Isolated Oscilloscope Probe Petite and practical Asolating transtermers Awidely used and fairly lon-cost maneuver 's to connect the csclloscope to the AC power line by means of an isolating Zensformcx.[n this way the protective around wire fs overridden, ‘uiminacing any canger of liv circult elements bevorning grounded wten Ue probe is elLached. ‘Any risk of snort orcutt and possibie destruc Ton cf the circuly is Trus averter. Conversely 2 Clear harard remains, in thatthe probe leads might become energized at high potential (AC By Erik Lins (Germaryi; stlins@hipi.om However much you might wish for an oscilloscope with electrically isolated inputs, it’s hard to justify the cost for personal projects. ven aitrarential probes, which (within certain limits) enable voltages lo be measured without reference to ground, cften cost the pri- vate user more than a complete scope does. So what can you do when either selely considerations or the nature of the tas In hand require the use of Iso- lated connections to your oscilloscope? line vol-3ge ror instance), putting parts of the ‘sallscop= equally at risk In particlar the BNC ‘connectors of channels nct in use at tne time ‘could be renceres live (and these are not pro: tected eaainst accidental touch). When multiple probes are wannaclad, Lnese tos could becorte Iwe, so Iceally they need to De plated wnere mer [sro risk oF arridentel contart its them. In the worst ease these probes might bbe connected to cther part cf the circuitry under = Blestricol separation of 1 ancleg zignal ard 2 dcitacigrale “+ Nex. input voltege #250 mv {or #2.5 W:25 ¥, datermined by sumper) += Amplification factor botwasn inaut and outsut: 6 x (witrout voltage divider on inet) + Sanal bandwidth, ensloa input: CO kltz = Sanal bandwidth. otal ncuts: 1 bos 1 Soerersupoly via cepsrars AC sdaptar of in| USA rrnnacror 4 Poorer recurements: 9 V; 110 m4‘xarination ard cause the isolating trarsformer tp become short-circuttec. For mace reaccas the iealating rancfarmer metaed 1s relabe only tor meking elecrncely tsolatea mes- surements on ene single charne|, at low vot=ges. When Wu Larne ere invutved, wu rest seapeS you can, in pritciple, mace aterential measure ‘ments (@.9. channel 1 minus chennel 2), but the Input airing of the channels impees limitations cf imallers such es commun mode rejecion range Accordingyy the Isolating trenstarmer metnoc should not be first choice for an experimenter taking measurements on righ votages. Differential probes Navirg on, diff3-antia’ prahas are the next more expensive metho for making measurements without reference to grcunc. The illustration in Figute 1 shaves the scematie cxcult of a cirer- entizl prone. The input wing conssts ofa vorage divider (high-value Series resistance) an eech a” the Posttive and Necative Inputs, “aqether with a comparelively lone-value tesslor in parallel wilh ‘We Inout of te opamp. The Figh-Pzedance cor nection to the Inputs cnaurcs that even at high offset voltages only a small currert flaws through the series resistors. Since the offsct Is generally We Same lor col inpuls (2g. ragh-sive shunt measurements), the differential voltage docs not upset me opanz. ‘The limiting fector here is the common-mode suppression at me opamp, since at larger ca cet voltages the ermman mode rejecrion range excesced sconer oF later. In every ease the Lin fs Ihe Supply vollane of ‘he cpa. Th prac fice these arc often provided witn a voltage of 24.5 V Supplied trom 2 S-V €F22 (PP3-size) bat- tery. Accordingly, with a voltage divider of 10:1, ‘te maximum voltage you should connect to the Inputs of a prove is =15V. I’ youralze the alv= sion ctor to L0U:1, theorencally you coula go up to =150 V and in this way use a srunt to Fake ‘measurements across a 230 VAC or £15 VAC cir call Thal Said, yous! onerale only in val ace ranges for which the companerts used in the input circuitry are rated for adequate dielectric strengtn. In other words, not every differential proce is suitable. In addition, tie greater the ‘vision factor for the input voltage, the more You correspenangly reauce the signal nerrg mea sured, This (If you are using shunts) Is already tuny, since snunts are configured wth 2s low resistance as possitl= to preven: power assipz~ - solo y = fi = OF 9 -opreapl - Ly ee Uon, Fur example, 4 welu sional @ #290 mV Figze. with an offset oF 440 V procures, for a division ratio of 10:3, a signal of £25 mv with 4 V of set. If we set the oscilloscope for 1 V/Div, to center the 4 at the mica ar the alsplay, Te wanted sgnal amaun's ta just 1/400 Di. Even it you sat Ure scope Lo stew 9.1 W/Diy, Une signal we arr trying to display amounts to just 1/4 Diz, whicth corresponds lo a resaulin af only 3 ls (assuming 8-DIt vertical resolution}, On top of this, to occ the cntirs signal on the display y2u would need to displace tre ver:cal position of the oscilscope by -40'V, which is barely feast ble even on expens ve scopes. Hopeless task? Given that the restricted common mode rejec- fon range and fre undesired requction at te wantea signal proce cant-ary demands an tre Input circu design, there fs aways a acmpromisc when using diferential profes. However, Ine use cof cloctrizally isolated probcs offers an clegant solution here, This approach allcws unres:rictza conrection co high voltages, wthout any nigh offset vorage arsirg on tre inputs of the internal ‘opamps. Moreover, an elacticaly Isolated prove has advantages even whe high cftset votrages [are not involve, such as when ground loans. rust be avoided, Selecting suitable companents ‘The internet is trimming wich homebrew circuits for isolated probes and discussions cbout tre hookups employed, Nevertheless t soon becomes ‘apparent that most oF thesc solutions raly on Using airerenal propes that do nat provide gen- tine clectrical isolation. To kee3 our circuit simple, we toe settles agalnst a true olrerentlal proze ‘2nd opted for a circult using a simpie Isolation Blo. ciayram ef a ddferonl rete. The 1. rUalry Wists of the voltage dvidr (ich impedance sere reastor) {and comparative low ‘resstance resistor in sarale teh falFoue2, The AMCI200 is a"tuly opamp, Fakirg one adctonal single supply voltage nec esSary for the outDUE sie. Tre tyocaly1BW CUr- Tent comand af an opamp permis the use of a small DC/OC converter, requiring few external components. The secondary voltage must netu- relly co well win te electrical Soletea opamp empryea The cearch for an appropriate cpamp didn't take long ma we “apy eptesfortne weil own {50 © 0 series from Burr Brown (naw Texas Inslruments), speefically the T0124 [1]. Its isolation rating is 41506 V with an empiifcaticn fector of 1 (unity gain) and a supply range from 14.5 V upto 118 Tle sighed linda fr Ue TSO124 fs Lypaly 500 KHZ. This i at curse ratter smell, even winen ceneidared agzinst the 10 to 00 MH: Bandwrth or a low cost osaalloscope. Nevertneicss the ana log vatrages encountered in the semi-arafessiona range would typicelyy not excees tris Banewiatn. However, to keep costs dawn we oxted for the AMC200 [2] Tom the same manutacrurer. Once again we're talking about an electrcally solcted opamp (Figure 2), wtich is configured prima~ iy for taking high-sice shunt measurements. It operates from a simple supply voltage of 5V un each siue and nes en input voltage range ot 2250 mV lus a Fixed gain factor of A. So with £250 mV at the ingut we have ~2 Von the ou: Dut. The signal bancwidta Is 62 KHZ. which in fur opinion is sal sfacsary for ths applica fon, Current consumption Isagreeably low at typkaly 5 mA, enabling a small DC/DC converter from ‘the [Coupler range mace by Aralog Devices to he used along witr 2 straghttorward s V suppiy. ‘What we have here ic an electrically icolated cou- ler sredominantly for digital signals, ¢.g. suen a8 S21 oF 12C inlerfeces. Some oF the topo: nnencs in this renge, nowever, have inadaiton to ‘the coupers tor the dig tzl signals a low-power 5 W/5 V DC/DC converter on Doard, provi wlicl AD Lally “isu?une this is (01 serving Me coupler’s own Supply needs ut Ir has a small cower reserve that is adequate ‘or our AMC1200. The ADUMS242 [21 we selected comes in SOIC-8 package format anc is therefore easy lo suluer by Pana. in adutian Lo ume DEC converter there are also two digital couplers onboard (Figure 2}, exebling our circuit not only to ‘measure the electrically Isoletec_anziog voitag= but also to handle two aigral signals, again 11 electrical isalation. Two pin-compatibie veriants exist also, tt ADUI’S240 and 5244, omTe"Ing wo Independent |solaton