Oscilloscope Interface Guide
How to Use
Scope controls (right panel)
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volts/div | Vertical scale — 10 mV/div to 10 V/div (1-2-5 sequence) |
| Vert pos | Shifts the trace up/down; the cyan G marker shows where 0 V is on screen |
| Time/div | Horizontal scale — 1 µs/div to 1 s/div (1-2-5 sequence) |
| Trigger Level | The yellow T marker on the right edge shows the trigger voltage |
| Edge ↑/↓ | Trigger on rising or falling edge |
| Coupling DC/AC | DC coupling shows the full signal including DC offset; AC removes the DC |
| AUTO | Resets trigger level to 0 V and restarts |
| STOP/RUN | Freezes or re-enables the sweep |
Signal generator (bottom panel)
| Control | Range |
|---|---|
| Waveform type | Sine, Square, Triangle |
| Frequency | 10 Hz – 100 kHz (log scale) |
| Amplitude | 100 mV – 10 V peak (log scale) |
| DC Offset | –5 V to +5 V |
Exercises
Work through the three goals shown at the bottom of the display:
- Display exactly 2 cycles — Calculate the correct Time/div: \(T/\text{div} = \frac{2\,T}{10} = \frac{2}{10 f}\)
- Signal spans ≥ 6 divisions — Set Volts/div so \(V_{pp} / (V/\text{div}) \geq 6\)
- Stable trigger — Keep the trigger level inside the signal's voltage range
Key Measurements
The right panel continuously displays:
- Freq — signal frequency (from the generator)
- Vpp — peak-to-peak voltage measured from the displayed waveform
- Vavg — average (DC) value of the displayed waveform
- Vrms — RMS voltage (for a 1 V peak sine: \(V_{rms} = 1/\sqrt{2} \approx 707\) mV)
Phosphor Glow
The trace uses a three-layer phosphor glow effect to mimic a real analog oscilloscope CRT display. The bright inner line represents the electron beam; the outer glow represents phosphor persistence.