*Some of you have advised against putting an oscilloscope on an isolation transformer. The main reason is that by "floating" your scope with respect to earth, the outer conductor of the BNCs also float and can therefore rise to dangerous voltages due to probing. This is good advice and safety measure. Always place the DUT on the isolation transformer and never the instrument! This is how all my setups are done.*
Or use isolated probes, but those aren't cheap. Probably the cheapest but safe solution for hobbyists is to use an inverter powered by an isolated DC source.
@@DmitryOrlov_dimorlus that is certainly possible. Get the right tool for the job! Or as my friend Ed always said: ‘because you could doesn’t mean you should’
Startup caps on a SMPS are such a common failure that I just replace them first without doing any further tests. The classic symptom is a device that was working, but then failing to come on again after power has been removed.
I see this failure mode all the time as well, although I often find a design will splurge on a name brand 400 V bulk filter capacitor, but the bootstrap capacitor will be some Dongguan back alley special in the smallest and highest ESR package they can find (much smaller than the ones in this video). Makes me rethink where I should be spending my BOM.
The reason the startup cap has such a high voltage rating is that if the power supply doesn't start for any reason/fault the voltage in the cap can go way higher that 50V
In a previous career I serviced and supported commercial laser printers. In a consumer or midrange printer, the laser is a sealed unit which is not serviced. In the highest-speed printing environments, they were made with 15-50mW gas lasers (usually argon), or with laser diodes. This video covered so much of the similar technologies. The components in these types of laser arrays would all be replaceable and adjustable, much larger than a sealed wire-bonded unit. I miss the art and science of adjusting those units. Such happy memories :)
"Jump to 9:30 if you like to skip the repair" why on earth would someone wanted to do that? Amazing as always, specially the smps caps... hey! that's something i do! you know... not everyone own an xray machine....lol Greetings from Argentina!
I loved the fact that the last instrument was based in another measuring method, so we learned still something different. So much information in one video! Just great! Make more like this!
Very nice, I love it when you do these optical subjects! The substrate that the tunable laser diode was mounted on looked like something special, maybe Zerodur or some other low CTE glass-ceramic material?
@@enclis yes also from the color, an i think it is hard on other material to make solder contact surfaces that hold well. Zerodur is way too expensive ^^
Always enjoy your videos. I work in a synchrotron facility building and testing undulator magnets, which ARE the ultimate laser sources producing kWs of coherent X-ray beams.
Found Your excellent channel just recently, subscribed! I am an EE running my own lab as well, mostly worked in analog development projects as a consultant and in startups. Way back a 1/4 century ago me and several of my friends did work for a small company in Gothemburg, Sweden named Radians Inova AB. The the flagship was a then state of the art tunable laser. The company was subsequently sold to Thorlabs and in 2009 the project moved to the US. If I remember correctly HP was the main competitor back then. I have a controller and some laser heads, have to dig them out end see if it is possible to do something interesting... Thanks for a very interesting video!
We have on campus a monochromator, which uses 2 Diffraction gratings in series, which was used with a non-coherent light source of high intensity which was then passed through an unknown color filter, and it was set up to scan through from Mid IR to UVA to a sensitive optical sensor that measured power and we got a characteristic curve showing the band pass of the filter. It was also used to test CCDs, CMOS, and and other photo detectors and check their photon conversion based on wavelength.
There are a lot of visible light tunable lasers on the market. If you meant Santec only, it turns out that relatively low power visible light CW+external modulation (not pico/femto-, supercontinuum like, etc) tunable lasers that are probably can be done by Santec is not that of an interest for the market. We have a lot of cheap mass-product fiber coupled NIR tunable lasers due to telecom WDM systems.
@@LesLaboratory Or you can just take supercontinuum source ( www.yslphotonics.com/Home/Index/Product/details/id/50.html ) and filter out almost any frequency you want from 410nm to 2400nm
Those old HeNe lasers stop working after a while because their gas tube fails and needs to be replaced. This is true of all gas lasers, which is why most instruments now use diode or other solid state laser technologies. If it is indeed the gas tube that has failed in that laser, it might be difficult to source a compatible one that still works.
