Sound Card Oscilloscope | Make:

Sound Card Oscilloscope

Turn your computer's sound card into an oscilloscope to measure limited electrical signals, using
Windows software and a simple circuit.

For instance, have you ever been working with an Arduino controlling a servo motor
that has to have just the right pulse width modulation in order to spin clockwise
instead of counter-clockwise? During your programming, you may have wondered just
how close the pulse width was to what was needed. With an oscilloscope you can
measure these pulses. When dealing with analog signals, you can use an oscilloscope
to see how close you are to the frequency you need or measure what frequency you
need to lter. With so many digital electronic projects, timing between signals is
extremely important. Therefore, having an oscilloscope is essential.

However, price can be an obstacle. Entry-level scopes can start off at a few hundred
dollars. From there, higher-end scopes can end up into the tens of thousands. However,
did you know that you probably have all you need to make your own oscilloscope? In
fact, you are probably reading this on a device that has the essential parts needed. All
other parts are probably in your parts bin.

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In essence, an oscilloscopeis a data acquisition box that records the voltage from your
circuit. Another device on your computer already does this: the sound card. The main
differences are the level of voltage each can handle, and how fast theysample the
voltage(more on that later). Since the sound card on your computer can only handle a
small amount of voltage (around +/- .6V to .8V) you need to scale it down. Building
your own scope probes accomplishes: allowing input of higher voltages and scaling
the voltage down so the sound card can handle it.

The steps below outline how to build such a probe. The probe being built here is used
with the line input of a sound card. Line inputs typically accept stereo inputs, therefore
this probe will have two channels. If youre thinking of using the mic input on your
system, you will want to build just one channel as mic inputs typically are mono. After
the build, Ill show you some comparisons of thisoscilloscopeto a lab-grade model
and discuss some limitations.

Much of this project is adapted from http://homediyelectronics.com/projects

/howtomakeafreesoundcardpcoscilloscope, and the software can be found
http://www.zeitnitz.de/Christian/scope_en.

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Step #1: Schematic Overview

The o-scope schematic is really simple. The 4.7k ohm resistor (R1) connects directly to the
probe and therefore the point you are measuring on your circuit.
From there the signal goes through a 1M ohm potentiometer (R2), which allows you to adjust
how much voltage is getting to your sound card.
NOTE: The resistor and potentiometer values were selected to target measurements 10V. In
fact, with these values you can probably go as high as 30V without worrying about too much
current.
The two diodes (D1 & D2) are placed back-to-back to help protect the line input of the sound
card by clipping the incoming signal if it gets over about .7V. The 4.7k ohm resistor (R1) also

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helps to limit the current the diodes see, thus protecting them too.
Note: If you need to look at higher voltages, I would recommend a secondary divider to feed
into this circuit. Along with these components, you will need a stereo audio cable, clip leads,
and a perfboard to mount everything on.
IMPORTANT: This project is designed for a double-sided perfboard (that is a perfboard with
copper pads on both sides). If you don't have one, don't worry. Check out the next step for a TIP
on how to make your own!

Step #2: TIP: Make a Double-Sided Perfboard

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If you don't have a perfboard with copper pads on both sides, you can easily make one. Take
any two identical perfboards and put them back-to-back, so that the copper pads are on the
outside.
You could glue the perfboards together (I recommend a spray glue if you go this route) or,
alternatively, you could use the properties of the perfboard to hold it together. That is, you could
solder them together!
Use solid-core 22AWG wire cut to length to create a "frame" around the perimeter of the
perfboard's columns and rows (see image 2). Run the wires on one side and solder them on the
backside to create a solid, immovable double-sided perfboard with copper pads on both sides.
All of the perfboard holes will lineup nicely now (image 3). Even with the frame, with this size
perfboard there are 644 holes available.

Step #3: Layout Components

Start by placing the largest components, the potentiometers, on the board to determine the
overall size needed. Then cut the board to size and arrange the rest of the major components
to see a rough layout.

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Here you see that both potentiometers and the 4.7k ohm resistors are placed. Then look for the
best area to put the diodes. Mark where the leads of the potentiometers are on the board so
they can be referenced later.

Step #4: Connect the Audio Cable

Cut the audio cable to the length you need for your desktop or laptop setup. Next strip out the
three different wires from the cable itself. One will be a stranded wire set without any
insulation, this is the ground connection. The other two, both insulated, will be channel 1 and
channel 2 of the input. Stripping the insulation from the channel carrying wires can be tricky as
they are incredibly small.
Note: A handy trick is to take your soldering iron and burn off the insulation to the length you
need and tin the leads at the same time. Don't forget to wipe off the tip of your iron afterward.
Next mount the wires to your board using the potentiometer reference points as guides. The
connection of the channels will be to the center lead of the potentiometers. The ground can be
taken off to the side and secured in multiple places as you will have multiple connections going
to ground.

