Oscilloscopes: History and

Classification
24.11.2015

Oscilloscope is one of the most important and irreplaceable devices for analyzing
electrical signals. Its impossible to imagine a workshop without an oscilloscope, not to
mention a big service center. An oscilloscope allows you to observe a signal, measure
it, record it or check the change in its amplitude over a period of time. Modern
oscilloscopes are excellent devices for testing, fixing and removing malfunctions. They
can assess the operability of separate electronic components, as well as assembled
modules.

Oscilloscope was invented by a French physicist Andr Blondel, who built and
presented the first electromechanical oscilloscope back in 1893. This device was able to
register values of electrical quantities, such as alternating current intensity. An ink
pendulum attached to a coil recorded this information on a moving paper tape. First
oscilloscopes used several mechanical devices in their work process, which made their
measurements not very accurate and their bandwidth rather small, between 10 and 19
kHz. A big step in the development of oscilloscopes was made in 1897, when a German
physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun invented a cathode ray tube (CRT). A British company
called A. C. Cossor which was the first company in the world that adapted this
technology, presented their first oscilloscope in 1932.

Just like the rest of measuring equipment, oscilloscope development started to increase
around the world after the Second World War. This was especially noticeable in Europe
and the U.S. In 1946, Howard Vollum and Melvin Jack Murdock founded a company
called Tektronix, which soon became the worlds leader in oscillography. In the same
year they invented their first oscilloscope with triggered sweep, model 511, with 10 MHz
bandwidth. Triggered sweep allowed stationary display of a repeating waveform.
All technologically advanced countries started to produce these devices in the 1950s,
which in turn made oscilloscope a universal measurement tool. Their accuracy and
bandwidth was increasing, first with the development of industrial analog models, and
then with the invention of digital oscilloscopes in 1985. That year became one of the key
points in the history of oscilloscope development. This is when the first digital
oscilloscope in the world has been developed for CERN research facility by Walter
LeCroy, founder of the company LeCroy. Starting from the 1980s, development of
digital oscilloscopes is increasing rapidly, which made them irreplaceable even until
modern days.

Just like any other measuring equipment, oscilloscopes can be divided into two
categories: analog and digital. Both types have their have their positive and negative
sides, as well as unique characteristics. Therefore, lets take a look at each type more
closely.

ANALOG OSCILLOSCOPE
Analog oscilloscopes may still be found in some workshops, as some people still find it
difficult to move to an age of digital signal measurement. However, these cases are
quite rare. Component prices are constantly decreasing on the digital measuring
equipment market, just as it is on the market of personal computers. This makes digital
models more and more popular than their analog counterparts.

Practically any analog oscilloscope has to be equipped with one or several vertical
channels, a horizontal channel, a time base, a trigger system and a CRT module.
Vertical channel includes an attenuator, a preamplifier, an analog delay line and a
vertical amplifier which amplifies a signal to the required level for the CRT module.
Horizontal channel can be used in two work modes: internal and external. Both modes
work the same way as the vertical channel does, through a horizontal amplifier.

Time base mainly consists of triggers, an integrating amplifier and summation circuits
for inverting.
Trigger system consists of a level adjustment switch (to switch between decreasing and
increasing the level), a trigger and a coupling selector. Schmitt trigger, which outputs a
square signal, is synchronized with other trigger events. Control of the trigger level is
performed by changing its transient voltage.

CRT module is a special vacuum tube that contains an electron gun, a set of horizontal
and vertical deflection plates, several electronic lenses and a display, covered with
layers of fluorescent and phosphorescent coating on the inner side.

In most cases the bandwidth of analog oscilloscopes is several hundreds of MHz. CRT
module is the main part of the device that puts limits on its bandwidth. Such devices can
be used to display signal changes in real time, as signal output is completed without
digital processing. Bufferization, input signal processing and other concepts, related to
modern digital models, cannot be associated with analog oscilloscopes. Input signals
are always displayed with a small delay. This is directly related to the working specifics
of some circuits of the device.

DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE
Digital oscilloscopes are usually divided into three categories:

Digital storage oscilloscopes (DSO), use a real time sampling technology

Digital stroboscopic oscilloscopes (DSaO), use sampling in equivalent time scale

Digital phosphor oscilloscopes (DPO), use the latest technological developments

in signal sampling and processing

Digital storage oscilloscopes appeared thanks to technological advancement of hybrid

analog-to-digital converters (ADC), which are responsible for swift and accurate
digitizing of high frequency signals. Developments in other fields have also played an
important role in the evolution of the DSO: compact display modules with low energy
consumption and recording devices that have to record data as quickly as the
equipment performs sampling. Basically, DSOs use analog-to-digital converters to
display signal data in digital format.

