Figure 1: The front face of the oscilloscope
Cursor
Channel 1
Position
Power
Button
Cursor Run/
Movements Stop
Channel 1
Menu
Channel 1
VOLTS/DIV
Channel 1
Input Cables
Trigger
Menu
SEC/DIV
As part of the coupled oscillator and resonance experiments, you will be using an oscilloscope. These devices automatically plot voltage versus time over and over again on a small
screen. Oscilloscopes are especially useful for observing periodic behaviour, as in the case of
the coupled oscillator experiment. They are also useful for plotting transient behaviour as in
the resonance experiment. These instructions will tell you how to start the oscilloscopes and
set them up for the measurements you are making today. You will use oscilloscopes again
many times; they are very useful tools once you get to be expert with using them.
1. Attach the appropriate cables to the inputs for channel 1 on the oscilloscope, as shown
in figure 1.
2. If the oscilloscope is off, turn the power on, using the power button, on the top of the
oscilloscope located as shown in figure 1. When prompted, press any button, once.
3. Turn the Ch. 1 vertical position adjustment knob. A reading will appear at the bottom
of the screen, telling you the offset of the Ch. 1 trace. The message at the bottom of
the screen can be seen in figure 3. Continue to adjust the knob until the offset is zero.
1
Figure 2: While the vertical offset is being adjusted, it states how far offset the signal is.
Adjust until this is 0
2
Figure 3: The Channel 1 menu screen.
Coupling
toggle
BW Limit
select
Coarse/Fine
vertical scale
adjust toggle
Channel 1
menu button
Probe
select
4. Press the ch. 1 MENU button. On the right side of the screen, a menu appears, like in
figure 4. You can adjust the settings by pressing the unlabelled buttons immediately
to the right of the menu items on the screen. Set them so that they match those in
figure 4,
(a) Coupling should be set to AC
(b) BW Limit should be set to OFF
(c) Volts/Div should be set to COARSE
(d) Probe should be set to 1X
5. Press the TRIGGER MENU button. On the right side of the screen a menu appears,
like in figure 5. Once again, you adjust the settings using the unlabelled buttons
immediately to the right of the menu items on the screen. Set these so that they
match those in figure 5.
(a) EDGE should be highlighted
3
Figure 4: The Trigger menu screen.
Edge/Video
toggle
Slope
adjust
Source
select
Mode
select
Coupling
adjust
(b) Slope should be set to RISING
(c) Source should be set to Ch. 1
(d) Mode should be set to Auto
(e) Coupling should be set to AC
6. The number of volts that each vertical grid marking represents is written in the bottom
left-hand corner of the screen. Adjust the channel 1 VOLT/DIV knob (see figure 1)
counter-clockwise until each division is 5 V.
7. The number of seconds each horizontal grid marking represents is written just to the
right of the centre in the bottom of the screen. Adjust the SEC/DIV knob (see figure 1)
clockwise until each division is 50 ms.
8. **** THIS SHOULD HAVE THE PICTURES OF “GOOD” TRACES AND “BAD”
TRACES ******
4
9. To determine frequency, make measurements of period using the cursor feature of the
oscilloscope.
(a) To begin, when the trace on the scope looks like what you want to be measuring,
press the RUN/STOP button (see figure 1). Up near the centre, at the top of
the screen, a black dot and the word STOP will appear. If the trace isn’t quite
what you want, press the RUN/STOP button again, adjust things until the trace
is what you want and then press the RUN/STOP button again.
(b) Press the cursor button (see figure 1). Two vertical lines appear on the screen. On
the right side of the screen a menu will appear. As always, you use the unlabelled
buttons immediately to the right of the screen to change those menu settings. Set
the first two so that they match those in figure 9.
i. Type should be set to TIME
ii. Source should be set to Ch. 1
iii. Delta is the difference between the two vertical lines:
Cursor 1 - Cursor 2 = Delta
iv. Cursor 1 reads where the first vertical line is positioned
v. Cursor 2 reads where the second vertical line is positioned
(c) Move cursor 1 to intersect a peak in your trace. You move cursor 1 by turning
the channel 1 vertical position knob (see figure 1).
(d) Move cursor 2 to intersect a neighbouring peak in your trace. You move cursor 2
by turning the channel 2 vertical position knob (see figure 1).
(e) Read the difference in time between the two peaks from the menu item Delta.
(f) When you have completed using the cursor, press the RUN/STOP button again
to start acquiring fresh data again.
5
Figure 5: While the cursor menu is active, Delta indicates the separation between the two
cursors.
Type
toggle
Source
select
6