Oscilloscopes

In studying the various elech"onic, electrical networks and systems, signals which are
functions of time, are often encountered. Such signals may be periodic or non periodlC in
nature. The device which allows, the amplitude of such signals, to be displaved prim<nih
as " function of time, is called cathode ray oscilloscope, commonly known as C.R.O. The
CR.O gi\'es the visual representation of the time varying signals. The oscilloscope has
become an universal instrument and is probably most versatile tool for the development of
electronic circuits and systems. It is an integral part of electronic laboratories.
The oscilloscope is, in fact, a voltmeter. Instead of the mechanical deflection of a
metaJlic pointer as used in the normal voltmeters, the oscilloscope uses the movement of
an electron beam against a fluorescent screen, which produces the movement of a visible
spot. The movement of such spot on the screen is proportional to the varying magnitude
of the signal, which is under measurement.
The electron beam can be deflected in two directions : the horizontal or x-direction
and the vertical or y-direction. Thus an electron beam producing a spot can be used to
produce two dimensional displays, Thus CRO. can be regarded as a fast x-y plotter. The
x-axis and y-axis can be used to study the variation of one voltage as a function of
another. Typically the x-axis of the oscilloscope represents the time while the y-axis
represents variation of the input voltage signal. Thus if bhe input voltage signal applied to
the y-axis of CRO. is sinusoidally varying and if x-axis represents the time axis, then the
spot moves sinusoidally, and the familiar sinusoidal waveform can be seen on the screen
of the oscilloscope. The oscilloscope is so fast device that it can display the periodic signals
whose time period is as small as microseconds and even nanoseconds. The CRO. basically
operates on voltages, but it is possible to convert current, pressure, strain, acceleration and
other physical quantities into the voltage using transducers and obtain their visual
representations on the CRO.
 ElectroniC Instrumentation

j
4.2 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
The ("thode rilY tube (CRT) is the heart of the CR.O. the CRT generates the electron
beam, ,h'U'!cratcs tbe beam, deflects the beam and also has a screen where beam becomes
visible ,1" ,1 <;pot. The main p;:lftS Qf the CRT are:
i) Electron g'l1l ii) Deflection system iii) Fluorescent screen
iv) Glass tube or envelope v) Base
A schematic diagram of CRT, showing its structure and main components is shown in
the Fig. 4.1.

Beam deflection

2 kV
I I
V gnd to vy Vx
+ 400 10 kV
V
Visible
light

Bnght
spot

Focus
anode Vertical
t-., " :'1g; Control deflection
c;,"r,ect:on I grid I Accelerating plates

Electron gun anode •

producing electrop :eam

The eJedi-"l' gun section of the cathode ray tube provides a sharply focused electron
be::lm directed :mv<1rds the fluorescent-coated screen. This section st;:ll·ts from theql1ally
heated c,lthode, l>mitting the electrons. The control grid is give!! negative potential with
respect to c,lth~)dc. This grid controls the number of electrons in the beam, going to the
screen.
The momentum of the electrons (their number x their speed) determines the intensity,
or brightness, uf the light emitted from the fluorescent screen due to the electron
bombclrdl1lent. The light emitted is usually of the green colour. Because the electrons are
negativel: charged, a repulsive force is created by applying a negative voltage to the
control grid (in CRT, voltages applied to various grids are stated with respect to cathode,
which is taken as common point). This negative control voltage can be made variable.
Key Point: A marl' negative voltage reslllts in less nllmber of electrons in the beam and
he11ce decreased [Irightness of the beam spot.

