DSO

1 nanosecond. The sketch of the scope in

Figure 1 includes a triangular wave signal, a
voltage that, as a function of time, continu-
ally (and linearly) ramps up and down
Digital-Storage- between two limiting voltages. The
Oscilloscope operation of the DSO is described in detail
in Appendix IX. You should read that
revised August, 2021
appendix before attempting this lab.
In this lab, you will learn how to use
(You will do two experiments; this one the DSO to investigate various types of time-
and the Charge-to-Mass Ratio of the dependent phenomena that you will encoun-
Electron experiment. Sections will switch ter in your studies of electricity and magnet-
rooms and experiments half-way through ism. You should also become more comfort-
the lab.) able with certain aspects of sine waves, such
Learning Objectives: as phase differences and the relation of fre-
During this lab, you will quency to period, that are critical to under-
1. learn how to measure time-varying standing interference effects and electro-
electronic signals with an oscilloscope magnetic radiation.
(DSO). This experiment requires that you
2. estimate the uncertainty in measure- complete the worksheet worth 30 points
ments made with a DSO and estimate that can be found in Appendix XI. Attach
the uncertainty in quantities that are the worksheet and graphs from Lab #3A
calculated from quantities that are to the paper from Lab #3B and use one
uncertain. cover sheet for both.

A. Introduction B. Apparatus
The oscilloscope, DSO or simply You will be using a dual-trace oscillo-
scope, is used in many fields of basic and scope, a special scope probe designed to
applied research and in electronics mate with the scope, a ‘doorbell’ trans-
development and repair. It is generally the former, function generator, microphone and
tool of choice for examining signals that tuning forks.
change with time on a scale of 1 second to Figure 1 is a diagram of the front panel

1
Figure 1: Oscilloscope Controls Digital Storage Oscilloscope
of the scope, with labels for the important off the bottom center, and it is labeled “M”
controls. A photograph of the scope is posted for no apparent reason.
on the lab web site and in Canvas. The Vertical gain control [(9) for Ch1
The scope probe is a cable with an end and (10) for Ch 2] controls the amplification
that resembles a pen with an alligator clip of the signal or how large a given signal
attached to it by a short wire. The alligator appears relative to the vertical or y-axis. It
clip is for the ground connection and is not corresponds to the Volts/Div label on the
needed when the scope probe is connected to right side of the display. Note that there are
“ground-referenced” electronics but is used two Vertical controls (one for each channel)
to establish the ground of other objects you but only one Horizontal control. The value
may be measuring. (DO NOT connect this for Volts/Div can be read off the bottom left
alligator clip to a signal output; it will cause corner of the display.
a short circuit!) Each of these Vertical or Horizontal
The signal connection of the scope controls can either be turned or pushed in. If
probe is a spring loaded hook located inside the Vertical knob is pushed in, it switches
the tip of the probe. This hook is exposed by between a fine and coarse signal. If the
retracting its cover (do not unscrew or Horizontal knob is pushed in, it splits the
remove the cover). Some but not all probes display into two windows. You will want to
let you switch between 1X and 10X where push it in again so it returns to the single
the 10X divides the signal by a factor of 10. window.
If your probe has this option, be certain to C.1. Square Wave - Time and Voltage
use the 1X setting. Measurement
The scope has a calibration output
C. Familiarization and Use CAL(3) at the bottom right corner of the
Turn the oscilloscope POWER DSO which supplies a 3 Vpeak-to-peak (Vpp),
switch on. It is located on the top left of 1 kHz square wave signal. The term peak-to-
the device. This is a dual-trace oscilloscope peak means that the signal is measured from
(it has two quasi-independent inputs), so you its absolute maximum to its absolute
must select channel 1 [CH 1 (7)] for the minimum, or top to bottom. This CAL signal
following measurements. (The numbers in can be used to check the calibration of the
parentheses refer to the control locations scope settings, but we will actually be using
shown in Figure 1 and are described in it to check whether you know how to make
Appendix IX.) proper measurements with the scope. If the
The scope is usually used to plot a measurements you are instructed to make
changing voltage as a function of time, with below do not agree with the expected values,
the instantaneous voltage read along the ver- ask for help.
tical or y-axis while time is measured along Use the scope probe to connect the
the horizontal or x-axis of the display. The CAL tab to the CH1(1) input of the
grid lines are referred to as divisions or DIV oscilloscope. DON’T USE THE
and one division is 1cm by 1 cm in size. ALLIGATOR CLIP on the probe to connect
The Horizontal sweep control (11) sets to this tab! This shorts it out. Use the hook
the time it takes the scope beam to scan inside the retractable tip to connect to the
across the screen horizontally. On the top, 1kHz contact. The alligator clip should
display, the value for Time/Div can be read be connected to the ground, which is the

