Oscilloscope

Presented by: Hala Ahmed Salama Communication 4 Presented to: Prof.Nahid Sobhi 2/12/2011

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this report. I want to thank Ain Shams University, for giving me the Opportunity to make this report. I am deeply indebted to my teacher Prof. Nahid Sobhi, who helps me a lot in writing this report, by giving me the guidelines and the techniques of writing a report.

1.2 Operating Description.........................8 2. FRONT PANEL CONTROLS...........10

3. TRIGGER CONTROLS......................................................................................13

3.1 Trigger Level and Slope....................14 3.2Trigger Sources...........................15 3.3 Trigger Modes....................................15 3.4 Trigger Coupling...............................15 3.5 Trigger Holdoff..................................16 4. Dual and Multiple-trace oscilloscopes18 Oscilloscopes with two vertical inputs, referred to as dual-trace oscilloscopes, are extremely useful and commonplace. Using a single-beam CRT, they multiplex the inputs, usually switching between them fast enough to display two traces apparently at once. Less common are oscilloscopes with more traces; four inputs are common among these, but a few (Kikuyu, for one) offered a display of the sweep trigger signal if desired. Some multi-trace oscilloscopes use the external trigger input as an optional vertical input, and some have third and fourth channels with only minimal controls. In all cases, the inputs, when independently displayed, are time-multiplexed, but dual-trace oscilloscopes often can add their inputs to display a real-time analog sum. (Inverting one channel provides a difference, provided that neither channel is overloaded. This difference mode can provide a moderate-performance differential input.)...................18 5. The vertical amplifier..........................18 7. Bandwidth ...........................................19

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Real Time Oscilloscope Figure 2: Schematic of Oscilloscope CRT Figure 3: Front panel controls Figure 4: Trigger Control Figures 5: Untriggered Display Figure 6: Positive and Negative Slop Figure 7: Trigger Holdoff Figure 8: waveform Figure 9: waveform cycle 1 Figure 10: waveform cycle 2 Figure11: waveform cycle 3 Figure 12: high frequency signal 1 2 4 7 8 8 10 10 10 11 11 11

LIST OF TABELS
Table 1.1 types of probes and their benefits 3

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CRT: oscilloscope cathode ray tube BNC: Bayonet NeillConcelman UHF: Ultra-High Frequency CMRR: common-mode rejection rate DUT: Device under test GND: Ground electricity NSEC: sub nanosecond WWII: world War II

LIST OF DEFINNIONS
Test probe: a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to the device under test

ABSTRACT
In this report , I provide an introduction about the oscilloscope (also known as a scope, CRO, DSO or, an O-scope), which is a type of electronic test instrument that allows observation of constantly varying signal voltages, usually as a two-dimensional graph of one or more electrical potential differences. Oscilloscopes are used in the sciences, medicine, engineering, and telecommunications industry. General-purpose instruments are used for maintenance of electronic equipment and laboratory work. Special-purpose oscilloscopes may be used for such purposes as analyzing an automotive ignition system, or to display the waveform of the heartbeat as an electrocardiogram, it is very useful instrument for engineers, which will help them a lot in their field, and in this report they will find the essential information about the oscilloscope, which will help them to deal with it in easily

1.0 INTRODUCTION
By 1935, scopes were being made by General Radio, DuMont, General Electric and Radio Corporation of America...Before the surge occurred in oscilloscope cathode ray tube (CRT ) development for radar with the onset of World War II (WWII), general radio dropped out of the scope business Oscilloscope development had proceeded during WWII, especially to support radar and microwave circuit design. However, the capabilities of oscilloscopes were very limited. Oscilloscopes were used to view the shape of a waveform. Precise measurements of amplitude and frequency were performed with other instruments or by comparison with signals of known amplitude and frequency. The oscilloscope cathode ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube that creates and deflects an electron beam to form a graphical image representing the electrical properties of a circuit. An oscilloscope as shown in Figure 1 is used to test electrical devices by displaying a graph of the voltage between two points in a circuit over time. Similar CRTs are used in radar systems, televisions, and computer monitors. The base of the tube plugs into the oscilloscope, while the other end flares to a large flat area that serves as the screen. An electron gun inside produces an electron beam that passes through two sets of deflection plates before hitting the fluorescent screen to create an image. This device operates by creating and accelerating a beam of electrons with an electric field. Another electric field between the deflection plates directs the beam to the desired location of the display. Finally, the fluorescent screen converts the energy of the electron beam into slowly emitted visible photons. Four main parts make up the oscilloscope CRT: bulb, electron gun, deflection plates, and fluorescent screen.

