Thanks for continuing to do these videos. When I ran an avionics shop in the Navy, your videos were required training for my sailors. You would be disappointed in how 12-year 'master' avionics technicians can not use a scope.
I was one of those avionics techs working on the 'black boxes' back then and I remember my bench had a Tektronix scope. It only had a 20Mhz bw and nowhere NEAR the bells and whistles Alans toys have, but it did the job. Every time I see the stuff that he plays with I wanna go mortgage my home and get it, LOL! Thanks again for the great tips and tricks videos and keep 'em coming, Alan. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us curious and keenly interested techies who enjoy watching the best enlighten us! Oh @brothertyler, we didn't have any formal professional training while at sea. We of course had DC, FF, and other types which any Navy sailor could recall. If I didn't have anything to fix I'd pick up a tech manual and learn a new NEC. Ah, the old days......
I've been a ham for 31 years and I can say that most of what I've learned about oscilloscopes (I can't spell it right- but know how to use one) I've learned from you!. Thanks Alan for ALL of the awesome work you do and taking the time to answer (stupid sometimes) questions. 73 and I hope you and your family have a safe, Merry Christmas and great New Year.
God sees and remembers everything then there will be the Judgement. The God has nothing to do neither with magic nor with pagan holidays. There is no evidence that Christ celebrated his birthday anniversaries, but king Herod executed John the Baptist on his "birthday". This is the God's word, Deuteronomy 12: 29-32: "When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land; take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Leviticus 20: 27: "A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them." Levticus 19: 31: "Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God." (ASV) This is a christians' way, Acts 19: 19: "And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." But, the inhabitants of World Sodom run to fortune tellers and astrologers while blessing them in the name of God... The problem is Devil runs the world. He is liar and murderer. This is the reason why deception and violence are everywhere. This is the reason why Hitler got the power, but Christ was executed as "blasphemer" and "rioter" by denunciation of clergy. This is the reason why the whole world is Sodom. That's why we've got the Gospel about the God's kingdom. Jehovah would put everything in order. He has anointed the king, Jesus Christ. The dead will be resurected and we'll meet our loved ones again! :-)
Great video, as usual, especially understanding the relationship between sample rate and _what you see_ My favorite tip is measuring current through a resistor by using two channels on each side and the now commonly avaiable math mode to measure the difference in voltage across the resistor.
I am in LOVE with scopes since my high school teacher show us a Green screen analog one many years ago. Its incredible how much have they evolved since then...
They're sweet for anybody who's seen a few things in their day and was curious about what nobody knew HOW to explain to them exactly what it did. Alan does an excellent job of doing that. His explanation and analysis styles are very easy to understand and put forth in a very calm and relaxed manner. Excellent teaching skills.
Keep up this great work. Amateur radio and hobbyist open-source hardware designers, reverse engineers, retrocomputing enthusiasts, and “audiophiles” could all really benefit from a soup-to-nuts tutorial on using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, etc to understand how the circuits of their hardware actually works.
Thanks Alan for your wonderful videos! I have learned so much and gotten tremendous enjoyment from watching them for a number of years. Best wishes ! 73, Kevin KB3FMU
I've been using oscilloscopes, admittedly mostly analogue, for upwards of 60 years and learned a thing or two. Thanks for another great tutorial. 73, John G3WGV.
As someone who often works on old radios, it is important that one use an isolation transformer or differential probe when troubleshooting. Otherwise you maybe connecting the ground of your probe to a hot chassis.
Excellent set of tips! Just a suggestion: @8:04 "not to roll off the important aspect" - that is a very advanced terminology for a beginner who might be watching this video. I'd rather say "not to filter out".
Thank you this video is very informative. If you ever have time can you make a video on how to measure the real input and output power of a circuit containing PWM or pulsed, we do not find on the net with reactive components like an inductance, I have been following you for a long time and it is always well explained you ,thank you very much.
Old school Aussie tech here. As an apprentice TV tech in the 1980s I used some seriously low quality analogue CROs for some years without ever blowing one up on a hot chassis TV. A bit later I worked for Panasonic Australia where we at least had decent Tektronix 'scopes, but still mostly analogue. The digital Rigol I bought in about 2014 was a revelation in terms of capability and size, and most of this video applies to that very cheap device... maybe AUD$500 at the time.
