I started watching EEVBlog by searching basic tutorials on TH-cam years ago. Now I do electronics for a living (partially at least). More fundamentals! :)
I've actually started watching EEVblog, as I liked the more advanced stuff (circuit design) and Dave's tales from his work. The good old days of EEVblog! :)
You are hands down the best teacher for electronics on this platform. Thank you for giving the world access to your knowledge! You also keep viewers interested and the information is easy to follow.
I don't often comment but thank you for making this video. Very informative for the new player. Thanks for keeping it real and demoing a hobbyist scope over a professional one.
It's therapeutic watching this, reminds me of when I got my first scope (an Owon) a few years ago now, and knew so little. Your how-not-to-blow-up-your-scope video was how I discovered your channel! I still know so little now, but I know way more than I did back then. ;) Sorry for breaking internet protocol and not moaning about how your video wasn't exactly what I personally wanted you to make for me...
Hi Dave, I'm happy to see the Oscilloscope tutorial. I spent two years in college as an EE major before switching to and graduating as a Comp Sci major. I still pursue electronics as a hobby and would love to see more of these basics videos. best, James
You have a fantastic, clear, an concise way to explain things, i enjoy your videos very much, I use scopes since 1990 and have a couple of digital ones, but still enjoy your presentation, please keep at it, you are very good.
Hi Dave, great video and hopefully you'll follow up and make it a great series. I just thought I'd add some points in from the point of view of a beginner like myself: 1) When a scope mentions bandwidth (Mhz), I used to think of it as the fastest frequency signal that it could display correctly. It's the fastest signal it can monitor while being 3dB down. In most cases the scopes bandwidth is a little higher. So anyone buying a 50Mhz scope looking to monitor max 50mhz signals won't get a 1:1 reproduction. Maybe this is common knowledge, but as a newbie I thought it was good to know. 2) Since the Digital scopes sample the input, as a newbie I thought that sample rate was going to be the same no matter what time base you use or how many channels you have on. But of course the sample rate is a function of both of those (and maybe other things?). Again I was surprised at this and just shows how little I really know about these majestic devices. Do you know of any other newbie traps like this? Perhaps you can incorporate them into your next videos and give us newbies a chance to catch up and buy something decent for a first scope, thanks!
Yes and no, Just wantch out for some makes like owon, I got stung for £500 on a 200MHz machine that has terrible aliasing and the power board blew up so it's on life support with an external power brick. I replaced it with a 50MHz rigol for £300 and could not be happier.
I've been looking at scopes and one that seem very popular is Rigol ds1054z. The question is if it's very exaggerated to get as a first scope. It's price is a bit steep but not impossible to save up to.
As an absolute beginner, making electronic just for fun (and guitar pedals), i bought an digital oscilloscope diy kit (24 €) on chinese web site (DSO138). Real fun to mount and enough for my needs. Don't know how accurate it is and how long it will last but great for budget.
Time for a nit pick :) @6:55 Isn't the line on the analogue scope to do with the phosphor staying lit for a short period of time after the beam has projected across it, not because of our eyes persistence of vision. For example if you were to take an image with a very high speed camera you would still get a line on the display (if you are updating the screen fast enough ofc) because the phosphor takes time to dim back down, whereas if the effect was a result of our eyes that would not be the case, you would see a very small line or dot based upon the shutter speed.
I really enjoyed this video, even if it was basic information. I think it's great of Dave to do some basic videos to inspire the new casual electronics hobbiest and or children that want to get into the hobby. His enthusiasm and passion for electronics is wonderful and getting people excited to learn is what it's all about for videos like this. There are a ton of "how to use an oscilloscope videos on TH-cam", but they don't have the entertainment value that draws people in. Great video Dave!
I know this is a older video but I wanted to thank you Dave for your channel. I bought a Rigol 2072a after watching all you o-scope stuff. Was looking at a owon all in one thing but your advice was to buy individual gear. So I have my Rigol scope a fluke 8050 bench meter, a owon handheld (till I get yours) and a cheap power supply. I love most of it but adding as I go. Thanks again for all your work to keep us informed.