channels ina variety of channel conn uuratons. Configured aporopriately, these can be used for electrically isolated control of cigital sig- nay in ihe meesuremenLurculy, One uisauvar> tage oF the ICcupler chip ang irs ntecrated DU DC canvartar is the rather restrained efficiency factor of the converter, which is less than 20%. We now nave an all-3 V solution; 5 ¥ supplies are widely avalable and chculd be easy to find vrtualy everywhere. If thing else, many moa ern oscilascopes gussess cormector [or USS ‘memory sucks, through which our arcu could alco ba powered. For sake 0! corrpleteness it should also 92 men tioned that signincently more powertu' isolation amplifiers are also available, such as the AD2:5 ‘om Analog Devices [4]. Ths otters double tne bandwiddh (125 «Ha) and even contains an ink grated DC/DC converter for the electrically iso leted suppy for the input side, Te dozs, however, require a bipoler power supply of #15 V and costs six times the price of Ene combintion of ‘ADUMS242 and ANC1209. The circuit ‘Tne circutt In Figure 4 Is comparatively sim= Pie and consists essertially ar ine comacneats already descrived. The ADUHS24? (Ut) generates, the electricaly isolatec voltages 5 V (VCCiso) and GV (GNOIS9) For the Np side. THe LMU eectricalyy isilatan aigital channels are taken to a simple three-pin connectorstrip CONS. The ‘supply for the AMC1200 (U2) is fed via a small ‘epee, whist smUdLnes Une OuLpul volLage OF me ADUMS242 a ittle mare. The nacative opamp input is connacted to VCCis0/2 vie 2 4:1 votzce divizer (R5/RG), 50 iat Une vollege on the postive Input at uns pur can swing £750) my at ull ange. To extend me meacurement range to 42.5 V or alternatively 425 we employ the voltage divicers R2/R3 and R2/Ka, auivaled using jumpers J1 en JZ respactvely. ‘he jumper settings are as tollews: PIEU 32 clocse D2 open to vz 2 2001 BOT jE es Aas the vulaye ulviders fave very high resistance (inv order Lo Toad or decrade Une signel source as little a5 possisie) as oaposed to the AMC1200, which with 28 KQ nas relatively low ditterentiel Inpu: resistarce, we enploy che simple opamp U3 in thes qnal path as an impedance converter Tae oscilloscese probe is connzcted via CONE. Resi Figure 4 Thecus dative simple anc consists cesentialy ct an ADUMS212. (Ui) endian ANCI2«0.Component List Resistors {awv 1209) u- 102 = :0u (so 1206) Semcandurtors a = adums2an (sc1c-s) Gz ~ anciz00(sor 2) Sh Geaaaaisey (ser20) atscellanecus (CONL = BNC aug, pane! mount ‘CON2,CORS = 3-oin pinhead, 0.4" pitch ‘CONS = min-USB recetack ONS = Dyin uieade, Cpl hus = ic ork, pans ote Shevenan fl Fig. ‘to the Input of the votrage alvicer and the neg- “The dreuity goes ative Input of the AMC1200. At this point the tocetierrapidyon ths shield terminal of the probe certzinly 's not at Is Is rot problematic, ror is “Suspended in smart cut GNDIso potentia’ bi ARV or 125 ¥. Problems arise only when the cigical channels are in asc and ror this GNDIsa (pn 3 of CONS) ‘needs fo be link2c tothe ground of tne measure- rmant circuit. Deing this also takes che negative 1250 dovrn to ground, with the mazsurement range neroming Ten only a unt pelar 1250 mV (125 W/125V), mlarve to the stield terminal ofthe prode. Nevarthalass this is no mare than only = minor limizazon, since the LocuIl 1s designed crimerty ior meking analog measurements end “ne to digital channals are purely 2 bonus ol: trom tne ADUMS242. Incidentally, instead of using the voltage divider Sprcifed, our cul an alsa opera e wilh e102 1 or 1001 prone to crease the measurement Input of the Ar range (24: closed, 22: open) one thing because the Crcul mid-ai~’ and entiray petential-tree thanks to Ue electricel isolation, The oll reeson Is Lo feral [ie Inpul vollage te Lben sering versus ‘the ground connection arcerrcing ta the s=ting of the voltage vider py respectively +259 mV, ‘The eonnertines to the nawer supply and penne Input from the oscilloscope CONA are Iccatec (on the cutput side of the circuit. The best pos- sible performance fs echieved when Une circuit 's powered, via CONS, trom an electrically 16¢- lated lab power cupply unit. The cupply voltage Js then uly Isolated trom tne cscilloscape anc ‘the scope input can ne honked up ta the differ- ental outputs of tne AMC12UO (umperJ3: 