EXPERIMENT 2

Introduction to Oscilloscope and Function Generator

Learning Objectives:
1. Acquire the skills needed to use an oscilloscope.
2. Acquire the skills needed to use a function generator.

Introduction:

The instruments introduced in this session will be used throughout the semester during
all upcoming lab sessions. By the end of this session, you should become familiar with:
• The operation and use of an oscilloscope. Mainly, use the oscilloscope to
read the voltage as a function of time.
• The function generator and be able to use it to generate a simple signal.

A. Oscilloscope
The oscilloscope is used to analyze oscillatory phenomena or transient signals. The
oscilloscope displays the voltage as a function of time on its screen. The vertical axis
on the screen represents the voltage, whereas the horizontal axis represents the time.

A picture is produced on the screen by a beam of electrons. This picture does not stay
but disappears after a time of the order of one millisecond. To keep a stable picture
on the screen it is necessary to re-draw it repeatedly several times per second. The
picture must be drawn each time at the same place. This can be done using the
controls and knobs on the oscilloscope.

The controls knobs on the front panel of the oscilloscope are used to do the following:
• Select the time scale for the horizontal axis
• Select the voltage scale for the vertical axis
• Synchronize the oscilloscope with the period and the phase of the signal you
want to study. This is called “triggering” the oscilloscope. It is important to
have a stable picture on the oscilloscope.

Front panel controls

Figure 1 shows a simplified diagram of the front panel of the oscilloscope you will use
in this lab. On the oscilloscope, you will be able to identify four categories of controls
on the front panel:
• General controls
• Vertical controls
• Horizontal controls
• The triggering controls
 11

12
4

6
710

2
9

8
3

Figure 1. The front panel of the oscilloscope

In the following section, we describe some of the control functions on the front panel
of the oscilloscope.
The General Controls
These are the group of controls that are used to set the picture.
1. The ON/OFF switch for the mains supply.
2. Analog channel inputs: You can display two signals simultaneously on the
oscilloscope by feeding them into the two available inputs. These inputs are
called channel 1 and channel 2.

The Input Jack

The input signal jack for the channels is a BNC-type jack. The BNC type cables are
coaxial cables. The wire transporting the signal is inside and the grounded shield is
outside in the form of a mesh surrounding the inner wire. This mesh plays the role of
Faraday cage, preventing external electromagnetic signals from interfering with the
signal that we want to transport from the signal generator. With these types of cables,
we thus minimize the amount of unwanted noise signal (e.g. 50Hz from the mains)
picked up by the wires.

3. The LCD to display the electric signals.

4. The Autoset key: Press the Autoset key to automatically set the trigger,
horizontal scale and vertical scale.

6. The Vertical Axis Controls, The Voltage Control Switches

These controls the voltage that is displayed on the y-axis of the LCD screen. The
controls for the two channels are identical so we will describe only channel 1.

1. Scale: The Scale knob is used to change the horizontal scale (VOLTS/DIV)

This knob selects the scale for the y-axis. It enables you to select the number of volts
per square (VOLTS/DIV) you have on the screen of the oscilloscope. Each square is
called Division (DIV). The number (VOLTS/DIV) is displaced on the LCD screen. Ask
Instructor if you can’t identify it.

Example: If the Volts / Div is on the 5mV position and the amplitude of the signal on
the screen is 2.4 squares then the amplitude of the signal is
2.4 x 5 = 12.0 mV

2. Position
The position button moves the trace up or down on the screen without
affecting the scale. You can use this button to move the graph where it is
convenient for your measurement.
NOTE: The up/down controls are set independently for channel 1 and for channel 2.

5. The Horizontal Axis Controls, The Time Control Switches

These controls are for setting the scale for the time-axis. There are three knobs for the
horizontal axis, the Scale knob (TIME / DIV).
1. The Scale TIME / DIV knob is like the Scale VOLTS / DIV knob; it selects the
scale of the time-axis (the x-axis). It enables you to select how many seconds or
squares or microseconds per square you have on the screen of the oscilloscope.

2. Horizontal Position: The horizontal control knob enables you to move the picture
to the right or to the left of the screen. You will use this knob when you want to
measure a time interval. To do that you will have to position the beginning of the
interval on one of the gridlines on the screen.