Yep. Our applications of gas lasers would have a simple ammeter on the driver input. Once the gas started to get very low, you’d see a high draw of current and know it was soon to fail. In our case, we went through hundreds of the exact same unit, so the OEM would remanufacture them - however the reman units had a substantially shorter life.
Most wavemeters nowadays still use HeNe lasers because a stabilized HeNe laser has a relatively precise absolute wavelength to ~ppm level. Most solid state laser are not absolute and can vary up to several nm so it’s easier to use a HeNe as a light source so the instrument doesn’t need to be designed to accommodate calibration over several nm.
@@wadehsu2347 Solid states laser can be made as frequency stable as HeNe lasers, but those are extremely expensive and HeNe lasers also have very tight beam that is hard to get on solid state lasers. So thus its way cheaper to get a HeNe laser which it very stable as is, only disadvantage is that is bulky and need HV but they can be made quite small if not need any real power from them.
dtiydr yes, solid state laser can be frequency stable, but they are not inherently accurate and not as stable as stabilized HeNe laser. So each laser will need to be measured and calibrated and the range of that calibration can vary up to 10nm. Unless the laser diode are lock to an atomic reference then the accuracy becomes absolute, but that come with a price of complexity and wavelength typically in the IR for common atomic reference such as Cs or Rb. Also, long term stability of single frequency diode laser are poor if not locked and they are also temperature sensitive. So to maintain the wavelength stability the temperature and current of the laser diode will need to be regulated to better than 1mK and ppm stability.
@@wadehsu2347 All correct and thus their price and in many case a HeNe is easier to control that part but not as wide band and also bulkier which could be a constrain sometimes but otherwise its pretty much the best choice and no doubt cheapest.
Every time I start watching one of Shariar's videos, I wonder what will the fault be today ? Fuse or just a connector come off 😀 Hey! Not so easy this time...
Many thanks for this, Ive been using Sm Fibre in my work, and never really understood it ("All Smoke and Mirrors..." is the usual description....... fantastic insight....
The shiny bare machined optical enclosure of the Agilent multi-wavelength meter makes me uncomfortable! But I do see this somewhat often in certain optical test instruments, I would have thought you'd always want it matt black? From what I understand the geometry of the Michelson interferometer doesn't inherently reject dynamic scatted light, I would assume it would just raise the noise floor?
I have never heard of using laser to punch the components into position in photonics and micro-optics packaging. I can imaging there are several reasons not to do that. One would be the power required and the debris generated during the process would be very bad for those free space optics. Do you have any references on how this is done? Single mode fiber coupling in integrated optics package are typically done with nano positioning stages during glueing. Fiber coupling are sensitive, but not that sensitive. You can be off by a um and still have acceptable coupling efficiency.
Great video! Do you know of any devices that utilize the magneto optical Kerr effect, or (maybe entering rf territory) evanescent waves to do calibration (or for any other reasons)? I think any device utilizing those would be fascinating to look into!
I think I am first :D Time to watch the video ;-) Edit: As always I enjoyed the repair part. I am not much into RF or optical stuff, but I can learn a lot from Your videos. Keep it up!
This is due to a phenomenon called stimulated emission. It is the fundamental thing that makes lasers work and produce coherent radiation. Basically, a photon that is reflected back into the LD will stimulate the recombination of electrons and holes inside the LD. The photons emitted in the recombination are in phase and of the same wavelength as that original photon, and they stimulate further recombination and so on. Eventually, the large majority of the photons are produced this way and you get laser light.
7:12 It'll blow up your scope even if you probe the negative pin of that capacitor, or in fact any pin after the rectifier. Because of the way full bridge rectifiers work, both DC rails end up floating around with amplitude of the mains Vpk.
I want to capture still shots of the J 11 process delided! what would you suggest for capturing the images? What camera are you using? And yes that’s the best sight all day. Nice and mate black/gold 👍 God Bless.
Ok I’ll bite. If you want intuition about optics (and laser phenomena), watch @Huygens Optics videos about photon sieves (essentially phonon ring resonator interactions). A collaboration between you two would be fascinating.
