User:Ginevra Cochran/Notebook/Physics 307L

Setup

Using a BNC cable, I hooked up the output from the BK Precision Function Generator to the CH1 input on the Textronix DSO. After talking to Katie about the purpose of T connectors and terminators, I did not use any, since they're for open-ended connections. I didn't have to adjust any settings to see my sine wave on the oscilloscope, but I changed my output from square waves to curvy waves for appearance's sake.

Measure characteristics of a sine wave

I set the oscilloscope to 40 Hz, and obtained the following measurements.

By grid, the peak-to-peak voltage was about 8V (2.5 boxes times a scale of 2V). The period was about 21ms (scale 5ms per box). Using the cursors, the peak-to-peak voltage was 8.08V and the period was 24.8ms. I don't understand why both time cursors have negative positions, unless it's because they're both in the past. Using the Measure functions, the peak-to-peak voltage was 8.08V. The period was about 24.76ms (there was some slight positive and negative fluctuation in this value, but it remained within 0.1ms of 24.76ms).

I then set the oscilloscope to 400 Hz. By grid, the peak-to-peak voltage still looked to be about 8V. The period was about 2.6ms (0.5 boxes times 5ms per box). Using the cursors, the peak-to-peak voltage was 8.16 V and the period was 2.600ms. Using the Measure functions, the peak-to-peak voltage was fluctuating between 8.08 V and 8.16 V and the period was between 2.490 and 2.500ms.

I set the oscilloscope to 100 Hz and the DC offset halfway up. Using the grid, the peak-to-peak voltage was about 8.5V and the period was about 10ms. Using the cursors, the peak-to-peak voltage was 8.48V and the period was 12ms. Using the Measure tool, the peak-to-peak voltage was 8.48V and the period was 9.920ms (with fluctuation of 0.2ms). With a such a high DC offset, the wave became deformed - it was no longer sine-shaped, but had a dent in the peak. I would consider it unmeasurable, since the peak disappeared.

Triggering

Triggering allows the user to stop a wave at or above a certain voltage set by the trigger level. Triggering on a rising edge means the specified voltage must be reached by the positively-sloped edge of a wave. Triggering on a falling edge means that the trigger voltage must appear in the negatively-sloped edge. The difference between rising- and falling-edge triggers is only the portion of the wave that is displayed.

[edit] AC Coupling

This is a tricky concept at first!

  1. This Wikipedia article on capacitive coupling isn't too helpful
         * Paul K. found a link on National Instruments that is good. And another good link 
  2. Apply a large DC voltage to the oscilloscope input (we'll have to figure out how to do this). Compare DC coupling with AC coupling. You may need to adjust the triggering. Which mode is better for viewing any "ripple" on the DC voltage?
  3.

Christian showed me how to display fall time

     Using rising part of square wave to measure fall time
     Using rising part of square wave to measure fall time
     Measure the fall time of the AC coupling
         * Function generator: Square wave; zero DC offset; amplitude about 8.6 V
         * Use cursors to measure fall time (peak to 10% value)
         * Use "measure" function to measure fall time 
  4. What RC constant does this imply? (See Wikipedia article on rise time)
  5. How does this compare with the expected value for the oscilloscope? (Can you find the answer on Google?) 

[edit] FFT (Optional)

  1. Find the frequency of a sine wave using FFT "Math" function
  2. Look at the harmonics in triangle and square wave
  3. Compare with what you see on this applet: Fourier series applet
  4. Be able to explain what is going on with an FFT and when it may be useful 

[edit] Other (Optional)

  1. Play with XY mode to make some fun patterns
  2. Build your own low or high pass filter using resistors, capacitors and breadboard.
  3. Download waveform using LabVIEW (C:\Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents\308L\TDS1002 Folder\TDS1002.vi)