Suggestions for addition: using the proper probe for a given scope to start with. Things like a lower bandwidth probe than should be used with a given scope can cause measurement errors. Then there are the probes with the extra concentric pin which switches the scope to 10x. Or newer scopes that use smart probes (like yours can do, I'm envious here 😊 although I am very happy with my HP 350MHz MSO). Maybe a short note that scopes have their signal ground connected to mains safety ground/earth. 73 Wilko
Good info. Never seen those short ground options supplied anywhere that I worked, let alone saw them used. My issue is that Tek ground wires break alot. Always checking and fixing the open ground wires on probes. Most of my history is with analog CRT scopes and I have both color digital and later analog. I do prefer the analog scope for alot of things. My Tek digi does more tricks than I have figured out yet.
Thank you for this guide - always worth saying since there are so many more digital scopes in use with new features. If you havent covered the subject before a resume of grounding practices would be helpful particularly with respect to probing live(mains voltage) circuits such as SMPS..
Provided you are very careful not to touch "ground" on your 'scope and ground on your DUT at the same time. Otherwise, you might become the differential detector. Someplace there's a picture of Jim Williams powering a Tektronix scope with an isolation transformer and with it suspended above the bench using ropes attached to the ceiling. Now that is truly a floating ground. Sometimes it is easier to spend the money. You can get some fairly inexpensive Chinese differential probes these days that are "good enough" to do the job.
I would add "Hold off" which delays re-arming the trigger. It's a basic that took me way too long to learn about. Great for steadying an erratic signal caused by triggering each edge within a packet.
Not sure if you do repairs very often, but I would love to see real-world scope applications in diagnosing a problem. Thank you for your work Alan! Merry Christmas.
God sees and remembers everything then there will be the Judgement. The God has nothing to do neither with magic nor with pagan holidays. There is no evidence that Christ celebrated his birthday anniversaries, but king Herod executed John the Baptist on his "birthday". This is the God's word, Deuteronomy 12: 29-32: "When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land; take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Leviticus 20: 27: "A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them." Levticus 19: 31: "Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God." (ASV) This is a christians' way, Acts 19: 19: "And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." But, the inhabitants of World Sodom run to fortune tellers and astrologers while blessing them in the name of God... The problem is Devil runs the world. He is liar and murderer. This is the reason why deception and violence are everywhere. This is the reason why Hitler got the power, but Christ was executed as "blasphemer" and "rioter" by denunciation of clergy. This is the reason why the whole world is Sodom. That's why we've got the Gospel about the God's kingdom. Jehovah would put everything in order. He has anointed the king, Jesus Christ. The dead will be resurected and we'll meet our loved ones again! :-)
to add to the 1x probe point: you can also deliberately use a 1x probe on a low frequency signal that is buried in the noise when just the 20mhz bandwidth limit of the scope alone wouldnt cut it anymore...
@@jim9930 you never want to transformer isolate or unground a bench scope. If you do that and your probe accidentally connects to live, the whole scope chassis becomes live. Ouch!!! Much better by far to transformer isolate the device you're working on. If its a tube radio it's still dangerous (B+ is referenced to ground via the scope leads) but at least it won't blow up the scope or make the scope unsafe to touch.
I really like and appreciate all your videos, thanks! Do you have an in depth video on testing live circuits? You mentioned it in Scopes for Dopes, many have mentioned it in comments. I've heard what not to do and still confused on what should be done. Expensive hot probe transformer? Some kind of bench supply transformer for scope and/or DUT? No ground probe at all? Battery powered scope?
When testing live circuits - it is important to remember that the scope probe ground lead is connected to the mains ground. If the live circuit that you are testing is isolated (battery powered, floating supply, etc.), then you shouldn't have any problems. If the circuit is grounded, then just be sure to connect the probe ground to the circuit ground which should be common to the mains ground. When in doubt, use an isolation transformer or differential probe.
Alan, please consider making a "Scopes for Dopes" or "Best Practices" video for those of us that only have old analog scopes. In my case, I've got a Tek 453 & two Tek 2465 scope. At the moment, I only need scopes fast enough to troubleshoot my PDP-8s & peripherals and maybe "newer" computers & peripherals up to the '80s or '90s. Unfortunately, I don't know whether or not I'll ever have enough "spare" $$$$ to get some kind of (still accurate) digital scope without a CRT.
scan ebay used scopes once a week or so. I just did and there are a few used ones for lees than new. Of course check the shipping rate also. If you do find one that you want for the price read the item description. If it says it works as supposed to, and you later find out it doesn't, ebay will issue a refund within 30 days. I have never bought anything off ebay other than what was advertised. Be careful with "NEW" scopes, they might not come with a warranty from the manufacturer.