Quite increadable. How on earth would you make the parts that are on this assembly let alone actually assemble and align them. And for peanuts! Stunning stuff
I was trying to see how an optical silicon microprocessor could use the frequency deviations for mathematical functions especially in a Pico wavelength measure. I can see how it would be faster than electrons because it could be instantly read globally on the face at a moment.
wait, the way diffraction grates split one laser into multiple dots is the same mathematics that causes grating lobes in an antenna array, right? That's where the name comes from?
Interesting video. Another expensive piece of equipment rendered inoperable by a few dollars worth of capacitors. I think l know what is causing the Hubble grief....
Also interesting that some agency (government funded lab or possibly college lab) disposed of an instrument that any reasonably experienced tech could have easily repaired. Hey, the taxpayers have endless amounts of cash available!
20:32 ... and imagine all those discrete optical parts integrated like transistors in a chip, then you would get a PIC like this: effectphotonics.com/nasa-acknowledges-effect-photonics-pic-as-a-state-of-art-commercial-example/
I have noticed you often use the term calibration a bit wrong, instead you should say adjustment. By definition, you don't adjust or change an instrument during a calibration, you just verify that it is still in spec. Only a small amount of Equipment get adjustments over their lifetime. So the outcome is either yes or no, and if no it might be possible to do an adjustment/alignment. I know you know this, but I find it important to do it Right, especially because you are teaching and have a lot of reach. I also know this misconception is wildly spread but important to get Right, I would hope you can integrate this. Thanks for the good videos.
Thanks for the point. I am not sure if I agree with it. The term _calibration_ in this industry has a well-defined meaning. The calibration process ensures that the instrument produces or measures the desired parameters based on its specifications. The calibration process achieves this by either making adjustments to the unit or by applying appropriate offsets, lookup tables, etc. in software. Regardless on how it is done, this process is called calibration for test & measurements instruments. If you ask me _how_ calibration is performed on a _specific_ instrument, then I can describe whether it is done by adjustment, or otherwise.
@@Thesignalpath yes I agree in the industry it is quite common to say calibration to both. I even noticed when I was younger I often heard it and though calibration also meant adjustment in the equipment, but I learned only later that people often used it that way. And I think even a lot of technical people who are not directly involved with calibration of Equipment probably think that they get adjusted when they get calibrated, but that's rarely the case. For most industries, at least. I also agree that we use the term as a whole of the process, but by definition an adjustment can be only a subsequent result from a Calibration result. As also NIST Handbook defines, "Strictly speaking, the term "calibration" means just the act of comparison and does not include any subsequent adjustment.". But yes, I'm splitting hairs, maybe. Also, it is not difficult or even hard to change the usage. Would be interesting to ask engineers but also hobbyist, I think you would be surprised on how many don't know what happens when an instrument gets calibrated, maybe that would be a video idea, also if possible with a cal lab as a cooperation.
@@stargazer7644 does not mean it is correct Nist and the German PTB see it the same way i do it, i also quoted it before. i think if PTB does say it so i would think they have a point. you will also see if you buy a calibration service you won't get a adjustment you have to buy a adjustment separately form every service provider, proving the point further
@@heinrichhein2605 Well, how about checking a dictionary? According to Merriam Webster, one definition of calibrate is to measure precisely against a standard. That's the sense you're using it in. Another definition of calibrate is "to adjust precisely for a particular function". That's the sense we're using it in.
As the immortal Q mused to Picard: "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed?" He went on to warn that: "It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross - but it's NOT for the timid".
@@Thesignalpath Haha, right. And it's easily forgotten during work that the whole case (if metal) can become live depending on how you connect your probe ☠️
I think you should have mentioned to NEVER use a isolation transformer for the oscilloscope. If you do that, and then connect the probe ground to a high voltage relative to ground, all the BNCs on the scope along with parts of it's case suddenly are dangerous.
