Dual Beam Oscilloscope

Fig: Dual Beam CRO with separate time bases

Fig: Dual Beam CRO with multiple time bases
To study two signals simultaneously on the screen, Dual Beam Oscilloscope
is used .

Dual Beam Oscilloscope consisting two separate electron guns which generate
two separate beam.

 Each electron beam has its own vertical deflection plates.

There is two individual vertical input channel for two electron beams coming from
two separate input signals A and B.

 Each channel has its own attenuator and pre-amplifier. Therefore, the amplitude
of each channel can be controlled eventually.

The two channels may have common or independent time base circuits which
allow different sweep rates.

Each beam passes through different channels for separate vertical deflection
before it crosses a single set of horizontal plate.
The sweep generator drives the horizontal amplifier which drive the horizontal
plate that gives common horizontal deflection.

The horizontal plates allow both the electron beams across the screen at the same
time.

In this method, the brightness and focus each beam are controlled separately. But
two tubes increase the size and weight of the oscilloscope and it looks bulky.
Dual Trace Oscilloscope
Dual beam oscilloscope can generate the two electron beams within the cathode
ray tube either by using double electron gun tube or by splitting beam i.e., dual
trace.

In Dual beam oscilloscope, two tubes increase the size and weight of the
oscilloscope and it looks bulky.

A common and less costly method to solve this problem is to use dual trace or
multi trace oscilloscopes.

 In this method, the same electron beam is used to generate two traces which can
be deflected from two independent vertical sources.

The methods are used to generate two independent traces are the alternate
sweep method and other is chop method.
 There are two separate vertical input channels A and B. A separate preamplifier
and -attenuator stage exists for each channel.

 Hence amplitude of each input can be individually controlled. After preamplifier

stage, both the signals are fed to an electronic switch.

 The switch has an ability to pass one channel at a time via delay line to the
vertical amplifier.

 A mode control switch enables the electronics switch to operate in two modes
i.e., ALTERNATE and CHOP mode.

 When the switch is in ALTERNATE position the electronic switch feed each
signal alternately to the vertical amplifier.

 The electronic switch alternately connects the main vertical amplifier two
channels A and B; and add a difference DC component to each signals. This DC
components directs the beam alternately to the upper and lower half of the
screen.
 When the switch is in the CHOP mode position, the electronics switch is free
running at the rate of 100-500 KHz, entirely independent to the frequency of the
sweep generator.

 The switch successively connects a small segments of A and B waveform to the

main vertical amplifier at a relatively fast chopping rate of 500 KHz.

 If the chopping rate is slow, the continuity of the display is lost and it is better
to use the alternate mode of operation.
 Difference between Dual Beam and Dual Trace Oscilloscope
 The dual beam oscilloscope has two different electron gun which passes through
two completely separate vertical channels, where as dual trace oscilloscope has
single electron beam which get split into two and passes through two separate
channels.

 Dual trace CRO cannot switch quickly between the traces so it cannot capture
two fast transient events whereas dual beam CRO there is no question of
switching.

 The brightness of the displayed beam of the dual trace is half of the brightness of
dual beam CRO.
 High frequency CRT or travelling wave type CRT
When the signal to be displayed is of a very high frequency ,the electron beam
does not get sufficient time to pick up the instantaneous level of the signal.

Also at high frequencies the numbers of electrons striking the screen in a given
time and the intensity of the beam is reduced.

Instead of one set of deflection plates, a series of vertical deflection plates are
used.

The plates are so shaped and spaced that an electron travelling along the CRT
receives from each set of plates an additional deflecting force in proper time
sequence.

This synchronisation is achieved by making the signal travel from one plate to the
next at the same speed as the transit time of the electrons.

The signal is applied to each pair of plates, and as the electron beam travels the
signal also travels through the delay lines.

The time delays are so arranged that the same electrons are deflected by the
input signal.
 Characteristics of a HF CRO(HF improvement in a CRO)

1.The vertical amplifier must be designed both for high B.W. and high sensitivity
or gain. Making the vertical amplifier a fixed gain amplifier simplifies the
design. The input to the amplifier is brought to the required level by means of an
attenuator circuit. The final stages is the push-pull stage.

