07/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lean sparklun.com How to Use an Oscilloscope cconrrisurors: i seo ‘oravorne 15 Introduction ave you ever found youre Youblshootng cru, needing more inaraton than simple mulimeler can provide? you need ta uncover information ke frequency, nase, amplitude, or any ober characters that might change aver tne, you need an eacloscop! (scopes ae an inpeviant toon any sleteal engin 585 tor cutis bling correctly or why your noise maker reaching maximum annoyanes loves ‘Covered in This Tutorial ‘This ori sist node the concep eminaogy, nd cota ystems of ocilcopes I's broken down in the flowing sections + Basics of O-Scopes— Aninrosucton to wha, exact, oscllscopes are, what they measur, and why we uso thm. + Oxaloscope Lexicon A glossary covorng some of he more common osloscope characteris, {Anat al en O-Scope —An overview te roel erica systems onan osciloscope — thes + Using an Osetloscope ~ Tips and ks fr someone using anoscloseape fr he fst Une, hoizontl and vertical cant, tigers, and probes. ‘Suggested Reading efor cotnung wih tv toa you should be familar wiht concepts below, Checkout the tutor you want to learn mea! + Analog vs. Oita + Atornaing Current (AC) vs. Dro! Curont (26) Video lab. They alow yout see elec sgnals as they vary over te, which canbe cian lagnosing why your How to Use an Oscilloscope hitps:ilear.sparktun,corvtutorilsynow-o-1se-an-osciloscope 1907/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lea sparkfun.com Basics of O-Scopes ‘The main purpose ofan oseioscope so graph a ‘2nd voltage on the y-axis. trical signal a It varies over ime, Most scopes produce a two-dimensonal graph wth tine on the xaxle ui ‘An example of an osciloscopedpay A signal the yellow aie wave inthis case) egroahed on ahonzonta tie ais ado vera! vtage an CContralssurouning the seope's screen alow youtoadlust the Seale of the graph, bot eral and Norzontaly allowing you to 200m In and out ona signal. There 1a also controls to st te wigger on ho soaps, which lps focus and sible i clay. What Can Scopes Measure In adotion to hoge fundamental features, many scopes have measurement tol, which help o qucly quantity frequency, ampltode, and aber wavetom charactors. In gonrala scope can measure both time-based and vaago-basod charac: + Timing characteristics: + Frequoncy and period -Froquoncy i atin as te numberof ines por second a wavofom repeats. And he pores the reciprocal of that (numberof seconds each repeating waveform takes), The maxim faqueney a scope can measure varies, bus af in he *00% of Me (TES Ha) ange. + Duty yete ~The parenlage af a peed that a wave ste postive or negate (here ae bos postive nd negative ly eels). The duly cele 2 ‘alo tht ts you haw lng signals ‘on versus how long tof” each period + Rise and fall me Signals cant istatancously go om OV to SY, they havo to smacthly rio. The duraton ofa wave gong fom alow pont toa high points callod th i ine, nd fal me moasuros te oppose. These characters are importa whon considering hw fst acrcultcan respon to Signals. + Voltage cheractristcs: + Ampitude —Ampltu s & measure of the magnte of sgn. There area varity of amptude measurements incudig peakto-pask amptde, which Imoasurs ho absolute eforence between arigh and low vote point of @ sgl Peak ampltude, on he other hand, only moasures now hgh orlow a ‘signals past Ov ‘+ Mean and average voltages — Osciloscopes can calle the average or mean of you egal, anita ale ll you the average of your sgn sin ad maximum votage When to Use an 0-Scope “The c-2cope is ust in a varity of toubleshoatng and eseerch sats, including + Determining the requency and amplitude of signal, which canbe eiicalin debugging eeu in, cup, or emal systems. From is, you cn lla ‘component in your crcl nas mafuncioned, + Iantiying now much noise i in your rcut + Isniyng ho shape ofa wave sre, square, tangle, sawtooth, comple, oe + uanttying phase difeences between two diferent signals. Oscilloscope Lexicon Laaming how ta use an oscloscope means beng intacuoed ta an ene lncan of trms, On he page wel nveduce some ofthe mporan o-so0pe BuzWor you should be fair wih before suming one a, Key Osciloscope Specifications ‘Some seopes are beter than otters. These charactors help define how wel you might expect a scope to perfor: + Bandwidth - Oscloscopes ar mst commonly ust to mesure waveforms which havea dating requency. No scope ie partet hough he all nave lisa ‘oho fast they can soe a signal chango. The bandwith ofa scope species the range of frequencies ican ralibly measur. + Digital vs, Analog ~ As wih mos! oventhing electronic, o-seopes can eiher be analog oda. ralog scape ute an elecon beam to decty map he input ‘ellage to slay. Dial soaps incorporate mcrocotas, which sample ths inp signal with an arsed eonverar and map thal ring tothe ‘ea. General analog scopes are ode, nave a lower banwih and less features but hey may have a fester response (and lok much coo) + Channel Amount Many scopes can read more han ae signal at atime, eepayng thm lon the screen simutanecusl. Each signal read bya scope Ife into separate channel. Two four chanel scopes are very common. + Sampling Rate ~ Tis characteris unique odigial scopes, demas how mary times par second a signals read. For scopes ha have mare han one + Rise Time The species ise tme ofa scope daines the fastest rising pub con measure, These time ofa scopes very dosely felted othe banal. can ba caleates a6 Rise Tire mtsth + Maximum input Voltage ~ Every pice of elocranics sits ints whan itcomes to high volage. Scopes shoul al be ate wih @ maximum input vag. you signal wxcoods hat votage, there's a good chance the scope wl be damage. * Vartcal Sensiviy~ This value represents the minimum and maximum vales of your vers, vltge scale, This value lta In vos per dv + Time Base ~ Time base usual indicates ne range o snstvtes on the horizontal, te ans This vale std in saconds pe + Input Impedance - When signa Feqvencios gol vary high, even a sma impedance (sistance, capactancs, or inductance) added toa creut can act ho ‘gral. Every otcloscope wil add» certain impedance lo mcs racing, called the input mpacance. Input mpedancas are general represented as alarge resstveimposancs(>1 MA) n paral) wih sm eapciane (the pF range). The impact af np mpedancs it more apparel when measuring very high trequencySgnats, and he probe you use may have Lo elpcompenset ei ean sparkdun,comfutorials how-to-1se-an-osclloscope 29 hips:07/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lean sparkfun.com Senplng Rats GSals (169 campos per cooand] ‘Channel Coun 2 fpisan input Vata wow Resokfion et ‘artes senstviy Za - SV Time base nai - Soh Tnputlnpedancs | 14 23% | 160F 2357 Understanding those charactors, you shouldbe abe to pick out an oxcsoscope tates ft yourneeds. Bul you sll have to now how to ue it. the nox age! Anatomy of An O-Scope White no scopes are crested exactly equa, hey shoul al hare few slats tnt make them function sia, On thi page well cuts afew fhe more ‘The Display ‘An atiloscop ist ary good unless can spy the information yu ving lo lea, which makes the aplayone of he more important seetions on the Soop second Voto Trager Seurceype/Pstion Every oscllosope dsplay shoud be cras-rosced wih horznts and vera ines ale dy ‘verbal yetms. The eral system e measured n-vos per divin” and the horns "seconde per Gisor". Ganerly copes wl fate around 6-10 verte (votage)svsions, and 10-14 horizontal (soconds) sion. ‘laer scope (especialy thse ofthe analog varity) usualy feature a smsle, monectreme dply, hough the tens of he wave may van More modem scopes feature multeslor LOD screens, whic ae a great help in showing more tan one waveform at atin. oor below the sapay, These buts canbe used to navigate manus and contra ony scope dplays are atusted nest to a et of about ve buttons ~ethertathe sotings ofthe scope Verteal System ‘The vertical ston of te cope controls the vltage scale onthe ply. There re rationally bo knob in thi ection, which low you to nial contol the 3 The more ees volts per division kn allows you tose the verte scale onthe seen, Rotating the knob clockwise wil decrease he sesle, nd counter lackwie fewer vols per divin on the screen ~moans youre more “zoomed int the waveform. wilinresee, Asal ca The dapayon the GA1%02, or example has @ areal isons, andthe vols kn can selec cal beeen 2niVav and SV So, zoamed