Figure 1: A Hitachi V-1565 Real Time Oscilloscope [3]

Figure 2: Schematic of Oscilloscope CRT [2]

1.1Desc of Parts Their

ription and

Function
I.

Bulb. The bulb encloses and holds the components of the CRT in a vacuum. It is a glass tube shaped roughly like a flashlight as shown in Figure 2. On one end of the tube is the base that plugs into the oscilloscope and contains the leads that supply current to the components inside. The other end is bell shaped and serves as the display, which are approximately 4 inches wide and 3 inches tall. The bulb keeps the space around the CRT free of particles of dust and air and holds down each of the components of the CRT. Electron gun. The electron gun creates the electron beam and adjusts the intensity and width of the beam moving to the screen. It is located next to the base of the CRT and consists of five major parts: heater, cathode, control grid, focusing anode, and accelerating anode (Figure 2). The heater, a rod of metal, is supplied an electric current and converts it to heat. As the heater increases in temperature, the cathode heats up and its electrons are given enough thermal energy to escape their molecular bonds. The cathode serves as the source of the electron beam and is held at a negative voltage potential. The negatively charged control grid has variable voltage and pushes some electrons back into the cathode, thus controlling the intensity of the beam and brightness of the image on the display. The focusing anode controls the width of the electron beam and the positively charged accelerating anode creates the electric field needed to accelerate electrons from the cathode to the screen. The control grid, focusing anode, and accelerating anode have holes in their centers to allow the electron beam to pass through freely. Deflection plates. The deflection plates are simply pairs of oppositely charged metal plates. There are two sets of deflection plates: vertical and horizontal (Figure 2). Each set of plates is parallel and located at the neck of the tube. The vertical deflection plates lie horizontally but control the vertical position of the beam. The horizontal plates are positioned at right angles to the vertical plates and control the horizontal position of the beam. External electric circuits are used to control and change the amount of charge on these plates and the electric field between them. The electron beam passes between each pair of plates, and is attracted to the positively charged side and repelled by the negatively charged side. In this way, the plates control the path of the electron beam and where the beam hits the screen.

II.

III.

IV.

Fluorescent screen. The fluorescent screen is the display on the bulb. The most common material used on the display is phosphorous, and it is painted on the inside of the bulb. Electrons emerging from the deflection plates strike the screen and the phosphorous converts the energy in the electron beam into photons of visible light. This results in a spot of light on the display, with brightness proportional to the intensity of the beam. The element on the screen is also phosphorescent, meaning that it emits energy as light gradually instead of instantaneously. This allows us to see lines on the screen instead of a moving dot. This line is maintained by rapid, repetitive tracing.

1.2 Operating Description

The four parts of the oscilloscope CRT are designed to create and direct an electron beam to a screen to form an image. The oscilloscope links to a circuit that directly connects to the vertical deflection plates while the horizontal plates have linearly increasing charge to form a plot of the circuit voltage over time. In an operating cycle, the heater gives electrons in the cathode enough energy to escape. The electrons are attracted to the accelerating anode and pulled through a control grid that regulates the number of electrons in the beam, a focusing anode that controls the width of the beam, and the accelerating anode itself. The vertical and horizontal deflection plates create electric fields that bend the beam of electrons. The electrons finally hit the fluorescent screen, which absorbs the energy from the electron beam and emits it in the form of light to display an image at the end of the glass tube.

