Just bought an oscilloscope

I wonder if I will ever figure out how to use the thing?
( Squiggy Alloria makes theme parks., Thu 21 May 2009, 15:55, 17 replies)

..
Don't bother i tried to get one working the other day to get the range of some thingy bob.

i spent an hour twisting all the little buttons and ended up nicking a picture off google instead.
(NuffMuff fucks shrubbery, Thu 21 May 2009, 15:57, closed)

What were
you trying to measure?
( Squiggy Alloria makes theme parks., Thu 21 May 2009, 15:58, closed)

...
fuck knows my boss just told me to get it to work and connect it to some big box thing and take a picture of the wavelength.
(NuffMuff fucks shrubbery, Thu 21 May 2009, 15:59, closed)

Would that be
a function generator?
( Squiggy Alloria makes theme parks., Thu 21 May 2009, 16:01, closed)

...
it could be it had a few buttons on it aswell and a few wires and was a bit shiny
(NuffMuff fucks shrubbery, Thu 21 May 2009, 16:02, closed)

I've got one of those

( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Thu 21 May 2009, 16:09, closed)

Know how to use it?

( Cawl, Thu 21 May 2009, 16:12, closed)

Oscilloscopes in under a minute
Switch it on, set the input voltage all the way up and the sweep time all the way down. Set the brightness so you see a clear trace, not too bright, and set the Y position so it's in the middle. Hook the input up to the thing you want to measure. Turn the input voltage down (more sensitive) until the trace is nearly the whole height of the screen, then start speeding up the sweep time until you see a trace. If it's all blurry and superimposed, fiddle with the trigger level control until it locks - that sets the voltage it considers to be the "start" of the waveform.

When you haven't got anything plugged in, turn the brightness down so you don't burn a line on the screen.
(gordonjcp, Thu 21 May 2009, 16:15, closed)

silly scopes
As I recall, there should be a switch to turn off the DC Bias. This means that only the interesting part of the signal is shown.

Apologies if in error, silly scopes are awesome, and will be my E-bay treat one day.... sighs, and fwapps a bit.
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Thu 21 May 2009, 16:44, closed)

That all sounds very impressive,
but I have no need for that information.

Why did I spend time reading it? I'm sure it's pushed some other, more useful information out of my head.

Hope I can still remember how to walk. Or eat. It would be dreadful if I forgot how to walk or eat.

I'm going to try to walk somewhere and eat something.
( Moey, Thu 21 May 2009, 16:49, closed)

Forget the scope
I want one of those PSUs.
(karnuvap, Thu 21 May 2009, 17:06, closed)

Yeah
It is a good PSU! They usually cost £80 but I got mine for £50.
( Squiggy Alloria makes theme parks., Thu 21 May 2009, 19:08, closed)

I would have opted
for new wallpaper.
(jackhiggs no longer a v!rgin as of..., Thu 21 May 2009, 17:20, closed)

i was thinking that.
why get an occy when you can just tilt your head a little and spin around for the same effect..
( Azra3l Lubrication Persuasion and Brute Force ™, Thu 21 May 2009, 19:23, closed)

In the past
I've used quite a few oscilloscopes as my dad is an electrical engineer and I used to like messing with his stuff, and also as I'm studying physics at uni.

The key thing to note is that no-one except the man who writes the instruction manuals actually knows how to use one properly. We just prod stuff until something works.

The only bits you normally use are the input voltage control and the time period control. Everything else is "prod it and see what it does".
( MatJ LOOK, Thu 21 May 2009, 20:04, closed)

how do you operate an oscilloscope

can only lead to

how do you titilate an ocelot ?

you oscillate its titsalot !




have a ocelot titilating weekend y'all
(The Cats Twat, Fri 22 May 2009, 21:37, closed)

Awesomo
I love it when you compare two waveforms - one on each axis, and you get mad swiggly patterns [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissajous_curve] just like on ancient sci-fi shows from Irwin Allen.
( monkeybananaraffle, Sat 23 May 2009, 9:06, closed)