Dave, Excellent "Top Notch" explanation. Been using o-scopes for years and now have the DS1054z but didn't know about the ROLL function!! thanks so much and PLEASE continue on with the O-scope tutorials. It would be awesome if you could do another tutorial and dig into some of the other menu items available and help us to understand other essential uses and settings on the DS1054z. thanks!! dwight
Thank you so much eevblog, the first time I came in contact with electronics was when I was on Amazon and they had a Arduino kit on sale I told my dad I would like to have it and he got it for me and now it is nearly my b-day and I'm going to setup a lab, and the 330$ lab video you did helped me tremendously and now I'm here watching why and how to use an oscilloscope and it's all thanks to you. Have a great day EEVBLOG.😀😀
Just got an oscilloscope this is a good intro so I actually know what I'm doing with it. Manual is great to tell me how to do things with it, but I need to know what things to do in the first place.
This is a great video. I am playing around with more electronics each week and your videos are very helpful. I want an oscilloscope now! Thanks EEVBlog!
Beautiful explanation. Thank you. For me, I am multi meter illiterate. Hard to understand the values shown. Oscilloscope on the other had has opened up a whole new world in automotive electrics.
I have a question related to the video linked in the description. The hazards of blowing up an oscilloscope using the ground clip of a probe are illustrated. But over here, the AC mains is not grounded. There is no provision for AC mains earthing and most buildings dont do it to cut the extra costs. As such, the earth pin on appliance plugs is unused. If an oscilloscope is connected to such a system, would the hazard still be there? In such a system, the earth pin of the oscilloscope is effectively connected to nothing. What would be it's behavior in that case ?
I've been watching your videos for probably about a year now, Dave. I don't know much about electronics but I find them fascinating, and have been enjoying learning somewhat the same way your learn another language by just immersing yourself in it. This kind of video is so perfect for me!
Appreciate it when you go back to basics Dave, i'm pretty keen but not completely up to speed. Would love to see more basics on equipment, discrete components and IC's. I need to get up to speed on basic circuits ASAP. BTW, just received my bible, 3rd edition... We're not worthy!
I totally forgot it was this video featuring the Rigol 1054 'scope that lit a candle under myself to finally upgrade from my USB scope and get this very model (plus the sneaky software hack upgrade to 100 MHz) Cheers, Dave! (And TH-cam I guess for re-recommending this video!)
I bought a Tektronix 2430 digital oscilloscope in a local fair. It's a first generator digital, with a analog tube to display, for an amazing price of 15 euros (yes, no missing zero). The woman said : "This B&W TV set was owned by my son but there's too many buttons I don't know how to tune it and the screen is too small". I used it for quite a long time but it doesn't work anymore. I then bought a Rigol DS1054Z
I guess abu0ibraheem and Derp Herp are talking about digital scopes (sample and plot), and zanfr kruhm is talking about analogue scopes (which is basically a specialized CRT monitor).
Excellent video Dave. I don't think there's a limit to these so if you could just go around your lab making other introduction videos that would be great :D.
what I don't understand is how (when you have a sine wave) it displays a constant image. let's say in the first pass its 0v at 0 seconds and then peaks at 5v in 0.012 seconds later, you will get several peaks and troughs, but then the scope goes back to the begining, and rather than being 0v it could be 2.2v which would not align with the previous trace. in other words the resulting image would be all over the place with each scope cycle.
That's triggering. You tell the scope what voltage you would like the "start point" to be and it keeps it lined up from there each pass. If you set the trigger out of range, for example, the image will be as you have described.
The answer is triggering mechanism. The scope won't do a series of new A/D conversions (in case of digital scope) or a next single "run" of a trace (in case of analog/CRT scope) until the trigger detect a special condition (which is configurable). This way the signal becomes synchronized with the scope display. The event which forces the scope to draw a new trace is, typically, a change of the voltage from low to high crossing specified threshold level, or from high to low. These two are generally present on any scope. Modern digital scopes have advanced triggering options such as triggering when signal (voltage) is keeping lower or higher than some threshold for a specified amount of time, triggering by a slew rate, treating the signal as an analog video signal and triggering on a specified scan line, treating the signal as digital conversation (using one of protocols that scope is aware of) decoding it and triggering when certain condition is met. An, by the way, most of scopes has an additional input ("Ext. Trig.") which can be fed by an secondary signal which fires the trigger.
thanks for both replies. I guess the trigger would have to be detected at the EXACT same time or the constant image would be fuzzy if it does not overlap exactly. I often wondered what the external trigger did, I may need to do some reading as when and why you would use it.