Was looking hard at a SA Ultra Spectrum analyzer HARD Doubled checked with a Digelent Discovery 3 interface Changed my mind to the Discovery 3. Go figure
Keep your beam as dim as is comfortable to save the phosphor maybe. Same thing compensate the probe with the built in calibrator. Use your bandwidth limiter for audio and lower RF freqs, mine cuts off at 20 MHz and takes off alot of noise. Also vintage scopes can develop all sorts of issues that need fixing. Dim or fuzzy CRT, flaky controls, drifted calibrations etc.
Probably yes, but it may cost you more to calibrate it than it is worth. You may be able to do it yourself. Have you seen my video on how to calibrate an analog scope?
@@w2aew If I have it's been years and I don't remember. Trouble is, I have very limited tools for doing a good calibration. I have a cheap-from-China Feeltech frequency generator, and an old Wavetek frequency generator that I recently fixed and calibrated using the cheap generator and my oscilloscope which already needs calibration, plus a couple of frequency counters. So the best I can do is get things to match without any real way to verify genuine accuracy..
@@00Skyfox Check out my video on using WWV as a frequency calibration source. You can then set your frequency generator to exactly 10MHz using the zero beat technique, then use it to calibrate your horizontal scale on the scope. Vertical DC gain can be set with a DC signal and your DMM as a reference. These two things will get you close enough for 99% of your work with an analog scope.
ever since i watched ur videos, i understand rf a lot better. I'm trying to develop a reflection coefficient measuring system (dc to 70mhz) and currently use ur rf sampler video as a reference. However, i encountered some problems when I was dealing with unmatched loads. In the video, the dummy load is mostly assumed to be 50ohm, is the sampler attenuation the same when the load is different?
The attenuation should be the same - of course the voltage on the line will be different, and will vary depending on line length and measurement location, when the line is not properly terminated.
@@w2aew Thank you so much for the reply. However, when I tried to verify the attenuation factor, using the scope measurement on the line voltage divided by the sampled voltage, the simulated value was quite different. The sampling circuit i was using is a capacitor coupler using 4.3pf and 510pf as a capacitor divider(@60mhz). A 47ohm is connected parallel to the 510pf as the output port for the sampled voltage. When I vary the load, the attenuation factor could vary from -41dB to -43dB. The source is 50ohm output impedance and 0.5w sig generator and the load is 87.162+29.9j, 50ohm, 525.57mohm+-60.7j(using transmission line to transform the impedance)
I had a math expression and wanted to use xy mode for plotting the math signal with other channel signal, but while using the xy mode, it doesn't use the math signal and math signal goes off. So how can i plot the signals? please help me out.
I end up using those little devices more than anything else simply because they're so portable. I'm eagerly awaiting a compact device that combines SA, VNA, HackRF, signal generator, and oscilloscope all in one. Drool
@@_droid TinySA ultra and some of the others (NanoVNA) have a menu option that will allow you to generate a CW signal, at a reasonably close, adjustable output level that is useful for checking receivers and IF strips. Not all of them have the option, as some have older firmware and hardware, but a new one should likely have it. Ask the seller if you are not sure.
At 2ns and 200ns , the sample rate is 5GS/s @ 10k points. How is this possible? The scope reached to saturation (i.e. 5GSa/s at 200 ns). So how at 2 ns, it can generate the same points with greater screen refresh rate?
It just changes how many of the memory points are displayed. The memory was set to 10k points, but there aren't 10k pixels across the screen, so there is some processing that accounts for this difference (and makes adjustments at max sample rate).
It has some of them, perhaps in a different form. O think all the probe issues are still applicable. Vertical resolution is also, just with a different perspective. But sampling… not so much! :-)
Why doesn't Analog Oscilloscope have an Offset control? Some signals don't need to use the offset control but other signals do need to use the offset control to get full scale deflection, any reasons why certain signals/waveform need to use the digital oscilloscope offset control to get full scale deflection?
@@Chris_Grossman I have never seen Plug-Ins for analog Scopes for input offset. I'm not sure why some signals/waveforms need input offset to get a full-scale deflection on the Oscope?
Howdy. Yes. I would like to mention a devilish hazard. The ground of the inputs and the Protective Earth (ground) of the power socket are interconnected. If not aware one may introduce ground into circuits. Older TV sets did not have a transformer. The used the grid AC directly. Boom and kaputt ! Kiss the oscilloscope and TV goodbye. Always power the oscilloscope through a separation transformer. I live in an older apartment building. The old electrical code allowed two prong receptacles in non-hazardous environments. So there is no Protective Earth in the oscilloscope. Lucky me. Regards.