Digital Storage Oscilloscope 2

bottom contact below the 1kHz contact. calibration square wave by multiplying
Connect the BNC plug on the other end of the length, in cm or DIV, of one or more
the scope probe to the scope’s Channel 1 periods times the setting of the
(1) input. This input is a BNC jack, a TIME/DIV. (Measure as large an image as
common form of coaxial connector. To plug possible to obtain the highest possible
the BNC cable into the oscilloscope, align precision in your time measurements. If
the slots of the BNC plug of the scope probe there are 7 full periods on the screen,
to the pins of the BNC jack on the scope. measure the time for all 7 and divide by 7 to
Push the plug into place and rotate it 90° to get the period; in this case you will also have
lock it in position. to divide your error estimate by 7.
There should be a menu displayed on Alternately, change the TIME/DIV so that 1-
the right side of the DSO screen. If it is not 2 periods fill your screen.) You can shift the
there, press the Menu ON/OFF button. signal horizontally using the x-position
If your image of the square wave is control (6) to start or end the sweep at some
not stationary, press the
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹
button. Once convenient mark on the display. Use the
𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺 period you measured to calculate the
you have a stable image, adjust the
frequency (and estimated error) of the
Horizontal dial until you see a sequence of
calibration signal. Remember that fre-
a few cycles of a square wave on the
quency is just one over the period. (Pay
screen. Adjust the vertical gain (9) and
attention to units!) To find the error in the
vertical position (4) so that the signal
frequency, you should use the ‘derivative’
almost fills the screen vertically. Read the
method, δ(1/T) = (δT)/T2.
VOLTS/DIV off the bottom left of the
C.1.2. Voltage Measurement
screen (“CH1= ____ mV”) and the
Determine the peak-to-peak voltage
TIME/DIV from roughly the middle of the
of the square wave by multiplying the
screen (“M _____ µs”) and record them in measured height of the square wave by the
your notebook.
setting of the VOLTS/DIV. Remember too
You will have to estimate the accuracy that more careful measurements can be
of many of your measurements. You may
made if you adjust the calibrated
assume that any errors in the scope elec- VOLTS/DIV (9) knob so that the signal
tronics are negligible and that the only errors
almost fills the screen vertically. Compare
are due to your ability to judge the position this result with the expected value of 3 Vpp.
of a signal on the screen. For some
C.2 Measurements of a Sine Wave
arbitrary signal, how well do you think You have been looking at a square
you can determine its position, in terms of wave. Another common signal is a sine wave
either mm, cm, or DIV (your choice of
[V = V0sin(ωt + φ)] such as the 110-volt AC
units)? Later, when you need to convert
power line. You will use a doorbell trans-
your estimate of this error into an error in former to reduce the signal to a safer level.
time or voltage, just multiply by the
Connect the center and either one of
setting of the TIME/DIV or VOLTS/DIV, the two outer terminals of the transformer
respectively.
to the CH 1 input of the oscilloscope. Press
C.1.1. Time Measurement
the blue “Auto” button (13) to find the
The period of the square wave, as for
signal. (It probably won’t be a very good
any repetitive wave, is the time it takes to sine wave, but that’s what you often have at
repeat itself. Measure the period of the

