#1: WAVEFORM MEASURING

INSTRUMENTS
 Oscilloscope
 A graph-displaying device of electrical signal
 X axis: Time
 Y axis: Voltage
 Z axis: Intensity or brightness

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 Oscilloscope
 Information given by oscilloscopes
 Time and voltage
 Frequency and phase
 DC and AC components
 Spectral analysis
 Rise and fall time
 Mathematical analysis

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 Control panel of an oscilloscope
 The oscilloscope's control panel is where the oscilloscope is
configured and connected to the rest of the system.

 Vertical Section
 Horizontal Section
 Trigger Section

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 Control panel of an oscilloscope
Horizontal Section
 The normal form of a CRO uses a horizontal
input voltage which is an internally generated
ramp voltage called ‘time base’. The horizontal
voltage moves the luminous spot periodically in
a horizontal direction from left to right over the
display area or screen.

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 Vertical
 The vertical input to the CRO is the voltage under investigation.
The vertical input voltage moves the luminous spot up and down
in accordance with the instantaneous value of the voltage. The
luminous spot thus traces the waveform of the input voltage with
respect to time. When the input voltage repeats itself at a fast rate,
the display on the screen appears stationary on the screen. The
CRO thus provides a means of visualizing time-varying voltages.
As such, the CRO has become a universal tool in all kinds of
electrical and electronic investigation.

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  Trigger Section:An oscilloscope’s trigger function
synchronizes the horizontal sweep at the correct point of
the signal, essential for clear signal characterization.
Trigger controls allow you to stabilize repetitive
waveforms and capture single-shot waveforms. The
trigger makes repetitive waveforms appear static on the
oscilloscope display by repeatedly displaying the same
portion of the input signal.

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 Basic setting of an Oscilloscope
 Vertical system
 attenuation or amplification of signal (volts/div)
 Horizontal system
 The Time base (sec/div)
 Trigger system
 To stabilize a repeating signal and to trigger on a single event

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 Analog oscilloscope
 Real-time display of signals
 Block diagram
 Sweep generator and vertical amplifier

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 Analog oscilloscope

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 Digital Oscilloscope
 A digital oscilloscope is a complex electronic device
composed of various software and electronic hardware
modules that work together to capture, process, display and
store data that represents the signals of interest of an
operator.
 Digital oscilloscopes are often referred to as digital storage
oscilloscope (DSO) or digital sampling oscilloscopes (DSO).
 DSO differs from the conventional analog oscilloscope in that
it converts the analog input waveform into a digital signal
that is stored in memory and then converted back into analog
form for display on a conventional CRT.

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 Digital Oscilloscope

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 Digital Oscilloscope
 The input signal is supplied to an ADC that digitizes the
signal before storage.
 The contents of the memory are outputted to a DAC and
then to the vertical and horizontal (x and y) deflection
sections of the CRT circuitry.
 The data are displayed most frequently in form of the
individual dots that collectively make up the CRT trace.

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 Digital Oscilloscope
 The vertical screen position of each dot is given by the binary
number stored in each memory location and the horizontal
screen position is derived from the binary address of that
memory location.
 The number of dots displayed depends on three factors, viz.
the frequency of the input signal with respect to the
digitizing rate, the memory size and the rate at which the
memory contents are read out.

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 Digital Oscilloscope
 The greater the frequency of the input signal with respect to
the sampling rate, the fewer the data points captured in the
oscilloscope memory in a single pass and the fewer the dots
available in the reconstructed waveform.

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 Digital Oscilloscope
 The ADC of DSO determines some of its most important
characteristics.
 Storage resolution is dictated by the bit resolution of the ADC.
 Storage speed by max speed of the converter.
 The output of the DSO is available in other forms than the
trace of the CRT. Digital output in USB, IEEE-1394 or RS-
232C format is generally available.

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 Digital Oscilloscope
 Advantages over analog oscilloscope:
 Indefinite storage of waveform data.
 Transfer of stored data to other digital instruments.
 Onboard processing of data: Waveform parameters such as
maximum, minimum, peak to peak, mean, rms, rise time, fall-
time, waveform frequency and pulse delay can be computed and
made available for presentation in decimal form on the
oscilloscope screen.
 Well suited for capturing transient signals.

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 Electronic Recorders
 A recorder is a measuring instrument that displays a time-
varying signal in a form easy to examine and reexamine,
perhaps long after the original signal has ceased to exist.
 A recorder
 Preserves information which could be obtained at any instant
from indicating instruments.
 Gives information about waveforms and transient behaviour or
phase relationships in different parts of a circuit.