You don't want to do this because your scope become live and hazardous to touch. A much better approach by far it to isolate transformer the device under test. Its not perfect (the device under test can still be dangerous to touch once the scope is connected) but its much safer than risking a live scope chassis.
Point source defined by the angular momentum of a point source of energy rotating in a false vacuum around a true vacuum Looks like a half doughnut on a graph
Not sure who your target audience is for this video. Since you are a ham my thought was to help other hams. However, using a $10,000 scope to explain best practices puts your target audience into the high end research lab space. I would guess you are the only ham that has such a device. How about demonstrating with the $400 digital scope that most hams have or better yet an old analog scope purchased at a hamfest for $25?
Seems to me a cheap(ish) Rigol or Siglent scope has pretty much these same features; sometimes labeled differently. What isn't here mentioned but maybe elsewhere is why you would use different features. For instance, 10k samples in a single sweep means you can expand the sweep but there's only 10k samples so you wont expand it very much. But with a million samples in that sweep, you can expand it dramatically and still have full horizontal resolution. Why would you not *always* capture a million samples? Well, if you do, then segmenting your memory, collecting averages, and high-resolution supersampling is affected. Since radio work is almost always repeating signals, averaging modes work better than supersampling (multiple samples per horizontal "pixel"). You also benefit from variable persistence (Keysight has it, I have not seen this on Rigol or Siglent) or velocity modulated intensity; makes a two-tone test of an amplifier look on a digital scope the same as it looks on an analog scope. That was an important consideration for me, to get the nice looking two-tone test with crisp edges and lightly filled in center blobs. A cheaper digital scope just has brightly lit blobs and it isn't obvious what it is doing.
Most of the things talked about will apply to the scopes most hobby people have. I don't think you will get that if you buy a hamfest $25 unit, but a Rigol, Siglent, Owan ect in the under $400 range will do quite a lot. I got a siglent 200MHz one with a lot of nice features, including decoding I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, LIN digital data with a nice display of the data for working on microcontroler to device communications. That was under $375 delivered with probes.
@@Chris_Grossman Interesting; I just checked Keysight DSOX1202G; it does not have offset per se, but vertical position is calibrated in offset voltage.
Thanks for continuing to do these videos. When I ran an avionics shop in the Navy, your videos were required training for my sailors. You would be disappointed in how 12-year 'master' avionics technicians can not use a scope.
I was one of those avionics techs working on the 'black boxes' back then and I remember my bench had a Tektronix scope. It only had a 20Mhz bw and nowhere NEAR the bells and whistles Alans toys have, but it did the job. Every time I see the stuff that he plays with I wanna go mortgage my home and get it, LOL! Thanks again for the great tips and tricks videos and keep 'em coming, Alan. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us curious and keenly interested techies who enjoy watching the best enlighten us! Oh @brothertyler, we didn't have any formal professional training while at sea. We of course had DC, FF, and other types which any Navy sailor could recall. If I didn't have anything to fix I'd pick up a tech manual and learn a new NEC. Ah, the old days......
Good tips. I would like to add using two probes with subtraction when ground leads can't be used.
Always impressed by how you can present so much practical information in such a clear and succinct way. Great video!
I've been a ham for 31 years and I can say that most of what I've learned about oscilloscopes (I can't spell it right- but know how to use one) I've learned from you!. Thanks Alan for ALL of the awesome work you do and taking the time to answer (stupid sometimes) questions. 73 and I hope you and your family have a safe, Merry Christmas and great New Year.
God sees and remembers everything then there will be the Judgement.
The God has nothing to do neither with magic nor with pagan holidays.
There is no evidence that Christ celebrated his birthday anniversaries, but king Herod executed John the Baptist on his "birthday".
This is the God's word,
Deuteronomy 12: 29-32: "When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land; take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."
Leviticus 20: 27: "A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them."
Levticus 19: 31: "Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God." (ASV)
This is a christians' way,
Acts 19: 19: "And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver."
But, the inhabitants of World Sodom run to fortune tellers and astrologers while blessing them in the name of God...
The problem is Devil runs the world. He is liar and murderer. This is the reason why deception and violence are everywhere. This is the reason why Hitler got the power, but Christ was executed as "blasphemer" and "rioter" by denunciation of clergy. This is the reason why the whole world is Sodom.