Another way of thinking of it if this helps... Think of the trigger point as the starting point, rather than the screen edge. The wave is always at the same point as it hits the trigger because it is the wave that is activating the trigger. For example, if set to trigger at a 2.5v rising edge, then when the rising edge reaches 2.5v it triggers, over and over, drawing over the previous wave form repeatedly.
I built my oscilloscope from a kit, the DSO-138 I think. It's not as fancy as the oscilloscopes you have, but it's pretty good up to 100khz signals. It was about 3 hours straight of soldering to get everything together.
Thanks for the info, I picked up an analog scope a few years ago for $150...I wanted a digital, but couldn't afford one at the time...but mine (a higher up Tektronics) does measure voltage and hz. I look forward to this series to get the most out of mine.
Nice introduction for beginners! I have the 1054Z too and the only thing I'm missing is a vernier (fine adjustment) for the horizontal. The old analog scopes seemed to have that. Or did I just not find it?
here at my university we're measuring soil moisture with one of those tektronix devices. pretty old-skool but its basically the way all modern moisture work and therefore its a great opportunity to show the students how the measurement is working :)
Dave i have the 2232. Old school dso fully analog with a crt. I absolutely love it. It’s the scope on my project des. I got a newer one for portable because I have to capture Siginal s on cars. Everything runs bus control. Luckily I’m able to mimic the Siginal with an arduino. The new BMWs have to have can. System for the Seats to work.
Where do you get those plastic pointing pens (antistatic?) that you frequently use, and also - what is the term for them? I can't seem to find them online.
Nice video, as usual, Dave. How about how to actually test radios, computers, etc.. I mean specifics; where to hook up the leads, what readings are we looking for, etc.
I was scared kinda to turn on my scope, just picked up one with no leads from a friend. Ordered the leads Sunday and now have them Monday 1/9. I'm still not sure what I'm going to start probing, but I'm thinking or leaning towards my 555 timer circuit so I can find the frequency of the switching action I set on to the mosfet. I've always wondered if the math made it actually high freq or if it even is.
That was fantastic.... and now I'm off to watch your video on how to NOT blow the oscilloscope up! I really want a Rigol DS1054z I see Banggood have them for for what I believe is a good price.
Do correct me if I am imprecise, but when it comes to CROs, I believe there is the factor of the persistence of Phosphor luminescence too, along with the persistence of Vision that makes a curve appear solid at a higher time-base setting. An awesome 101 video Sir !
Are any of the current digital scopes "instant" in responding to the controls? I've seen your earlier videos showing a huge lag in response as the processor is too wimpy to even respond to the turning of a knob. It's pathetic that they want to save a few bucks by putting in a wimpy processor. We see the same huge lag in consumer electronics nowadays, compared to the instantaneous analog devices of the past. Whereas analog scopes, not having the delay of executing computer code, respond instantly. I think I'd strongly consider an analog scope, unless digital has come up to an imperceptible response.
Very good point about laggy controls on DSOs. I actually bought a 1054z, and sold it again after two weeks. Yes it's very good value, and has a bunch of fancy functions, but for me the lag was unacceptable - especially when adjusting vertical position. Also the on-screen displays of Vpp and Vrms etc. was often wrong by a significant margin, which was very confusing. I find the budget DSOs overrated, and would much rather use a 20-30 year old Tektronix or similar good analogue scope. Much better for a beginner also. I will get a digital scope again at some point, but probably only use it for special jobs where some advanced functionality is required.
It's really got very little to do with the power of the processor or the "delay of executing computer code", and more to do with the way the display is drawn and how that interacts with the controls. Usually when you see "laggy controls" the scope is doing something that would be pretty much impossible on a conventional (non-storage) analog scope. If you're looking at signals in realtime with a nice fast timebase, the controls (except on the very cheapest scopes) are usually nice and responsive.
Great explanation, as all of yours. Only one quick question the Demo Board you use with your Rigol, looks like the Rigol Demo Trainer Board. Do you think that this kind of demo board is worth for learning?
10:57 Rigol 1054Z shows 1.79 V Brymen BM235 shows 1.743V ...Which to trust? Is either one actually spot on, to their respective least significant digit?