Since the electron beam consists of many electrons, the beam tends to diverge This is
because the simibr (negative) charges on the electron repel each other. To compensate for
 such repulsion forces, an adjustable electrostatic field is created between two cylindrical
anodes, called the focusing anodes.
Key Point: The variable positive voltagi' on the second anode is used to adjust the focus or
sharpness of the bright beam spot.
The high positive potential is also given to, the preaccelerating anodes and <lCcclerating
anodes, which results into the required acceleration of the electrons. '
Both focusing and accelerating anodes are cylindrical in shape having small openings
located in the centre of each electrode, co-axial with the tube axis. The preaccelerc,ting and
accelerating anodes are connected to a common positive high voltage \vhich varies
between 2 kV to 10 kV. The focusing anode is connected to a lower positive \'oltage of
about 400 V to SOD V.

4.2.2 Deflection System

When the electron beam is accelerated it passes through the deflection s\stcm, with
which beam can be positioned anywhere on the screen.
The deflection system of the cathode-ray-tube consists of two pilirs of pilrallel plates,
r~ferred to as the vertical and horizontal deflection plates. One of the plates' in each set is
connected to ground (0 V), To the other plate of each set, the e>.ternal deflection voltage is
applied through an internal adjustable gain amplifier stage, To apply the deflection voltage
externally, an external terminal, called the Y input or the X input, is available.
As shown in the Fig. 4.], the electron beam passes through these plates, 1\ pllsitive
\'oltilge applied to the Y input terminal (Vy) Ciluses the beam to deflect \ertlG,lly upwdrd
due to the "ttraction forces, while a negative voltage applied to. the Y input term in,,! will
C"USl' the electron beam to deflect vertically downward, due to the repulsion lurCl'S.
Simibrly, a positive voltage applied to X-input terminal (Vx) will cause the ekctron
bCillll lo deflect horizontally towards the right; while a negative voltclge (lpplied to the
X-input terminal will cause the electron beam to deflect horizontally towards the left of the
scrcen The ;Jmount of vertical or horizontal deflection is directly proportion,ll tu the
correspondingly applied voltage.
When the voltages are applied simultcmeously to vertical and horizontcl1 deflecting
plates, the electron beam is deflected due to the resultant-of these two voltages. ~

The face of the screen can be considered as an x-y plane. The (x,y) position of the
beam spot is thus directly influenced by the horizontal and the vertical 'voltages applied to
the deflection plates Vx and Vy, respectively,
Thc horizontal deflection (x) produced will be proportional to the horizontal deflecting
voJt<1gc, V" applied to X-input. )
 where Kx is constant of proportionality.
The deflection produced is usually measured in em or as number of divisions, on the
scale, in the horizontal direction ..

Then Kx = Vx where Kx expressed as ~m/volt or division/volt, is called horizontal

x

sensitivity of the oscilloscope.

Similarly, the vertical deflection (y) produced will be proportional to the vertical
deflecting voltage, Vy, applied to the y-input.
y ex; Vy

Iy= Ky Vy

Ky = y/Vy and Ky, the vertical sensitivity, will be expressed as ~m/volt, or

division/volt.

Vertical The values of vertical aJ'Ld

deflection Vy horizontal. sensitivities are selectable
plates
and adjustable through multipositional
Horizontal
deflection switches on the front panel that
plates controls the gain of the corresponding
internal amplifier stage. The bright
spot of the electron beam can thus
trace (or plot) the x-y relationship
between the two voltages, Yx ard Vy.

Bright spot The schematic arrangement of the

(electron beam) vertical and the horizontal, plates,
controlling the position of 'the spot on
the screen is shown in the Fig..4.2.
Fig. 4.2 Arrangement of plates in CRT