That's why we've got the Gospel about the God's kingdom. Jehovah would put everything in order. He has anointed the king, Jesus Christ. The dead will be resurected and we'll meet our loved ones again! :-)
Great video, clear and concise. Nice to be reminded of the grounding tips. Cheers!
Great video, as usual, especially understanding the relationship between sample rate and _what you see_ My favorite tip is measuring current through a resistor by using two channels on each side and the now commonly avaiable math mode to measure the difference in voltage across the resistor.
Even the "old analog" scopes can do this, using the ADD and INVERT functions.
Thanks for another excellent summary of tips for using the probes and adjusting the scope for displaying the most accurate signal.
I am in LOVE with scopes since my high school teacher show us a Green screen analog one many years ago.
Its incredible how much have they evolved since then...
These videos are sweet for EE students. Thanks so much man
They're sweet for anybody who's seen a few things in their day and was curious about what nobody knew HOW to explain to them exactly what it did. Alan does an excellent job of doing that. His explanation and analysis styles are very easy to understand and put forth in a very calm and relaxed manner. Excellent teaching skills.
@@KCLIBURN-mj9qx True, didn't mean for that statement to be exclusive hahaha
I was just noticing I hadn't seen an upload from you for a while, great video thanks for the demonstration 😊
Keep up this great work. Amateur radio and hobbyist open-source hardware designers, reverse engineers, retrocomputing enthusiasts, and “audiophiles” could all really benefit from a soup-to-nuts tutorial on using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, etc to understand how the circuits of their hardware actually works.
What an amazing video brother.
Thank you for the quality content.
Thanks Alan for your wonderful videos! I have learned so much and gotten tremendous enjoyment from watching them for a number of years. Best wishes ! 73, Kevin KB3FMU
Alan, thanks for putting this video together. It definitely helps me in furthering my troubleshooting journey.
I've been using oscilloscopes, admittedly mostly analogue, for upwards of 60 years and learned a thing or two. Thanks for another great tutorial. 73, John G3WGV.
As someone who often works on old radios, it is important that one use an isolation transformer or differential probe when troubleshooting. Otherwise you maybe connecting the ground of your probe to a hot chassis.
I use isolation transformers always with old radios.
Great video! Learned something new about oscilloscopes today. Thanks
Excellent set of tips! Just a suggestion: @8:04 "not to roll off the important aspect" - that is a very advanced terminology for a beginner who might be watching this video. I'd rather say "not to filter out".
Thank you, absolutely legendary tier information.
hey Alan, thanks for this video, keep up with more videos !
Thank you this video is very informative. If you ever have time can you make a video on how to measure the real input and output power of a circuit containing PWM or pulsed, we do not find on the net with reactive components like an inductance, I have been following you for a long time and it is always well explained you ,thank you very much.
Knew all this and I can say you presented it very nicely.
Another great video.!!!! Keep em coming!
Great tips as usual Alan, thanks! Happy Holidays! 73 - Dino KLØS
Wow, that is an excellent scope. Cheers
Great video, good idea putting these together...
Thanks OM...
Excellent tips video!!!!!!! THANX
Old school Aussie tech here. As an apprentice TV tech in the 1980s I used some seriously low quality analogue CROs for some years without ever blowing one up on a hot chassis TV. A bit later I worked for Panasonic Australia where we at least had decent Tektronix 'scopes, but still mostly analogue. The digital Rigol I bought in about 2014 was a revelation in terms of capability and size, and most of this video applies to that very cheap device... maybe AUD$500 at the time.
Great work as always, Alan. 73
Good to see you, bro.
Gracias por habilitar la pista de audio en español
Suggestions for addition: using the proper probe for a given scope to start with. Things like a lower bandwidth probe than should be used with a given scope can cause measurement errors. Then there are the probes with the extra concentric pin which switches the scope to 10x. Or newer scopes that use smart probes (like yours can do, I'm envious here 😊 although I am very happy with my HP 350MHz MSO). Maybe a short note that scopes have their signal ground connected to mains safety ground/earth. 73 Wilko
Good info. Never seen those short ground options supplied anywhere that I worked, let alone saw them used. My issue is that Tek ground wires break alot. Always checking and fixing the open ground wires on probes. Most of my history is with analog CRT scopes and I have both color digital and later analog. I do prefer the analog scope for alot of things. My Tek digi does more tricks than I have figured out yet.
Thank you for this guide - always worth saying since there are so many more digital scopes in use with new features.
If you havent covered the subject before a resume of grounding practices would be helpful particularly with respect to probing live(mains voltage) circuits such as SMPS..