1.3 Size and portability

Most modern oscilloscopes are lightweight, portable instruments that are compact enough to be easily carried by a single person. In addition to the portable units, the market offers a number of miniature battery-powered instruments for field service applications. Laboratory grade oscilloscopes, especially older units which use vacuum tubes, are generally bench-top devices or may be mounted into dedicated carts. Special-purpose oscilloscopes may be rackmounted or permanently mounted into custom instrument housing.

1.4 Inputs
The signal to be measured is fed to one of the input connectors, which is usually a coaxial connector such as a Bayonet NeillConcelman (BNC )or Ultra-High Frequency (300-3000 MHz) ( UHF) type. Binding posts or banana plugs may be used for lower frequencies. If the signal source has its own coaxial connector, then a simple coaxial cable is used; otherwise, a specialized cable called a "probe a probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to the device under test_ supplied with the oscilloscope, is used. In general, for routine use, an open wire test lead for connecting to the point being observed is not satisfactory, and a probe is generally necessary.

1.5 Probes
A probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to the device under test. In Table (1.1) we will explain some types of probes and the benefits of each one of them.

Table 1.1 types of probes and their benefits [5]

Type
Active Probe

Bandwidth
750 MHz - 6 GHz

Description
Offers broad signal bandwidth and reduc33ed probe loading to capture single-ended, ground referenced signals. Best choice for small geometry applications that would be seriously loaded by passive probing solutions Widest selection of highperformance current probes available. Tektronix current measurement systems provide programmable and manual simultaneous View complementary signal pair using a single channel. While a matched pair of single-ended probes may be used to make a differential measurement, a true differential probe typically gives higher performance, providing high, commonmode rejection rate (CMRR) , broad frequency range, and minimal time skew between inputs. Extends the ability to safely and accurately capture realtime signal information from "elevated" voltage systems. Solutions available for singleended, differential or isolated measurements. Minimizes Device under test (DUT) loading for a more accurate characterization of how your device is performing with or without measurement system.

Current Probe

DC - 2 GHz

Differential Probe

1 MHz - 20 GHz

High Voltage Probe

25 MHz - 1 GHz

Low Capacitance Probe

3 GHz - 9 GHz

2. FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

The controls and indicators are used for power and navigation and to indicate information such as system activity, service and configuration options, service controller failures, and node identification, and here are some of the oscilloscope controls in details. Figure 3 shows some of the controls, and their places in the oscilloscope.

Figure3: front panel controls [2]

2.1 Focus Control

This control adjusts CRT focus to obtain the sharpest, most-detailed trace. In practice, focus needs to be adjusted slightly when observing quite-different signals, which means that it needs to be an external control. Flat-panel displays do not need focus adjustments and therefore do not include this control.

2.2 Intensity Control

This adjusts trace brightness. Slow traces on CRT oscilloscopes need less, and fast ones, especially if not often repeated, require more. On flat panels, however, trace brightness is essentially independent of sweep speed, because the internal signal processing effectively synthesizes the display from the digitized data.

2.3 Astigmatism
Can also be called Shape" or " spot shape". Adjusts the relative voltages on two of the CRT anodes such that a displayed spot changes from elliptical in one plane through a circular spot to an ellipse at 90 degrees to the first. This control may be absent from simpler oscilloscope designs or may even be an internal control. It is not necessary with flat panel displays.

2.4 Beam Finder

Modern oscilloscopes have a direct-coupled deflection amplifier, which means the trace, could be deflected off-screen. They also might have their CRT beam blanked without the operator knowing it. In such cases, the screen is blank. To help in restoring the display quickly and without experimentation, the beam finder circuit overrides any blanking and ensures that the beam will not be deflected off-screen; it limits the deflection. With a display, it's usually very easy to restore a normal display. (While active, beam-finder circuits might temporarily distort the trace severely, however this is acceptable.)

