EECE 206
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Lab 3a: Oscilloscope and Signal Generator Use
Laboratory Goals
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Familiarize students with the oscilloscope
Familiarize students with the function generator
Apply a signal to a resistive circuit and measure output frequency and amplitude
Pre-lab reading
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Student Reference Manual for Electronic Instrumentation Laboratories by Stanley Wolf
and Richard Smith, Copyright 1990.
XYZ’s of Analog and Digital Oscilloscopes published by Tektronix, Copyright 1992.
Equipment needed
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Lab notebook, pen
Tektronix 2252 Digital Oscilloscope
Tektronix FG 501A Function Generator
2 oscilloscope probes (already attached to the oscilloscope)
1 BNC/BNC test lead
1 BNC/EZ Hook test lead
Parts needed
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Circuit breadboard
Resistors (2), 1k Ohm, ¼ Watt
Lab safety concerns
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Make sure before you apply power to a circuit, all connections are correct, and no
shorted wires exist.
Do not short the function generator signal and ground connections together
Do not touch the circuit wiring while power is applied to it
EECE 206
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Lab 3a: Oscilloscope and Signal Generator Use
1. Oscilloscope Operation
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Locate the Tektronix 2252 Digital Oscilloscope
Press the brown POWER button to turn on the oscilloscope
Press the STORE/RECALL SETUP button in the MENU section of the
oscilloscope
Press the button next to the RECALL option on the screen (this forces the
oscilloscope to a default setting)
Press the AC button in the COUPLING section of CH 1 (the button’s light turns
off)
Adjust the vertical POSITION knob for CH 1 so that the green signal line is
displayed on the middle horizontal line of the screen
Adjust the display knobs (A INTEN, FOCUS, READOUT), located below the
screen, so that the signal and oscilloscope settings are bright and in focus
Press the AC button again to enable CH 1 (the button’s light turns on)
Clip the CH 1 probe to the PROBE ADJUST point (just to the lower right of the
screen). A square wave calibration signal now appears on the screen
Clip the probe’s ground clip to the silver part of the CH 3 input connector (this an
easy place to attach the ground clip to the oscilloscope ground)
Adjust the CH1 VOLTS/DIV knob so that the display now reads “.5V~”
Adjust the A AND B SEC/DIV knob so that it now reads “.5ms”
Press the VOLTMETER button in the MEASUREMENTS section of the
oscilloscope
Press the button next to the PK-PK option on the screen
Record the peak-to-peak voltage of the square wave in your lab notebook
Press the CLEAR DISPLAY button to clear the screen measurement
Readjust the CH1 VOLTS/DIV knob so that the display reads “.2V~”
Readjust the A AND B SEC/DIV knob so that it now reads “.2ms”
Press the COUNTER/TIMER button in the MEASUREMENTS section of the
oscilloscope
Press the button next to the FREQ option on the screen
Record the frequency of the square wave in your lab notebook
Press the CLEAR DISPLAY button to clear the screen measurement
Press TIME button in the MEASUREMENTS section of the oscilloscope
Press the button next to the 1/SEC (i.e., Hz) option on the screen
Turn the  CURSORS POSITION knob so that the two cursors lines move to
the left, and line up with the high-to-low transitions of the square wave
Turn the  CURSORS POSITION knob so that the right cursor line moves to
the left, and lines up with the low-to-high transition of the square wave (notice the
frequency reads 2x the original value, since only ½ the waveform is measured)
Press the CLEAR DISPLAY button to clear the screen measurement
EECE 206
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Lab 3a: Oscilloscope and Signal Generator Use
Press the CH2 button in the VERTICAL/MODE section of the oscilloscope to
enable CH2 (the button’s light turns on, and a signal line appears on the screen)
Press the CH1 button in the VERTICAL/MODE section of the oscilloscope to
disable CH1 (the button’s light turns off, and the square wave disappears)
Adjust the vertical POSITION knob for CH 2 so that the green signal line is
displayed on the middle horizontal line of the screen
Press the AC button in the COUPLING section of CH 2 (the button’s light turns
on)
Unclip the CH1 probe and ground clip from the oscilloscope, and set it aside
Disconnect the CH2 probe from the oscilloscope connection (twist the connector
¼ turn counter-clockwise, and gently pull the connector off)
2. Function Generator Operation
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Turn on the TM 504 module
Locate the FG 501A Function Generator
Press the white ~ (sine wave) output button to select a sine wave output
Press the white FREE RUN button to select a continuous output
Press the white –20dB button to decrease the voltage output of the generator
Turn the gray MULTIPLIER dial on the generator to the 10^3 (i.e., 1kHz)
setting
Turn the AMPL knob fully counter-clockwise (i.e., output voltage is minimum)
Connect the BNC/BNC test lead between the function generator OUTPUT and
oscilloscope’s CH2 input
Press the  SOURCE button in the TRIGGER section of the oscilloscope to
select CH2 as the signal source for triggering
Adjust the CH2 VOLTS/DIV knob so that the display now reads “.5V~”
Adjust the function generator AMPL knob until the amplitude of the CH2
oscilloscope signal is approximately 1Vpp (use the oscilloscope’s voltmeter
function as you did above)
Turn the FREQUENCY dial on the generator until the frequency of the CH2
oscilloscope signal is approximately 1kHz (use the oscilloscope’s counter/timer
function as you did above)
3. Circuit Construction and Signal Measurement
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Remove the BNC/BNC test lead from the signal generator and the oscilloscope
Connect the BNC/EZ Hook test lead to the signal generator
Construct the two-resistor circuit as shown on the following page
Connect the red and black EZ Hook ends of the test lead to the circuit input and
ground connections respectively as shown in the photo
EECE 206
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Input
Lab 3a: Oscilloscope and Signal Generator Use
R1
R2
Ground
Voltage Divider Circuit with the Input Signal Connected
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Reconnect CH2 probe to the oscilloscope
Clip the probe to the top of R2 and the ground clip to the bottom (ground) side of
R2
Adjust the oscilloscope to measure the frequency and amplitude of the signal (use
what you have learned about the oscilloscope!)
Record the values in your lab notebook
Experiment with the different features of the oscilloscope before ending the lab,
and turning off the equipment
Record your observations in your lab notebook
4. Analysis
Write a brief summary report for this lab. Be sure to also include the following topic:
Explain any difficulties you had with this lab. (Please include suggestions to improve the
lab, if you have them).
Before leaving the lab, take a few minutes to make sure all equipment and test leads are
returned to your cabinet, and that you have cleaned up your work space.