Provided you are very careful not to touch "ground" on your 'scope and ground on your DUT at the same time. Otherwise, you might become the differential detector.
Someplace there's a picture of Jim Williams powering a Tektronix scope with an isolation transformer and with it suspended above the bench using ropes attached to the ceiling. Now that is truly a floating ground.
Sometimes it is easier to spend the money. You can get some fairly inexpensive Chinese differential probes these days that are "good enough" to do the job.
👍Thank you sir.
I would add "Hold off" which delays re-arming the trigger. It's a basic that took me way too long to learn about. Great for steadying an erratic signal caused by triggering each edge within a packet.
I do discuss Trigger Holdoff in this old video:
ruclips.net/video/OFGm-Pel4Hg/видео.html
Thanks! I've been watching your library of excellent work, but had not made it that far.
Not sure if you do repairs very often, but I would love to see real-world scope applications in diagnosing a problem. Thank you for your work Alan! Merry Christmas.
I have several repair videos on my channel... Not sure how many actually show the scope being used...
God sees and remembers everything then there will be the Judgement.
The God has nothing to do neither with magic nor with pagan holidays.
There is no evidence that Christ celebrated his birthday anniversaries, but king Herod executed John the Baptist on his "birthday".
This is the God's word,
Deuteronomy 12: 29-32: "When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land; take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."
Leviticus 20: 27: "A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them."
Levticus 19: 31: "Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God." (ASV)
This is a christians' way,
Acts 19: 19: "And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver."
But, the inhabitants of World Sodom run to fortune tellers and astrologers while blessing them in the name of God...
The problem is Devil runs the world. He is liar and murderer. This is the reason why deception and violence are everywhere. This is the reason why Hitler got the power, but Christ was executed as "blasphemer" and "rioter" by denunciation of clergy. This is the reason why the whole world is Sodom.
That's why we've got the Gospel about the God's kingdom. Jehovah would put everything in order. He has anointed the king, Jesus Christ. The dead will be resurected and we'll meet our loved ones again! :-)
Thank you
to add to the 1x probe point: you can also deliberately use a 1x probe on a low frequency signal that is buried in the noise when just the 20mhz bandwidth limit of the scope alone wouldnt cut it anymore...
As long as the circuit can withstand 100pF or more loading (I.e. not too high Z)
Awesome.
Really great tips! I'll add one too, be careful not to ground probes to a hot chassis like you might find in some tube equipment. Ask me how I know!
@@jim9930 you never want to transformer isolate or unground a bench scope. If you do that and your probe accidentally connects to live, the whole scope chassis becomes live. Ouch!!! Much better by far to transformer isolate the device you're working on. If its a tube radio it's still dangerous (B+ is referenced to ground via the scope leads) but at least it won't blow up the scope or make the scope unsafe to touch.
I really like and appreciate all your videos, thanks!
Do you have an in depth video on testing live circuits? You mentioned it in Scopes for Dopes, many have mentioned it in comments. I've heard what not to do and still confused on what should be done. Expensive hot probe transformer? Some kind of bench supply transformer for scope and/or DUT? No ground probe at all? Battery powered scope?
When testing live circuits - it is important to remember that the scope probe ground lead is connected to the mains ground. If the live circuit that you are testing is isolated (battery powered, floating supply, etc.), then you shouldn't have any problems. If the circuit is grounded, then just be sure to connect the probe ground to the circuit ground which should be common to the mains ground. When in doubt, use an isolation transformer or differential probe.
Alan, please consider making a "Scopes for Dopes" or "Best Practices" video for those of us that only have old analog scopes. In my case, I've got a Tek 453 & two Tek 2465 scope. At the moment, I only need scopes fast enough to troubleshoot my PDP-8s & peripherals and maybe "newer" computers & peripherals up to the '80s or '90s. Unfortunately, I don't know whether or not I'll ever have enough "spare" $$$$ to get some kind of (still accurate) digital scope without a CRT.
scan ebay used scopes once a week or so. I just did and there are a few used ones for lees than new. Of course check the shipping rate also. If you do find one that you want for the price read the item description. If it says it works as supposed to, and you later find out it doesn't, ebay will issue a refund within 30 days. I have never bought anything off ebay other than what was advertised. Be careful with "NEW" scopes, they might not come with a warranty from the manufacturer.
A large number of my scope tutorial videos on my channel focus on analog scopes, including the 2465 and others.
