Lab 01: Introduction to Instruments

Experiment 01
Introduction to Instruments. (Digital Oscilloscope and Digital Function
Generator)

Introduction:

Oscilloscope
An oscilloscope is a graph displaying device. It is used to visualize time-varying electronic
signals on a screen. The signals are graphed using an analog circuitry or a digital apparatus.

Analog Oscilloscope:

It works on the functionality of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). A beam of electrons is made to fall
on a screen where it becomes visible as a bright blue dot. The beam is then moved along a
horizontal line using a saw-tooth voltage applied along the horizontal axis. The fast moving
dot gives the appearance of a blue line. Then the signal to be graphed on the screen is
applied vertically so that the beam of electrons moves in a vertical access accordingly. The
result is a plot of the time varying applied signal on the oscilloscope screen.

Digital Oscilloscope:

It works on the functionality of Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter. The applied input analog
signal is sampled at a high rate; the received samples are then plotted on the screen.

Digital Oscilloscopes have some obvious benefits over analog counterparts. The advent in
digital circuitry has made the oscilloscopes cheaper. Moreover the sampled signal in a
digital oscilloscope can be stored in memory, can be easily modified or transferred to a
computer for further analysis. In this lab we shall conduct all experiments using digital
oscilloscopes.

However it is advised that engineering students should get hands-on experience on both
types of oscilloscopes.

In our lab (i.e. Electronics Lab: CIIT Islamabad) we shall work with Agilent 3000 Series
oscilloscopes.

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 Lab 01: Introduction to Instruments

Fig No.1: Agilent 3000 Series Oscilloscope (Panel Controls)

Fig No.2: Oscilloscope Display

Using the Oscilloscope:

Auto –Scale Feature:

The oscilloscope has a very useful auto-scale feature that sets the various display scales
automatically according to the input waveform. It is a handy tool to start with until the

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students get a better grasp at the control knobs. The students are advised not to rely on this
feature completely but try to learn to set the scale parameters themselves.

Fig No.3: Auto Scale Button

This feature requires an input frequency at least 50Hz and a duty cycle at least 1%.

Input a Signal:

Use one of the supplied passive probes to input the signal into one of the channels of the
oscilloscope.

Using the Run Control Buttons:

There are two buttons for starting and stopping the oscilloscope’s acquisition system:
Run/Stop and Single.

Fig No.4: Run Control Buttons

 When the Run/Stop button is green, the oscilloscope is acquiring data.

 To stop acquiring data, press Run/Stop. When stopped, the last acquired waveform
is displayed.
 When the Run/Stop button is red, data acquisition is stopped. To start acquiring
data, press Run/Stop.
 To capture and display a single acquisition (whether the oscilloscope is running or
stopped), press Single. After capturing and displaying a single acquisition, the
Run/Stop button is red.

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 Lab 01: Introduction to Instruments

Horizontal Scale:

The horizontal controls consist of:

 The horizontal scale knob — changes the oscilloscope’s time per division setting
using the center of the screen as a reference.
 The horizontal position knob — changes the position of the trigger-point (trigger is
explained in the subsequent section) relative to the center of the screen.
 The Main/Delayed button ( We shall not use this button in this lab: For details of
this feature refer to the user manual of the device)

Fig No.5: Horizontal Controls

 Turn the horizontal scale knob to change the horizontal time per division (time/div)
setting. The time/div setting changes in a 1- 2- 5 step sequence. The time/div
setting is also known as the sweep speed.
 Push the horizontal scale knob to toggle between vernier (fine scale) adjustment
and normal adjustment. With vernier adjustment, the time/div setting changes in
small steps between the normal (coarse scale) settings.
 The time/div setting is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

Triggering:

The trigger determines when captured data should be stored and displayed. When a trigger
is set up properly, it can convert unstable displays or blank screens into meaningful
waveforms. When the oscilloscope starts to acquire a waveform, it collects enough data
so that it can draw the waveform to the left of the trigger point. The oscilloscope
continues to acquire data while waiting for the trigger condition to occur. After it detects a
trigger, the oscilloscope continues to acquire enough data so that it can draw the waveform
to the right of the trigger point.

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The oscilloscope provides these trigger modes:

 Edge — can be used with analog and digital circuits. An edge trigger occurs when
the trigger input passes through a specified voltage level with the specified slope.
 Pulse — is used to find pulses with certain widths.
 Video — is used to trigger on fields or lines for standard video waveforms.

Fig No.6: Trigger Controls

 To adjust the trigger level, turn the trigger Level knob.Two things happen: The
trigger level value is displayed at the lower left- hand corner of the screen and a
line is displayed showing the location of the trigger level with respect to the
waveform (except when using AC coupling or LF reject coupling modes).
 Push 50% to set the level at 50% of the signal’s vertical amplitude.
 To make an acquisition even if no valid trigger has been found: Press Force.
 Forcing a trigger is useful, for example, when you want to display the DC voltage
of a level signal.

Vertical Controls

The vertical controls consist of:

 The channel (1, 2), Math, and Ref buttons — turn waveforms on or off (and
display or hide their menus).
 The vertical scale knobs — change the amplitude per division setting for a
waveform, using ground as a reference.

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 The vertical position knobs — change the vertical position of the waveform on the
screen.