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Step #5: Mount Components to Board

Connect the black wire, ground, to the far left (from the top perspective) lead on the
potentiometer and the 4.7k ohm resistor to the far right lead. To do this, push scrap leads up
from the bottom of the board through the holes nearest the reference points marked earlier.
Each potentiometer has the three connections. In the photos, from left to right, are ground to
sound card from 4.7k ohm resistor. To mount the potentiometers to the board, use drops of
hot glue.
Lastly, connect the two diodes per channel between the ground and sound card connections.
Remember, one diode goes anode to ground, the other goes cathode to ground.

Step #6: Complete the Clips

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Solder 18 gauge wire to the clip leads. For a two-channel o-scope setup make a total of three
wire and clip combinations: two for the signal lines using red wire and one for ground line using
black wire.
After connecting the clip leads, connect the other end of the wire to the appropriate place on
the perfboard. The ends of the red wires are signal wires and they attach to the 4.7k ohm
resistor (opposite the potentiometer connection). The black wire attaches to the ground rail on
the perfboard.
The perfboard and wire solder joint needs some sort of strain relief so you don't pull the wires
out accidentally. A well-placed drop of hot glue on each of the three wire-to-board junctions
does the trick. Hot glue is such great stuff!
At this point, the electronics and hardware portion of the project is complete. However, you
might want to add an enclosure and some nobs to the potentiometer.

Step #7: Install Software

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Download and install the software from http://www.zeitnitz.de/Christian/scope_en. To install,

simply double-click on the .exe le and follow the dialog box prompts.
Note: Sadly, the Sound Card O-Scope software is only available for Windows machines; in all
my searches I was unable to nd a Mac version. (Perhaps I should write one for my Mac and
send it out!)

Step #8: Software Use 60Hz Comparison

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The features in the software are surprisingly robust. Not only does it provide support for two-
channel (if available from your hardware) input, but also FFT measurement, cursors, X-Y plots,
and a signal generator!
Note: Image one shows the output of a non-DIY bench o-scope, whereas image two and three
show the output of the Sound Card O-Scope.
Both the bench o-scope and the Sound Card O-Scope can easily handle a 60Hz sine wave.
Cursors are available for both time and voltage measurements. However, since voltage is not
calibrated to your resistor divider, it will not be an indication to how much voltage is actually on
your circuit. The software does provide a calibration point for this if you want to input it.
Look closely at the third image and you will see that the sine wave peaks are attening out a

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bit. This occurs when you turn the potentiometer up too much and the diodes start conducting.
It's typically called waveform clipping. If you notice waveform clipping, simply dial back the
potentiometer until the waveform is corrected i.e. peaks of the sine wave are not attening out.

Step #9: Software Use 1kHz Comparison

At 1kHz the Sound Card O-Scope still works well.

Note: The Sound Card O-Scope even displays what frequency it measures, which is handy for
verication.

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Step #10: Software Use 10kHz Comparison

However, at 10kHz, the Sound Card O-Scope approaches its limits. Notice how the signal is
jagged with angular sloping it's a good sign of a sampling issue.
O-scopes are limited by two main specications:

Bandwidth, or how wide a frequency range they can measure effectively. The lab-grade scope
in this case has a 200MHz bandwidth, meaning it can measure from 0 to 200MHz very well.
The bandwidth of the sound card is much lower: about 20 15kHz. Anywhere out of this range
and measurements get sloppy.

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Sample Rate The lab model here has a sample rate of 2GS/s! The sound card in your computer
is only around 44kS/s. So, you see why faster waveforms may not be captured as well. In
essence, the sample rate is how often the system measures the voltage. So, a lab model can
measure up to 2 billion times per second while the sound card model does it 44 thousand
times. You may think this really negates the use of this DIY tool. Not so! In many hobbyist
circuits 14kS/s is more than fast enough to measure your pulse widths and frequencies. As
your circuits get faster and faster, you can worry about buying a lab model.

Step #11: Software Square Wave and FFT

For a lot of hobbyist projects, like the servo motor mentioned already, you are going to be

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measuring square waves. Not to worry, this software does very well at that with minimal
degradation of signal at lower (<10kHz) speeds.

In addition, the software has other features that are really helpful some I already mentioned. A
particular favorite of mine is the FFT function, because that's something I use often.

Overall this project will give you a great tool for use in your electronics work. As a beginning
o-scope it has some great features and can help your work out immensely! All with a price that
won't kill your tool budget for months to come.

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