Also, I do have a few Scopes for Dopes tutorial class recordings on my channel also... Most featuring analog scopes.
Was looking hard at a SA Ultra Spectrum analyzer HARD Doubled checked with a Digelent Discovery 3 interface Changed my mind to the Discovery 3. Go figure
I would like to see theae type of tips with analog scopes as well.
Keep your beam as dim as is comfortable to save the phosphor maybe. Same thing compensate the probe with the built in calibrator. Use your bandwidth limiter for audio and lower RF freqs, mine cuts off at 20 MHz and takes off alot of noise. Also vintage scopes can develop all sorts of issues that need fixing. Dim or fuzzy CRT, flaky controls, drifted calibrations etc.
Many of these tips apply to analog scopes. Also, there are LOTS of videos on my channel that feature and discuss analog scope usage.
Thank you .EP4TAT
What is camera you using for make this video ? Thank Sir! Video is sharpness
It is a Canon HF G20.
Good
thanks Alan....tips quides...Dinos 73
I'm still using an old Protek CRT oscilloscope. Are there still places that will provide calibration service for such old units?
Probably yes, but it may cost you more to calibrate it than it is worth. You may be able to do it yourself. Have you seen my video on how to calibrate an analog scope?
@@w2aew If I have it's been years and I don't remember. Trouble is, I have very limited tools for doing a good calibration. I have a cheap-from-China Feeltech frequency generator, and an old Wavetek frequency generator that I recently fixed and calibrated using the cheap generator and my oscilloscope which already needs calibration, plus a couple of frequency counters. So the best I can do is get things to match without any real way to verify genuine accuracy..
@@00Skyfox Check out my video on using WWV as a frequency calibration source. You can then set your frequency generator to exactly 10MHz using the zero beat technique, then use it to calibrate your horizontal scale on the scope. Vertical DC gain can be set with a DC signal and your DMM as a reference. These two things will get you close enough for 99% of your work with an analog scope.
@@w2aew Thanks for the info!
ever since i watched ur videos, i understand rf a lot better. I'm trying to develop a reflection coefficient measuring system (dc to 70mhz) and currently use ur rf sampler video as a reference. However, i encountered some problems when I was dealing with unmatched loads. In the video, the dummy load is mostly assumed to be 50ohm, is the sampler attenuation the same when the load is different?
The attenuation should be the same - of course the voltage on the line will be different, and will vary depending on line length and measurement location, when the line is not properly terminated.
@@w2aew Thank you so much for the reply. However, when I tried to verify the attenuation factor, using the scope measurement on the line voltage divided by the sampled voltage, the simulated value was quite different. The sampling circuit i was using is a capacitor coupler using 4.3pf and 510pf as a capacitor divider(@60mhz). A 47ohm is connected parallel to the 510pf as the output port for the sampled voltage. When I vary the load, the attenuation factor could vary from -41dB to -43dB. The source is 50ohm output impedance and 0.5w sig generator and the load is 87.162+29.9j, 50ohm, 525.57mohm+-60.7j(using transmission line to transform the impedance)
I had a math expression and wanted to use xy mode for plotting the math signal with other channel signal, but while using the xy mode, it doesn't use the math signal and math signal goes off. So how can i plot the signals? please help me out.
Depends entirely on the scope. Some allow XY with Math, but many don’t.
P;anning on picking u[p a Tiny SA Spectrum analyzer Next Month FINALLY!!!!! LOL
Get the ultra version. Much better than the 1st version.
I end up using those little devices more than anything else simply because they're so portable. I'm eagerly awaiting a compact device that combines SA, VNA, HackRF, signal generator, and oscilloscope all in one. Drool
@@_droid All one would need is a belt. Have a bunch of leather pouches that can hold each component onto a belt.. ((BATMAN)) LOL
@@_droid TinySA ultra and some of the others (NanoVNA) have a menu option that will allow you to generate a CW signal, at a reasonably close, adjustable output level that is useful for checking receivers and IF strips. Not all of them have the option, as some have older firmware and hardware, but a new one should likely have it. Ask the seller if you are not sure.
IMSAI Guy just reviewed the new one.
04:50 Many of my friends neglect this criterion.
At 2ns and 200ns , the sample rate is 5GS/s @ 10k points. How is this possible? The scope reached to saturation (i.e. 5GSa/s at 200 ns). So how at 2 ns, it can generate the same points with greater screen refresh rate?
It just changes how many of the memory points are displayed. The memory was set to 10k points, but there aren't 10k pixels across the screen, so there is some processing that accounts for this difference (and makes adjustments at max sample rate).