3 Digital Storage Oscilloscope

an outlet.) Sketch the waveform (don’t channel 2 of your scope, leaving the trans-
forget to label the scales on your sketch). former connected to channel 1. Turn on
Measure and record the period and the function generator. Press the Output
calculate the frequency. Measure and button above the Ch2 output. Press the
record the peak-to-peak voltage of the CH2 button on the DSO to display
signal. You will have to do this in two Channel 2, and the blue AUTO button
ways, first by reading the values off the DSO (13) to see both signals well. The top of the
display, and then by doing the calculations display will be the channel 1 signal and the
the way you did them with the square wave, bottom of the display the channel 2 signal.
by counting horizontal and vertical divisions On the function generator, make
and multiplying them by TIME/DIV or sure that Channel 2 is selected (CH1/2 to
VOLTS/DIV. the top right of the display). Press it until
Use a DMM set to measure AC volt- you can read “CH2 Waveform” in the
ages to check the voltage output of the middle left of the display. Set the
transformer. Are your DSO measurements frequency to 60 Hz by using the dial or
of the transformer voltage consistent with the keypad. (You will first have to make sure
DMM measurements? This probably won’t that “Freq” on the top right of the display is
appear to be the case at first, the meter highlighted. If it isn’t, press the button to the
should read less than half of your scope right of it. If you use the keypad to set the
measurement. One reason for this is that value of the frequency, you set the units by
your oscilloscope measurement was a pressing the button to the right of the unit
peak-to-peak voltage. This is twice the you want to select.) Set the Amplitude to the
amplitude of the sine wave, the V0 term in same value as the Vpp of the doorbell
the equation V0sin(ωt + φ). Another reason is transformer (value that you read off the DSO
that the DMM measures the RMS (root – you should have it in your notes, as well).
mean square) voltage, given by To do that select “Ampl” by pressing the
2 button to the right of it. Then use the keypad
∫V 0 cos (ωt )  dt or dial to set the value and select the unit.
V RMS = < V > = (1)
2

∫ dt Note that on the DSO, the VOLTS/DIV

where the integrals are over one period. VRMS for the two channels may not be the same, so
is more closely related to the strength of a the amplitude of the sign waves could be
signal than is V0; although the two are the different. You can fix that by using the
same for a DC signal, they vary significantly Vertical dials.
for various types of AC signals. The integral Now, switch the scope to XY mode.
of cos2(ωt)dt divided by the integral of time, To do that, press the Display button (12) go
over any number of whole periods, is just ½. to “Next Page” by pressing the knob next to
Vrms is proportional to the square root of this the words (19), and press the button next to
factor or the square root of ½. Taken all the YT display (and under the “Menu
together, Vpp = 2 2 Vrms. Knowing this, are ON/OFF” button (17). The display next to it
your scope and DMM measurements con- should now read “XY.”) That will display
sistent? the amplitudes (voltages) of the two signals
You can view a cleaner sine wave with respect to one another.
using a function generator. Connect the
CH2 output of your function generator to

