Oscilloscope Tutorial

• The oscilloscope is basically a graph-

displaying device
• It draws a graph of an electrical signal.
• In most applications the graph shows how
signals change over time:
– the vertical (Y) axis represents voltage
– the horizontal (X) axis represents time.
Oscilloscope
 Cathode Ray Tubes

Variation in potential difference (voltage)

placed on plates causes electron beam to
bend different amounts.
“Sweep” refers to refreshing repeatedly at a
fixed rate.
 Oscilloscopes

Horizontal sweeps at a constant rate. Vertical plates are

attached to an external voltage, the signal you attach to the
scope.
• Cathode ray oscilloscope (CRO) basics:

– Many measurement are made easier by the CRO because it will display
not only amplitude, but also time and wave shape relationships.

– Many medical instruments use the CRO to display physiological

waveforms as an alternative to paper consuming strip-chart recorders.
– The heart of any oscilloscope is the cathode ray tube (CRT).
• An electron gun at the rear of the tube emits a beam
of electrons that is accelerated and focused by special
electrodes beyond the gun

• When the accelerated electrodes strike the phosphor

coated screen they will gave up their kinetic energy in
the form of light.

• Without any other external influences the beam will

impact exactly in the center of the screen.

• Patterns can be drawn on the CRT screen by

deflecting the beam up and down and left and right of
its normal path.
• There are two basic types of CRT deflection system in
common use in medical CRO’s:
– Magnetic deflection, and
– Electrostatic deflection
 Electrostatic deflection CRT’s
• The electrostatic form consists of two pair of deflection
plates :
– One for horizontal deflection, and
– Other for vertical deflection

• An electrical potential applied across either set of plates

creates an electrostatic field that deflects the electron beam.

• The polarity of the potential determines the direction of the

deflection, while its magnitude determine the amount of
deflection.

• Most laboratory and service oscilloscopes use electrostatic

deflection CRT’s because they can operate to very high
frequencies.
 Magnetic deflection CRT’s
• In the magnetic deflection system vertical and horizontal
electromagnetic coils are positioned around the neck of the
CRT, concentric to the electron beam path. Both coils are
housed is a single assembly called a deflection yoke.

• Current flowing in the deflection coils create magnetic fields

that deflect the electron beam.

• The frequency limitations of magnetic deflection system

prohibit their use in laboratory and service oscilloscopes.

• Magnetic deflection is suitable for use in medical CRO’s

How does an Analog Scope work?
How does a Digital Scope work?
 Scope (Con’t)

• This simple graph can tell you many things about a signal:
– You can determine the time and voltage values of a signal.
– You can calculate the frequency of an oscillating signal.
– You can see the "moving parts" of a circuit represented by the
signal.
– You can tell if a malfunctioning component is distorting the signal.
– You can find out how much of a signal is direct current (DC) or
alternating current (AC).
– You can tell how much of the signal is noise and whether the noise
is changing with time.
 OSCILLOSCOPE - TRIGGER
!! every scan draws a new trace !!

result on the screen

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Triggering Stabilizes a Repeating Waveform
 OSCILLOSCOPE - TRIGGER

Trigger event:
- input signal crosses the trigger level
- detection by voltage comparator
- rising (positive) OR falling (negative) edge
- trigger starts new scan

For constantly repeated waves:

1) Identical trigger event restarts a new scan
2) New picture retrace exactly the previous shape

Result : stable waveform on the grid

(Signal is : triggered ; locked ; coupled ; hooked up)

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 OSCILLOSCOPE - TRIGGER

Trigger-setting

1)Select the edge - positive or negative.

2) Set the trigger voltage level.

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 OSCILLOSCOPE - TRIGGER

SINGLE
- one shot mode
- the scan starts only once at first trigger event
- for next scan new start needed (manually)

NORMAL
- scan restarts only on trigger event
- at the end waiting for next event
- with no trigger events - not any trace

AUTO
- scan restarts automatically at each end of scan
- trace is always shown without input signal
- small signal does generate “trigger”- sliding waveforms
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Waveform shapes tell you a great deal about a signal
If a signal repeats, it has a frequency. The frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) and

