Make sure the trigger isn't higher than the tallest peak of your waveform. By default, the trigger type should be set to edge, which is usually a good choice for square waves like this. If your probe is set to 10X, and you don't have a perfectly square waveform as shown above, you may need to compensate your probe.
Most probes have a recessed screw head, which you can rotate to adjust the shunt capacitance of the probe. Try using a small screwdriver to rotate this trimmer, and look at what happens to the waveform.
Adjust the trimming cap on the probe handle until you have a straight-edged square wave. Compensation is only necessary if your probe is attenuated e. Once you've compensated your probe, it's time to measure a real signal! Go find a signal source frequency generator? The first key to probing a signal is finding a solid, reliable grounding point. Clasp your ground clip to a known ground, sometimes you may have to use a small wire to intermediate between the ground clip and your circuit's ground point.
Then connect your probe tip to the signal under test. Probe tips exist in a variety of form factors -- the spring-loaded clip, fine point, hooks, etc. Once your signal is on the screen, you may want to begin by adjusting the horizontal and vertical scales into at least the "ballpark" of your signal. If part of your wave is rising or falling of the screen, you can adjust the vertical position to move it up or down. If your signal is purely DC, you may want to adjust the 0V level near the bottom of your display.
Once you have the scales ballparked, your waveform may need some triggering. Edge triggering -- where the scope tries to begin its scan when it sees voltage rise or fall past a set point -- is the easiest type to use.
Using an edge trigger, try to set the trigger level to a point on your waveform that only sees a rising edge once per period.
Now just scale, position, trigger and repeat until you're looking at exactly what you need. With a signal scoped, triggered, and scaled, it comes time to measure transients, periods, and other waveform properties.
Some scopes have more measurement tools than others, but they'll all at least have divisions, from which you should be able to at least estimate the amplitude and frequency. Many scopes support a variety of automatic measurement tools, they may even constantly display the most relevant information, like frequency. To get the most out of your scope, you'll want to explore all of the measure functions it supports.
Most scopes will calculate frequency, amplitude, duty cycle, mean voltage, and a variety of other wave characteristics for you automatically. A third measuring tool many scopes provide is cursors. Cursors are on-screen, movable markers which can be placed on either the time or voltage axis. Cursors usually come in pairs, so you can measure the difference between one and the other.
Measuring the ringing of a square wave with cursors. Once you've measured the quantity you were looking for, you can begin to make adjustments to your circuit and measure some more! Some scopes also support saving , printing , or storing a waveform, so you can recall it and remember those good ol' times when you scoped that signal. Now that you've learned all about this handy tool's features and benefits, it's time to put an oscilloscope on your workbench.
See our Engineering Essentials page for a full list of cornerstone topics surrounding electrical engineering. Take me there! With the tools discussed in this tutorial, you should be prepared to start scoping signals of your own. If you're still unsure of what certain parts of your scope are for, first consult your user's manual. Here are some additional resources we recommend checking out as well:.
Now that you're a practiced oscilloscop-er, what circuit are you going to be debugging? Need some inspiration? Here are some related tutorials we'd recommend checking out next! Need Help? Mountain Time: Shopping Cart 0 items. Product Menu. Today's Deals Forum Desktop Site. All Categories.
Development Single Board Comp. Contributors: jimblom. Introduction Have you ever found yourself troubleshooting a circuit, needing more information than a simple multimeter can provide? Favorited Favorite 50 Wish List. Favorited Favorite 49 Wish List. Favorited Favorite 3 Wish List. HAMlab - 10W Only 3 left! Favorited Favorite 11 Wish List. Basics of O-Scopes The main purpose of an oscilloscope is to graph an electrical signal as it varies over time.
Oscilloscope Lexicon Learning how to use an oscilloscope means being introduced to an entire lexicon of terms. Key Oscilloscope Specifications Some scopes are better than others. These characteristics help define how well you might expect a scope to perform: Bandwidth -- Oscilloscopes are most commonly used to measure waveforms which have a defined frequency.
No scope is perfect though: they all have limits as to how fast they can see a signal change. The bandwidth of a scope specifies the range of frequencies it can reliably measure. Digital vs.
Analog -- As with most everything electronic, o-scopes can either be analog or digital. Analog scopes use an electron beam to directly map the input voltage to a display. Digital scopes incorporate microcontrollers, which sample the input signal with an analog-to-digital converter and map that reading to the display. Generally analog scopes are older, have a lower bandwidth, and less features, but they may have a faster response and look much cooler.
Channel Amount -- Many scopes can read more than one signal at a time, displaying them all on the screen simultaneously. Each signal read by a scope is fed into a separate channel. Two to four channel scopes are very common. Sampling Rate -- This characteristic is unique to digital scopes, it defines how many times per second a signal is read. For scopes that have more than one channel, this value may decrease if multiple channels are in use.
Rise Time -- The specified rise time of a scope defines the fastest rising pulse it can measure. The rise time of a scope is very closely related to the bandwidth. Maximum Input Voltage -- Every piece of electronics has its limits when it comes to high voltage. Scopes should all be rated with a maximum input voltage.
You can find specialized software that makes analysis of data faster and simpler. Because digital data signals are moving to increasing serial data formats, another common oscilloscope application is serial data analysis. Serial data analysis is also used by the automotive industry.
The third oscilloscope application is jitter analysis. Modern high-bandwidth circuits have incredibly fast clocks and signals. You can use an oscilloscope to represent, analyze, and debug signal jittter and timing for clocking applications clocks, clock-to-data, and datastream analysis. An oscilloscope with faster rise time will accurately capture details of fast transitions. The higher the sample rate, the greater the detail of the displayed waveform.
Memory depth expressed as Mpts determines the amount of data that can be captured with each channel. While there are a few more terms, these are the main ones that you should know about in regards to purchasing an oscilloscope. You can check out our guide for the best oscilloscopes for hobbyists for more information. In summary the oscilloscope is a powerful tool that allows you to see how voltage changes over time by displaying a waveform of electronic signals.
We here at Circuit Specialists hope that this long and short guide has been helpful in answering your questions you had about oscilloscopes. For more information about oscilloscopes and reviews check out the Circuit Specialist blog!
You must be logged in to post a comment. Skip to content. All Posts. January 30, January 30, Todd 0 Comments. First, the short and sweet guide to an oscilloscope. Why is that important? A circuit is a path between two or more points which a current runs through. Voltage is the electrical force that drives a current between two points.
Now for the in-depth guide we will cover the following topics. What is an Oscilloscope? What is a Digital Oscilloscope? Oscilloscope Terminology So lets get started! What is an Analog Oscilloscope? Tektronix A Analog Oscilloscope Analog oscilloscopes use high gain amplifiers to display the waveform on a green cathode ray tube CRT screen.
This reduces the complexity of the design and allows room for more features. Each of these systems allow you to measure specific things The vertical system controls can be used to position and the scale the waveform vertically. Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment.
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