So, if you were using the oscilloscope to measure RF frequencies, you need one that has the bandwidth for what you're measuring (50 MHz for HF, 200 MHz for VHF, and 600 MHz for UHF for example), correct?
+JOUE BIEN TECH Fast, and/or fancy modulated analog signals. Eg. the eye pattern of a CD/DVD player. You can do it also with a digital oscilloscope, if you can buy one for a couple thousands of dollars. If someone dealing with these tricky signals, a good HIGH BANDWIDTH ( >/=100MHz ), fast rise time (
+JOUE BIEN TECH I forgot to mention, that you also need a DSO (digital storage oscilloscope) for troubleshooting ordinary stuff, like logic circuits and power supplies. There are some old analog storage scopes also, but they have very limited capabilities, most of them have less than 30MHz bandwidth, and quite tricky to set up the storage mode to get a good reading. There are also some analog scopes with digital storage, but most of them has a so low sampling rate, which makes them useless as a DSO.
For the most part, digital scopes are incredibly more useful than analog scopes. Dave's forum has some helpful discussion on this, but the general advice is to go with a digital scope.
I started watching EEVBlog by searching basic tutorials on TH-cam years ago. Now I do electronics for a living (partially at least). More fundamentals! :)
Awesome!
I come and go with TH-cam channels, like fashion, but it was 2012 when I started watching and haven't looked back.
In our company we actually use your soldering videos to teach interns the basics. There is a huge value in explaining stuff for beginners. :)
I've actually started watching EEVblog, as I liked the more advanced stuff (circuit design) and Dave's tales from his work. The good old days of EEVblog! :)
@Sixta16 You know what, I think a 5 minute segment a week of Dave telling some work story would be very watchable. I bet he has tons of tales to tell.
Thanks for being an inspiration, Dave. You're a great teacher. I'm learning about electronics and you're a big help!
Awesome, keep it up. Build stuff!
I just spent $400 for my first oscilloscope and I am loving learning how to use properly. Looking forward to your next video
You are hands down the best teacher for electronics on this platform. Thank you for giving the world access to your knowledge! You also keep viewers interested and the information is easy to follow.
You should totally sell kitchen appliances on those 30min tv commercials
Kitchen appliances... or pretty much anything. His speech is so energetic you can't touch the dial
Hahaha yes
yea, give me the number, i gonna dial and order this scope!
Haha - sell tek equipment 😎
I don't often comment but thank you for making this video. Very informative for the new player. Thanks for keeping it real and demoing a hobbyist scope over a professional one.
0:20 the moldy meter. It measures the mold of a circuit.
Hahahahaa!!!
It's therapeutic watching this, reminds me of when I got my first scope (an Owon) a few years ago now, and knew so little. Your how-not-to-blow-up-your-scope video was how I discovered your channel!
I still know so little now, but I know way more than I did back then. ;)
Sorry for breaking internet protocol and not moaning about how your video wasn't exactly what I personally wanted you to make for me...
Your comment wasn't exactly what I personally wanted to read beneath this video ;-P
Protocol repaired :-D
1:10 - Upvoted just for the post-it note flipbook! Brilliant! :)
Hi Dave,
I'm happy to see the Oscilloscope tutorial. I spent two years in college as an EE major before switching to and graduating as a Comp Sci major. I still pursue electronics as a hobby and would love to see more of these basics videos.
best,
James
Are you still perusing your hobby?
You have a fantastic, clear, an concise way to explain things, i enjoy your videos very much, I use scopes since 1990 and have a couple of digital ones, but still enjoy your presentation, please keep at it, you are very good.
Thanks.
once again you have carefully and energetically explained something so that the layman can understand. So I subscribed. Thank you.
I was looking for something for my second semester physics students to get a good introduction to oscilloscopes. This is perfect. Thanks.
Your videos actually helped get me interested into electronics, planning on taking some classes to get the basics of electronics while in college.
Thank you Dave. This is one of the most valuable channels on TH-cam. Great work!
back to basic. thanks dave
Yep. I also bought a DS1054Z after watching your reviews. Just as a Brymen 869s multimeter. Thanks for all your cool video's, really enjoying it!