4.2.3 Fluorescent Screen

The light produced by the screen does not disappear immediately when bombardment
by electrons ceases, i.e., when the signal becomes zero. The time period for which the trace
remains on the screen after the signal becomes zero is known as "persistence". The
persistence may be jS short as a few micf<?second, or as long as tens of seconds ~en
minutes.
Medium persistence traces are mostly used for general purpose applications.
Long persistence traces are used in the study.. of transients. Long persistence helps in
the study of transients since the trace is still seen on the screen after the transient has
disappeared. -
Short persistence is needed for extremely high speed phenomena.
 The screen is coated with a fhlOrescent material called phosphor which emit-> light
,,,,hen bombarded by electrons. There are various phosphors a\·c1J1able which differ m
colour, persistence, ;)nd efficiency.
~ the common phosphor is Willemite, which is zinc, orthosilicate, ZnO+ Si02,
with traces of manganese. This produces the familiar greenish trace. Other useful screen
materials include compounds of zinc, cadmium, magnesium and silicon.
The kinetic energy of the electron beam IS
converted into both light and heat energ} when it
hits the screen. The heal so prod uced gi\ es rise to
"phosphor burn" whIch j<; damagll1g and
sometimes destructive. This degrades the light
output of phosphor and sometimes may cause
complete phosphor destruction. Thus the phosphor
must have' high burn resistancp to avoid accident;)1
damage.
Simibrly the phosphor screen is provided with an zlluminium layer c'llled aluminizing
the cathode ray tube. This is shown in the Fig. 4.3.

Such a layer serves three functions:

1) To avoid l;mild up of charges on the phosphor which tend to slow down the
electrons and limJs the brightness.
2) It serves as a light scatter. When the beam strikes the phosphor with aluminized
layer, the light emitted back into the tube is reflected bilck tP\\ ards the viewer
which increases the brightness.
3) The aluminium layer acts as a heat sink for the phosphor md thus reduces the
chances of the phosphor burning.

Many phosphor materials having different excitation times and colours as well as
different phosphorescence times are available.

The type PI, P2, PI1 or P3I are the short persistence phosphors and are used for the
general purpose osciUoscopes.
Medic<ll oscilloscopes require a longer phosphor decay and hence phosphors like P7
and P39 are preferred for such applications.
Very slow displays like radar require long persistence phosphors to maintain sufficient
flicker free picture. Such phosphors are P19, P26 and, P33.
The phosphors P19, P26, P33 have low burn resistance. The phosphors PI, P2, P4, P7,
Pll have medium burn resistance while PIS, P3I have high burn resistance.
 The base is provided to the CRT through which the connections <He made to the
IMiollSparts.

In many applications, it is required to display the voltage as a function of time. By

clpplyingsuch a voltage to the Y input, the vertical deflection of the electron bCilm will be
proportional to the magnitude of this voltage. It is then necessary to com t:rl ~he horizontal
detledion into a time axis. A special unit inside the oscilloscope, called the sweep
generator or time base generator, provides a periodic voltage waveform that vanes
linearly with time, as shown in the Fig. 4.4. Since this waveform resembles the tceth of
hacksaw,it is also called sawtooth waveform.

Sweep generator output j.s applie,d

to the horizontal deflection plates.