Digital stroboscopic oscilloscope uses ordered/unordered sampling of instantaneous

values of the signal and temporarily transforms it in order to display the waveform.
Working principle of this type of oscilloscopes is based on the stroboscopic effect.
Therefore, DSaO measures instantaneous values of the repeated signals using short
stroboscopic impulses. Because of this, these oscilloscopes have a wide bandwidth and
high sensitivity.
Digital phosphor oscilloscopes are the most developed and highly technological type of
oscilloscopes available today. DPOs can be compared to analog oscilloscopes, as they
display a signal in three dimensions: time, amplitude and the distribution of amplitude
over time (intensity). These oscilloscopes perform high density sampling and have an
ability to capture data based on the intensity of the signal. DPOs displays make it easy
to distinguish the main waveform from its transitional characteristics, as the image of the
main signal is a lot brighter.

Dmytro Mamchur
https://toolboom.com/en/articles-and-video/oscilloscopes-history-and-classification/

PROFESSIONS WHICH USE

OSCILLOSCOPES
March 20, 2013 George 0 Comment

There are myriad professions that involve using an oscilloscope, which graphically displays a wide
range of electrical signals, from very small to extremely large. An oscilloscope can capture and retain
a signal for instant evaluation or it can store the signals display for later review.

Physicists and various other types of research scientists commonly use oscilloscopes in a number of
different applications. Especially sensitive oscilloscopes enable you to track tiny particles which are
particularly useful for nuclear physicists, for example. A research scientist uses an oscilloscope for,
among other things, scrutinizing the impact of various environmental changes with regard to cellular
telephone and television signals. Oscilloscopes are incredibly important pieces of testing equipment
for scientists in a wide variety of fields.
Engineers also use oscilloscopes extensively all design engineers use certain kinds of
oscilloscopes on a daily basis. Electronic and electrical engineers rely on digital storage oscilloscopes
for designing electrical/electronic equipment, even including the design of high-powered, feature-
laden oscilloscopes. Sound engineers use oscilloscopes for evaluating sound equipments frequency
response; automotive engineers use oscilloscopes for observing vibrations in engines; and computer
design engineers rely on oscilloscopes for determining processor speed as well as frequency.

Electronic technicians in all fields including television repairmen, computer technicians, and those
who install and repair telephone and radio systems also require oscilloscopes to do their jobs. In
addition electronic technicians frequently are responsible for design and development lab work led
by a group of electronic engineers.

Because automobiles have advanced to the point where many functions are controlled by onboard
computers, mechanics have turned into repair technicians who use automotive oscilloscopes to
connect to a personal computer for observing and troubleshooting automotive issues. These types of
oscilloscopes are incredibly useful for repairing complicated automobile sound equipment and other
delicate electrical/electronic automotive equipment.
Health care workers use oscilloscopes as well. Youve likely heard of a patient flatlining. This
flatline is produced by an oscilloscope which monitors a patients heartbeat. Furthermore doctors
use oscilloscopes for observing brain waves in diagnostic applications. Medical and laboratory
technicians also frequently use oscilloscopes.
As you can see oscilloscopes are an important part of many modern professions.

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/blog/professions-which-use-oscilloscopes/

Common Oscilloscope Applications

April 22, 2014 George 0 Comment

Oscilloscopes are used for a number of applications and in a number of different industries. Some
examples of professionals who use oscilloscopes are automotive mechanics, medical researchers,
television repair technicians, and physicists. Oscilloscopes are an absolutely integral tool for those
designing, testing, or repairing electronic equipment.

Digital storage oscilloscopes have by and large replaced their analog counterparts and are now the
most common kind of oscilloscopes because of their improved display, measurement, storage, and
trigger features as well as their impressive specifications. Digital storage oscilloscopes come in
handheld, portable units and bulkier, more powerful benchtop designs.
Lets look at some common applications for oscilloscopes, the first of which is power analysis.

You can use an oscilloscope to measure and subsequently analyze the operating properties of circuits,
line-power harmonics, and power conversion devices (such as autotransformers, linear regulators,
and switched-mode power supplies). You will need differential amplifier probes for power analysis.
You can find specialized software that makes analysis of data faster and simpler.

Because digital data signals are moving to increasing serial data formats, another common
oscilloscope application is serial data analysis. You can use an oscilloscope to represent and analyze
data formats like USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth, FireWire, and SCSI in addition to many others. Serial
data analysis is also used by the automotive industry.

The third oscilloscope application is jitter analysis. Modern high-bandwidth circuits have incredibly
fast clocks and signals. You can use an oscilloscope to represent, analyze, and debug signal jittter and
timing for clocking applications (clocks, clock-to-data, and datastream analysis).