Wow... I`ve wtched a 'thousands' videos to learn about the oscillocope. This one is the best
I haven't used an oscilloscope in years and I have a job interview tomorrow where I'll be asked to use one. This is a great refresher. Cheers!
Hi Dave, great video and hopefully you'll follow up and make it a great series. I just thought I'd add some points in from the point of view of a beginner like myself:
1) When a scope mentions bandwidth (Mhz), I used to think of it as the fastest frequency signal that it could display correctly. It's the fastest signal it can monitor while being 3dB down. In most cases the scopes bandwidth is a little higher. So anyone buying a 50Mhz scope looking to monitor max 50mhz signals won't get a 1:1 reproduction. Maybe this is common knowledge, but as a newbie I thought it was good to know.
2) Since the Digital scopes sample the input, as a newbie I thought that sample rate was going to be the same no matter what time base you use or how many channels you have on. But of course the sample rate is a function of both of those (and maybe other things?). Again I was surprised at this and just shows how little I really know about these majestic devices.
Do you know of any other newbie traps like this? Perhaps you can incorporate them into your next videos and give us newbies a chance to catch up and buy something decent for a first scope, thanks!
Now THIS is what I subscribed for. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.
Thanks!
The hard part is figuring out which oscilloscope to save up for.
The cheapest used one with the largest bandwidth / sample frequency you can find.
Yes and no, Just wantch out for some makes like owon, I got stung for £500 on a 200MHz machine that has terrible aliasing and the power board blew up so it's on life support with an external power brick. I replaced it with a 50MHz rigol for £300 and could not be happier.
Analog stuff needs single shot too. Try to measure the startup behavior of a PSU on an analog scope for example.
I've been looking at scopes and one that seem very popular is Rigol ds1054z. The question is if it's very exaggerated to get as a first scope. It's price is a bit steep but not impossible to save up to.
As an absolute beginner, making electronic just for fun (and guitar pedals), i bought an digital oscilloscope diy kit (24 €) on chinese web site (DSO138). Real fun to mount and enough for my needs. Don't know how accurate it is and how long it will last but great for budget.
Time for a nit pick :)
@6:55
Isn't the line on the analogue scope to do with the phosphor staying lit for a short period of time after the beam has projected across it, not because of our eyes persistence of vision.
For example if you were to take an image with a very high speed camera you would still get a line on the display (if you are updating the screen fast enough ofc) because the phosphor takes time to dim back down, whereas if the effect was a result of our eyes that would not be the case, you would see a very small line or dot based upon the shutter speed.
This video got me all excited about oscilloscopes. Now I am not hesitant about getting one. "A window into another world" Thanks!
This is the video I was too afraid to ask for! Cheers Dave
My DS1054z was delivered two days ago. Perfect timing, thanks. :)
I will be troubleshooting a linear PSU soon.
The DSO allowed me to see a glitch occur at a very slow speed. This helped me fix my circuit issue that I could not see with the analog scope
I really enjoyed this video, even if it was basic information. I think it's great of Dave to do some basic videos to inspire the new casual electronics hobbiest and or children that want to get into the hobby. His enthusiasm and passion for electronics is wonderful and getting people excited to learn is what it's all about for videos like this. There are a ton of "how to use an oscilloscope videos on TH-cam", but they don't have the entertainment value that draws people in. Great video Dave!
I know this is a older video but I wanted to thank you Dave for your channel. I bought a Rigol 2072a after watching all you o-scope stuff. Was looking at a owon all in one thing but your advice was to buy individual gear. So I have my Rigol scope a fluke 8050 bench meter, a owon handheld (till I get yours) and a cheap power supply. I love most of it but adding as I go. Thanks again for all your work to keep us informed.
Very clear, very crisp not too long. great video for beginners.
Dave, Excellent "Top Notch" explanation. Been using o-scopes for years and now have the DS1054z but didn't know about the ROLL function!! thanks so much and PLEASE continue on with the O-scope tutorials. It would be awesome if you could do another tutorial and dig into some of the other menu items available and help us to understand other essential uses and settings on the DS1054z.
thanks!!
dwight
Perfect timing Dave, I just got my DS1054Z :D
In the first few minutes i have learned something about oscilloscopes. Thank you.
I know a little about electronics. By watching these videos I will gain more knowledge. Thanks.
