Learning the basics of oscilloscope triggers can help you leverage advanced features. In an earlier series, we discussed how the oscilloscope has evolved over the past three-quarters of a century. We noted that the basic horizontal and vertical controls remain functionally similar, but today’s digital oscilloscopes offer many features, including waveform math functions, that go […]
Analog Oscilloscope
Getting the most from your oscilloscope: part 3
Built-in math operations enable your scope to calculate and display measurement results. In part 1 of this series, we looked at the features oscilloscopes have offered for the past three-quarters of a century. In part 2, we looked at some of the unique features of modern digital scopes. In this part, we’ll take a closer […]
Get the most from your oscilloscope: part 2
Modern scopes add a variety of new measurement and math features to the vertical, horizontal, and trigger controls used over a span of decades. In part 1 of this series, we looked at the features, such as the vertical, horizontal, and trigger controls that have appeared on oscilloscopes since the mid-20th century and that remain […]
Get the most from your oscilloscope: part 1
Oscilloscope technology has evolved from electromechanical assistance for hand-plotting to the development of full-featured automated digital instruments. The oscilloscope is an invaluable instrument that provides engineers with a picture of how signals inside their circuits behave. Today, they have evolved from analog versions, where the only option for long-term storage was to take a Polaroid […]
Teardown: 1950s Heathkit vacuum tube oscilloscope
Help us analyze a Heathkit vacuum tube oscilloscope schematic and compare it to what AI told me.
Flea market vintage test equipment, September 2024
The monthly “Flea at MIT” featured an abundance of test equipment. We even bought some.
Function, arb generators and multimeters enhance test equipment lines
RIGOL Technologies is expanding its family of ultra-portable instruments with the introduction of the DG800 Pro and DG900 Pro Series Function / Arbitrary Waveform Generators, along with the DM858 Series Digital Multimeters. Like their predecessors—the DHO800 and DHO900 Series High-Resolution Oscilloscopes—these new generators and multimeters deliver impressive performance and functionality in a compact and light […]
The rise, fall, and modern uses of CRT technology
A few decades ago, virtually all computer monitors, radar installations, TVs and oscilloscopes employed cathode ray tubes for the user’s visual interface. Today, except for a few educational models and replacements for radar installations, CRTs aren’t used as displays. (CRT material and process technologies are still common in the vacuum tube industry as a whole […]
Cathode ray tube testing using an oscilloscope
The cathode ray tube (CRT) is what made possible TVs, computer monitors, and oscilloscopes as we know them. CRTs have largely been replaced by flat-screen technologies but CRTs still serve in niche applications. For example, some kinds of military needs still require a CRT display. General-purpose CRTs are no longer manufactured in the U.S., but […]
How to select an oscilloscope
by David Herres, Contributing Editor Here’s a quick review of what’s important to know about the wide assortment of scopes and scope features available today. Other than the multimeter, by far the most useful test equipment in an electronics lab or maintenance shop is the oscilloscope. In recent years, this instrument has evolved in unexpected […]
