Oscilloscopes
The various oscilloscope product lines, such as the handheld oscilloscopes, PC oscilloscopes, and the XST3000 series was produced until early 2021 and will no longer be manufactured by Sourcetronic.
Oscilloscope: definition and operation
An oscilloscope, which is also called a scope or osci, is defined as a measuring device for displaying electrical voltages and their characteristics on a screen. In short, the electrical function generator makes it possible to visualize time-dependent electrical quantities, usually in real-time display. For this purpose, the measured variable is displayed in two dimensions in the form of an oscillogram. One dimension is represented by the time and the second dimension by an electrical quantity on the basis of a progression graph in a coordinate system. Here, the horizontal “X-axis” is the time axis and the vertical “Y-axis” is the axis of the voltages to be displayed. The resulting image is ultimately referred to as an oscillogram.
The general advantage of oscilloscopes over other instruments
The general advantage of oscilloscopes over other measuring instruments is primarily that the waveform is displayed pictorially. This leads to the fact that disturbances such as overlaps by frequencies or other irregularities are directly recognizable for the viewer. The only disadvantage of an oscilloscope with function generator compared to others is the requirement of necessary knowledge in handling the operation. This refers above all to the evaluation of amounts, since for their determination the picture must be evaluated first – a fact, which represents the oscilloscopes under this aspect as quite cumbersome.
The construction of an oscilloscope measuring device
In the past the construction of an oscilloscope was characterized by the fact that at a glowing cathode by the application of a negative voltage opposite the anode, the exit of electrons is caused. These are accelerated in the evacuated space by the existing E-field towards the cathode. For the oscillator including the function generator, it is essential that a spatial focusing is achieved. For this purpose, a negatively charged hollow cylinder, also known as a “Wehnelt cylinder”, is positioned between the cathode and anode. In this way, the electrons are accelerated and can now be deflected by pairs of capacitor plates in their motion, which is normally rectilinear. The deflection occurs in the respective direction proportional to the applied voltage. The electrons, which are collected by a screen, allow in this way a graphical representation of the relationship of the voltages.
Further functions by function generators
It is also possible with a function generator oscilloscope, in addition to the representation of pure voltage ratios, to draw time-dependent voltage functions. Many function generators also have a dual-beam setting that allows two voltage functions to be plotted as a function of time. Generally, a distinction is made between analog oscilloscopes and digital oscilloscopes. However, analog oscilloscopes, which use a cathode ray tube for display, have been almost completely displaced from the market by digital oscilloscopes over the course of time. This is mainly due to practical disadvantages, such as the size of the cathode ray tube, as well as economic and price factors. They are mostly only used in smaller laboratories and in the educational sector of technical schools. The digital oscillators that are increasingly used today perform an analog-to-digital conversion in their mode of operation. In principle, they are referred to as storage oscilloscopes, since they can provide, store or transfer data to a computer.
Further measurement technology, such as Hipot Testers, LCR meters, Multimeters and much more can be found in our measurement technology category.