Another use for oscilloscopes is data storage device testing: you can test disk drive designs by
assessing disk performance, media noise, and optical recording characteristics.
The last oscilloscope application well address is time-domain reflectometry, or TDR, which is a
means of measuring impedance values and variations like faults along cable connectors,
microstrips on a circuit board, or transmission cables.

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/blog/oscilloscope-applications/

http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2013spring/PHY252/Lab5.pdf

Experiment 9
Introduction to the Oscilloscope
Objective:
To learn how to operate an oscilloscope and use it for signal analysis of different
parts of an electronic circuit
Equipment:
A laboratory oscilloscope, two function generators, a few regular connecting wires,
and a few oscilloscope connecting wires

Theory:

Traditionally, an oscilloscope is made of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) in which a heating

element at the back end of it releases electrons. These electrons
are accelerated toward the front end of the tube due to a high positive
voltage. A collimator first makes a narrow beam of the accelerating electrons. The
front (screen) of the tube is coated with a phosphor and becomes luminous when
high-speed electrons collide with it. A narrow beam of electrons arriving at the
screen leaves a bright spot at its center. Between the negative end (cathode) and
the positive end (anode), there are two pairs of deflection plates. Each pair consists
of two parallel plates similar to a parallel-plate capacitor. One pair is oriented in a
horizontal position, and the other in a vertical position (see Fig. 1). When the
horizontal pair is connected to a fixed voltage, it imposes a uniform and vertical
electric field to the traveling electrons that are to pass between its plates, causing
them to deflect in the vertical direction. If the vertical pair of plates is connected to
a fixed voltage, it imposes a uniform and horizontal electric field to the traveling
electrons that are to pass between its plates, causing them to deflect in the
horizontal direction. Therefore, by adjusting the voltage across these two pairs of
plates, it is possible to guide the electron beam in any desired direction, and
therefore control the position of the bright spot on the screen.
 Fig. 1: A schematic diagram of an oscilloscope

If the horizontal pair is given a sinusoidal voltage, the spot performs a sinusoidal
motion on the screen in the vertical direction. If the frequency of oscillations is a few
cycles per second (Hz), the up-and-down motion can be followed by the eyes;
otherwise, if the frequency is 20 Hz or more, only a vertical line will appear to the
eyes, as shown in Fig. 2.

The same would be true in the horizontal direction if a sinusoidal voltage were
applied across the vertical pair of plates of the oscilloscope (see Fig. 3).

Sweep:
In order to be able to show real sinusoidal signals or graphs on the screen, each
oscilloscope has a built-in sweep function that causes the spot to move in the
horizontal direction. The role of the sweep function is to move the spot from left to
right at a desired constant speed, and return it to the left almost immediately. This is
done by the sweep function in the oscilloscope. There is a knob on every
oscilloscope that allows users to select a sweeping speed. If a sweep of 5 seconds is
selected, for example, it takes the spot 5 seconds to travel horizontally from left to
right. If a sweep of 1 second is selected, the travel time will be 1 second. If, at a
sweep rate of 1 per second, a sinusoidal voltage of frequency 1 per second is given to
the horizontal plates (vertical motion), the oscilloscope then draws one cycle of a
sinusoid across the screen every second, as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4: Sweep Frequency = Fig. 5: Sweep Frequency =

1/sec. Vert. Oscill. Frequency = 1/sec. Horiz.. Oscill.
1/sec. Frequency = 3/sec.

If the frequency of the vertical oscillations is 3 per second, then 3 cycles appear in
the width of the screen, as shown in Fig. 5. At a low frequency (1/s or 3/s) of the
vertical motion, only the drawing process of figures 4 and 5 appears on the screen in
every sweep.
To see a non-vanishing waveform in each sweep, both the vertical and the sweep
frequencies must be at least 20 per second (20 Hz). That way, before a drawing
vanishes, another one replaces it, and it appears continuous to our eyes.

Function Generator:

A function generator is a device that can generate a few types of functions at different
frequencies. Typical functions are: sinusoidal, rectangular, and saw-tooth. These are
shown below:

A function generator may be set at different frequencies by the self-explanatory knobs

or buttons on its console. Another knob is usually provided for fine adjustments. In
the absence of an equipment manual, you may address your questions to your lab
instructor.

http://www.pstcc.edu/nbs/WebPhysics/Experimentt%2009.htm

http://gulden.kokturk.com/Experiment-reportexample.pdf
The oscilloscope or scope must be one of the most widely used and famous test instruments. The
oscilloscope is a type of test equipment that allows signal voltages to be display on a screen in a two
dimensional format. In this way it is possible to see waveforms on the screen and understand how a
circuit is performing. In view of this the scope is able to provide a far great level of detail than simpler
items of test equipment.
In view of its usefulness the oscilloscope is an essential item in any electronics laboratory and many
other environments. Often several scopes may be required in a lab with wide ranging specifications to
accommodate the wide range of measurements and applications that they may need to fulfil.