Great video. Just side note, this is why I love analog meters too, I can watch a cap charge etc...
Thank you so much eevblog, the first time I came in contact with electronics was when I was on Amazon and they had a Arduino kit on sale I told my dad I would like to have it and he got it for me and now it is nearly my b-day and I'm going to setup a lab, and the 330$ lab video you did helped me tremendously and now I'm here watching why and how to use an oscilloscope and it's all thanks to you. Have a great day EEVBLOG.😀😀
Everything I've ever wanted to know about oscilloscopes (but was too afraid to ask)!!
Thanks Dave!
Dave, you supposedly open sourced DaveCAD, but only the static version, do you plan on keeping this nice "animated" @1:14version closed source?
Just got an oscilloscope this is a good intro so I actually know what I'm doing with it. Manual is great to tell me how to do things with it, but I need to know what things to do in the first place.
This is a great video. I am playing around with more electronics each week and your videos are very helpful. I want an oscilloscope now! Thanks EEVBlog!
Beautiful explanation. Thank you. For me, I am multi meter illiterate. Hard to understand the values shown. Oscilloscope on the other had has opened up a whole new world in automotive electrics.
DaveCAD 2.0 is amazing! where can we purchase an upgrade key?
Can digital scope shows moving dot like that ?
It looks like it could be very useful.
I have a question related to the video linked in the description. The hazards of blowing up an oscilloscope using the ground clip of a probe are illustrated. But over here, the AC mains is not grounded. There is no provision for AC mains earthing and most buildings dont do it to cut the extra costs. As such, the earth pin on appliance plugs is unused. If an oscilloscope is connected to such a system, would the hazard still be there? In such a system, the earth pin of the oscilloscope is effectively connected to nothing. What would be it's behavior in that case ?
I've been watching your videos for probably about a year now, Dave. I don't know much about electronics but I find them fascinating, and have been enjoying learning somewhat the same way your learn another language by just immersing yourself in it. This kind of video is so perfect for me!
the most awesome way to utilize dave-CAD! Genius!
Dave-CAD is the best.
Another fantastic video, clear, concise, factual and fun with it! Thanks again!
Appreciate it when you go back to basics Dave, i'm pretty keen but not completely up to speed.
Would love to see more basics on equipment, discrete components and IC's.
I need to get up to speed on basic circuits ASAP.
BTW, just received my bible, 3rd edition... We're not worthy!
I totally forgot it was this video featuring the Rigol 1054 'scope that lit a candle under myself to finally upgrade from my USB scope and get this very model (plus the sneaky software hack upgrade to 100 MHz)
Cheers, Dave! (And TH-cam I guess for re-recommending this video!)
Great video to point people to. How about doing one on the oscilloscope's closest mate the function generator and the uses of the combo?
Great introduction, going into the motivation for using oscilloscopes. I'll have my lab students watch this before the in-class intro activity.
I bought a Tektronix 2430 digital oscilloscope in a local fair. It's a first generator digital, with a analog tube to display, for an amazing price of 15 euros (yes, no missing zero). The woman said : "This B&W TV set was owned by my son but there's too many buttons I don't know how to tune it and the screen is too small".
I used it for quite a long time but it doesn't work anymore. I then bought a Rigol DS1054Z
You are the best tutor ever...😊
But Dave, how does an electronic oscilloscope measure voltage? That would be a really interesting topic to make a video on.
I think sample and hold is the main block.
It would pretty much just be a video about ADCs. I'm sure Dave will cover them sooner or later.
Magnets...
I guess abu0ibraheem and Derp Herp are talking about digital scopes (sample and plot), and zanfr kruhm is talking about analogue scopes (which is basically a specialized CRT monitor).
Fantastic! I think starting right from the basics is a brilliant idea. I found this video very helpful, bonza!
More of these please! I really enjoyed them, even know there was nothing i didnt know! Good job
Great stuff for beginners. Excellent production quality on the video too. Incredible good job, Dave!!
A video I've been waiting years for. Thanks!
Oscilloscopes were still a bit confusing for me, and this video has really helped fill in the blanks. Thank you Dave!
Very exciting stuff here just can't get enough. Tell me more.
Excellent video Dave. I don't think there's a limit to these so if you could just go around your lab making other introduction videos that would be great :D.