*Some of you have advised against putting an oscilloscope on an isolation transformer. The main reason is that by "floating" your scope with respect to earth, the outer conductor of the BNCs also float and can therefore rise to dangerous voltages due to probing. This is good advice and safety measure. Always place the DUT on the isolation transformer and never the instrument! This is how all my setups are done.*
Or use a memory recorder. Memory recorders have isolated inputs.
Or use isolated probes, but those aren't cheap. Probably the cheapest but safe solution for hobbyists is to use an inverter powered by an isolated DC source.
I use two isolating transformers, one for DUT and another one for instruments.
@@DmitryOrlov_dimorlus that is certainly possible. Get the right tool for the job! Or as my friend Ed always said: ‘because you could doesn’t mean you should’
@@NiHaoMike64 Transformer is much chipper and reliable, and doesn't create noise (EMI).
The quality of content in the signal path is unmatchable.
The signal to noise ratio is excellent!
You are an inspiration for so many. Thank you Shahriar, I love you and your work, so glad I found you years ago.
Thank you!
Startup caps on a SMPS are such a common failure that I just replace them first without doing any further tests. The classic symptom is a device that was working, but then failing to come on again after power has been removed.
I see this failure mode all the time as well, although I often find a design will splurge on a name brand 400 V bulk filter capacitor, but the bootstrap capacitor will be some Dongguan back alley special in the smallest and highest ESR package they can find (much smaller than the ones in this video). Makes me rethink where I should be spending my BOM.
The reason the startup cap has such a high voltage rating is that if the power supply doesn't start for any reason/fault the voltage in the cap can go way higher that 50V
Wow! A miniature F-P! We had a bench sized one in the mid 80s for Alexandrite work. This is mind blowing.
In a previous career I serviced and supported commercial laser printers. In a consumer or midrange printer, the laser is a sealed unit which is not serviced. In the highest-speed printing environments, they were made with 15-50mW gas lasers (usually argon), or with laser diodes. This video covered so much of the similar technologies. The components in these types of laser arrays would all be replaceable and adjustable, much larger than a sealed wire-bonded unit. I miss the art and science of adjusting those units. Such happy memories :)
"Jump to 9:30 if you like to skip the repair" why on earth would someone wanted to do that? Amazing as always, specially the smps caps... hey! that's something i do! you know... not everyone own an xray machine....lol Greetings from Argentina!
I loved the fact that the last instrument was based in another measuring method, so we learned still something different. So much information in one video! Just great! Make more like this!
This video was all over the place, in the best way possible. I think the only thing missing from this channel is something with magnets, like a MOT.
Very interesting breakdown of how tunable lasers work. This is what TH-cam should be about. Thanks
Very nice, I love it when you do these optical subjects! The substrate that the tunable laser diode was mounted on looked like something special, maybe Zerodur or some other low CTE glass-ceramic material?
Looks like AIN to me
AlN is quite common for these types of applications. You can find it almost in every mass product butterfly-like assemblies. Zerodur will be overkill.
@@enclis yes also from the color, an i think it is hard on other material to make solder contact surfaces that hold well. Zerodur is way too expensive ^^
Great video, thanks!
I actually laughed out loud seeing the values for the second start up capacitor xD
Out standing content here. Greetings from France.
Until today I had no idea you could make a tuneable laser source of such precision. Amazing.
Wow things I studied right there on the bench. Fantastic channel
Good video as always, somehow it seems you are getting even better and concise at explaining all of these concepts.
Always enjoy your videos.
I work in a synchrotron facility building and testing undulator magnets, which ARE the ultimate laser sources producing kWs of coherent X-ray beams.
Found Your excellent channel just recently, subscribed!
I am an EE running my own lab as well, mostly worked in analog development projects as a consultant and in startups. Way back a 1/4 century ago me and several of my friends did work for a small company in Gothemburg, Sweden named Radians Inova AB. The the flagship was a then state of the art tunable laser. The company was subsequently sold to Thorlabs and in 2009 the project moved to the US. If I remember correctly HP was the main competitor back then. I have a controller and some laser heads, have to dig them out end see if it is possible to do something interesting... Thanks for a very interesting video!