7. Function Keys: are used to enter and configure different functions on the
oscilloscope. The two keys that might be useful are:

Measure: It allows to measure automatically the signal characteristic such as

Amplitude, peak-to-peak signal, frequency, period.

Cursor: It displays a cursor on the screen. This can help to precisely measure the volts
and time intervals. It might be useful for reading the DIVs on the screen.

8-9. Menu keys: The side menu and bottom menu keys are used to make selections
from the soft-menus on the LCD user interface.

10. Variable knob: the variable knob and select keys are used to move between
parameters in the menu. It also allows to move the cursors for manual reading.

11. The Triggering Controls

These controls enable you to synchronize the timing electronics of the oscilloscope with
the period and the phase of your signal. This synchronization is essential to obtain a
stable display on the screen.

To trigger the oscilloscope means to give the order to the oscilloscope to start drawing
the graph on the screen. Each time an electronic signal must give the other to start
drawing. The signal to start is called the triggering signal.

The Autoset key is used for an automatic triggering of the signal!

12. External Trigger

This is a BNC input to connect an external triggering signal. Usually, this signal
is given by your signal generator from the TTL output in the Function Generator.

B. The Function Generator

The function generator is an instrument that produces electrical waves. It is an essential
tool for experimental physicists, electronics engineers, etc. The function generator you
have is an advanced modern model. You are expected to become familiar with most of
its features. You will be using the same oscilloscope and the function generator in
several experiments in this course.
Observe the front panel of the instrument and identify the following controls of the
instrument. Refer to figure 2 for help.
 1K
10

10

10
10
M

1
1

0
FREQUENCY

TTL OFSET AMPL

POWER OUTPUT
OUTPUT

3
8
1

7
5

Figure 2. The front panel of the function generator.

1. The ON/OFF power knob

2. The waveform selection knobs. You can select between three types of waves:
a) Triangular wave
b) Sine wave
c) Square wave

3. The amplitude control knob. This knob sets the peak-to-peak amplitude of the
wave.

4. The frequency range selection keys. Push one of these keys to select the frequency
range you need. The number written on the knob gives the maximum frequency.

5. The frequency adjustment knob. With this knob you can set any frequency in the
range selected with the push knobs (4).

6. The DC offset control.

7. The main output. This is a BNC type connector where the signal comes out to
be displayed on the oscilloscope or to be connected to a circuit.

8. The TTL output. The TTL output is a square wave, always 0-5 V, at the same
frequency as the main output's signal. The TTL output is used as an external trigger for
the oscilloscope. When you are using this function generator with an oscilloscope, it is
better to connect this output to the EXT input of the oscilloscope and to set the
oscilloscope on “external trigger”.
c. Exploring the instruments

Connect the output of the function generator to channel 1 of the oscilloscope.

To get familiar with the two instruments try to do the following:

▪ Display a square wave. Obtain a stable picture on the screen.

▪ Change the amplitude of the output from the function. What do you see? Why?
▪ Change the frequency of the wave. What do you see? Why?
▪ Change the wave to triangle and then to sine.

Peak-to-peak voltage

1. Apply a sine wave signal at a frequency of 500 Hz to channel 1.

2. Set the time scale to an appropriate value so you can observe one or two periods of
the sine wave on the screen.
3. Using the vertical POSITION control, adjust the position of the waveform so you
can take the scale reading easily. Make sure that the VAR button is in the CAL
position.
4. Set the Volts/Div to 0.2V/div and find the peak-to-peak voltage. Estimate the
uncertainty.
5. Set the Volts/Div to 0.5, 1, and 2V/div and find the peak-to-peak voltages. Estimate
the uncertainties.
6. Record your measurements on the answer sheet.

Time Measurements
1. Set the signal to a square wave.
2. Measure the horizontal distance between two selected points of the wave on the
screen of the oscilloscope. Using this value and the Time/Div setting, calculate the
time between these two points.
3. Obtain the period of the signal from this measurement. Estimate the uncertainty in
the period.
4. Calculate the frequency from this measurement. Calculate the uncertainty in the
frequency.