Oscilloscope Definition and 144 Threads

An oscilloscope, previously called an oscillograph, and informally known as a scope or o-scope, CRO (for cathode-ray oscilloscope), or DSO (for the more modern digital storage oscilloscope), is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying signal voltages, usually as a calibrated two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. The displayed waveform can then be analyzed for properties such as amplitude, frequency, rise time, time interval, distortion, and others. Originally, calculation of these values required manually measuring the waveform against the scales built into the screen of the instrument. Modern digital instruments may calculate and display these properties directly.
The oscilloscope can be adjusted so that repetitive signals can be observed as a persistent waveform on the screen. A storage oscilloscope can capture a single event and display it continuously, so the user can observe events that would otherwise appear too briefly to see directly.
Oscilloscopes are used in the sciences, medicine, engineering, automotive and the telecommunications industry. General-purpose instruments are used for maintenance of electronic equipment and laboratory work. Special-purpose oscilloscopes may be used to analyze an automotive ignition system or to display the waveform of the heartbeat as an electrocardiogram, for instance.
Early oscilloscopes used cathode ray tubes (CRTs) as their display element (hence they were commonly referred to as CROs) and linear amplifiers for signal processing. Storage oscilloscopes used special storage CRTs to maintain a steady display of a single brief signal. CROs were later largely superseded by digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs) with thin panel displays, fast analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processors. DSOs without integrated displays (sometimes known as digitisers) are available at lower cost and use a general-purpose computer to process and display waveforms.

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  1. R

    Oscilloscope Sensitivity and Voltage Analysis

    Homework Statement In the oscilloscope display above, the vertical sensitivity is 5mV/cm, and the horizontal sensitivity is 0.5μs/cm. A) find the amplitude of the sinusoidal voltage B) find the frequency of the sinusoidal voltagehttp://imgur.com/fnkXliz Homework Equations im not sure which...
  2. T

    What Is the Best Oscilloscope for Demonstrating Sound Waveforms?

    Hello- I'd like to do some basic demonstrations of sound waveforms on the undergrad/AP level using an oscilloscope, and wanted to know what specific recommendations you experts have about microphones, specific connections to the device, which probes to get, and also any comments about this...
  3. R

    Ultrasound NDT (non-destructive testing)

    Hi all, I've a question and I hope that I can get some answers here. As what my project has tasked, and what my lecturer had said. He needs me to build a device for NDT Testing. Currently the set up is that I would source for a transducer via olympus coupled with a USB oscilloscope capable...
  4. E

    How to Measure High and Low Impedance Accurately?

    Hi All, I am measuring the impedance response of a piezoelectric component. It has a unique impedance response having a resonance portion (low impedance ~10-30ohmns) and large impedance (100k-200kohmns) within a 2kHz bandwidth. See the webpage for a figure showing the impedance behavior. The...
  5. J

    Time Domain (Oscilloscope) View of a Photon or Light Wave

    We can view the amplitude vs time variation of an EM wave using an oscilloscope with the needed bandwidth. Such a view shows us the shape of the wave (sinusoid or other), the number of cycles contained in a given burst, any modulating signal etc. Though it wouldn't be measured with an...
  6. D

    Position of spot in oscilloscope

    Homework Statement for this question, since direction of B and E are parallel, why the spot isn't situated in the middle? since sin 0 =0... or my concept is wrong ? can someone explain please? Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution
  7. T

    Understanding Oscilloscopes: How Can We Use Them to Measure RC Circuits?

    The biggest problem is that I have no knowledge about the math for oscilliscopes. This is a post lab but all we actually did was push a few buttons to record measurements, we did not go into any detail about the methods, just what an oscilliscope was supposed to measure. Homework Statement...
  8. dlgoff

    Fixing My Old Heath Kit Oscilloscope

    I may be slow but I'm finally getting around to fixing my old Heath Kit oscilloscope. https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=4163291&postcount=7 Turns out not to be a open transformer winding but the B+ filter can-capacitors. http://imageshack.us/a/img849/912/ta9t.jpg I just...
  9. sophiecentaur

    Digital Oscilloscope Purchase Thoughts

    I am totally fed up with not having had the use of an oscilloscope for many years. It has been very frustrating on so many occasions. I need one. So, my options are (and I only want to spend minimal cash, of course): An ancient eBay analogue scope for something around £100, a PC based one or a...
  10. G

    How Do Oscilloscope Probes Compensate for Inner Capacitance?