al the way nt 2m, te decay cn show wavelormthatis "Emi ror opto bate. Fuly “zoomed ou th scope can show a wavelom ranging over 4. (The pee, 25 well (cuss bol, can further inease hs range.) ‘The postion knebcontzcle the verbal fect f tha waveform on the sereen, Rotate the kr clockwise, andthe wave wil move down, counterclockwise wil move tu ‘he ipl. You can use he poston knob to ofa part ofa waveform of he screen earn sparkdun,comfutorialsihow-to-sse-an-osclloscope hips:07/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lea sparklun.com ‘wave, but ely eared about how mach twas ringing on he des, you cou 220m an the rising edge sing Bah knobs. Horizontal System The hanzontl secon a the scape cotrols he time seal onthe szren, Like the vical system, the horzona contelgves you two knobs: postion and seconds represons wil decreas ~ you be“zoming ion he time cae, Rolle eounerlockwise le neease th timescale, and show anger amount of tne on he Using he GA1102 a8 an example again. the dspay has 4 horizontal visions, and can show arywnere between 2S and 50s por division, So zoomed al te way in on ‘The position knob can move your waveform fo the Fight orb of he slay, adustng th hoor offset Using he horizontal sysiem, you can aust how many periods of waveform you want se. You cen 200m out and show utile peaks and woughs ofa signa (or yu can 200m way in, and use the poston knob to show ust any pat of a wave: The tiger section's devoted ostalzing snd focusing theoslloscope. The bigger alls he scope what pats ofthe sgn to "sage onan sia measuring. your waveform is periodle, the roger canbe manipulated ta keep te deol stale and unfinching. A poy trageres wave wl aoduce seizreinduing ewoeping waves ‘Tigger System Ike tis “Te tiger section ofa scope ie usually comprised fa lve knob ands of llonsl selct he source and type ofthe Liggr, The evel kab can beet st tigger to aspect votage pot hitps:lear.sparktun,corvtutorilsynow-o-1s6-an-osciloscope 49so7/2017 a ‘sare of tons and sreen manus mike up the re ofthe tigger sytem. Thal main purpose i a slat the tgge source and mode. Tare are 2 vai of trigger ‘types, which manipulate now the ager atvaled. + Anedge igor eto most base orm of the ggr wil Ky the oselescope to slat measuring whan the signal vliage passes a cern lve. An ade Wager can be selto catch ona rsng olin edge (or boty, + puts ger tolls no scope to key non a spcibaa puso fvltoge. You can spect the duration and roto ofthe pulse. For exam can be ‘of OV-> 8Y => OY, rican bo a secondsong dip rom SV to OV, back 0 5 + Asope tigger canbe set to Wigger te scape ona positive or negate slope ove a spcted amount of tne. + Moco complies Wiggers ei oeus on landarsized wavelons thal cay video ata ke NTSC or PAL. Those waves use 9 unique synching pattem at he beglanng of avery rane. inybip ‘You can ako usualy selse 9 Wiggering mode, wich, in aec, tes the scope how sony you fea abou! your gg. In automatic gga mode, the scope can tempto raw your waveform even fi doesn rigger Normal mode wil ony draw your wave I sees he spect gger. And single mode looks or your specfod ‘rigger whenit ees ttl ara your wave ten stop. ‘The Probes, ‘An osloscope is only good yu can actualy connect ito signal, and for that you need probes, Probes ae single-npu vies thalout a signal fom your rout ‘othe scope. They havea sharp tip whien probes ino a point on your iret. Ths tp can als be equipped with hooks, toozers or psf make lacking onl acct casi. Every probe ao inlases a ground eli, which shoul be secured sally to a common ground pint onthe excul under et Whe probes may scom tke simple dies that ust ath nto your cut and ear a signal tothe soe, there’ ‘Optimaly, wnat a probe needs o bei nse ~ it shouldnt have any efecton your signal under et, Unftuntaly, ong wes allhave ininic inductance, capactance, and resistance, so, no mater what. hey atfect scope readings (especialy a high roquenc), ‘Tre are avai of probe types out there, the most common of whic she passive probe, ince wih most scopes Most of testo” passe probes are attenuated, Atenuang probes nave a lage resistance intentional bain ana ehunte by 2 emalleapactor, whic help to nimi the effect hat long cable might