Extreme
right

Horizontal
deflection
plates
Extreme
left Direction of
movement of spot

Flyback time or
Retrace time Tf

Assume that no voltClge is ilFplied to vertical deflecting plates, but only thIs sil\Vtooth
\oltage V, is applied to the horizontal deflecting plates: During the trace time T, . the
voltage Vx is linearly increasing with time, and hence the electron beam will move linearly
in the horizontal direction. Al the end of trace period T, , the beam reaches extreme right
h,md position in the horizont'll direction. ·\t this, instant .. the voltagc suddenly drops to
zero in Cl short interval of time, known ,1', flyback period. Hence thc beam suddenly
jumps back to the original positions at tbe extreme left hand side. Then again it starts
moving to the right during the next cycle of sawtooth waveform. The fly back of the beam
is blanked out by a suitable voltage and is not visible on the screen.
Thus for. a selected trace time 'rr , the spot moves horizqntally across. the filce of the
screen along the x-axis from left to right, with a constanf speed, restarts again from the
left, and repeats such traces. Depending on the speed of the bright spot and the
persistence of vision, the, frace produced by the spot will look like a horizontal straight
line. Thus the horizontal axis is now converted )into a time axis.
 When a periodically varying voltage say sinusoidal voltage is applied to the v termInal
of the ~cope and internally generated sawtooth voltage is applied to the hOrIzontal
deflection plates, then sawtooth voltage keeps on shifting the spot horizontally while the
applied voltage shifts the spot vertically proportional to its magnitude. Hence finally due
to the effect of both the voltage, a familiar sinusoidal waveform can be observed on the
screen.
When the sweep 'lnd signal frequencies are equal, a single cycle appears on the screen.
When the sweep is lower than the signal, several cycles appear on the screen. In such case,
the number of cycles depends on the ratio of the two frequencies. When the sweep is
hIgher than the signal, less than one cycle appears on the screen.
The display of spot on the screen appears stationary only when the two frequencies i.e.
sweep 'lnd signal are same or are integral multiples of each other. For any other
frequencies the trace on the screen keeps on drifting horizontally. Thus for the trace to
appear stationary, the sawtooth voltage is synchronized with signal applied to the vertical
input. For the vertical input signal, the triggering pulses are ·derived for the
synchronization.
There ,Ire two important requirements of a sweep generator :

1. The sweep must be linear in nature, for all screen horizontal deflection.

2. To move the spot in one direction only, the sweep voltage must drop to zero
suddenly, after reaching its maximum value. Otherwise the return sweep will
trace th-e signal backwards.

/.; 4.3.1 Types of Sweep

The various types of sweep generated in the oscilloscopes are,
1. Recurrent Sweep: The sawtooth sweep is an a.c. voltage and it rapidly alternates
and hence the display occurs repetitively. The observer sees the lastin&, image by the eye.
This repeated operation is called recurrent sweep. This is alsd called continuous sweep.
2. Single Sweep : The waveform to be investigated produces a trigger signal which
produces a single sweep.
3. Driven Sweep : The sweep is driven by the signal itself in this operation. If the
sweep cycle starts after the start of signal cycle, then part of the cycle may be lost. This
possiblility is removed by starting the sweep cycle by the signal, alongwith the start of the
signal cycle.
4. Triggered Sweep : A recurrent sweep continues to produce a horizontal line
whether input signal is applied or not. But in a triggered sweep, a sweep is initiated by a
trigger voltage which is derived from an incoming signal. Thus in the absence of signal,
there is no sweep and CRT screen remains blank.
The continuous sweep uses astable (free running) multivihra10r. It covers wide
frequency range. It can be locked into synchronisation by an input signal itself. Whenever
 ,weep frequency and input signal frequency are same or multiples of each other, the
slnchronisation resu Its.
The triggered sweep uses monostable multivibrator. It becomes on whenever trigger
pulsecomes and till then remains off, keeping the screen blank. After specific voltage is
reached,the multivibrator switches to off state. Thus triggered sweep produces the display
forspecific period of time. It produces the display irrespective of the signal frequency.
Thuswith triggered sweep single shot events or transients can be observed. Practically
oscillosopesusing triggered sweep uses the calibration of sweep speed in time per
division The reciprocal of the time period selected is the frequency of the sweep.
5. Intensity Modulation: In many applications, it is necessary to make the intensity of
pmt of the signal more than the other part. This is called intensity modulation. It is
achieved by applying a.c. signal to the control eletrode of CRT. Thus the display is bright
for positive half cycle and dark' for negative half cycle. This is also called Z-axis
modulation.

.r Block Diagram of Simple Oscilloscope

The block diagram of oscilloscope is shown in the Fig. 4.5.