equals the number of times the signal repeats itself in one second
Voltage, Current, & Phase
 Performance Terms
• Bandwidth
– The bandwidth specification tells you the frequency range
the oscilloscope accurately measures.
• Rise Time
– Rise time may be a more appropriate performance
consideration when you expect to measure pulses and steps.
An oscilloscope cannot accurately display pulses with rise
times faster than the specified rise time of the oscilloscope.
• Vertical Sensitivity
– The vertical sensitivity indicates how much the vertical
amplifier can amplify a weak signal. Vertical sensitivity is
usually given in millivolts (mV) per division.
• Sweep Speed
– For analog oscilloscopes, this specification indicates how
fast the trace can sweep across the screen, allowing you to
see fine details. The fastest sweep speed of an oscilloscope
is usually given in nanoseconds/div.
• Gain Accuracy
– The gain accuracy indicates how accurately the vertical system
attenuates or amplifies a signal.
• Time Base or Horizontal Accuracy
– The time base or horizontal accuracy indicates how accurately the
horizontal system displays the timing of a signal.
Sample Rate
– On digital oscilloscopes, the sampling rate indicates how many
samples per second the ADC can acquire. Maximum sample rates
are usually given in megasamples per second (MS/s). The faster
the oscilloscope can sample, the more accurately it can represent
fine details in a fast signal..
• ADC Resolution (Or Vertical Resolution)
– The resolution, in bits, of the ADC indicates how precisely it can
turn input voltages into digital values.
• Record Length
– The record length of a digital oscilloscope indicates how many
waveform points the oscilloscope is able to acquire for one
waveform record.
 Grounding
• Proper grounding is an important step when setting up to take
measurements.
• Properly grounding the oscilloscope protects you from a hazardous
shock and protects your circuits from damage.
• Grounding the oscilloscope is necessary for safety. If a high voltage
contacts the case of an ungrounded oscilloscope, any part of the
case, including knobs that appear insulated, it can give you a shock.
However, with a properly grounded oscilloscope, the current travels
through the grounding path to earth ground rather than through you
to earth ground.
• To ground the oscilloscope means to connect it to an electrically
neutral reference point (such as earth ground). Ground your
oscilloscope by plugging its three-pronged power cord into an outlet
grounded to earth ground.
• Grounding is also necessary for taking accurate measurements with
your oscilloscope. The oscilloscope needs to share the same ground
as any circuits you are testing.
• Some oscilloscopes do not require the separate connection to earth
ground. These oscilloscopes have insulated cases and controls,
which keeps any possible shock hazard away from the user.
 Scope Probes
Most passive probes have some degree of attenuation factor, such as 10X,
100X, and so on. By convention, attenuation factors, such as for the 10X
attenuator probe, have the X after the factor.
In contrast, magnification factors like X10 have the X first
 Vertical Controls

• Position and Volts per Division

– The vertical position control lets you move the
waveform up or down to exactly where you want it on
the screen.
– The volts per division (usually written volts/div) setting
varies the size of the waveform on the screen. A good
general purpose oscilloscope can accurately display
signal levels from about 4 millivolts to 40 volts.
– Often the volts/div scale has either a variable gain or a
fine gain control for scaling a displayed signal to a
certain number of divisions.
 Input Coupling
• Coupling means the method used to connect an
electrical signal from one circuit to another.
 Horizontal Controls

• Position and Seconds per Division

– The horizontal position control moves the waveform
from left and right to exactly where you want it on the
screen.
– The seconds per division (usually written as sec/div)
setting lets you select the rate at which the waveform is
drawn across the screen (also known as the time base
setting or sweep speed). This setting is a scale factor.
For example, if the setting is 1 ms, each horizontal
division represents 1 ms and the total screen width
represents 10 ms (ten divisions). Changing the sec/div
setting lets you look at longer or shorter time intervals
of the input signal.
 Trigger Position
• The trigger position control may be located in the
horizontal control section of your oscilloscope. It actually
represents "the horizontal position of the trigger in the
waveform record." Horizontal trigger position control is
only available on digital oscilloscopes.

• Varying the horizontal trigger position allows you to

capture what a signal did before a trigger event (called
pretrigger viewing).

• Digital oscilloscopes can provide pretrigger viewing

because they constantly process the input signal whether a
trigger has been received or not. A steady stream of data
flows through the oscilloscope; the trigger merely tells the
oscilloscope to save the present data in memory. In
contrast, analog oscilloscopes only display the signal after
receiving the trigger.
Trigger Controls (con’t)
Pulse and Rise Time Measurements
 Analog oscilloscope
• Real-time display of signals
• Block diagram
– Sweep generator and vertical amplifier
– Earthquake recorder

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 Digital oscilloscope
• Capture and view events
– Digital storage oscilloscope (DSO)

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 Digital oscilloscope (contd.)
 Sampling

 Interpolation

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 Advantage of Digital Scope
 Trend towards digital.
 Easy to use.
 One-shot measurement
 Recoding
 Triggering
 Data reuse
 Connectivity

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 Probes
• Components

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 Probes
• High quality connector
• High impedance (10M)
• 50 for high frequency measurement

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 Passive probe
• 10 attenuation
– Good for low circuit loading
– Suitable to high frequency signal
– Difficult to measure less than 10mV
signals
• 1 attenuation
– Good for small signals
– Introducing more interference
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 Active probe
• Signal conditioning ⇒ oscilloscope
• Require power source
• Good for high speed digital signals over
100MHz clock frequency

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OSCILLOSCOPE: Mind the ground connection !!!!

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• The work done on each electron from the filament
is
W = eV
where V is the p.d. across the filament and the
anode.
• Electron-volt
The electron-volt is an amount of energy equal to
the work done on an electron moved through a
p.d. of 1V.