Great video. Perhaps discuss what differentiates a $1000 scope (MHz, 2 CH, 5,000 wfm/s) from a $20,000 scope (GHz, 16 CH, 250,000 wfms/s).
what I don't understand is how (when you have a sine wave) it displays a constant image. let's say in the first pass its 0v at 0 seconds and then peaks at 5v in 0.012 seconds later, you will get several peaks and troughs, but then the scope goes back to the begining, and rather than being 0v it could be 2.2v which would not align with the previous trace. in other words the resulting image would be all over the place with each scope cycle.
That's triggering. You tell the scope what voltage you would like the "start point" to be and it keeps it lined up from there each pass. If you set the trigger out of range, for example, the image will be as you have described.
The answer is triggering mechanism. The scope won't do a series of new A/D conversions (in case of digital scope) or a next single "run" of a trace (in case of analog/CRT scope) until the trigger detect a special condition (which is configurable). This way the signal becomes synchronized with the scope display.
The event which forces the scope to draw a new trace is, typically, a change of the voltage from low to high crossing specified threshold level, or from high to low. These two are generally present on any scope. Modern digital scopes have advanced triggering options such as triggering when signal (voltage) is keeping lower or higher than some threshold for a specified amount of time, triggering by a slew rate, treating the signal as an analog video signal and triggering on a specified scan line, treating the signal as digital conversation (using one of protocols that scope is aware of) decoding it and triggering when certain condition is met.
An, by the way, most of scopes has an additional input ("Ext. Trig.") which can be fed by an secondary signal which fires the trigger.
thanks for both replies. I guess the trigger would have to be detected at the EXACT same time or the constant image would be fuzzy if it does not overlap exactly. I often wondered what the external trigger did, I may need to do some reading as when and why you would use it.
Another way of thinking of it if this helps...
Think of the trigger point as the starting point, rather than the screen edge.
The wave is always at the same point as it hits the trigger because it is the wave that is activating the trigger.
For example, if set to trigger at a 2.5v rising edge, then when the rising edge reaches 2.5v it triggers, over and over, drawing over the previous wave form repeatedly.
I built my oscilloscope from a kit, the DSO-138 I think. It's not as fancy as the oscilloscopes you have, but it's pretty good up to 100khz signals. It was about 3 hours straight of soldering to get everything together.
Very good content, looking forward for the next one.
Alas!, a video on O-scopes I can understand, and thanks Dave.
Thanks for the info, I picked up an analog scope a few years ago for $150...I wanted a digital, but couldn't afford one at the time...but mine (a higher up Tektronics) does measure voltage and hz. I look forward to this series to get the most out of mine.
Nice introduction for beginners! I have the 1054Z too and the only thing I'm missing is a vernier (fine adjustment) for the horizontal. The old analog scopes seemed to have that. Or did I just not find it?
Very good explanation! I've been called old school because I still use a o-scope after 43 years in the biz. Almost time to retire.
thank you for these basic intro videos
here at my university we're measuring soil moisture with one of those tektronix devices. pretty old-skool but its basically the way all modern moisture work and therefore its a great opportunity to show the students how the measurement is working :)
Best explanation I heard so far...
Your videos are pure gold!
Dave i have the 2232. Old school dso fully analog with a crt. I absolutely love it. It’s the scope on my project des. I got a newer one for portable because I have to capture Siginal s on cars. Everything runs bus control. Luckily I’m able to mimic the Siginal with an arduino. The new BMWs have to have can. System for the Seats to work.
Thanks a lot for this one Dave! Just started my Mechatronics Engineering study. Bloody usefull videos you've got.
Where do you get those plastic pointing pens (antistatic?) that you frequently use, and also - what is the term for them? I can't seem to find them online.
Nice video, as usual, Dave. How about how to actually test radios, computers, etc.. I mean specifics; where to hook up the leads, what readings are we looking for, etc.
I was scared kinda to turn on my scope, just picked up one with no leads from a friend. Ordered the leads Sunday and now have them Monday 1/9. I'm still not sure what I'm going to start probing, but I'm thinking or leaning towards my 555 timer circuit so I can find the frequency of the switching action I set on to the mosfet. I've always wondered if the math made it actually high freq or if it even is.
That was fantastic.... and now I'm off to watch your video on how to NOT blow the oscilloscope up!
