The Papua New Guinea University of Technology

Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering

EN123 Introduction to Circuits and Electronics

Laboratory Two: Your Workspace and Tools Part B

Oscilloscopes

Section A - Student Details:

First Name: Surname:

ID Number: Course:

Section B - Instructor Check:

Date Performed: Instructor Sign:

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1. Objectives
Upon completion this laboratory session, the student should be able to:

- Describe the function and purpose of the oscilloscope

- Describe the difference between the analog and digital oscilloscopes

- Perform basic measurements on the analog and digital oscilloscopes

- Interpret the results from the oscilloscope output

2. Introduction
Oscilloscope is an electronic test instrument mainly used in displays signal usually voltage as a
function of time. Oscilloscopes come in two varieties: analog and digital. Most of the function
controls on both types are basically the same. The digital scopes may hide some of these controls
in a menu on the LCD display instead of using knob or button. In this lab, you will discover and
operate both analog and digital oscilloscopes.

The main purpose of an oscilloscope is to graph an electrical signal as it varies over time. Most
scopes produce a two-dimensional graph with time on the x-axis and voltage on the y-axis.

Figure 1 An example of an oscilloscope display. A signal (the yellow sine wave in this case) is graphed
on a horizontal time axis and a vertical voltage axis.

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Controls surrounding the scope's screen allow you to adjust the scale of the graph, both
vertically and horizontally -- allowing you to zoom in and out on a signal. There are also controls to
set the trigger on the scope, which helps focus and stabilize the display.

What Can Scopes Measure

In addition to those fundamental features, many scopes have measurement tools, which help to
quickly quantify frequency, amplitude, and other waveform characteristics. In general a scope can
measure both time-based and voltage-based characteristics:

 Timing characteristics:
o Frequency and period -- Frequency is defined as the number of times per second
a waveform repeats. And the period is the reciprocal of that (number of seconds
each repeating waveform takes). The maximum frequency a scope can measure
varies, but it's often in the 100's of MHz (1E6 Hz) range.
o Duty cycle -- The percentage of a period that a wave is either positive or
negative (there are both positive and negative duty cycles). The duty cycle is a
ratio that tells you how long a signal is "on" versus how long it's "off" each
period.
o Rise and fall time -- Signals can't instantaneously go from 0V to 5V, they have to
smoothly rise. The duration of a wave going from a low point to a high point is
called the rise time, and fall time measures the opposite. These characteristics
are important when considering how fast a circuit can respond to signals.

 Voltage characteristics:
o Amplitude -- Amplitude is a measure of the magnitude of a signal. There are a
variety of amplitude measurements including peak-to-peak amplitude, which
measures the absolute difference between a high and low voltage point of a
signal. Peak amplitude, on the other hand, only measures how high or low a
signal is past 0V.
o Maximum and minimum voltages -- The scope can tell you exactly how high and
low the voltage of your signal gets.
o Mean and average voltages -- Oscilloscopes can calculate the average or mean of
your signal, and it can also tell you the average of your signal's minimum and
maximum voltage.

When to Use an O-Scope

The o-scope is useful in a variety of troubleshooting and research situations, including:

 Determining the frequency and amplitude of a signal, which can be critical in debugging a
circuit's input, output, or internal systems. From this, you can tell if a component in your circuit
has malfunctioned.
 Identifying how much noise is in your circuit.
 Identifying the shape of a wave -- sine, square, triangle, sawtooth, complex, etc.
 Quantifying phase differences between two different signals.

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3. Digital Oscilloscope [100MHZ Digital Oscilloscope RIGOL DS 1102E]
In CDL2 we have both digital and analog oscilloscopes. Figure 2 shows the 100 MHz Digital
Oscilloscope manufactured by RIGOL. It is the DS1102E model with 2 input channels and can
sample the input signals at 100 MHz.

Figure 2 Digital Oscilloscope with Probes

While no scopes are created exactly equal, they should all share a few similarities that make them
function similarly. In the Table 1 below we'll discuss a few of the more common systems of an
oscilloscope: the display, horizontal, vertical, trigger, and inputs.

Task 1 Ports and Buttons and Their Function on the Digital Oscilloscope (5 Marks)

Functional Block Function

1. Vertical Block

2. Horizontal Block

3. Run control
Block

4. Trigger Block

5. Channels Block or
Inputs

Table 1 Functions of the Digital Oscilloscope

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4 Analog Oscilloscope
Similarly, the analog oscilloscope shares a few similarities that make them function similarly. In the
Table 2 below we'll discuss a few of the more common systems of an oscilloscope: the display,
horizontal, vertical, trigger, and inputs.

Figure 3 50MHz Oscilloscope

Task 2 Ports and Buttons and their Function on the Analog Oscilloscope (9 Marks)
Port or Button Function
POWER
INTENSITY
FOCUS
DISPLAY SCREEN
MODE
DELAY POSITION

TRIGGERRING

POSITION

POSITION
X POSITION
Y POSITION
Cal VARIABLE
AC-GND-DC
VOLTS/DIV
LEVEL
CH1 or Y
CH2 or X
CH3 OUTPUT

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 Table 2 Functions of the Analog Oscilloscope

Some Notes On the Display

Amplitude Measurements

Figure 4 A Voltage Signal Measurements

Vrms = effective value
Vp = simple peak or crest value
Vpp = peak-to-peak value
Vmom = momentary value
V= no/DIV * Volt/DIV

Frequency measurement

T = time in seconds for one period; = no of DIV * Time/DIV:

F = recurrence frequency in Hz of the signals, = 1/T,

Task 3 Experiment 2a Measuring Waveforms with Oscilloscope

For this section, you should produce different types of electrical wave forms and verify the
properties of each of the waveform produced, like the amplitude, wavelength, and frequency.

Material
1. Function Generator
2. Oscilloscope (Digital or Analog)

Procedures
1. Connect the output (BNC output port – 50Ω load) of function generator to the input
(CH3 input BNC port) of the oscilloscope.
2. Switch ON the function generator and oscilloscope
3. Produce a sine wave using the wave selection on the function generator
4. Select the parameter of the frequency or UNITS to Hertz
5. Generate a frequency of 60Hz of the electrical wave
6. Record your reading1 from the scope

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 7. Generate a frequency of 20Hz of the electrical wave
8. Record your reading2 from the scope

(6 Marks)

Observation Amplitude (V) Frequency (Hz) Period (T)

Reading 1
Reading 2

Table 3 Data Table for Experiment 2a

Questions (5 Marks)

1. Define amplitude, frequency, and period (3 Marks)

2. What is the difference between analog oscilloscope and digital oscilloscope? (2 Marks)

Reflection: (6 Marks)

1. What’s new?

2. What’s interesting?

3. What can be done better?

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