1-2). ‘The signal then swings (at full range) by +2 V cither cice of oscilloccope qroune. The gain of & im the AMC1ZU0 produces a atrerential eggrecete ‘enster factor, rom Input to output, of 1:8, 10:8 and 100:8, waich eorrespendingly needs 70 n= ‘akan into considaration whan taking rasdings of he osiluscope vullage. IT your supe provides fine adjus.mert of Une verlizal graduation, you can ater tis to, say, 128 mY/DN sna thon take readings with the Greuit set to 1:8, asit you had set the score to 4 W/Div. he arcu aco incluaes 3 &-fole Mini USH-3 con neclor Fur vbluining powcr ‘orn, say, Une USB memory slice waneclor un an escllescupe. fn Lh situetion the ground connection ofthe probe input CON1 will De at GND potential at the oscilloscope ene end jumper 33 must then be set at pesition 2-3. If this wes not cone, regative AMC1200 ‘output woul be short-zircuted to GND. In this, configuration Lie output signal un Ue oscile= scope nae a Raed orset of around VLL/2 (2.55 V, sez ANCL200 dele sheet) and the centre point d2mounls le aniy ha of Ths, sine we are usin only one aut ofthe twa d ferential output signals, currently. In this sttuaticn the Tansfer ractors, mentioned akove are halved corrcsporcingly. Taking tne power supaly trom a USB connection 1s really an emergency expedient, as the purty of tre voltage on USE Dus Is not adequate for supplying analog circuitry and will be 2fect=3 every new anc again by interfevence arising from ne Inner gral regions of ma scape Construction ‘The drcut uses only a few components and since ese are preuosminany large SND vevices, Le PCB in Figure 5 can be zssembiec rapidly. Ine PCB layott can be downloaded ree from te project pane 151. The ADUME?4? comes in. SOTEA paeage ane! ‘the AMC2200 In an even larger SOP-8 packace. corresponding in essence t2 a DIP & package‘equipped with engice pins ‘or SMD mounting. All resisLors and capauilors have the 1206 form factor, enabling them 19 be soldered witncu: ai ficulty. Tre impedance corwerter U3 ciffers in having a small SOT-23 package avd fer this rea- son shouls be soldered into clace with cere as ‘We Mist component Lo be Med, folomeN by Ue ADUNS24? and the AMC1200. After this cama the SMO resistors and capacttors end tne wound components. Since BNC plugs for 50° mounting (on pnintes circutt boards are extrematy urconr ‘mon, we have provided the BC ith a sutabl2 cut-out to enable anormal panel-moznting BNC connector to ke fisted. To celder it in place you ‘WII nzed a soldering iron wir acequate wettag= to bring the metel rnread of the connector rap- lcly fo the matting oirt ot the solder, werour degrading tre plestic insulation inside, The unt {is remarkably compact and can be inserted con venicully Velwee: Une esuilluscupe aud p ube. Commissioning ‘As 3 result of the law efficiency fartar of the ADUN's DU/DE converter (less than 20 %), the ‘currant cencumption of the complete circult I= around 11 ma. This Mgure snow'd ne checked after constructing the circuit and connecting itto a8 V power sugply. IF you nave one, 1S farivanlagenus lo iste a biborslory pwr supply with presetrable current limiting. From prefer- ence, commissioning skoule not be carried out taking the supaly from a USB connactor. If the current draw is significenty greater then the Value quolad, cheves should be mad or puss be sobering errors, shurl circulls ur vuinpurenls incerted hack tn front. After tis you should mea- sure Une supply vollage VECIsu on Lie secondary side. which 's typically 5.2 V. If kath of ches values 2re corvect, tne circut cen pe connectea botwecn oscilloscope and probe; you can then Eck OUt Its correct runctioning with a signzl source and oscilloscope. Using modern. low-cost components It's easy 19 corsiructa simple Isolation ampilfer tar oscilo- senpe prahes. The restricted analog handwid’n dues adinlleuly resin the potential eppicctiors, mashing tnat Ic not feaciole to measure, ror example, the signal quailty of cinterential nign- peed cignale (euch as LUDS, USB or Ethernet). Gn tne other nang, tne true electrical isolacion proveled can arcasamal’y be advaniageous fir connecting expensive ferential probes, If the signal/offsetrelationsnip is of importance or when avoiding ground loaps is a priority. The modest cost means you can also make