I really want a Rigol DS1054z
I see Banggood have them for for what I believe is a good price.
That was my favorite video I seen on oscilloscope thank you
Could you still get by with an analogue scope or is it that modern circuits just require a more advanced scope to analyse them properly?
Thanks Dave! Great video, just what I needed to get in to using oscilloscope!
Do correct me if I am imprecise, but when it comes to CROs, I believe there is the factor of the persistence of Phosphor luminescence too, along with the persistence of Vision that makes a curve appear solid at a higher time-base setting.
An awesome 101 video Sir !
So, once you've identified both the voltage and speed of a circuit board component, how would you know if it is operating correctly?
God bless you and your channel!
Has anyone else noticed how good Dave's video is in 480p and why is that? Remember how horrible 480p was, all blurry and pix-elated.
Awesome. First actual examples of use I can understand. Thank you.
Are any of the current digital scopes "instant" in responding to the controls?
I've seen your earlier videos showing a huge lag in response as the processor is too wimpy to even respond to the turning of a knob. It's pathetic that they want to save a few bucks by putting in a wimpy processor. We see the same huge lag in consumer electronics nowadays, compared to the instantaneous analog devices of the past.
Whereas analog scopes, not having the delay of executing computer code, respond instantly.
I think I'd strongly consider an analog scope, unless digital has come up to an imperceptible response.
Very good point about laggy controls on DSOs. I actually bought a 1054z, and sold it again after two weeks. Yes it's very good value, and has a bunch of fancy functions, but for me the lag was unacceptable - especially when adjusting vertical position. Also the on-screen displays of Vpp and Vrms etc. was often wrong by a significant margin, which was very confusing. I find the budget DSOs overrated, and would much rather use a 20-30 year old Tektronix or similar good analogue scope. Much better for a beginner also. I will get a digital scope again at some point, but probably only use it for special jobs where some advanced functionality is required.
I love my Tek 2225. I was hoping he was going to use it, but Dave loves that 1054z
It's really got very little to do with the power of the processor or the "delay of executing computer code", and more to do with the way the display is drawn and how that interacts with the controls. Usually when you see "laggy controls" the scope is doing something that would be pretty much impossible on a conventional (non-storage) analog scope. If you're looking at signals in realtime with a nice fast timebase, the controls (except on the very cheapest scopes) are usually nice and responsive.
EEVblog the best explanations ever
Great explanation, as all of yours. Only one quick question the Demo Board you use with your Rigol, looks like the Rigol Demo Trainer Board. Do you think that this kind of demo board is worth for learning?
10:57
Rigol 1054Z shows 1.79 V
Brymen BM235 shows 1.743V
...Which to trust? Is either one actually spot on, to their respective least significant digit?
great video, cant wait for more on the Oscilloscope
Very nice video for beginners about oscilloscope...
thanks for this, your educational stuff is great :)
So, if you were using the oscilloscope to measure RF frequencies, you need one that has the bandwidth for what you're measuring (50 MHz for HF, 200 MHz for VHF, and 600 MHz for UHF for example), correct?
any plans for an EEV blog oscilloscope?
Custom, no.
cool. what sort of situations/applications would an analogue Oscilloscope be preferred over a digital one?
+JOUE BIEN TECH Fast, and/or fancy modulated analog signals. Eg. the eye pattern of a CD/DVD player. You can do it also with a digital oscilloscope, if you can buy one for a couple thousands of dollars.
If someone dealing with these tricky signals, a good HIGH BANDWIDTH ( >/=100MHz ), fast rise time (
+JOUE BIEN TECH I forgot to mention, that you also need a DSO (digital storage oscilloscope) for troubleshooting ordinary stuff, like logic circuits and power supplies.
There are some old analog storage scopes also, but they have very limited capabilities, most of them have less than 30MHz bandwidth, and quite tricky to set up the storage mode to get a good reading.
There are also some analog scopes with digital storage, but most of them has a so low sampling rate, which makes them useless as a DSO.
For the most part, digital scopes are incredibly more useful than analog scopes. Dave's forum has some helpful discussion on this, but the general advice is to go with a digital scope.
Love the DS1054Z !! Great video !!!
And the most enjoying part is at 12:16. Did you connect that prove to TH-cam? 😁