19
1 electron-volt = 1.6  10 J
 Properties of Electron Beams
(Cathode rays)
• Cathode rays travel in straight lines.
• Cathode rays can cause fluorescence.
• Cathode rays can be deflected by electric
field and magnetic field.
• Cathode rays may produce heat and X-rays.
• Cathode rays can affect photographic plates.
 Deflection of Electrons in a
Uniform Electric Field (1)
• Consider an electron beam directed between two
oppositely charged parallel plates as shown below.
• With a constant potential difference between the two
deflecting plates, the trace is curved towards the
positive plate.
+

-
 Deflection of Electrons in a
Uniform Electric Field (2)
• The force acting on each electron in the field
is given by
eVP
F  eE 
d
where E = electric field strength,
Vp = p.d. between plates,
d = plate spacing.
 Deflection of Electrons in a
Uniform Electric Field (3)
• The vertical displacement y is given by
1 2 1 eV p 2
y  at  ( )t
2 2 md
1 eVp x 2
 ( ) 2
2 md v
This is the equation for a parabola.
 Deflection of Electrons in a
Uniform Magnetic Field (1)
• The force F acting on an electron in a
uniform magnetic field is given by
F  Bev

Since the magnetic force F is at right angles to

the velocity direction, the electron moves round
a circular path.
 Deflection of Electrons in a
Uniform Magnetic Field (2)
• The centripetal acceleration of the electrons
is
Bev
a
m
v 2 Bev
Hence a   which gives
r m
mv
r
eB
Spot Beam Deflection Sensitivity:
Electrostatic Deflection:
Electrostatic Deflection:
Electrostatic Deflection:
Electrostatic Deflection:
 Beam Deflection
• Adjusting the horizontal and vertical position control
deflect the beam to any desired position on the screen.

• Factors influencing deflection angle:

o Length of the deflection field.
o Spacing between the deflection plates.
o The difference of potential between the plates.
o The accelerating voltage on the second anode.
 Beam Deflection
• Length of the deflection field

• The longer deflection plates can bend the beam to a

greater deflection angle.
 Beam Deflection
• Spacing between the deflection plates

• The closer together the plates, the more effect the

electric force has on the deflection angle of the electron
beam.
 Beam Deflection
• The difference of potential between the plates

• The greater the potential, the wider the deflection

angle.
 Beam Deflection
• The accelerating voltage on the second anode

• The faster the electrons are moving, the smaller their

deflection angle will be.
Spot Beam Deflection
Sensitivity
 MAGNETIC
DEFLECTION SYSTEM
• Here the magnetic field is perpendicular to direction of electron beam i.e., it directs towards
the reader.
• The electron beam is deflected upwards. The electron moves in a straight line to point ‘0’
from cathode with initial velocity v0.
• Now the force acts on the electron and the resultant direction is perpendicular to both ‘B’ and
‘v’ is so resultant path is circular one.
• Path taken by the electron with in this uniform magnetic field is an arc of circle with radius
‘R’.
• The path OM is an arc of the circle whose center is at ''θ
Fig: Magnetostatic deflection in a
cathode – ray Tube
 LB e
D= va
.
2m

• Magnetic Deflection Sensitivity:

The Deflection per unit magnetic field intensity D/B

is given by is called the magnetic –
deflection Sensitivity of the tube

Which is independent of magnetic flux density ‘B’.

 MEASUREMENTS USING THE CATHODE-RAY
OSCILLOSCOPE:
1) Measurement of Frequency:
MEASUREMENTS USING THE CATHODE-RAY OSCILLOSCOPE:
2) Measurement of Phase:

3 Measurement of Phase Using Lissajous Figures:

Measurement of Phase Using Lissajous Figures:
Measurement of Phase Using Lissajous Figures:
Measurement of Phase Using Lissajous Figures:
Measurement of Phase Using Lissajous Figures:
 Lissajous’ Figures (1)
• Lissajous’ figure can be displayed by
applying two a.c. signals simultaneously to
the X-plates and Y-plates of an oscilloscope.
• As the frequency, amplitude and phase
difference are altered, different patterns are
seen on the screen of the CRO.
Lissajous’ Figures (2)

Same amplitude but different frequencies

 Lissajous’ Figures (3)

Same frequency but different phase

In phase π/2 π 3π/2 In phase

π /4 3π/4 5π/4 7π/2

http://surendranath.tripod.com/Lissajous/Lissajous.html
POINTS TO REMEMBER:
• 1. CRO is used to study waveforms.
• 2. CRT is the main component of a CRO.
• 3. Prosperous P31 is used for the fluorescent screen of a CRO.
• 4. A CRO has the following components:
• (a) Electron gun
• (b) Deflecting system
• (c) Florescent screen
• 5. Lissajous figures are used to measure frequency and phase of the waves
under study.
• 6. A time-base generator produces saw-tooth voltage.
• 7. An oscilloscope amplifier is used to provide a faithful representation of
input signal applied to its input terminals.
IMPORTANT FORMULAE: