How to Use an Oscilloscope

Рет қаралды 1,146,740

Күн бұрын

Written Tutorial: learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/...
Digital Storage Oscilloscope - 100MHz (TBS2104): www.sparkfun.com/products/14925
Digilent Analog Discovery 2: www.sparkfun.com/products/13929
HAMlab - 160-6 10W: www.sparkfun.com/products/15001
Digilent BNC Adapter Board: www.sparkfun.com/products/14260
DSO Nano V3 - Pocket-Sized Digital Oscilloscope: www.sparkfun.com/products/11702
Oscilloscopes allow you to visualize how electrical signals change over time. This means you can measure periodic and transient signals, which might be too fast for your digital multimeter to catch. Oscilloscopes can be indispensable for debugging circuits.
In the video, I talk about why 10x probes are useful, how to tune the compensation capacitor in a 10x probe, how to measure periodic signals, and how to set up a single capture trigger for a transient signal. I hope that this works as a starting place for someone who might be just beginning with oscilloscopes.

Пікірлер: 384

@rascal211 5 жыл бұрын

I could watch this 1000 times and not be able to remember everything to explain it.

@kevincottrell4858 5 жыл бұрын

This is one of the better oscilloscope tutorials I have seen. Very detailed and concise, extremely clear, I intend on saving it and watching it again. Thank you.

@joshhaughton1893 3 жыл бұрын

This is by far the best oscilloscope instructional video. The instruction was very clearly explained and covered all the bases to get up and running to diagnose equipment. Thank you for making this video!

@chrisnorton6622 6 жыл бұрын

You said we only needed to use one or two knobs.... but then you turned them all. You made my brain hurt. I'm not giving up regardless. Though my brain be small, my will is gigantic. This still makes my brain hurt though. I think I mentioned that.

@andrew_koala2974 4 жыл бұрын

Chris Norton It is only when the brain hurts that knowledge is being applied. When I was studying Electronics Engineering decades ago, whilst working for PHILIPS, My direct boss and mentor made my head hurt. I could have strangled him then. Years later whilst serving in the Military, I asked him why he was so tough. He explained it this way. Knowledge is like hammering a nail into a wall. To make sure it penetrates one has to hammer it hard. When one just 'casually throw the nail (knowledge) at the wall, it will bounce off. I realized that by being tough and a pain sometimes, he did me a great favor, in that I never forgot what he taught me, and by doing so made me a great Engineer. Ultimately leading to being posted as an exchange officer to the USAF, and having the opportunity to work on some special projects, in electronic weapons, robotics projects for NASA/UASF working with avionics specialists on the Presidents Jet(s), and having learned much during this time, as well as solving some specific problems. Stay with it. Success is achieved by 'DOING'. Trying does nothing, trying does not even cure constipation. It will only give you pain the A _ _ As a side note .. I am still good friends with my one time mentor and former boss. He is still alive and exceeded age 85.

@robsinHL 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah this was at the 4:45 mark or so. I saw your comment first so when he did the setup before taking a measurement (pushing every button and choosing a setting for everything I barely grasp) I laughed out loud.

@akun10years10 Жыл бұрын

mee too man

@corey1064 2 жыл бұрын

I here 10 min before my test keep posted to know how I do

@shivanya816 19 күн бұрын

Hi... I know it's been two years but how did it go dude?

@Quarky_ 2 жыл бұрын

I don't know how Shawn does it, but his videos are _always_ exceptionally clear, and very information dense!

@richardbeckwith4545 5 жыл бұрын

Great video, love the humour whilst still maintaining a high level of useful and important information; a big thumbs up from me, subscribed and saved to watch again at a later date after I’ve bought my first oscilloscope! Many thanks!

@j3s0n 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this video. It's literally the best scope tutorial on youtube, and I've watched loads of them over the last few days

@electronmarkboggess63 5 жыл бұрын

Scopes are a must for debugging effectively and not just throwing parts at an issue. Great video!!

@michaelmitchell8218 7 жыл бұрын

I like people like this. Tell you information and not talk like they know it all or put things down or try to say you must buy this to get the job done.

@lan5053 5 жыл бұрын

It would be helpful if you could give practical examples of WHY one would need to use an oscilloscope. I’ve seen many videos telling me what oscilloscopes measure, and how the machine can be dialled in to take these measurements, but I still don’t understand what kind of circuit problems or situations require an oscilloscope.

@phillwildman 3 жыл бұрын

This is a perfect video. Extremely informative and easy to follow. Ive just bought a new OS and you have filled in many of the gaps in my knowledge with this one video. Nice job. Thank you very much. 😎

@briananonymous724 7 жыл бұрын

This is a very informative tutorial, especially the part on probes. It's also very well produced. True, it is pretty dense and I admit I can't absorb everything in but one viewing. But Shawn is very precise and exceptionally clear, so the trick (at least for me) is to watch the video repeatedly until I'm satisfied I've learned everything I can. And if I have any questions, I can always ask my friend Google! Thanks for a great lesson.

@alocin110 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent presentation. Nice commentary, clear audio, high quality video, and very practical short to the point demonstration. Great work. I liked your video. Thank you for educating.

@TheTubeDude Жыл бұрын

Doesn't get any better at teaching than this video. Excellent.

@PurpleScrafty Жыл бұрын

I studied electrical engineering in college but worked outside my field after graduating. I'm looking to go back now after 5 years and you brought back so much buried knowledge. Thank you

@paulgrodkowski3412 Жыл бұрын

Do you nake any money doing so?😀

@duanebarry2817 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the clear explanation. I'm not sure I caught every detail on tuning the capacitor for 10x operation but I learned a lot anyway.

@jackwritter1302 2 жыл бұрын

The last 5 seconds and the smirk did it for me. Thanks.

@contractorwolf 3 жыл бұрын

it is nice to see that Tucker from "Something About Mary" was able to move on and do something with his life

@agstechnicalsupport 5 жыл бұрын

A very instructional and well produced video on using oscilloscopes

@user-gy7bi5bd1c Жыл бұрын

This is the best tutorial video. Really helped me understand what each function means

@lunarmodule6419 4 жыл бұрын

So well put together. Clear, rich, interesting, straight to the point. Thank you 😃

@xealit 3 жыл бұрын

awesome! all important basics neatly packed in 1 video

@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE 3 жыл бұрын

This is going to be very useful as I've just bought and old 'scope. Thank-you... and now I find you do lots of interesting products, cool!

@henrikfrisk4948 6 жыл бұрын

Really appreciate your videos. They are clear and to the point. Keep up the good work!

@ShawnHymel 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad you like them :)

@Okurka. 7 жыл бұрын

☑ Lab coat ☑ Glasses ☑ Bow tie Looks legit.

@gbowne1 6 жыл бұрын

#BillNye

@baruchben-david4196 5 жыл бұрын

I never play around with electronics without my bow tie.

@polymetric2614 5 жыл бұрын

Bowties are cool.

@robertturner4913 4 жыл бұрын

@@polymetric2614 I caught that reference ;)

@polymetric2614 4 жыл бұрын

@@robertturner4913 since i made that comment i also have gathered additional evidence that bowties are cool: michael from the good place wears one

@ChEeZeBaLL999 7 жыл бұрын

I bought a scope just so I can look like I'm doing something sciency.

@shawnhymel7647 7 жыл бұрын

Always a good call.

@richpaul8132 6 жыл бұрын

Yea? Me too! (LOL). Frankly, I bought it because I need to test and adjust my Tascam 32 Reel to Reel Record and Playback heads. I've got a lonnnngggg way to go before I can do that. So I joined a forum and I printed out 3 different "How-To" manuals and one owners manual. Now I need to lock my home-office door for two hours everyday because my wife doesn't seem to understand that periodical intrusions while I'm reading these manuals requires my utmost concentration. I always wanted to learn how to use a scope but I've NEVER EVER touched or 'played' with one! I only recently realized that I wasn't near an oscilloscope more than maybe twice in my 60+years! That's really wild in my mind because I'm a retired 1st class machinist and have worked for at least 15 different production shops, job shops, mold and tool-making shops and even 3 or 4 specialty R&D shops! (Not to mention a number of journeyman field jobs I was hired to do). At least two or three of those shops were geared to machine electronics related parts and equipment. I may have seen a scope in the R&D shops, (one was an aerospace shop and two others were 'extreme-compression' operations). It just seems weird to me that as interested as I've always been about oscilloscopes, and the potentiality of one or more of those shops to have a scope, I've hardly ever even touched one... huh... Well now, I own one... "hmm let's see, where the on/off switch on this thing..." FWIW

@wackenthaljef 6 жыл бұрын

Ahahah! i liked" the wife intrusion section!!"

@steb430 6 жыл бұрын

I bought a load of books n shelves, and got rid of my T.V. to look more intelligent.

@DougHanchard 6 жыл бұрын

I'm a former B-707 and DC-8 driver and have made the mistake of exploring micro-electronics. I'm single so the wifey thing isn't gonna be a problem but the endless reading of manuals isn't my thing either. That's like engaging the auto-pilot and just scanning the steam gauges (or worse today, the glass screen cockpit displays now standard on flight decks...) and doing nothing but twiddling my thumbs for 6+ hours. At least with a radar (doppler) scope I could see what was important and know what it is. With these things, I'm beginning to think I need an EE PhD to understand them :) Good luck with the manuals and the wifey separation time. LOL

@behnammadadnia3410 Жыл бұрын

The best desciption ever about an oscilloscope

@jamesberlo4298 Жыл бұрын

Excellent Tutorial , THANKS !

@Autocharge1 6 жыл бұрын

Fantastic work, and made simple to understand

@WinrichNaujoks 3 жыл бұрын

Perfect video, just what I needed, being new to scoping!

@YourOldDog 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks a millioon for taking the time. I am a rookie and learned a lot. I wanted to use my digi scope for stepper motor work.

@rymburg 6 жыл бұрын

This is an simple to the point video.....new subscriber.....hope you have videos like this on capacitors too.

@rmhcmp 3 жыл бұрын

Great video. Also props to the bowtie and and love the background/set too. Mise en scene aside, very informative and well presented. I had a scope in high school and had no idea how to make it work. I wish I had hung onto it. Looking to add one to my workshop.

@mxcrec 4 жыл бұрын

This is a great 101 Oscilloscope video. Thank you!

@TheUnkus 5 жыл бұрын

Haven't had to use one in years. We were cleaning out clutter from my job, and boss was going to toss one. I asked if I could have it, and here I am brushing up on my basics. Mainly want to use it as a display piece on a shelf with my audio output connected for a cool frequency display. But will likely use it for more.

@carriewagers1824 4 жыл бұрын

What is this thing for?

@System-1541 3 жыл бұрын

This guys videos are the best!

@alphonseprecis2302 7 жыл бұрын

Wonderfully clear and well-structured, good speed, only few concepts not defined

@joemason9187 Жыл бұрын

Very informative I've always wanted one and this vid certainly explains things keeping it to a good level

@hadireg 6 жыл бұрын

A great scope tutorial so far! Thanks!

@ShawnHymel 6 жыл бұрын

Glad you like it, thank you!

@UltraNyan Жыл бұрын

Glad that they didnt scare off any newbies with the fact that the scope shares ground on all channels and that ground is not isolated from the rest of the circuit in your house so if you go probing AC voltage and connect your ground to live or neutral you gonna have a really bad day.

@robdf9024 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic and very well explained. Thanks a lot for this nice tutorial.

@Earthstein 6 ай бұрын

I needed this. Thanks

@jluke6861 Жыл бұрын

Great video. Thank you for making time and share with us.

@mik8352 7 жыл бұрын

Nice and clear explanation. Thank you very much Shawn.

@marcellusfrank126 4 жыл бұрын

I like this. Making tech talk cool my dude. Very nice.

@user-cb1kl2qs2v Жыл бұрын

This was very helpful thank you

@ronshaw80 7 жыл бұрын

Nice and simple explanation of the basic functions. Good work.

@ShawnHymel 7 жыл бұрын

Thank you, glad you liked it.

@johnwest7993 2 жыл бұрын

I could have used this info 50 years ago. But I had to learn everything the old-fashioned way, by getting shocked.

@sourcecreator2222 4 жыл бұрын

excellent production

@LOrealHardly Жыл бұрын

Brilliant, Thanks OP!

@mariorqmsilveira3270 5 жыл бұрын

Great tutorial!

@GTamas-ex4gj Жыл бұрын

Professional instruction great job.

@koryteranian1 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Thank you.

@buisaigon1 2 жыл бұрын

Easy to assemble, good strong materials, feels good, looks good.

@benito0111 6 жыл бұрын

great tutorial, thanks

@ajpoltz 5 жыл бұрын

Very good and helpful video; thank you!

@jjohnson67sg 5 ай бұрын

nice job! very good video, right to the point.

@grins047 5 жыл бұрын

Excellent video. Thank you very much.

@RakibulIslam-yz3gn 7 жыл бұрын

I was looking for a good video on how to use an oscilloscope. Then I found this . I think it's informative. And the last words were funny - " If you want to do some sciency.....whenever somebody walks by... all you gotta do is just measure a sine wave " :D

@milica8546 3 жыл бұрын

This was very helpful! Thanks!

@solapowsj25 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent and up to date. Thank you.🌹

@carrocesta 2 жыл бұрын

the last seconds are the best part!!

@luke-dp5tw 5 жыл бұрын

Very good teaching!!

@ziadfawzi 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the useful info.

@tombouie 5 жыл бұрын

Most excellently done, just the right combo of pragmatics & KISS, perfect for me. I'm on the east coast of the US. So tomorrow I will bow humbly in your westward general direction. Weird well yes, but it's a geek/nerd physicist tradition/thing. Thks again

@kollectormairu6881 2 жыл бұрын

thanks, i found one at the side of the road and it WORKS thanks for the video!!

@jonasaskenobis 4 жыл бұрын

Great tutorial, thanks :)

@louf7178 4 жыл бұрын

This was very helpful.

