveform is visible on the screen, and appears as large as possible.
Record the volts/div setting in your lab notebook.
Use the scope to measure the amplitude of the calibration waveform.

18. Vertical Positioning • Use the vertical position knob (located above
the channel input connector) to position the
signal vertically on the screen.

19. Horizontal Section
delay knob
main/delayed menu
time per division

20. Time Base • Turn the time/div knob to adjust the sweep
speed (time base).
The sweep speed has a range from 2ns to 5s.

21. Task - Calibration Signal
Adjust the time/div knob so that one period of the calibration waveform is visible.
Record all time base parameters in your lab notebook.
Use the scope to measure the period of the calibration waveform.
Compute the frequency of the waveform.

22. Horizontal Positioning•
Use the delay knob to move the signal
horizontally.
Note the value displayed on the status line.

23. Trigger Section source menu trigger level knob mode menu
slope/coupling menu
holdoff knob

24. Triggering Source Menu•
Use this menu to assign a trigger source.
The choices are line, CH1, CH2 and external.

25. Triggering Mode Menu • Use this menu to choose a trigger mode.
The choices are auto level, auto, normal,
single, and TV.

26. Triggering • Use the level knob to set the trigger voltage.
The screen will display the trigger level in
inverse video and a horizontal line
representing the trigger location.

27. Triggering 1
Triggering level +
Slope -
Delay

28. Custom Features
Autoscale
Voltage menu
Time menu
Cursor menu
Storage
Delay

29. Custom features setup menu time menu voltage menu cursor menu
trace menu
cursor knob
display menu
autoscale
print/utility

30. Auto Scale £ • Sets the Time Scale and Vertical Scale for all inputs
Uses the highest active channel (1,2,3,4, ext) as
trigger

31. Voltage Menu • Use this menu to make automatic voltage measurements.
Measurements include peak to peak voltage,
rms voltage, max voltage, etc. The choice is
made using the softkeys below the display.

32. Voltage Readings
Vrms = Vp (Sine wave)
Vpp
Vrms Vp
time

33. Time Menu • Use this menu to measure frequency, period,
duty cycle, risetime, etc.

34. Frequency and Period
Period ( ) t T f = 1 Hz
rad/s
time w p × 2

35. Cursor Menu • This menu brings up a list of cursor
commands and activates the cursor knob.
The cursors can be used to measure specific
voltages, times, etc.

36. Storage These buttons control the storage features of the scope.
Run, Stop, Auto-store, Erase
Save, Recall

37. Storage Save/Recall Run - Normal operation
Stop - Keep the most recent trace, do not overwrite
Auto-Store - Keep overwriting traces, with dim lines
Erase - Erase all traces
Save/Recall
Trace - Can store 2 “screen dumps.” Brings up soft keys
Settings - Can store scope settings for reuse

38. Delay
This button enables the use of two time-bases for the same signal
This gives the ability to have a global and zoomed picture of the waveform at the same time.
It enables a soft key menu (XY, Vernier, Time Ref)

39. Storage Save/Recall Run - Normal operation
Stop - Keep the most recent trace, do not overwrite
Auto-Store - Keep overwriting traces, with dim lines
Erase - Erase all traces
Save/Recall
Trace - Can store 2 “screen dumps.” Brings up soft keys
Settings - Can store scope settings for reuse

40. End of Scope Presentation