Input
signal

Time
- ve
base
High
generator
voltage Power
Low supply
voltage

Fig. 4.5 Basic block diagram of C.R.O

The various blocks ot block diagram of simple oscilloscope are as follows:

4.4.1 CRT
This is the cathode ray tube which is the heart of CR.O. It is' used to emit the
rlectrons required to strike the phosphor screen to produce the spot for the visual display
of the signals.
 Electronic Instrumentation

'j 4.4.2 Vertical Amplifier

The input signals are generally not strong to provide the measurable deflection on the
screen. Hence the vertical amplifier. stage is used Jo amplify the input signals. The
amplifier stages used are generally wide band amplifiers so as to pass faithfully the entire
band of frequencies to be measured. --'

Similarly it contains the attenuator stages as well. The attenuators are used when very
high voltage signals are to be examined, to bring the signals within the proper range of
operation.

FET input amplifier

r-------------I
Phase I
inverter :
I

I
I
J
-------------

Fig. 4.6 Vertical amplifier

It consists of several stages with overall fixed sensltivity. The amplifier can be
designed for stability and required bandwidth very easily due to the fixed gain.
The input stage colrtsists of an attenuator followed by FET source follower. It has vel'
high input impedance required to isolate the amplifier from the attenuator.
It is followed by BJT emitter follower to match the output impedance of FET output
With input of phase inverter.
The phase inverter provides two antiphase output signals which are required to
operate the push pull output amplifier.
The push pull operation has advantages like better hum voltage cancellation, even
harmonic suppression especially large 2nd harmonic, greater power output per tube and
reduced number of defocusing and nonlinear effects.

cd4.4.3 Delay Line

The delay line is used to delay the signal for some time in the verticClI sections. When
the delay line is not used, the part of the signal gets lost. Thus the input signal is not
applied directly to the vertical plates but is delClyed bv some time using a delay line
cu-cuit as shown in the Fig. 4.7.
 Input
signal

Fig. 4.7 Delay line circuit

Key Point: As the signal is delayed, the sweep generator output gets enough time to reach
to the horizontal plates before signal reaches the verti~al plates.

If the trigger pulse is picked off at a time t = to after the signal has passed through
the main amplifier then signal is delayed by XI nanoseconds while sweep takes YI
nanoseconds to reach. The design of delay line is such that the delay time XI is higher
than the time YI' Generally XI is 200. nsec while tl;1.eYI is 80 ns, thus the sweep starts well
in time and no part of the signal is lost.
There are two types of delay lines used in CR.O. which are:
i) Lumped parameter delay line
ii) Distributed parameter delay line

4.4.3.1 Lumped Parameter Delay Line

Lumped parameter delay line consists of number of

t:=£]
Ll2 Ll2 cascaded' symmetrical LC networks called T sections. Each
;' _~o . ,e"ion i' capable of delaying the 'ignaJ by 3 '0 6 ",ec
, __ Such a T filter section is shown in the Fig. 4.8.
The T section acts as a low-pass filter having cut off
Fig. 4.8 T-filter secti.on frequency as,

If, = nJ~C I
If Vi consists of frequencies much less than the cut-off f~equency, output signal Vo will
be a faithful reproduction of Yt but delayed by the time,

I to =~ =)IT I
 A practical delay line circuit in CR.O. is driven by pushpull amplifier and is shown in
the Fig. 4.9.

Fig. 4.9 Prictical delay line

4.4.3.2 Distributed Parameter Delay Line

It is basically a transmission line constructed with a wound helical coil on a mandrel
and extruded insulation between it. It is specially manufactured co-axial cable with high
inductance per unit length. The construction of such line is shown in the Fig. 4.10.
The inductance can be increased by winding the helical inner conductor, on
ferromagnetic core. This increases the characteristics impedance Zo and delay time. Typical
pClrameters' for helical, distributed parameter delay line are Zo = 1000 D and t d = 180
nsec/ m. The coaxial delay line is advantageous as :
i) It does not require careful adjustment as lumped parameter.
ii) It requires less space.
Outer
conductor

.:74.4.4 Trigger Circuit

It is necessary that horizontal deflection starts at the same point of the input vertical
signal, each time it sweeps. Hence to synchronize horizontal deflection with vertical
deflection a synchronizing or triggering circuit is used. It converts the incoming signal into
~e triggering pulses, which are used for the synchronization.