have on leasing your crc. series wth the input Impedance ofa sc2po, this atonuatd probe wl create a votage dior between your signal ang he Scope input Most probes havea M2 resistor or terug, which, when combined witha standard 1M input impedance on a scope, erates a 1/10 volage vider. These probes ‘are commonly cal 10K attenuated probes. Mary probes incude sch o sele: between 10K and 1X no attention). [Atoruated probes are great for improving accuracy a high Frequencies, but they wil also reduce the amplitude of you sina. yours tying to measure avery lo ‘volage signal, you may have o go wih 21K probe, You may also need to saact a seting on your scope lo lel youre using atloruates probe, lloush many ‘se2pes ean automaticaly delet Pe ‘Beyons the passive attenuates probe, ter area vary of ther probes ou there. Active probes are powered probes (hey emu a separate power source), which can amply your signal raven prosraces tbo it glo your scope Whle ros probes ate designed to measure voltage, thre ae probes designed la measure [ACOrDC currant Curent probes are unique because they often clr around a wie aver actualy making cntat wth the cut. Using an Oscilloscope hitps:lear.sparktun,corvtutorilsynow-o-1s6-an-osciloscope 5907/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lea sparkfun.com ‘Tha infrite varity of signals out tere maana you'll never operate an caciloscope the same way vce. But there are some seps you can count on performing jue abou every en yout a cet, On this page wellshow an example signal, andthe stops required o measur it Probe Selection and Setup Firs of, youl nod to solct a probe, For most signal, ho simple passive probe includ with you ope wil work perfect fie. Nox. bore connecting ito your sc2p9, st th attenuation on your probe. 10X-the most common attorutionfactor— is usual the most welrouned chico. Connect the Probe and Turn the Scope On When the scope boots up you should soe the dvisions, snl, anda noisy, a ine of waver, setup: + Tum channel ton an channel 2 of + Set chanel 1 DC coupling {Sette tigger source to channel + ext sourceor alternate channel ggg. + Sette trlgger type orang expe, and ne rgger mods to auto (as opposed to sgl) + Make surothe scope probe attenuation on your soaps matches the sting on your probe (ag. 1K. 108. Forhelp making thes ajesments, consul your scopes user's manual (as an oxarplo, hares the GATIOZCAL manual Testing the Probe Lets connect hat cxeanel upto @ mesningtl signal Mos copes wl havea builtin frequency generator hat ems a reliable, setequency wave —on he [GATIOZCAL there a te square wave output athe Botom-ght of the ont panel. The frequency generale Up has two separate condctors one or the signal ‘As soon as you connect bot parts the probe, you should see a slgnal begin to dance around your Seean. Ty ing wih the horizontal and vertieal systam ‘knobs to manewor tho waveform around the sreen. Rotating the scale knobs ockwis wl ‘zoom nts" you wavetorm, and counterclockwise zooms out You can ‘aso se the poston knob tours locata your waveform your waves sil unstable, ty rolang ho tigger postion kn. Make sure the rigger Isnt higher than the tallest peak of your waveform. By default the eget ‘ype shouldbe set to e899, whic i usualy a 900d choice for squar waves lit Try fidling wits those knobs enough te dla sng perio of your wave onthe screen ‘Ory zooming way out onthe tine Sele o show dozans of quar, ‘Compensating an Attenuated Probe Ifyou robe i otto T0X, and you donthave a proc square wavoform a shown above, you may need Yo compensate your probe, Most probes havea recessed hitps:lear.sparktun.corvtutorilsynow-to-1se-an-osciloscope 6907/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lean sparklun.com y Try ting smal erawaiver to rolate ti trimeer, ard ook a what happens to the wavelorm. ‘Adis no timing cap on the probe handle util you have a stralght-edged square wave. Compensation only necessary your probe fattened (2.9. 