2.The LF CRT is replaced by an HF CRT.

3.A probe is used to connect the signals ,e.g. a high Z passive probe acts like a
compensated attenuator.

4.By using a triggered sweep, for fast rising signals, and by the use of delay lines
between the vertical plates, for improvement of HF characteristics.
 Sampling Oscilloscope

The sampling oscilloscope is an advanced version of the digital oscilloscope with

some added features and uses for the special purpose. It is designed to provide a
very high-frequency function by sampling several wave forms successively.
Functioning of Sampling Oscilloscope

 Sampling oscilloscope collects samples from several successive waveform and

construct a complete picture of the waveform from the assembled data.

 The resultant waveform is amplified with low band pass filter and then
displayed on the screen.

 This waveform is made with the joining of many dots associated with each
other to construct the whole shape.

 Each dot of the wave is the vertical deflection of the point of the progressive
layer in each successive cycle of a staircase waveform which are used to
monitor high-frequency signals up to 50 GHz or more.

 The frequency of the displayed waveform is higher than the sample rate of the
scope . At sampling stage, signals have low-frequency and to achieve large
band-width it combines with an attenuator. Though, it reduces the dynamic
range of the instrument.
Sampling Method

Before each sampling cycle, the trigger pulse activates an oscillator and liner
voltage is generated.

When the amplitude of two voltages is equal, the staircase move one step and a
sampling pulse is generated and it opens the sampling gate for a sample of the
input voltage.

The resolution of the waveform depends upon the dimension of the steps of the
staircase generator.

There are different ways of sample taking but two are commonly used.

One is real- time sample and other is equivalent sample method.

Real-Time Sample Method

In real-time method digitizer works at high-speed so it can register maximum

points in one sweep.

 It’s main purpose to capture high-frequency transient events with accuracy. The
transient waveform is so unique that its voltage or current level at any instant of
time cannot be associated with its nearest ones.

These events do not repeat themselves, so it must be registered in the same time
frame as they occur.

The frequency of samples is very high about 500 MHz and sample rate is about
100 samples per second.

To store such a high-frequency waveform, a high-speed memory is required.

Equivalent Sample Method

Sampling in equivalent method works upon the principle of prophecy and

estimation which is possible only with the repetitive waveform. In equivalent
method digitizer get samples from many repetitions of signals.

It may take one or more samples from each repetition. By doing so, the accuracy in
capturing signal gets increases.

The frequency of the resultant waveform is much higher than the scope sample
rate.

This type of sampling can be done by two methods

(1) Random method and (2) Sequential method.

Random Method of Sampling

Random method of sampling is the most common method of sampling.

It uses an internal clock which adjusted in such a way that it runs with respect to
input signals and the signal trigger samples are taken continuously, no matter
where it was triggered. Samples those are collected are regular with respect to
time but random with respect to trigger.

Sequential Method of Sampling

In this technique, samples are taken with respect to triggered and it is independent
of time setting.

Whenever the trigger is detected, the sample is recorded with a small delay. Make
sure that the delay should be very short but well defined.

When next trigger occurred, it gets registered with a little incremental time delay
with respect to previous one.
The delayed sweep can have the range from few microsecond (µs) too few seconds
(s).

Let us suppose delay for the first time is ‘t” then the delay for the second time will
be little more than ‘t’ and in this manner samples are being taken many times with
added delay until the time window is filled.
 Storage Oscilloscope
 A digital oscilloscope is an instrument which stores a digital copy of the
waveform in the digital memory.

 It captures the non-repetitive signals and displays it consciously until the device
gets reset.

 In digital storage oscilloscope, signals are received, stored and then displayed.

 The maximum frequency measured by digital oscilloscope depends upon two

things (1): Sampling rate of the scope, and (2) The nature of the converter

 Converter is either analogue or digital.

 The main advantage of the digital oscilloscope is that it can display visual as
well as numerical values by analyzing the stored traces.