@rogersu6885 Жыл бұрын

very good video, many thanks

@dramforever 7 жыл бұрын

Very useful tutorial. I've never been taught how to use a digital oscilloscope works. Now I can go start up a scope in the school lab and do something useful instead of fooling around with nonsense signals :)

@swampflux 4 жыл бұрын

Just bought a real digital scope, pulled this video up, ..... glazed over about half way through.... "uhhh let's watch it again." This is so much more powerful than I thought!

@sephiroth0733 2 жыл бұрын

it's so much fun, big fan of Shawn

@malcolmhodgson7540 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. That is the scope I am about to buy, so this tutorial was credibly helpful. Well presented as well.

@kfire7042 4 жыл бұрын

Great Video, I am new to using a scope, and this is probably the best explanation / tutorial I have seen. Thank you!

@Mr.Atari2600 5 жыл бұрын

These waves are also used to make sound on old 8-bit Gaming Systems.

@EnvoyOfFabulousness 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, a bit goofy but quick to the point and informative.

@stanpak007 7 жыл бұрын

It is very good informative tutorial. I use similar scope for my hobby and it really helped me to find sources of weird behavior or my circuits - without it I would be clueless. Even knowing already how to use the scope I learned bits of new things from this video. Thank you!

@ShawnHymel 7 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped :)

@leonjohnsonjr3331 6 жыл бұрын

Stanislaw Pak lol me 2

@paulgrodkowski3412 Жыл бұрын

Do you make any money doing so?

@mirage3rd 4 жыл бұрын

Hobbyist and appreciate a refresh. Thanks

@rodcleaves9904 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this, it was very helpful. I have several analog Tektronix scopes and could make them sing and dance. I think the newest one is over thirty years old. I just bought my first digital scope and was lost. Actually, it seems to be too automatic. I just wasn't ready for a "plug and play" scope. You gave me better and more information than the manufacturer documentation. Now, I'm off and running.

@SimonBauer7 2 ай бұрын

yeah first using a digital scope is insane.

@SaeligCoInc 6 жыл бұрын

Nice job guys! Alan Lowne

@paulmorrey733 5 жыл бұрын

Great Video Thanks

@mjackdk 5 жыл бұрын

Very informative video, thanks! Two things: 1) How would you get from buying the SparkFun MiniGen kit to using it to test a scope? There seems to be some steps missing between having the MiniGen attached to a Pro Mini and actually having a setup that allows you to choose wave forms etc. (blue selector button and pot in the video) 2) What kind of software are you using to draw diagrams in the video? Are you using a pen or just a finger/mouse? Connected to a Wacom tablet?

@ramybrahim3188 Жыл бұрын

thank you from Morocco

@HTMWorkshop 4 жыл бұрын

Great video!

@gundeep33 Жыл бұрын

nicely explained.

@TheSwartz 2 жыл бұрын

wow, this is exactly what I've been looking for!! I wish I watched this about 8 hours ago :(

@craigzeigler194 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent. Thank you.

@BluesTracker 7 жыл бұрын

Fills in a few details on digital scopes. Thanks!

@openskies11 5 жыл бұрын

Good, informative video!

@Dimabuxaet Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much. It is nice guide for me (I am a little bit skilled, but bought an oscilloscope for the first time).

@eugenepohjola258 3 жыл бұрын

Howdy. The 10X feature is to enable measuring high voltages or to provide very low loading of the measured circuit. Tuning the probe capacitor means that the probe R/Xc ratio is the same as the input R/Xc ratio. This delivers best signal fidelity. Using an oscilloscope be aware that the signal grounds are galvanically bonded. One could introduce short circuiting when using both channels doing measurements in an appliance. Worse still. Older cathode ray scopes also have their signal grounds connected to the chassis and the power Protective Eath ( = power ground ) is also connected to the chassis. There are real dangers to smoke one's appliance or getting shocked. Always feed an older scope through a separation transformer. Always use a galvanic separator in one channel when doing dual channel measurements. In my digital scope there are galvanic connections between the power ground ( = Protective Earth ) and the input grounds. However. I use the scope in an older apartment where there are only two prong outlets in the room. Old wiring may, totally legally, be as they were done originally. So I do not need to feed the scope through a separation transformer. Regards.

@JamesBrodski 4 жыл бұрын

This is a very interesting subject. I may not understand it, but at least I know about it.

@Exaltation-heliacal 8 ай бұрын

Thank you so much

@ashokgajjar1830 6 жыл бұрын

Good for the biginers Thanks too much

@yuyu63 2 жыл бұрын

got a old oscilloscope out of a dumpster thanks for teaching me some basics

@gerarddip 8 ай бұрын

0:14 You totally look like a first wave artist from the '80s that my mom woulda listened to religiously. I guess we are dealing with signal synthesis Lol