We have on campus a monochromator, which uses 2 Diffraction gratings in series, which was used with a non-coherent light source of high intensity which was then passed through an unknown color filter, and it was set up to scan through from Mid IR to UVA to a sensitive optical sensor that measured power and we got a characteristic curve showing the band pass of the filter. It was also used to test CCDs, CMOS, and and other photo detectors and check their photon conversion based on wavelength.
Such a shame they don't make visible light tuneable lasers
There are a lot of visible light tunable lasers on the market. If you meant Santec only, it turns out that relatively low power visible light CW+external modulation (not pico/femto-, supercontinuum like, etc) tunable lasers that are probably can be done by Santec is not that of an interest for the market. We have a lot of cheap mass-product fiber coupled NIR tunable lasers due to telecom WDM systems.
If you have the money: www.newport.com/mam/celum/celum_assets/resources/Vantage7100_datasheet.pdf?1 Tuning ranges are quite narrow though.
@@LesLaboratory Or you can just take supercontinuum source ( www.yslphotonics.com/Home/Index/Product/details/id/50.html ) and filter out almost any frequency you want from 410nm to 2400nm
Loved this, lots of explanations and details: good job!
Those old HeNe lasers stop working after a while because their gas tube fails and needs to be replaced. This is true of all gas lasers, which is why most instruments now use diode or other solid state laser technologies. If it is indeed the gas tube that has failed in that laser, it might be difficult to source a compatible one that still works.
Yep. Our applications of gas lasers would have a simple ammeter on the driver input. Once the gas started to get very low, you’d see a high draw of current and know it was soon to fail. In our case, we went through hundreds of the exact same unit, so the OEM would remanufacture them - however the reman units had a substantially shorter life.
Most wavemeters nowadays still use HeNe lasers because a stabilized HeNe laser has a relatively precise absolute wavelength to ~ppm level. Most solid state laser are not absolute and can vary up to several nm so it’s easier to use a HeNe as a light source so the instrument doesn’t need to be designed to accommodate calibration over several nm.
@@wadehsu2347 Solid states laser can be made as frequency stable as HeNe lasers, but those are extremely expensive and HeNe lasers also have very tight beam that is hard to get on solid state lasers. So thus its way cheaper to get a HeNe laser which it very stable as is, only disadvantage is that is bulky and need HV but they can be made quite small if not need any real power from them.
dtiydr yes, solid state laser can be frequency stable, but they are not inherently accurate and not as stable as stabilized HeNe laser. So each laser will need to be measured and calibrated and the range of that calibration can vary up to 10nm. Unless the laser diode are lock to an atomic reference then the accuracy becomes absolute, but that come with a price of complexity and wavelength typically in the IR for common atomic reference such as Cs or Rb. Also, long term stability of single frequency diode laser are poor if not locked and they are also temperature sensitive. So to maintain the wavelength stability the temperature and current of the laser diode will need to be regulated to better than 1mK and ppm stability.
@@wadehsu2347 All correct and thus their price and in many case a HeNe is easier to control that part but not as wide band and also bulkier which could be a constrain sometimes but otherwise its pretty much the best choice and no doubt cheapest.
Fascinating tutorial....cheers.
Awesome! Thanks Shahriar
Fabulous video. Many thanks.
Amazing knowledge and well put in understandable manner. Thank you for the effort. Keep them coming! :)
Every time I start watching one of Shariar's videos, I wonder what will the fault be today ? Fuse or just a connector come off 😀
Hey! Not so easy this time...
دست شما درد نکنه جناب نابغه قرن. خدا حفظتون کنه.
Out of curiosity, how much current did that diode take? Are these systems relatively efficient?
At 50mA it was putting out about -3dBm.
Woooooow I learned a lot of new stuff This episode was great .
Many thanks for this, Ive been using Sm Fibre in my work, and never really understood it ("All Smoke and Mirrors..." is the usual description....... fantastic insight....
This was so interesting! Thanks!
Nice repair and discussion
Very good content !!!!!!
Thanks for the amazing videos. Obviously laser cooling is cooler than laser hammers...