The time base generator is used to generate the sawtooth voltage, required to deflect
the beam in the horizontal section. This voltage deflects the spot at a constant time
dependent rate. Thus the x-axis' on the screen can be represented as time, which, helps to
display and analyse the time varying signals.
J Electronic Instrumentation

J 4.6 Supply Voltages for CRT

The various voltages are necessary to various components of CRT, for its proper
operation. The CRT with various supply voltage levels at various points is shown in the
Fig. 4.16.

Intensity
control
To other
circuits

High voltage Low voltage

supply supply

It h,lS been mentioned earlier that the time domain oscilloscopes require a sweep
generator that is linear with time for the x-axis display. The motion of spot on the screen
from extreme left to extreme right is called sweep.
The g~nerator which generates a waveform which is responsible for the movement of
spot lm screen horizontally is called time base generator· or sweep generator. The sweep
circuits along with the display gating functions are called time bases.
The linear sweep moves the spot from left to, right while the movement of spot from
right to left is not visible. This portion of waveform generated by time base is called
flyback or retrace. During this time, the cathode ray tube is blanked.
The time base generator also controls the rate at which the spot moves; across the
screen, this rate is to be adjusted from front panel control.

4.7.1 Why Sweep Generator is Called Time Base Generator?

1\11 the time dependent waveforms need x-axis to be calibrated as time axis. The sweep
generator produces the movement of spot on screen such that it acts as a time axis or time
bdse for the waveforms to be displayed. Hence the sweep generator is visa called time
base generator,
The two front panel col11rols which are used to control rate and duration of time base
waveform are i) Time/division and ii) Time variable control.
 Key Point: The trigger clrCllit ensures that the horizontal sweep starts at the ,allle POlllt
of the uertical input signal.

4.7.2 Requirements of Time Base

The time base requirements are:
1. Sweep time variations from 10 nsec to 5 sec per division.
2. Time accuracy better than 3%.
3. Linearity better than 1% across the cathode ray tube .
.t. Ten time~ expansion in the horizontal amplifier which al1ow~ I nscc per division
displays for very high speed transients.
J. The speed of the spot should be constant across the entire screen.
6 The spot should be invisible while tracing from right to left illld should be
visible only from left to right.

4.7.3 Basic Principle of Time Base Generator

The 'basic sweep generator uses the charging characteristics of a capacitor to generate
IineiH risetime voltages. Lmearly increasing ramp which becomes zero wi thin very short
duration of time ensures that the spot is visible (rom left to right Jnd invisible from right
to left.

Closed
• ~open
5, ,
I
I Closed
II
S2'
.r--;--: : Open
;----I
II:
V I I I
o
~ I
Sweep
I

Flyoack

When switch S1 is closed, S2 is open and capacitor charges to produce linear ramp ilt
the output. The sweep rate can be controlled by changing the value of capacitor or
ch<1l"gingcurrent.
Reaching to the maximum value of ramp voltJge, the switch 52 is closed ,lnd S open.
Thus C<1pacitor gets discharged through the resistance R. This is called flyback or retrace.
The time t, is called sweep time. The circuit is a' sort of relaxation 'oscillJtnr which
gene'rates saw tooth waveform. But this circuit hilS less accuracy. The bootstrap techniques
allow much greater linearity but the techniques are much more costly.
 Another method of studying two voltages simultaneously on the screen is to u
special cathode ray tube having two separate electron guns generating two separate beami
Each electron beam has its own vertical deflection plates.
But the two beams are deflected horizontally by the common set of horizontal plate\
The time base circuit may be same or different. Such an oscilloscope is called Dual Beam
Oscilloscope.
The block diagram of dual beam oscilloscope is shown in the Fig. 4.24.