Digital Storage Oscilloscope 4

C.3. Lissajous Figures switching the DSO back and forth between
An alternate method for comparing two XY mode and YT mode to observe the
signals is to plot one on the horizontal (X) corresponding effect on the Lissajous
axis and the other on the vertical (Y) axis. pattern.
This will produce Lissajous figures which Next, slowly increase the frequency
allow for very quick visual comparison of of the signal from the function generator
the relative frequency and phase of two sig- until it is approximately doubled, then
nals (but which are rarely used except as fine-tune it to produce a fairly stable
special effects in science fiction movies). Lissajous pattern. Measure the frequency
On the DSO, you should now see a with the scope, (go back to YT mode so you
circle and a diagonal straight line at an can see a sine wave and can figure out the
angle of roughly 45º with the horizontal period and frequency that way) confirm that
alternately appear on the screen. it is roughly 120 Hz and sketch this
To understand what is happening, think Lissajous pattern. (It’s a lot harder to
back to your high school trigonometry explain the shape of a Lissajous pattern
course. If someone told you to make an xy when the frequencies of the two signals are
plot as a function of time of a signal given by different but the drift in the pattern is still
x = Acosωt and y = Acosωt, where A is some related to a drift in their relative phases.)
arbitrary amplitude, ω is an angular fre- Vary the frequency between 60 - 120
quency and t is time, hopefully you can see Hz and locate the simplest, nearly stable
that you would just trace out a 45º line, since pattern in this range. Measure this
x = y at every instant of time. What changes frequency and sketch the Lissajous
if x = Acosωt and y = Asinωt? Now you pattern. (In principle, there are an infinite
would sketch out a circle. What’s the differ- number of patterns in this range of
ence? It’s just the phase difference between frequencies but one should stand out as
the x and y signals, since the sin function is simpler than any others.)
just the cos function shifted by 90º. What Try to analyze the experiment and/or
happens if the phase difference between x the theory to determine what conditions on
and y slowly changes with time? The pattern the frequencies are necessary for a relatively
slowly drifts from a line to a circle and back. simple, stable pattern to appear, ignoring the
Sketch the pattern you observe on the drifts caused by slowly varying phases.
scope at a few representative times as it C.4. Sound Waves
changes. Disconnect all of the input leads
Switch the oscilloscope back to YT from the scope. Attach a microphone to
mode and note the gradual phase change the channel 1 input. Find the frequency of
of the oscillator signal relative to the a tuning fork struck with the rubber end
transformer signal. The signal on which the of the mallet supplied to you. (Press the
scope is triggered should remain steady blue AUTO button after you strike the tuning
while the other sine wave gradually drifts to fork so that the signal gets displayed as a
the left or right. The speed of this drift sine wave. Then press the “SINGLE” button
corresponds to the rate at which your in the top right of the DSO to freeze the
Lissajous pattern changes shape. Try adjust- frame on one signal.) Note that the loudest
ing the frequency on the function generator sound comes from the opening in the
to make the drift larger or smaller, and sounding box, not directly from the vibrating

5 Digital Storage Oscilloscope

 1030 Hz signal. (The AM in AM radio refers
to a similar modulation.)
Borrow another fork from a
neighbor, strike both simultaneously and
try to hear beats and see them on the
scope. Since the beats will be at a lower
frequency than the signal from a single
tuning fork, you will have to press AUTO
again followed by Single (15) to freeze the
frame. Use the Horizontal control (11) to
adjust the signal so as to see an image
Figure 2: Example of beats. similar to that in Figure 2. (There are a few
metal tines. Read the frequency off the pairs of tuning forks that produce
screen and record it. particularly clear beat patterns. These are
Beats are the phenomenon that two marked with matching colored squares or
sine waves of similar frequencies add to pro- circles.)
duce a signal that looks like a sine wave If you have time, you may wish to
whose frequency is the average of the origi- investigate the sound of your own voice
nal sine waves with an overall modulation at using the microphone and scope, although
a frequency given by half the difference in this is not required for the worksheet. What
the original signals (Fig. 2). For example, if is the frequency of your speaking voice?
you add a 1000 Hz tone to a 1060 Hz tone, What are the highest and lowest frequency
you will produce a 1030 Hz tone that tones you can vocalize by singing, humming,
increases and decreases in magnitude at 30 etc.? Can you match the tone of your tuning
Hz. The 30 Hz is sometimes called an enve- fork? Can you and your lab partner(s) sing in
lope that modulates the amplitude of the harmony and produce beats? (Only the BEST
lab partners can do this!)

Digital Storage Oscilloscope 6