Introduction
Oscilloscope
Tarique Stephens
-The following is a concise introduction to four brief demonstrations of the oscilloscope.
-The oscilloscope is historically one of the most integral tools used in the
development of electro-magnetic theory through its ability to measure phenomena
which exhibit oscillations such as voltage or current most often seen as a sine-wave.
-Naturally, most things move in the form of sine-waves, such as fundamental
forces and frequencies (light, sound, etc.). The utilization of the oscilloscopes sensors
can convert these forces into electrical signals, which can then be displayed on today's
modern digital devices.
-Early methods of obtaining these measurements were much different and more
difficult than they are today, as some of the first methods of obtaining the waveform
were slow and painstaking. By spinning a rotor around an axis and noting the
measurements of these rotations, a standing wave could finally be represented on
paper. This process was slowly automated over the years and has become what we use
today with our digital oscilloscopes.
-Whether it be Hand-Drawn Oscillograms or Galvanometers, the observations
and measurements of the wave-form has been sought out since as early as the second
decade of the 19th century. The following demonstrations within the four “labs” will use
a modern method of digital electronic oscilloscope measurements, and observations,
and explain what tools one receives from the tasks.
1.) The first lab introduces you to configuring your oscilloscope and identifying three
components of the common wave-form, this being the period, frequency, and the
“peak-to-peak” voltage.
2.) The second lab gave us the ability to use what is known as “triggering”.
Triggering allows the user of the oscilloscope to take snapshots at specific points
of the wave in order to obtain a static image of our sine wave on the display of
the oscilloscope.
3.) Following this second lab, the third lab establishes the ability to obtain and
interpret noisy signals with the use of triggering as well. With this use of
triggering, one could find and record the period, frequency, and peak-to-peak
voltage of very rapidly moving and disturbed wave-forms.
4.) The fourth and final lab is typically performed after the first. The fourth lab gives
instructions using the oscilloscope and a USB to save and recall images from the
oscilloscope and recall them to our personal computers even when the data on
the oscilloscope is restored to its default.
Reference: Educators Training Kit for Oscilloscope 1000 X-Series; 2017; Keysight Technologies
