Got me an Oscilliscope!

[BDuguay]

Now what?
B.

[Thomeeque]

Now what?
B.

Strange question from authorized builder for B.Y.O.C.  T.

[WLS]

... Strange question from authorized builder for B.Y.O.C.  T.

I agree!

Anyways check out some of the major manufactures of Oscilliscopes or find the documentation of the model and brand you own. Most have a pda on their website with instructions of features and how to setup, calculate frequency etc...

That's how I learned.


Bill

[oldschoolanalog]

Now what?
B

Now you can get those BBD based effects set up just right.
Oh, what brand/type did you get?

[MoltenVoltage]

Locate the power switch.

And the probes come in handy too

[Johan]

..build yourself an oscillator, so you can inject a signal into your builds and see what they do... a 100Hz square wave is probably the most usefull wave freq and shape to see what is going on in all kinds of filter circuits, since it will show what goes on in different frequencys once you learn to interprent what you see... a 100-1000Hz sine is great for looking at distortions/fuzzes...
j

[BDuguay]

I'll be the first to admit, I have only a slightly better than basic understanding of electronics
But, when it comes to soldering and such, thanks to the training I received here at my day job, I'M A BUILDING MAD MAN!
But you're right though, it will come in handy for the BYOC builds for sure. Does anyone know of any online tutorials etc. that I could check out?
Thanks,
B.

[appliancide]

There are tutorials on YouTube. They are pretty easy to learn.

Definitely pick up or build an audio generator. I have one I'd be willing to trade for parts.

[doitle]

Boy howdy do I wish I had an oscilloscope. The year before I switched to EE the department sold some really nice digital Tektronix scopes for 65$ a piece... I missed out alright.

Probably the first thing you should do is see if you can track down a manual and find out if your scope needs any maintenance, probe adjustments or the like. We usually go through the labs here and calibrate the probes once when it starts to get hot out and again when it starts to get cold out as they drift from temperature.

[petemoore]

  Hook it up to a source mic, guitar, muzak, anything...test the resistance or voltage of the input, see if you can get the screen to 'say' something about any and all input.
  Diddle with the knobs till the light based information transfer device gives input you can register and analyze, diddle with the source some more.
  If you can find the accessory, you will become even more professor-geek like, a white lab coat with various pens and apparati in the breastpocket and of course the clipboard, since you may want to go back and forth while taking notes on your science.
  Congrats and I envy your 0-scope aquisition !
  Back to C-list I go !

[R O Tiree]

I designed and built an audio generator some months ago - white noise, pink noise, square, triangle and sine, up to 3V p-p, 80Hz to 3.5kHz.

I realised that the lower the frequency that the square wave gen pushes out, the bigger the triangle wave got (it comes from integrating the square wave output, after all) and so I messed with some values and figured out how to have a dual-gang pot connected to control both the frequency and the integrator gain at the same time, so the amplitude of the triangle output stayed constant throughout the range.

Next problem was that the sine wave output varied with triangle frequency, so I used a similar trick to control the gain of the next 2 opamp stages that converted triangle into sine. That left me with a requirement for a triple-gang A100k pot. I managed to get hold of a sample from Vishay (who make miniature modular pots) and it worked like a charm. Triangle amplitude was kept within 2% of target and sine within 5%

Sadly, it is an expensive business buying sufficient of these to make it worth Vishay's while to make a production run. Certainly the cost is out of my reach as a hobbyist.

I'm very happy to share the schem here. I know that the method I used to convert triangle into sine at constant amplitude is a little kludgy and, if someone can suggest a circuit fragment that might do this trick without the need for another gain control, then the generator could be modified to use a simple dual-gang pot (much easier to get hold of). R.G.? Mark Hammer?

Here's the schem:



The first section is a white/pink noise generator designed by Rod Elliott and posted on the ESP website. I got the basis of the idea for the square/triangle/sine generator from an app note at Applied Linear Devices' website, but the frequency/gain control concept was one I worked out for myself. Papa_lazerous was invaluable, helping with LTSpice "quirks", layout suggestions and generally keeping me sane hence the well-deserved credit on the schem. Thanks, John.

We used LT1007 opamps - expensive, but insanely fast slew-rate, low power consumption, making them absolutely ideal for generating an almost perfect square wave and, therefore, a very good triangle. LTSpice simulations revealed that cheaper options, like TL072s, rolled off at the top of the leading edge and bottom of the trailing edge, which then distorted the triangle.

So, if someone can suggest a mod to the triangle->sine conversion that doesn't require a gain control, then this might become a valuable addition to this community's "aids to de-bugging".

[waltk]

If you want a super-easy basic oscillator, got to www.geofex.com and search for "oscillator".  The "quick and dirty" oscillator schematic is the one you want.  If you want to try something more ambitious, check out the XR2206 audio waveform generator, like this:

[frank_p]

a small tutorial:
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~phylabs/bsc/Supplementary/Lab1/xyz_scopes.pdf

[R O Tiree]

XR2066 - a little hard to source in UK, it seems, and it takes all the fun out of it?

[JFX09]

get yourself a freebie virtual synth and hook up, lots of fun to be had. I had mine hooked to my pro-one and it was very interesting. also got it hooked up with two synths in x/y mode, now we're talking wiggly pattern heaven. Ok, I'll lay down the pipe now 

[Paul Marossy]

I'm not much of an expert with an oscilloscope, either. I use one mainly for looking at waveforms, but it would be better if I knew how to make all of the other measurements that you can use it for, too.

I would do better if I had a more modern scope than my Tek 453. IIRC, some of the digital ones I have seen have other readouts on the screen that tell you amplitude and that sort of thing. That's the kind that I would really like to have. Basically an oscilloscope for dummies like me. 

[darron]

i just got a new digital handheld scope by velleman after everyone told me not to. i turned it on and pushed 'auto' and got a perfect sine wave readout on the display from the overhead incandescent light bulb! then they wanted one...

[BDuguay]

A big phat thanks to all of you's!
There's a wealth of stuff for me to go through thanks to all of your generous replies. I just got finished firing it up and nothing on the screen unfortunately. Maybe that's normal until it's fed a signal?
I should point out that this unit is an oldy for sure. Eico Model 460. It has tubes .
I'm swamped with other projects that have been put aside for BYOC builds but, once I'm caught up, I diving into this thing full on. I need to start taking this whole side stuff work more seriously and with this peice of gear there's no excuses.
Thanks again all you knuckleheads!
B.

[davent]

Hi Brian,

There's wealth of tube information here in the form of free downloadable old electronics books. There is one down the list Troubleshooting with the Oscilloscope  that might prove useful. http://www.pmillett.com/technical_books_online.htm

dave

[WLS]

I wonder if the librarian locks the door when they see this guy coming

Nice Link!

Bill