 The displayed trace on the flat panel could be magnified and also we can
change the brightness of the traces, and minute detailing can be done as per
requirement after an acquisition.
 (1) Digital storage oscilloscope

The digital oscilloscopes are widely used today because of its advanced
features of storage, display, fast traces rate and remarkable bandwidth.
Although, the digital scope is costlier than the analogue oscilloscope, still it is
popular in the market.
(2) Analogue Storage Oscilloscope

In original storage oscilloscope had analogue input stages, and then convert
the signals into a digital format so that it could be stored in special storage
memory called cathode-ray tube.

These signals processed before being converted back into an analogue format.
Cathode-ray tube retains the images on an electrode by plotting it as a charge
pattern, then these patterns modulate the electron rays to deliver the picture
of the stored signal.
Uses of Digital Storage Oscilloscope

used for testing signal voltage in circuit debugging.

Testing in manufacturing.
Designing.
Testing of signals voltage in radio broadcasting equipment.
In the field of research.
Audio and video recording equipment.
 Oscilloscope Probes
 Selecting the right probe for your application is the first step toward making
reliable oscilloscope measurements.

Passive and Active.

 Passive probes do not require external probe power.
 Active probes do require external probe power for the active components in the
probe, such as transistors and amplifiers, and provide higher bandwidth
performance than passive probes.

 The probe tip resistance is typically 9MΩ, which gives a 10:1 division ratio (or
attenuation ratio) with the scope’s input when the probe is connected to the 1
MΩ input of a scope.

The voltage level at the scope’s input is then 1/10th the voltage level at the probe
tip, which can be expressed as follows:
Vscope = Vprobe * (1 MΩ/ (9 MΩ + 1 MΩ))
Compared to active probes, passive probes are more rugged and less expensive.
They offer a wide dynamic range (>300 V for a typical 10:1 probe) and high input
resistance to match a scope’s input impedance. However, high-impedance-input
probes impose heavier capacitive loading and have lower bandwidths than active
probes.

The key benefits of this probe include low capacitive loading and very high
bandwidth

In addition, this is a low-cost probe compared to an active probe in a similar bandwidth
range.

The one critical trade-off is that this probe has relatively heavy resistive loading, which
can affect the measured amplitude of the signal.
 Active Probes

If your scope has more than 500 MHz of bandwidth, you are probably using an
active probe—or should be. Despite its high price, the active probe is the tool of
choice when you need high bandwidth performance. Active probes typically cost
more than passive probes and feature limited input voltage but, because of their
significantly lower capacitive loading, they give you more accurate insight into
fast signals.

Typically you would choose a single ended active probe for measuring single-
ended signals (a voltage referenced to ground) and differential active probes for
measuring differential signals (a plus voltage versus a minus voltage).

Higher bandwidth is a clear advantage of active probes over passive probes.

 Probe Loading Effect

The probe has a kΩ, MΩ, or even a 10 MΩ input impedance, but that isn’t
constant over frequency. Input impedance decreases over frequency.

At DC and low frequency ranges, the probe’s input impedance starts out at the
rated input resistance, say 10 MΩ for a 10:1 passive probe, but as the frequency
goes up, the input

capacitance of the probe starts to become a short, and the impedance of the
probe starts to drop. The higher the input capacitance, the faster the impedance
slope drops.

crossover point of ~10 kHz and beyond, the input impedance of the active probe
is higher than that of the passive probe. Higher input impedance means less
loading on the target signal, and less loading means less effect on or less
disruption of the signal.
 Applications of oscilloscope

Voltage Measurements:-
The rms value of the voltage can then be easily calculated from the p-p
value.

To measure the voltage from the CRT display, one must observe the setting
of the vertical attenuator expressed in V/div and the peak to peak (p-p)
deflection of the beam i.e. the number of divisions. The peak of peak value
of voltage is then computed as follows.

The waveform must be displayed such that a complete cycle is displayed on

the CRT screen.

Accuracy is generally improved if a single cycle displayed fills as much of the

horizontal distance across the screen as possible.