Fig No. 7: Vertical Controls

 Pressing the channel (1, 2), Math, or Ref buttons have the following effect: If the
waveform is off, the waveform is turned on and its menu is displayed. If the
waveform is on and its menu is not displayed, its menu will be displayed. If the
waveform is on and its menu is displayed, the waveform is turned off and its
menu goes away.
 Turn its vertical scale knob to change the amplitude per division setting. The
amplitude/div setting changes in a 1- 2- 5 step sequence from2 mV/div to 10
V/div (with “1X” probe attenuation). Ground is used as a reference.
 Push its vertical scale knob to toggle between Vernier (fine scale) adjustment and
normal adjustment. With Vernier adjustment, the amplitude/div setting changes in
small steps between the normal (coarse scale) settings.
 The amplitude/div setting is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.
 Adjusting their vertical position lets you compare waveforms by aligning them
above one another or on top of each other. When an input channel waveform is on:
Turn the vertical position knob to change the vertical position of the waveform on
the screen. Notice that the ground reference symbol on the left side of the display
moves with the waveform.
 Notice that, as you adjust the vertical position, a message showing the position of
the ground reference relative to the center of the screen is temporarily displayed
in the lower left- hand corner of the screen.

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 To specify channel coupling, if the channel’s menu is not currently displayed, press
the channel button (1, 2). In the Channel menu, press Coupling to select between:
 DC — passes both DC and AC components of the input waveform to the oscilloscope.
 AC — blocks the DC component of the input waveform and passes the AC
component.
 GND — the waveform is disconnected from the oscilloscope input.

Function Generator
A function generator is a device to generate arbitrary time varying waveforms. It is used for
testing and designing circuits in a lab environment. The function generator used in this lab
is Agilent 3320A.

Using the Function Generator: -

Fig No.8 Snapshot of Agilent 3320A Function Generator

Generating a Signal:-

 Turn the power on and press the output key.

 Press the sine key, if not already active.
 Enter a value of 2 using numeric keypad and then choose units to be kHz. We can
also specify time period instead of frequency if we press the “Freq” soft key and
then specify the time period.
 Similarly press the Amplitude soft key to enter amplitude and offset soft key to
enter DC offset.
 The units can be changed by pressing first the +/- key and then entering new units.

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 Similarly by pressing the square, ramp, pulse etc keys we can generate arbitrary
waveforms of different characteristics.

REFERENCE
1. User`s and Services Guide Agilent 3000 Series
Oscilloscopes.
2. Users Guide Agilent 33220 A 20MHZ
Function / Arbitrary Waveform Generator.

Pre-Lab Assignment
This Lab has no Pre-Lab Assignment.

OBJECTIVES
 Basic understanding of creating arbitrary waveforms using function generator.
 Basic understanding of viewing a time varying voltage waveform on digital
oscilloscope and understanding various control knobs of digital oscilloscope.

EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

 Digital Function Generator
 Digital Oscilloscope with Probes.

SECTION I – Lab Tasks

Task 1:-
 Turn on Oscilloscope and Function generator.
 Note down the values of Channel 1 status and Time base status on the oscilloscope
screen. Write them down in the table.
 Generate a sinusoidal wave of 2 KHZ and 5Vp-p. Connect the signal using probes to
the oscilloscope. Press Auto Scale.
 Press channel (1) button, make sure from the menu that coupling is DC, bandwidth
limit is off and probe is set at (1X).
 Play with the horizontal and vertical position and scale knobs and try to understand
their effect. Finally auto-scale again.
 Note down the new values of Channel 1 Status and Time base Status. Interpret the
graph displayed using these values.

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 Change the offset to -1V then 1.5V then 2V then. Observe the change in waveform.
Change the vertical scale i.e. the whole waveform is again at the center of screen.
Note down the new values of Channel 1 Status and Time base Status.
 Press “measure” button, press “Voltage” and then press soft keys to determine
values of Vpp, Vrms, Vmin and Vmax. Similarly press “Time” and determine the
values of frequency, period etc. Fill the table.
 Change the coupling to AC. What do you observe?

Task-2:-
 Generate a square wave pulse between 0-5V. Let the frequency be 4KHZ. What is the
time period?
 Change the duty cycle to 25%.
 What is the value of time base status? For how much time the waveform is +5Volts
(0n time). For how much time the waveform is 0Volts (Off-time). Find the ratio of
On-time and the time period of the square wave.
 To measure the time (off or on) note down the time base status. It represents how
much time one division (box) on the horizontal axis represents. Using this
information calculate the time i.e. divisions for which the wave is +5V and for which
it is 0volts.
 Another method is to press “measure” button of oscilloscope. Press “Time” (press
soft key again to view next set of measurements) and note down the value of
“+width” (on-time) and “-width” (off-time).
 Change the duty cycle to 70% and repeat the experiment.

Task-3:-
 Generate a Sine wave of 1 KHz (note down its value in radians/sec using w = 2πf),
10Vp-p.
 Press “Ref” and press “save” to save this waveform as reference.
 Now change the horizontal position knob, the reference wave remains static but the
live voltage waveform will change position. On lower left corner of the screen the
time delay will be displayed.
 Delay the wave using horizontal position knob until the live waveform is at 180
degrees out of phase with the reference (π radians). 180 degrees means the wave
becomes exactly the inverted version of the reference waveform. Note the numerical
value of the time delay.
 Change the frequency to 3 KHz and 3.5 KHz and repeat the experiment. Fill the table

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