    As far as I understand the problem is, because of inner capacitance of an oscilloscope, if we apply a rectangular signal on the screen we will see semi-sinusoidal one, and we want to handle this capacitance, that the scope shows correct signal. Right? When we use a probe the circuit looks...
  11. P

    Best Oscilloscope under $1000.00

    I say TBS1000 series from Tektronix... and you say?
  12. A

    Oscilloscope blanking (z modulation) possible on elenco s-1325?

    Hi, I have here an elenco s-1325 analog oscilloscope. I am hacking it into a display unit for one of my projects and have designed two raster scans for the x and y-axis (the oscilloscope is running in x-y mode). I now need to be able to modulate the intensity of the electron beam so as to form...
  13. Redbelly98

    Entertaining review of digital storage oscilloscope

    I'm thinking of buying this nice DSO for under 1k $US for home use. It's the 70 MHz model in the Rigol DS2000 series. But that's not why I'm posting. I wanted to share these video reviews of the scope which are a real hoot -- provided you have spent a lot of your time using oscilloscopes...
  14. R

    Measuring Voltage with an Oscilloscope: Channel A RMS Voltage

    1. An oscilloscope is used to measure the voltage across two components using Channel A and Channel B. Deduce the RMS voltage of the signal measured by Channel A I just want to know what they mean by "deduce the RMS voltage" Do i need to calculate the Vrms?
  15. E

    Best oscilloscope for home and office wiring?

    I wonder if there is a ranking of oscilloscopes by an independent organization, which compares them for different uses? Well, I am a newbie looking for one at a lower cost for home and office inspection. It would be nice if it were simple to use! Apparently the G/S or Stetzer meter can just...
  16. U

    How can I find 4 channel oscilloscope in multisim 11

    Hi, how can I find 4 channel oscilloscope in multisim 11.0? or how can I add 4 channel oscilloscope to multisim?
  17. P

    Determining resistance of oscilloscope.

    Hi, I'd appreciate some help in determining the internal resistance of the oscilloscope Agilent DSO1002A. Based on the user's guide the input impedance is: 1 Mohm ± 1% || 18 ±3 pF, but another reference I have for some unexplained reason states it should be 50 ohm. Which is correct?
  18. G

    Static vs. Moving wave in an Oscilloscope

    I have a basic question about using an oscilloscope... What's the difference between an oscilloscope displaying a static wave versus a moving wave? Is the difference in the type of scope you're using (digital vs. analog) or is it a setting on the scope itself? This would be used for visualizing...
  19. P

    What does ground at zero mean when using an oscilloscope?

    I was instructed to display an AC signal on an oscilloscope with "ground at zero." Does anyone know what ground at zero is? The signal is basically a sine wave, BUT with the bottom cut off (when the sine wave is supposed to be negative, it is 0 instead).
  20. J

    Oscilloscope, bread board set up, measuring phase / gain etc.

    Homework Statement Hi, I've been having trouble setting up an oscilloscope, with a AC voltage supply, to a breadbox, with a "black box" in the circuit. the black box is just a set of 3 pairs of terminals, each a "unknown component" such as a diode, capacitor, resistor, etc. Basically I need...
  21. B

    Oscilloscope Quality: ATTEN ADS1102CAL vs OWON SDS7102

    Hello people, I am wondering if anyone is familiar with these brands of oscilloscope. I would like to know so I don't end up investing in something that breaks in a 2 months ATTEN ADS1102CAL 100M Hz 1G Digital Oscilloscope 7" LCD -price $336 OWON 100Mhz Oscilloscope SDS7102 1G/s large 8"...
  22. R

    Please recommend good textbook to learn about oscilloscope

    I'm preparing for Physics GRE. I never took experiment course in college except experiment in general physics. Seeing previous 4 tests, I found there is oscilloscope problem. What is good book for learning about oscilloscope? I read XYZ primer but it's not much detailed.
  23. R

    Does it matter where oscilloscope probes are made?