2.5 Graticule
The graticule is a grid of squares that serve as reference marks for measuring the displayed trace. These markings, whether located directly on the screen or on a removable plastic filter, usually consist of a 1 centimeter grid with closer tick marks (often at 2 millimeter) on the centre vertical and horizontal axis. One expects to see ten major divisions across the screen; the number of vertical major divisions varies. Comparing the grid markings with the waveform permits one to measure both voltage (vertical axis) and time (horizontal axis). Frequency can also be determined by measuring the waveform period and calculating its reciprocal.

2.5.1 The price makes a difference

On old and lower-cost CRT oscilloscopes the graticule is a sheet of plastic, often with lightdiffusing markings and concealed lamps at the edge of the graticule. The lamps had a brightness control. Higher-cost instruments have the graticule marked on the inside face of the CRT, to eliminate parallax errors; better ones also had adjustable edge illumination with diffusing markings. (Diffusing markings appear bright.) Digital oscilloscopes, however, generate the graticule markings on the display in the same way as the trace. External graticules also protect the glass face of the CRT from accidental impact. Some CRT oscilloscopes with internal graticules have an unmarked tinted sheet plastic light filter to enhance trace contrast; this also serves to protect the faceplate of the CRT.

2.5.2 Accuracy and resolution

Measurements using a graticule are relatively limited; better instruments sometimes have movable bright markers on the trace that permit internal circuits to make more refined measurements. Both calibrated vertical sensitivity and calibrated horizontal time are set in 1 - 2 - 5 - 10 steps. This leads, however, to some awkward interpretations of minor divisions. At 2, each of the five minor divisions is 0.4, so one has to think 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6, which is rather awkward. One Tektronix plug-in used a 1 - 2.5 - 5 - 10 sequence, which simplified estimating. The "2.5" didn't look as "neat", but was very welcome.

2.6 Time base Controls

These select the horizontal speed of the CRT's spot as it creates the trace; this process is commonly referred to as the sweep. In all but the least-costly modern oscilloscopes, the sweep speed is selectable and calibrated in units of time per major graticule division. Quite a wide range of sweep speeds is generally provided, from seconds to as fast as picoseconds per

division. Usually, a continuously-variable control (often a knob in front of the calibrated selector knob) offers uncelebrated speeds, typically slower than calibrated. This control provides a range somewhat greater than that of consecutive calibrated steps, making any speed available between the extremes.

2.7 Holdoff control

Found on some better analog oscilloscopes, this varies the time (holdoff) during which the sweep circuit ignores triggers. It provides a stable display of some repetitive events in which some triggers would create confusing displays. It is usually set to minimum, because a longer time decreases the number of sweeps per second, resulting in a dimmer trace. See trigger holdoff for a more detailed description (page12.)

2.8 Vertical sensitivity, coupling, and polarity controls

To accommodate a wide range of input amplitudes, a switch selects calibrated sensitivity of the vertical deflection. Another control, often in front of the calibrated-selector knob, offers continuously-variable sensitivity over a limited range from calibrated to less-sensitive settings. Often the observed signal is offset by a steady component, and only the changes are of interest. A switch (AC position) connects a capacitor in series with the input that passes only the changes (provided that they are not too slow -- "slow" would mean visible). However, when the signal has a fixed offset of interest, or changes quite slowly, the input is connected directly (DC switch position). Most oscilloscopes offer the DC input option. For convenience, to see where zero volts input currently shows on the screen, many oscilloscopes have a third switch position Ground electricity (GND) that disconnects the input and grounds it. Often, in this case, the user centers the trace with the Vertical Position control. Better oscilloscopes have a polarity selector. Normally, a positive input moves the trace upward, but this permits invertingpositive deflects the trace downward.

2.9 Horizontal sensitivity control

This control is found only on more elaborate oscilloscopes; it offers adjustable sensitivity for external horizontal inputs.

2.10 Vertical position control

The vertical position control moves the whole displayed trace up and down. It is used to set the no-input trace exactly on the center line of the graticule, but also permits offsetting vertically by a limited amount. With direct coupling, adjustment of this control can compensate for a limited DC component of an input.

