An oscilloscope measures time-dependent signals, such as sinusoidal oscillations. If a signal to be measured is connected to the oscilloscope, the device does not know anything about type and frequency of the signal. How is the oscilloscope supposed to display an unknown signal?

One possibility is to make a so-called …

Most oscilloscopes have a clip handle around the device. With this bracket you can carry the oscilloscope or put it on it.

Agilent oscilloscope on grip.

There are several concepts in the handles. On some devices, there is a push button on each side, with the help of which you …

Oscilloscope simulator - artifacts occur due to discrete sampling at high frequencies. The signal is sampled internally with 100kHz.

With the simulator one can observe an effect at high frequencies, which leads to an incorrect display of the measurement signal. The signal of 20kHz is sampled internally at approx. 100kHz. The …

Why is the ground connection of an oscilloscope problematic? The reason is that the oscilloscope ground is connected via the device connector with the ground potential of the outlet. This can cause problems depending on how the circuit under investigation is powered.

Ground for battery operated circuit

Oscilloscope ground: circuit …

Oscilloscope worksheet.

On this page there is a free worksheet for private use or school purposes. Printing, copying and distribution for classroom use and for teaching purposes is permitted. The worksheet may be copied to your servers for free download. In this case, add a link (backlink) to https://www …

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The following figure shows an interactive oscilloscope simulator for the internet browser (requires Javascript). The black controls (Time/div, Volt/div, etc.) can be adjusted with the mouse or with the finger and are clickable. Repeated clicking rotates the buttons or switches until they return to their original position.

Cathode ray tube for an analog oscilloscope.

Analog oscilloscope: layout of the cathode ray tube.

An analog oscilloscope is based on an electron beam tube. That principle is similar to old televisions, where these devices are called tubes. A heating element first heats a tungsten wire. This causes electrons to …

Measuring voltage with a multimeter.

How do you actually measure voltage? There are different ways to do this, depending on the type of signal. You can use a multimeter or use an oscilloscope.

DC voltage

DC voltage is measured with a multimeter. You switch it to "DC", connect the black …

Analog and digital oscilloscopes are used in a similar way. Standalone device consists of a display, a time base (with trigger settings), voltage level settings and input channels.

Display

Display of an oscilloscope.

On an analog oscilloscope, the display is the visible end of a cathode ray tube. The representation …

An oscilloscope consists of a display, setting knobs for the time base, the controllers for the signal voltage and input channels for connecting a probe. The subpage oscilloscope usage explains these elements in more detail. There are two types of oscilloscopes: analogue and digital ones.