    I'm looking at purchasing some oscilloscope probes off amazon but it says that they're made in China. I know that all our electronics are from there, but it does it matter with probes? Are they all from there mostly? Anyone know where I can get good quality probes from? Or should the ones...
  24. reddvoid

    Understanding the Effects of Inputting High Frequency Signals on an Oscilloscope

    what happens if we input higher frequency signal to oscilloscope than its range. How will It respond. . .for example in oscilloscope range is 12 MHz how will it display a signal having rise time of say some 40 nano seconds ?
  25. R

    Replace Component in Old Oscilloscope: Solutions Wanted

    Hello. I have to replace a component at the input of an old oscilloscope. The reference is unfoundable ( 41R105 ? ) in fact it is 2 NFET transistors in the same package (TO-39). I guess Ft is >= 1 GHz. I'm just looking for a component of the same kind (of course not same reference) that iI can...
  26. X

    What Are Some Common Issues with Oscilloscopes and How Can They Be Fixed?

    Hello! So first I want to say I have very little experience with oscilloscopes other than using one on a computer program. So realizing this, I took it upon myself to buy a used analog one to learn. I bought it for 20 bucks on ebay and the disclaimer said "Do not know if it works!" I took a...
  27. B

    Deflection of electron beam in oscilloscope

    Homework Statement Calculate the deflection of an electron beam as it passes between the plates of a CRT tube. In the picture, the parallel plates create an electric field, with the positive plate on top and the negative plate on bottom, causing the electron's path to be deflected upwards as...
  28. N

    Can't trigger on 2 channels simultaneously on oscilloscope =/

    I'm not sure where to put this so mods feel free to move it as needed. I'm working on this oscilloscope trying to measure two signals from the detectors. To extract the signficiant signals, I need to use the trigger mechanism. However, the oscilloscope is not letting me (or I don't know how)...
  29. K

    Oscilloscope Ground and Common question

    Hello all, I'm new to this forum. I have a scenario that I don't quite understand with my oscilloscope, a tektronix 2246. I'm using it to see the waveform of a square wave frequency generator circuit. The circuit basically has two stages: The first is a 555 timer astable oscillator circuit...
  30. N

    Detecting Muons w/ an Oscilloscope

    I'm trying to detect muons. I have two big scintillators, roughly 2900 cm^2 surface area. We also have sensitive PMTs and oscilloscopes. Right now, we are just trying to pick up a signal that a muon passed through, but there is too much noise and we have not had any consitency. I guess my...
  31. B

    Oscilloscope trigger timing issue?

    I'm using an arbitrary waveform generator that is generating a 1 MHz ramp waveform. I'm triggering on a marker sent out by the waveform generator which is tied to the same memory location as the start of the waveform. So although there is supposed to be a small latency (1-3ns) between the...
  32. T

    Strangely Small Sampling rates with a 400 MHz Oscilloscope

    I'm doing an experiment using a super fancy oscilloscope. I'm measuring a tiny output voltage that varies with time. I was instructed to make my sampling rate as small as possible (~500S/s). Now the signal that I'm looking at is, in other applications when its being sent to a computer and...
  33. wukunlin

    Books on history of oscilloscope

    I'm quite curious about the history and development of oscilloscopes. Are there any recommended books on this topic?
  34. M

    A problem with display on an oscilloscope

    Hi! I have acquired an older LeCroy oscilloscope from someone. It used to work, but now when I plug it in, the screen is orange (normally letters and lines and things are orange, but now the whole length of the screen is). It doesn't take up the entire screen, but I cannot see any menus where...
  35. K

    Good oscilloscope for an EE student

    Hello everyone, I'm trying to acquire a used oscilloscope that I can setup on my workbench at home. I want one that will work well for an EE student, only cost around a couple hundred bucks, and be sufficient for the first couple of years as an engineer. Is there is a particular brand or...
  36. S

    Why on a oscilloscope does a.c current have a sine wave, whereas a d.c

    Why on a oscilloscope does a.c current have a sine wave, whereas a d.c current is just a straight line. I've tried to look it up, but the explanations on the internet are a bit to complex for me to understand as i am only in my first year of alevel. If anyone could explain this to me, as simply...
  37. F

    DMA Scope: Affordable PC Oscilloscope for PWM Waveforms

    Hi, i need an oscilloscope but i don't have money to buy one, so i was thinking about some way to use the PC to emulate an osciloscope. I saw on internet people using the sound board, but they say that's a lot of interference... So i found a PC Oscilloscope and i wanted to know if it works. I...
  38. Gamma

    Using a microphone to view sound waves on an oscilloscope

    Hello, I want to use and oscilloscope to demonstrate sound waves for our local school science day. I want to be able to allow kids to make different vocal sounds to see how the sound waves look like. I removed the microphone part from a headphone and used it in a circuit to see audio...
  39. S

    Diode i-v characteristic via oscilloscope

    Hello all, We utilized a differential attenuator to display the i-v characteristic of a 1n4005 diode. However, I was a bit confused as to how I could determine what the y-axis was calibrated as. I know that the vertical axis is actually current, but is there some sort of tactic for determining...
  40. C

    Measuring volatge across capacitor with a not ideal oscilloscope

    Homework Statement A resistor (R) and a capacitor are connected in series to an AC supply. You are measuring the voltage across the capacitor with an oscilloscope. however, the oscilloscope is not ideal. you may model the oscilloscope as an ideal voltmeter in parallel with an internal...
  41. J

    Need help finding an oscilloscope

    Hi guys, I am in the market looking for an oscilloscope, but I am having trouble looking for one. Here`s what I require: At least 2 channel (4 would be better but not required) Able to record the reading at least 50 MHz Be able to output stored readings(this is the part I am having a...
  42. H

    Need a certain pulse-on-string simulator And an oscilloscope too

    I've been looking around quite a bit, and can't find what I want: 1. Show two pulses colliding and superposing 2. In-phase or out-of-phase would be nice 3. Most importantly, to be able to run SLOWLY, so students can easily see how the two pulses build each other (or cancel) 3b...
  43. F

    Oscilloscope triggering function on aperiodic signals

    Hello Forum, if we are trying to display a periodic signal (sine, square wave, triangular wave, etc...) on the oscilloscope we can use the trigger function: once the electron beam goes across the screen it returns back to the left side and starts "drawing again". 1) Does the electron beam...
  44. S

    Measuring higher voltages than rated oscilloscope capacity?

    I have a cheap oscilloscope that is rated for 10V input. I want to measure the quality of the output of my power supply due to a belief the DC filtering circuit isn't working well and producing harmonics in the signal (ripples). The output voltage is at a higher voltage coming out of a...
  45. S

    AC or DC: Which is the Right Mode for Oscilloscope Output in Comparators?

    Hello experts! I am the student of electronics engineering. I have an question related to AC and DC button in Oscilloscope. When I am performing practical then I don't know whether I switch oscilloscope output to DC or AC mode. When I ask to teacher they don't give me any satisfaction for...
  46. W

    Why can an oscilloscope have the probes changed in position and have a

    Why can an oscilloscope have the probes changed in position and have a dc current reading but not for an ac current? I put the oscilloscope leads with the probe at D and the ground side at A, and there was no waveform, why is this?
  47. M

    What is causing the input voltage to be attenuated on the oscilloscope?

    Hello all, I'm not quite sure if this is a physics question or an EE question because it came up in an electronics design course for physicists with mostly engineering motivation, anyways here goes: I have an RLC band pass filter with a sinusoidal AC voltage input (Agilent function...
  48. N

    Oscilloscope - Frequency Vs Time Graph

    Heya Everyone Ok so my question may seem a little silly but nevertheless I will ask. I need to know what you experienced engineers think about it. I have a series LC circuit (on breadboard) - connected to a function generator ( 2V p-p, 1kHz) - I will connect an oscilloscope across the...
  49. H

    Buy Oscilloscope | Tips for PWM Signals up to 20kHz

    I want to buy an oscilloscope, but i don't have enough information on what parameters i have to look for in order to buy good one that will be fine for my work. I want to be able to see pwm signals with frequency up to 10 or 20khz. I see one in this link...
  50. S

    Calculating the ripple factor from oscilloscope

    Hello fellow physicists! I have a lab about rectifying and filtering circuits and I was asked to calculated the ripple factor using an oscilloscope. I managed to get the ripple waveform shown on the oscilloscope, but the thing is there are so many values to read off I have no idea which to...
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