The shiny bare machined optical enclosure of the Agilent multi-wavelength meter makes me uncomfortable! But I do see this somewhat often in certain optical test instruments, I would have thought you'd always want it matt black? From what I understand the geometry of the Michelson interferometer doesn't inherently reject dynamic scatted light, I would assume it would just raise the noise floor?
I have never heard of using laser to punch the components into position in photonics and micro-optics packaging. I can imaging there are several reasons not to do that. One would be the power required and the debris generated during the process would be very bad for those free space optics. Do you have any references on how this is done? Single mode fiber coupling in integrated optics package are typically done with nano positioning stages during glueing. Fiber coupling are sensitive, but not that sensitive. You can be off by a um and still have acceptable coupling efficiency.
Great video! Do you know of any devices that utilize the magneto optical Kerr effect, or (maybe entering rf territory) evanescent waves to do calibration (or for any other reasons)?
I think any device utilizing those would be fascinating to look into!
I think I am first :D
Time to watch the video ;-)
Edit:
As always I enjoyed the repair part. I am not much into RF or optical stuff, but I can learn a lot from Your videos. Keep it up!
I appear to be second. Where's the party?
3
درود...
بسیار لذت بردم
Does that power synthesizer support 400Hz output? Yes I'm calling it a power synthesizer because that is basically what it is.
It is a power supply, and the output is DC. The transformer runs far higher than 400Hz, usually in the hundreds of kHz or even MHz.
Maan we need to figure out an excuse to get more spinning things in RF equipment.
We make phased arrays to not have to do that! ;)
@The Signal Path we should do quantum metrology video ;-)
That would be very interesting. I hope we can find the time!
Curious about how the LD will somehow synchronise with the frequency of light reflected back into it.
This is due to a phenomenon called stimulated emission. It is the fundamental thing that makes lasers work and produce coherent radiation. Basically, a photon that is reflected back into the LD will stimulate the recombination of electrons and holes inside the LD. The photons emitted in the recombination are in phase and of the same wavelength as that original photon, and they stimulate further recombination and so on. Eventually, the large majority of the photons are produced this way and you get laser light.
7:12 It'll blow up your scope even if you probe the negative pin of that capacitor, or in fact any pin after the rectifier. Because of the way full bridge rectifiers work, both DC rails end up floating around with amplitude of the mains Vpk.
Was wondering about the Pico wavelength pizo-chrystal controlled laser. Does it turn the mirror slanting or the spacing of the incident light dots?
Very nice and I liked the detour to the Linksquare thingy. Perhaps a new video about that?
Great video. I would like to to see some more videos about magnetic levitation.
I want to capture still shots of the J 11 process delided! what would you suggest for capturing the images? What camera are you using?
And yes that’s the best sight all day. Nice and mate black/gold 👍
God Bless.
Beautiful
Ok I’ll bite. If you want intuition about optics (and laser phenomena), watch @Huygens Optics videos about photon sieves (essentially phonon ring resonator interactions). A collaboration between you two would be fascinating.
Quite increadable. How on earth would you make the parts that are on this assembly let alone actually assemble and align them. And for peanuts! Stunning stuff
@01:25 into the video,…. With your luck, it is connecting cable, fuse or 😂
This was highly interesting. I kinda want to build my own crude tunable diode laser with closed-loop feedback now. **hm**
This had me thinking of Newton's famous prism experiment.
There was something that you either took apart or repaired a few tears ago that had a spinning light wheel. Can you remember what it was?
Yes, it was a wavelength meter as well.
It was TSP#29, Teardown, Repair and Experiments of an Agilent 86120B Multi-Wavelength Meter
th-cam.com/video/wXVKHLXO-po/w-d-xo.html
Dude... like how many branches of engineering are you an expert of?! this is getting depressing for me...
I was trying to see how an optical silicon microprocessor could use the frequency deviations for mathematical functions especially in a Pico wavelength measure. I can see how it would be faster than electrons because it could be instantly read globally on the face at a moment.
wait, the way diffraction grates split one laser into multiple dots is the same mathematics that causes grating lobes in an antenna array, right? That's where the name comes from?