Oscilloscope measurements
The basic concept of the oscilloscope is that it displays waveforms in a two dimensional format. The
vertical axis is normally used to plot the incoming voltage, and the horizontal axis is normally used as
a time axis. In this way the waveform voltage can be displayed as a function of time. In this way a sine
wave would be displayed in its well known graphical format with a line undulating line with time on the
horizontal axis. This is the most common way of using an oscilloscope
While it is useful to display a single waveform, many measurements and measurement techniques
require more than on waveform to be displayed at any one time. This can be used to compare
waveforms and look at how different waveforms interact or when events occur on more than one
waveform. Many dual channel or multi-channel oscilloscopes exist that allow two or more waveforms
to be displayed at the same time.
While the most usual way of displaying waveforms is to measure the instantaneous voltage on the
vertical axis, and time on the horizontal axis, it is also possible to plot tow voltages against each other.
In this way it is possible to display a Lissajous figure and look at the relative phases and voltages of
two waveforms together.
At certain times it may be advantageous to be able to display three dimensional images. The traditional
way of achieving this was to modulate the intensity of the image by using a third waveform. There is
often a "Z Axis" input at the rear of many oscilloscopes to achieve this.

Oscilloscope displays
The display within an oscilloscope is obviously a very important element of the overall item of test
equipment. Originally cathode ray tubes were used. These displays required very high voltages for
their operation, and in addition to this, if bright steady waveforms were left displaying on the scope for
extended periods of time, then this could damage the phosphor that illuminated and "worn" areas
would appear with the waveform embedded on the display. Despite these and other problems, the
cathode ray tube was used for very many years in the oscilloscope.
On some occasions it was necessary to store images for a short period of time. Before the days of
digital technology, special storage oscilloscopes were used. These relied on a specialized storage
cathode ray tube. This would operate by holding a charge on the screen in such a way that the area
that was scanned remained illuminated. The "persistence" of the image could be altered so that the
time the image remained on screen could be changed. This could be used for very slow waveforms
that needed illuminated areas to have a long persistence to visualize the outline of the waveform.

With the advent of improved display technology and an increase in the level of digital forms of signal
processing there has been a move to other forms of display including LCD and electroluminescent
displays. Combined with the levels of processing available, both normal and storage functions are
easily available. These displays are also less prone to damage and normally last the life of the
oscilloscope.

Oscilloscope history
There have been several key dates and developments in the road to producing the oscilloscope of
today. The oscilloscope history has relied on a number of key developments, each of which has
enabled oscilloscope technology to progress a step further.
 DATE DEVELOPMENT
1897 Karl Ferdinand Braun invents the Cathode Ray Tube, CRT and uses it to display
crude figures on the screen controlled by voltages on the plates of the tube.
Late the British company A C Cossor invents a dual beam oscilloscope which is widely
1930s used during WW2 for servicing electronics equipment and in particular the radar
systems that were used.
1946 The triggered sweep oscilloscope is invented by Howard Vollum and Jack Murdock.
This made the oscilloscope much easier to sue as waveforms were able to be
displayed in a far more steady manner.
Howard Vollum and Jack Murdock went on to found the Tektronix company that
produced some of the highest performance oscilloscopes of the day.
1963 Tektronix introduced the Direct View Bistable Storage Tube (DVBST). This allowed
single pulse waveforms to be displayed rather than just repeating waveforms.
The Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO) was invented by Walter LeCroy after
producing high-speed digitizers for the research centre CERN in Switzerland. Walter
LeCroy later founded the LeCroy Corporation.

Types of oscilloscope
Since the first oscilloscopes were developed and produced a variety of different types of oscilloscope
have been developed. These have appeared as the technology has developed and they have been
focused on particular applications and measurements. As a result, when choosing an oscilloscope,
one of the first decisions to be made is regarding the basic form of oscilloscope that is needed.
Some of the major forms of oscilloscope are summarized in the list below. These are described in
much greater detail in a further page of this oscilloscope tutorial.

Analogue oscilloscope
Analogue storage oscilloscope
Digital oscilloscope
Digital storage oscilloscope
Digital phosphor oscilloscope
Digital sampling oscilloscope
Further descriptions of these types of oscilloscope can be found on further pages of this oscilloscope
tutorial.

Oscilloscopes have been in use within the electronics industry for many years. Even with many new
developments occurring and a shift to greater levels of software within products there is no lessening
of the importance of oscilloscopes. As technology develops, so the technology used within scopes has
enabled them to provide higher levels of performance and to provide new and useful functions. With
the continuing movement of technology, oscilloscope technology will also move forwards.
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