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 Electronic Recorders
 Recorders are of two types, viz analog and digital.
 Analog recorders may be broadly categorized into three:
graphic, oscillographic and magnetic tape recorders.

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 Electronic Recorders

Recorders

Analog
Digital
recorders

Graphic Oscillographic Magnetic

Strip Chart Circular Chart Galvanometer Digital Tape

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 Graphic Recorders
 A graphic recorder may be defined as an instrument, which
draws a graph that relates two or more variables to time or to
each other.
 Three basic types:
 Strip chart recorders
 Circular chart recorders
 xy recorders

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders
 Strip chart recorders record one or more variables with
respect to time. They are thus also known as xt recorders.
 Data is recorded on a continuous roll of chart paper at a
constant speed.

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders
 Paper drive system consists of a long roll of graph paper,
called the chart moving vertically and is usually driven by a
synchronous motor equipped with a speed selector switch in
order to change the speed of the chart conveniently in fixed
increments.

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders
 Types of marking mechanisms:
 Pen and ink: the ink is supplied to the stylus from a refillable
reservoir by capillary action. This is now replaced by disposable
fibre tip pens.
 Impact printing: originally consists of a carbon ribbon placed
between the pointer mehanism and paper.
 Thermal writing: a special movable pen which is thermally
heated by passing an electric current through it is used. This
systems requires a thermally sensitive paper which changes its
colour on application of heat.

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 Graphic Recorders: Strip chart
recorders
 Types of marking mechanisms:
 Electric writing: a paper base coated with a layer of coloured
dye (black, blue or red) is used. It is in turn coated with with a
thin surface of aluminium.
The stylus consists of a tungsten wire moving over the
aluminium surface. Markings on the paper are achieved by
applying a potential of 35 V to the stylus. This causes an electric
discharge which removes the aluminium revealing the coloured
dye.

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 Graphic Recorders: circular chart
recorders
 In circular chart recorders, a circular chart is used which
has concentric circles ruled on it to form its scales.
 In addition, there are printed arcs extending from the centre
of the chart to the paper edge.

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 Graphic Recorders: circular chart
recorders

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 Graphic Recorders: circular chart
recorders
 As the pen of the recorder is moved, it swings along these
arcs called time arcs.
 Since the chart is clamped at the geometric centre and
rotates about it at uniform speed, the angular position
between the arcs indicates elapsed time.
 The radial position of the pen indicates the instantaneous
value of the quantity under measurement.
 Magnitudes of several variables can be recorded on a single
chart.

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 Graphic Recorders: XY recorders
 XY recorders are employed where it is desired to plot the
relationship between 2 variables, y=f(x) instead of plotting
the variables separately each as a function of time.
 One of the variables is applied to the X input and the other to
the Y input.

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 Graphic Recorders: XY recorders

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 Graphic Recorders: XY recorders
 As most of the XY plotters have a timebase, they can be
employed to plot the variation of one variable against time as
well.

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 Oscillographic Recorders
 Oscillographic recorders are instruments which record
information on paper or film with ink, powder, electrostatic
charge, liquid, electric arc or light.
 ‘Oscillograph’ implies either a galvanometer or CRT
recorder having bandwidth of more than 20 KHz.
 Two types: Galvanometer recorder and CRT recorder.

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 Oscillographic Recorders:
Galvanometer recorders
 Galvanometer recorders are two-dimensional display and
recording devices having a mirror galvanometer, light source
and a light sensitive recording surface which rolls up
continuously.

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 Oscillographic Recorders:
Galvanometer recorders

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 Oscillographic Recorders:
Galvanometer recorders
 When the galvanometer is connected to an external source,
the electric signal conducts through the coil and the causes
the galvanometer to rotate accordingly.
 So the light beam moves in a straight line on the recording
surface, in proportion to the amplitude and to the rate of
change in the input signal being recorded. This way,
amplitude vs. time record of input signal is provided.

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 Arbitrary waveform generator
 An arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) is a piece of
electronic test equipment used to generate electrical
waveforms.
 These waveforms can be either repetitive or single-shot in
which case some kind of triggering source is required.
 The resulting waveforms can be injected into a device under
test and analyzed as they progress through it, confirming the
proper operation of the device or pinpointing a fault in it.

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