I sprayed cold air on my DS1054Z but it didn't go to 100GHz... halp?
👍👍
Interesting video. Another expensive piece of equipment rendered inoperable by a few dollars worth of capacitors. I think l know what is causing the Hubble grief....
Also interesting that some agency (government funded lab or possibly college lab) disposed of an instrument that any reasonably experienced tech could have easily repaired. Hey, the taxpayers have endless amounts of cash available!
I have the same DMM.
Which DMM are you referring to?
@@Thesignalpath Keysight U1282A 😁
20:32 ... and imagine all those discrete optical parts integrated like transistors in a chip, then you would get a PIC like this:
effectphotonics.com/nasa-acknowledges-effect-photonics-pic-as-a-state-of-art-commercial-example/
Do you have channel on Odysee?
I have noticed you often use the term calibration a bit wrong, instead you should say adjustment. By definition, you don't adjust or change an instrument during a calibration, you just verify that it is still in spec. Only a small amount of Equipment get adjustments over their lifetime.
So the outcome is either yes or no, and if no it might be possible to do an adjustment/alignment. I know you know this, but I find it important to do it Right, especially because you are teaching and have a lot of reach. I also know this misconception is wildly spread but important to get Right, I would hope you can integrate this. Thanks for the good videos.
Thanks for the point. I am not sure if I agree with it. The term _calibration_ in this industry has a well-defined meaning. The calibration process ensures that the instrument produces or measures the desired parameters based on its specifications. The calibration process achieves this by either making adjustments to the unit or by applying appropriate offsets, lookup tables, etc. in software. Regardless on how it is done, this process is called calibration for test & measurements instruments. If you ask me _how_ calibration is performed on a _specific_ instrument, then I can describe whether it is done by adjustment, or otherwise.
@@Thesignalpath yes I agree in the industry it is quite common to say calibration to both. I even noticed when I was younger I often heard it and though calibration also meant adjustment in the equipment, but I learned only later that people often used it that way. And I think even a lot of technical people who are not directly involved with calibration of Equipment probably think that they get adjusted when they get calibrated, but that's rarely the case. For most industries, at least. I also agree that we use the term as a whole of the process, but by definition an adjustment can be only a subsequent result from a Calibration result. As also NIST Handbook defines, "Strictly speaking, the term "calibration" means just the act of comparison and does not include any subsequent adjustment.". But yes, I'm splitting hairs, maybe. Also, it is not difficult or even hard to change the usage. Would be interesting to ask engineers but also hobbyist, I think you would be surprised on how many don't know what happens when an instrument gets calibrated, maybe that would be a video idea, also if possible with a cal lab as a cooperation.
The calibration chapter in every device's service manual ever printed disagrees with you.
@@stargazer7644 does not mean it is correct Nist and the German PTB see it the same way i do it, i also quoted it before. i think if PTB does say it so i would think they have a point. you will also see if you buy a calibration service you won't get a adjustment you have to buy a adjustment separately form every service provider, proving the point further
@@heinrichhein2605 Well, how about checking a dictionary? According to Merriam Webster, one definition of calibrate is to measure precisely against a standard. That's the sense you're using it in. Another definition of calibrate is "to adjust precisely for a particular function". That's the sense we're using it in.
You. You are cooler than this! ;)
7:07 please do not suggest to put the oscilloscope on the isolation transformer. That's dangerous.
As the immortal Q mused to Picard:
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed?"
He went on to warn that:
"It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross - but it's NOT for the timid".
Said this because he's immortal, right ?
@@thomasw6169 Thanks, I added a pinned comment about this. And yes, I am also immortal.
@@Thesignalpath Haha, right.
And it's easily forgotten during work that the whole case (if metal) can become live depending on how you connect your probe ☠️
I think you should have mentioned to NEVER use a isolation transformer for the oscilloscope.
If you do that, and then connect the probe ground to a high voltage relative to ground, all the BNCs on the scope along with parts of it's case suddenly are dangerous.
Thanks, I added a pinned comment about this.
Great video as always, I really enjoyed the experiments and teaching!