10X).in wich case's eral (especally if you don krom whe use your scope a). Probing, Triggering, and Sealing Tips ‘once you've compensate you prob, i's ime lo measur areal gral Go nd signal sure (requancy goneraor, Terri?) and come back, ‘The rst koy to probing a signals nding 2 so ralible grounding pont. Clasp your ground cp toa known ground, smetimes you may have to use asa wre iniermaciate between he gourd lp and your crus ground pon. Then conn! your probe tipo he signal unr tes. Probe ps extn 8 varity of form factors = ‘Once your signals onthe seen, you may want agin by austng the horton and vertical scales into at east the “ballpa of your signal. yee probing a SV ‘kHz equae wave, youl probably wan the vlsév somewhere around 05-1, and et he seconds to around 100y (1 cvions would show about one anda halt pers) ipa your waves ring or fang of the sean, you can adjust the vertical pesiton ts move up or down. your sgnalis purely DC, you may wantin asst be (0 Toval moa the botom of you" dla. ‘once you have the cals ballparked, your waveform may need sam trggenng Edge iggering —where the scope tes to bagn ts scan when i ses vokage re (or fal pastas point is te eases ype to use. Using an ed igges, yt sol he i'agerIovel oa point on your waveform at cly sees arising edge once por Now just scale, postion tigger and repeat unt you're looking at xacty what you noo. Measure Twice, Cut Once signal scoped, tggeres, and eal i comes te to measure ransien,peods, an oer waveform proper. Some scopes have more measurement ool Many scopes suppr a vary of tomatic measurement ook, thay may even constantly eipay the mostrelevact informatio, Bk Frequency, Te ga the most out of your scope, youl want to explore al a he measure funeons supper. Mot scapes wil calculate equercy, ample, duly eyele, mean volag, and avy of ‘thar wave characters for you automaticaly. Using the scpe's messuefols ond Vea Vy aun, pared and duty cyte [Atird measuring tool many scopes provides cursors, Cursors ae o-scten, movable marks which canbe placed on aire line or vaage ax. Cursors usualy come in pas, 50 you can measure he aference between one and he other. hitps:lear.sparktun,corvtutorilsynowto-1se-an-osciloscope 11907/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lean sparklun.com ‘Once you've measure tho quantty you wes lokig fr, you can begin to make aqusimonls to your iu and moasure somo more! Some scopes also suppor ‘saving, printing, or storing 2 wavelorn, so you can real an rrrembe hose good tines when you seaped that gr ‘Tofind out more about what your scope can do, consuls uses manual Purchasing an Oscilloscope Now hat youve tan al about this handy ta’ fetures and Benats,itstime to put an oscloscope cn your workbench (Our recommendations: Digent Analog Discovery? {00M Digital Storage Osciloscope - GAI102CA @ro.see8 Oren fenas So ees Rete Sheets Z¢@ SS y USB Osetloscope -MSO-26 (080 Quad - Pocket Dial Oseitoscope (Black) Srocnaie Browse soos sn3s ees: VIEW ALL OPTIONS. Resources and Going Further With te tol discussed ins to, you shouldbe prepare to start scoping slr of your own. you sil unsure of what ceain paso you Scope are fo, fst ‘consul youruser's manual, Hee are some adatonal rasoueee we raconmand enacking aut 8 wal + The XYZs of Oscltscopes (POF) ~ A great h-dest itoduction to osllscopes. + How t9 Use an Osciloscope (YouTube) - Great o-scpe explanation svaight fom the makers of scopes (Teton) + GATIO2CAL Users Manual pal ~ uses manil fr Ate's GATS02CA. 00MIHz oscloscape, Wn ts specie to hat cope sil rovides ace overview of what simfar scopes ar capable of, ae how toy work Going Further Now that you're a practiad osiloscop-r, what cc are you going tobe bugging? Need some inspiration? Hera ar som related ull we'd acomend + PCS Design wih EAGLE I'you¥e at a point whore you need to Foubeshoot cet at he signal evel, maybe youre ready to te int designing PCBS, Our EAGLE sors of torial how 1 ue the ely avail stare to design you own exci boa. + Resteaing Classi Electronica Ke youre In aearehof cet roubeshoot wth a scope, why nat maka your own version af SO-nt acre kt? + Pulse-Widh Modulation - PWM signals aretha foundation behind dimming LEDs an ving serve motors, Learn abou these signal pes and then scope them wth your new sis hitps:lear.sparktun,corvtutorilsynowto-1se-an-osciloscope07/2017 How to Use an Osciloscope - lea sparkfun.com hitps:lear.sparktun,corvtutorilsynowto-1se-an-osciloscope