Several common questions about oscilloscopes
1. What does the waveform of the oscilloscope mean?
In one sentence: the horizontal coordinate represents time, the vertical coordinate represents voltage (usually voltage), and the curve of voltage changing with time is the waveform displayed by the oscilloscope.
The vertical coordinate is easier to understand, it is the magnitude of the voltage. The horizontal coordinate represents time. Many people have been bypassed, but just pay attention to the following points:
Note: The oscilloscope is a real-time tool, and what the oscilloscope displays is what is happening at the current moment.
Why emphasize this issue? Because someone once asked me: Why is my oscilloscope so slow? It takes more than ten seconds to display a waveform. As an electronic device, doesn't it take an instant to display a waveform? When I looked at it, it didn't take more than ten seconds. The horizontal coordinate length he set was just ten seconds. He believes that these ten seconds are just characteristics of the signal and have nothing to do with the real time.
2. What does the grid in the waveform area of the oscilloscope represent?
The horizontal grid in the waveform area of the oscilloscope represents time. As shown in the figure, each grid in the current horizontal direction is 200us, and the square wave period is 5 grids, which is 1ms, then the square wave frequency is 1KHz;
The vertical grid in the waveform area of the oscilloscope represents the voltage. Each grid in the current vertical direction is 500mV, and the square wave amplitude is 4 grids, that is, 2V.
Oscilloscope settings - vertical amplitude, horizontal time
Vertical amplitude:
The signal must appear on the screen with the appropriate amplitude (i.e. vertical size). If the vertical gear is too small, the signal waveform will exceed the screen and cannot be displayed completely; if the vertical gear is too large, not only the details of the signal cannot be seen clearly, but it will also look uncomfortable;
Level time:
The signal must be displayed on the screen with an appropriate time base (i.e. length of time in the horizontal direction). If the time base gear is too small, the signal waveform is stretched too far and the complete cycle cannot be seen. If the time base gear is too large, the signal waveforms will be compressed together and details will not be visible.
