Introduction

to the
Oscilloscope

PREPARED BY: ARVEL F. ROQUERO

SUBMITTED TO: ENGR. ROMEL B. PANIS

 What is the purpose of an
oscilloscope
 The purpose of an oscilloscope is to measure a
voltage that changes with time and show it in a
graphical format
 What are the major components?
• Display Screen
– Displays an input
signal with respect
to time.
• Control Panel
– Adjusts how the
input signal is
displayed.
 Sometimes you want to see
how signals change with time

Electrical signals are invisible, unless you know how to look at them
The Oscilloscope provides us
glasses
2 Analog Channels Displayed
Horizontal Sweep (Time Base)
Soft keys
Vertical Amplitude
Triggering (Sweep) Controls
 Run Control
Stop, Continuous, Single sweep
16 Input Channels of Digital
Signals

16 of these !
Operation Controls
Floppy Disk
 How do I turn it on?

Wait for a while as it goes through a self test.

 Analog vs. Digital

Sometimes you want to know the analog details, other

times you just want to know the logical interpretation.

2 analog channels

16 digital channels
We'll Start with the Analog
Section
 See Asomething quick and
simple!
1) Reset all settings to default. Hit Save/Recall, then Default Setu

2) Connect probe(s) to Probe Comp

Do this whenever
settings get
messed up
 Here is what the probes look like

Push down on the

top part to expose
the little hook.
Experiment with Vertical and
Horizontal controls.
Adjust slowly to observe effect.
2 Analog Channels Displayed
 What's this triggering stuff?
You want a repetitive signal to appear to stand
still.
• Normal Triggering
Runs only if it sees a signal that can trigger it.
If trigger level isn't set right—you see nothing!

• Auto Triggering
Free runs. Good for seeing if something is happening.

• Auto Level Triggering

Runs so long as there is a signal.
If trigger level isn't set right—the scope adjusts it for
you!
Begin with Auto (free running) triggering,
then go to Normal
Press Mode/Coupling key
Cycle through modes with first Softkey
 Auto triggering
(always see trace)

Normal triggering
(see trace when trigger
Condition is met)
 Notes on Autoscale
(I don’t recommend using
Autoscale!)
Autoscale may work good on signals like this:

But it is not so good on signals like this!:

If you hit autoscale on a signal like the latter, you might get
something like this:

This is The signal you're

noise looking for is
actually here, but
it's way off scale
 Recovering from Autoscale
Either:
Hit Autoscale, then undo Autoscale

or

Set gain to reasonable value (say 10 V per division)

Keep line visible

Move trigger level

to reasonable value
 Fiddle knobs till you see what you want.

200 microseconds per division

1 volt per
division
trigger voltage

0 volts
(ground)
because of the little
symbol in the margin,
NOT because it's the
bottom of the trace!
 Saving Display to Disk
Insert floppy disk

Press Utility key

Set up Print Configuration with Softkeys

Format  tiff (bmp can be used also)
Print to:  disk

Press Quick Print (Saved on disk with file name QFILE nn )

 Remember … when things get all messed
up!

Start over by resetting all settings to default.

Hit Save/Recall, then Default Setup.

If things still aren't working POWER DOWN and restart the

COMPUTER.
 Now you are an expert!

For additional details

and capabilities, go
to the manual. There
should be some lying
around, if not ask
your instructor.
Digital Addendum
Using the Digital Section
 Enable one or both digital
inputs

Disable analog display by double clicking buttons 1, 2.

 After you're sure that you are seeing something

Set trigger to a digital channel (probably).

What you trigger on depends on what you're looking for. If you're

counting, trigger on D7. Why?