ECED 2000 Electric Circuits Lab 5: Introduction to the Oscilloscope

October 24th, 2016

Prof: T.A. Little, Phd, P.Eng
Lab B01
TAs: Albe & Ran
Matthew Betts & Martin Brien

Introduction:
This lab is used to teach use the basics of an oscilloscope and a function generator. In this lab,
we will be able to create a sine wave using the function generator and read it off of the
oscilloscope. We will be able to use the oscilloscope to get readouts on values we are looking to
acquire.

Procedure:
1.0: Turn on the oscilloscope and connect channel 1 to the function generator with the BNC
cable provided. Turn the function generator on and key in 2Vp-p (Peak to Peak), key in 1.00kHZ
and enable the output. Press Auto Scale button on the oscilloscope and observe its display. Try
adjusting the horizontal sensitivity (time) and vertical sensitivity and observe the changes. Go to
the Trigger controls and adjust the trigger levels, what changes do you observe? Toggle between
positive and negative slope. How does this affect the display?
2.0: Connect the R-C circuit shown in tutorial (the AC supply is your function generator output)
where the input voltage is measured on channel 1 (With a BNC-BNC connector from the
function generator to the oscilloscope and a BNC-pin connector to the protoboard). The capacitor
voltage is measured on channel 2 (with X10 probe, make sure the ground clips is on the ground
side of the circuit). Any AC voltage works, 1kHZ. Use the frequency and the time delay between
two waveforms to determine phase shift between the two signal using the ratio.
(Time delay/period = phase shift/360)
3.0: Using the drop down menu for measurements, what are the readouts for Vp-p, frequency and
phase shift. Are they correct?
4.0: Plug in your arduino into the usb port of the computer. Using the program Blink on the
arduino and observe the waveform on pin 13 (Using the protoboard). Adjust the blink parameters
to a delay of 1ms and measure the output frequency at pin 13. What is the output voltage and
output frequency? Are these values expected?
5.0: Connect the circuit shown in class using two 100 ohm resistors (any resistors under 1k
works). Measure the output voltage with a direct connection to the oscilloscope using a X1
probe. The supply can either be a 10V DC supply or 2Vp-p sine wave. Verify that this circuit is a
50% voltage divider. Now change the resistors to 470k ohms resistors and repeat the
measurements. The scope place a significant load on the voltage divider (what is 470k ohm in

ECED 2000 Electric Circuits Lab 5: Introduction to the Oscilloscope

October 24th, 2016
Prof: T.A. Little, Phd, P.Eng
Lab B01
TAs: Albe & Ran
Matthew Betts & Martin Brien

parallel with 1M?) Now switch to a X10 probe and observe the effect. Is the measurement closer
to being correct. How could you improve even more?
6.0: Skills Development: Ammeter
Results:
1.0: The Trigger controls determine what events initiates the display. These controls look for a
specific voltage level and slope (+ve or -ve). When the specific voltage is detected, a beam is
transmitted across the screen determined by the time base. Once it reaches the other end it
restarts back at the beginning to wait for another trigger. If the signal is stable the trigger will
occur at the same point creating a constant display of the signal.
2.0: The phase shift between the two signals are as shown, Time delay/Period = Phase shift/360
so,
360 *(Time delay/Period) = Phase Period
360 *(79e^-6 s/0.001s) = 28.44
3.0: The readout of our Vp-p, frequency and phase shift are correct.
4.0: Output Frequency: 495 Hz
Output Voltage: 4.21V
Yes these are what we expect.
5.0: Output V (100)=1.66V
Output V (470k)=2.13V
Conclusion:
In this lab we learned how to operate an oscilloscope, and we became familiar with its uses for
analyzing circuits. In doing so, we also learned how to use waveform generators. We found that
oscilloscopes are very useful for measuring and finding values for voltage vs time curves,
including period, amplitude, and frequency.