Wednesday, July 20, 2016


Understanding Digital Oscilloscopes

Detecting the integrity of electronic circuits is the main function of oscilloscopes. For example, a voltage signal may show that circuit is oscillating while a voltmeter reading may show a markedly different voltage.An absent signal trace between connected electronic instruments like an amplifier and or mixer will help determine whether the faulty signal preceding the equipment needs more checking. The oscilloscope can detect faults right down to the component stage.

Tektronix oscilloscope

Primarily an oscilloscope's basic function is to provide a graph of voltage signal over time. PWM (pulse width modulation) duty cycle as well as clock frequency signal’s rise and fall times measurements are possible using this instrument. The Tektronix oscilloscope is perhaps the most favored instrument. The controls are easy to use. To start a Tektronix oscilloscope pressing the function generator and selecting the function will form the first step for any measurements. The inputs derived from the probes gives a real time changes in signals over time. The representation of Y-axis denotes the voltage (as an example) and X-axis represents the time function. Digital oscilloscopes samples wave forms and using analog to digital circuitry converts the voltage into a digital format. Modern oscilloscopes can send digital data to a PC for later viewing.

This testing instrument also measures the frequency and amplitude of an oscillating signal. It also shows the DC (direct current) voltage or AC (alternating current) voltage in a signal. A flat horizontal line in the waveform indicates that there is no voltage change in the signal. Change in the height of the waveform indicates that voltage fluctuation has taken place.