The Tek is a very good scope... we mortals have lower end ones without all the fancy modes 😢
Yes, but many of these tips are universal and can be applied to other analog and digital scope usage.
@w2aew it's ok, so that hopefully when a new one arrives we know what we paid for 😁
I always use 100X probes. A lot less capacitive load for your test subject🤔
As long as your signals are large enough, that's fine.
I haqve a B&K 15 meg scope and it has none of these features.
It has some of them, perhaps in a different form. O think all the probe issues are still applicable. Vertical resolution is also, just with a different perspective. But sampling… not so much! :-)
Still important to compensate probes and take care with ground length, etc.
Why doesn't Analog Oscilloscope have an Offset control? Some signals don't need to use the offset control but other signals do need to use the offset control to get full scale deflection, any reasons why certain signals/waveform need to use the digital oscilloscope offset control to get full scale deflection?
Some do. I have plug ins for my analog scope that have input offsets.
@@Chris_Grossman I have never seen Plug-Ins for analog Scopes for input offset. I'm not sure why some signals/waveforms need input offset to get a full-scale deflection on the Oscope?
@waynegram8907 look at a Tek 7A13. It lets you look at low level DC coupled signal with a large DC offset.
@@waynegram8907 Look at a Tek 7A13. It allows you to look at a low level DC coupled signal on top of a large DC offset.
It is common when a signal is riding on top of a larger DC bias. Ripple on a power supply rail is a good example.
We poor wretches have to make do with 1GSample/s.😢
Howdy. Yes.
I would like to mention a devilish hazard. The ground of the inputs and the Protective Earth (ground) of the power socket are interconnected. If not aware one may introduce ground into circuits. Older TV sets did not have a transformer. The used the grid AC directly. Boom and kaputt ! Kiss the oscilloscope and TV goodbye.
Always power the oscilloscope through a separation transformer.
I live in an older apartment building. The old electrical code allowed two prong receptacles in non-hazardous environments. So there is no Protective Earth in the oscilloscope. Lucky me.
Regards.
You don't want to do this because your scope become live and hazardous to touch. A much better approach by far it to isolate transformer the device under test. Its not perfect (the device under test can still be dangerous to touch once the scope is connected) but its much safer than risking a live scope chassis.
@@Seiskid Howdy.
I recognize Your point.
Regards.
TNX DE W0QR
Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity Reconciliation of the two concepts
Point source defined by the angular momentum of a point source of energy rotating in a false vacuum around a true vacuum Looks like a half doughnut on a graph
Not sure who your target audience is for this video. Since you are a ham my thought was to help other hams. However, using a $10,000 scope to explain best practices puts your target audience into the high end research lab space. I would guess you are the only ham that has such a device. How about demonstrating with the $400 digital scope that most hams have or better yet an old analog scope purchased at a hamfest for $25?
My low end Siglent scope has all of the features he went over except for the input offset.
Seems to me a cheap(ish) Rigol or Siglent scope has pretty much these same features; sometimes labeled differently. What isn't here mentioned but maybe elsewhere is why you would use different features. For instance, 10k samples in a single sweep means you can expand the sweep but there's only 10k samples so you wont expand it very much. But with a million samples in that sweep, you can expand it dramatically and still have full horizontal resolution. Why would you not *always* capture a million samples? Well, if you do, then segmenting your memory, collecting averages, and high-resolution supersampling is affected.
Since radio work is almost always repeating signals, averaging modes work better than supersampling (multiple samples per horizontal "pixel"). You also benefit from variable persistence (Keysight has it, I have not seen this on Rigol or Siglent) or velocity modulated intensity; makes a two-tone test of an amplifier look on a digital scope the same as it looks on an analog scope. That was an important consideration for me, to get the nice looking two-tone test with crisp edges and lightly filled in center blobs. A cheaper digital scope just has brightly lit blobs and it isn't obvious what it is doing.
Take what you can use and wish for the rest. No point limiting at the start.
Most of the things talked about will apply to the scopes most hobby people have. I don't think you will get that if you buy a hamfest $25 unit, but a Rigol, Siglent, Owan ect in the under $400 range will do quite a lot. I got a siglent 200MHz one with a lot of nice features, including decoding I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, LIN digital data with a nice display of the data for working on microcontroler to device communications. That was under $375 delivered with probes.
@@Chris_Grossman Interesting; I just checked Keysight DSOX1202G; it does not have offset per se, but vertical position is calibrated in offset voltage.