Screen

The oscilloscope has t"vo vertical deflection plates and t.wo separate channels A and B
fO! the two separate input signals. Each channel consists of a preclmplificr 'lIld an
a tten ua tor.

A delay line, main vertical amplifier and a set of vertical deflection plates together
forms a single channel.
There is a single set of horizontal plates and single time base circuit.
The sweep generator drives the horizontal amplifier which inturn drives the pbtes.
The' horizontal plates sweep both the beams across the screen at the same rate.
The sweep generator can be triggered internally by the channel A signal or .channel B
signal.

Similarly it' can also be triggered from an external signal or line frequency signal. This
is possible with the help of trigger selector switch, a front panel control.
Such an oscilloscope may have separate timebase circuit for separate channel.
This allows different sweep rates for the two channels but increases the size and
weight of the oscilloscope.
 HOrizontal
plates

Horizontal
plates

Fig. 4.25 Dual beam eRO with separate time bases

4.9.1 Multiple Beam Oscilloscopes
Multiple beam osciJJoscope has a single tube but several beam producing systems
inside. Each system has separate vertical deflecting pair of plates and generally (l common
time base system.
The triggering can be done internaJJy using eith.er of the multiple inputs or externally
by an external signal or line voltages.

The comparison of two or more voltages is very much ,necessary in the analysis and
study of many electronic circuits and systems. This is possible by using more than one
oscilloscope but in such a case it is difficult to trigger the sweep of each oscilloscope
precisely Clt the same time. A common and less costly method to solve this problem is to
use dual trace or multitrace osciJJoscopes. In this method, the same electron bCCl!11IS used
to generate two traces which can be deflected from two independent vertical sources. The
.(\ methods are used to generate two independent traces which cHe alternclte sweep
mL'tllodund other is chop method.
The block diClgram of dual trace osciJJoscope is shown in the Fig. 4.26.
IThere al:e two separate vertical input channels A and B. A separate preamplifier and
-attenuator stClge exists for each channel) Hence amplitllde of each input can be individuaJJy
controlled. After preamplifier stage, both the signals are fed to an electronic switch. The
switch hclS an clbility to pass one channel at a time via delay line to the vertical amplifier.
The time base circuit uses a trigger selector switch 52 which allows the circuit to be
triggered on either A or B channel, on line frequency or on an external signal. The
hOrILOntaJclmplifier is fed from the sweep generator or the B channel via switch 5! and 51.
The X-Y mode mean;?, the osciJJoscope operates from channel A as the vertical signal dnd
 the ch'lllnel B as the horizontal signal. Thus in this mode very accurate X-Y measurements
can be done.
Delay A
Pre line
amplifier
and
altenuator

Channel B Pre
amplifier
and
altenuator

B - A
c:
Ext. trigger

line\

32
J
Tngger selector
switch

Depending on the selection of front panel controls several modes of operation can be
selected such as channel A only, channel B only, channel A and B as separate traces,
signals A + B, A - B, B ~ A or - (A + B) as single trace.
Let us study the two modes, alternate sweep and chop mode of operation.
/~

~ 4.10.1 Alternate Mode

~ . When the display mode selector is· in the alternate mode the electronic switch
cl alternately connects the vertical amplifier to channel A and to channel B. fnitially each
vertical amplifier is adjusted with the help of attenuator and position control such that the
two images are positioned separately on the screen. An electronic switch is controlled by
using a toggle flip-flop. The switching takes place at the start of each new sweep. The
switching rate of an electronic switch. is synchronised to the sweep rate so that CRT spot
traces channel A signal on one
sweep and channel B signal on
the next succeeding sweep. Thus
two channels are alternately
connected to the vertiCilI <1111 plifier.
The change over of an electronic
switch takes piace during the
flyback period of the sweep.
During the flyback, the electron
beam is invisible and the change
over is also invisible i.e. without
1
,
----' ,..-
I \". flicker. Thus the alternate modE
Intensity displays one vertical channel for <
off