severel units of Ubis dreuil end equip every dianine of your scope \wiJh 2leclrical iso‘aliun, This isolation is provided. not merely for the device under tect, ac could also be echieved wilh an isulaliag Wrunsvormes; doing it this vay, every channel s isolated from eacn omer. Consequently you can t2ke poten- tial free measuremonts at d fforent points ina rcut with just one single oscilloscope. (se Web Links [1] wont com/product/isni24 [2 wwer ti com/productcmet 200 LA] wen [5] wer clektar- mogazin cory 120257 loy.coyery sper [2] www analog cory ery intertare-tslation/ digital slatery/adumS247/producty product html 1y-emplilers/isolalion-cenplliesy au? 15/prociucly proce ret Fue 6 The arcu pat ta pracuca) we tre Hus of the grotonpe seam inthis eto ders fem the baste shoan in tgure >.br Neil Gruending (canada) Houre 1. ‘auropace windoa. DesignSpark Tips & Tricks Day #13: Component placement Today lot's look at DesignSpark’s, component placement toa's. .n the previcus instalments of ths series we've ‘spent quite a bit of time looking DecignSpark's ‘schematic features. Now, Ia's Ieok at some of DesignSpark’s PCB features, starting wit auto- matic component placement. Then We'll 100K a= ‘came manital plaremert techniques Automatically placing PCB components Let's lay aul Desi Sai k's aulonialit, cx rent placemert roc an 7he LED anver hoard we Auto Alacc Components > All Compo: rrentsand you will sec the Autoplace Carpenents windew shown in Figura 4. This is where you ‘configure the Autoplace tool before running It Tet the minimum component spacing fo 0.25 mm ‘end the placement grid to 0.25 mm and got tre resullin Figure 2. 4s you var see, all o"Uiecomn- ponents are spaced properly and DesignSpark did its best to organize the perts on the board. But what if you didn’t want all of the compo nents automatically pleced an the 9CB? If you ‘select “All Unpacec” from tne “Auto Place Com- ponents" menu DesignSpark willtzke any parts Ul eren’L on Lie board ard pul Liem on Lie, boerd for you. You can also select one or mare ‘components and choose “Selected Components” ‘ place Just tose components. Hoth of these ‘commends use the settngs thet were last used for the “All Comaunents” command. Sometimes you might want to place almost all ‘the componcrts ine ccsign but leave same Fixed in [heir current lacalion. For exemple, you could have some mounting nole components an the hoard tact you want fh keep put while placing al the other components on the bere. One salution Is to lock or fix the mounting hole components by Fight clicking on them and choosing “Fix trem” land the make cure that “Rev place fved com= onents” is checked in the placement settings. DesignSeark will ls0 check and skip eny com- navn that Wave enay Inaten waatirt led Ue Ueie ads whe placing components. That way you ‘can be sure that no components will be discon nected fram their nets. However, DesianSpar will nct check If the location where it wants to place a cemponent Is free of traces so sometimes. it-ean short out nets like In Figure 3 whore Q2 Is acridentally connected ta the trace hetween Qt end Gt. Fora erger design I would use the design rule check (ORC) and Lies kinds of errors ‘woule chow up as track to pad cleerance errors. Manually placing components Want to manually place the components instead? ‘Gackang ana moving parts arouna in Designsspark PCB is protty straightforward bu it's difficult to know how fer eparl Lhe components are frum ‘each other. The automatic placement tco! can do Ens measurement itself cut wnen you 69 ‘he placement by hand you're resonsinle for ‘the component clearences yourself. The most sUeiuhUorward wey Lodo Unis is to use a piace ment gric lke 0.25 mm anc then make sure that ‘there's enouch full crid spaces between eacn ‘component for your desired specing. Tor exam ple you would place two components as close as possibie without overlapoing them anc then move cne of them encug” aric space norizon- tally or vertically as neaded to get the required ‘space. This works well for smeli boards Ike out LED driver exempee but quickly gets tecious It ‘afferent component spacing Is needec or the board has a lerge number of components. The other option isto usc placement courtyards ur placement areas in your Hbvary cumponcnis. A