2.11 Horizontal position control

The horizontal position control moves the display sidewise. It usually sets the left end of the trace at the left edge of the graticule, but it can displace the whole trace when desired. This control also moves the X-Y mode traces sidewise in some instruments, and can compensate for a limited DC component as for vertical position.

2.12 Dual-Trace Controls

Each input channel usually has its own set of sensitivity, coupling, and position controls, although some four-trace oscilloscopes have only minimal controls for their third and fourth channels. Dual-trace oscilloscopes have a mode switch to select either channel alone, both channels, or (in some) an X-Y display, which uses the second channel for X deflection. When both channels are displayed, the type of channel switching can be selected on some oscilloscopes; on others, the type depends upon time base setting. If manually selectable, channel switching can be free-running, or between consecutive sweeps. Some Philips dualtrace analog oscilloscopes had a fast analog multiplier, and provided a display of the product of the input channels.

2.12.1 Multiple trace

Multiple-trace oscilloscopes have a switch for each channel to enable or disable display of that trace's signal.

2.13 Delayed-Sweep Controls.

These include controls for the delayed-sweep time base, which is calibrated, and often also variable. The slowest speed is several steps faster than the slowest main sweep speed, although the fastest is generally the same. A calibrated multiturn delay time control offers wide range, high resolution delay settings; it spans the full duration of the main sweep, and its reading corresponds to graticule divisions (but with much finer precision). Its accuracy is also superior to that of the display. A switch selects display modes: Main sweeps only, with a brightened region showing when the delayed sweep is advancing, delayed sweep only, or (on some) a combination mode. Good CRT oscilloscopes include a delayed-sweep intensity control, to allow for the dimmer trace of a much-faster delayed sweep that nevertheless occurs only once per main sweep. Such oscilloscopes also are likely to have a trace separation control for multiplexed display of both the main and delayed sweeps together.

3. TRIGGER CONTROLS
The trigger controls let you stabilize repeating waveforms and capture single-shot waveforms. Figure 5 shows a typical front panel and on-screen menus for the trigger controls.

Figure 4: Trigger Controls [2]

The trigger makes repeating waveforms appear static on the oscilloscope display. Imagine the jumble on the screen that would result if each sweep started at a different place on the signal, ( see figure 5. )

Figure 5: Untriggered Display [2]

3.1 Trigger Level and Slope

Your oscilloscope may have several different types of triggers, such as edge, video, pulse, or logic. Edge triggering is the basic and most common type and is the only type discussed in this book. Consult your oscilloscope instruction manual for details on other trigger types. For edge triggering, the trigger level and slope controls provide the basic trigger point definition. The trigger circuit acts as a comparator. You select the slope and voltage level of one side of the comparator. When the trigger signal matches your settings, the oscilloscope generates a trigger.

The slope control determines whether the trigger point is on the rising or the falling edge of a signal. A rising edge is a positive slope and a falling edge is a negative slope. The level control determines where on the edge the trigger point occurs.

Figure 6 shows you how the trigger slope and level settings determine how a waveform is displayed

Figure 6: Positive and Negative Slope Triggering [2]

3.2Trigger Sources
The oscilloscope does not necessarily have to trigger on the signal being measured. Several sources can trigger the sweep:
I. II. III. IV.

Any input channel An external source, other than the signal applied to an input channel The power source signal A signal internally generated by the oscilloscope

Most of the time you can leave the oscilloscope set to trigger on the channel displayed. Note that the oscilloscope can use an alternate trigger source whether displayed or not. So you have to be careful not to unwittingly trigger on, for example, channel 1 while displaying channel 2.

3.3 Trigger Modes

The trigger mode determines whether or not the oscilloscope draws a waveform if it does not detect a trigger. Common trigger modes include normal and auto. I. In normal mode the oscilloscope only sweeps if the input signal reaches the set trigger point; otherwise (on an analog oscilloscope) the screen is blank or (on a digital oscilloscope) frozen on the last acquired waveform. Normal mode can be disorienting since you may not see the signal at first if the level control is not adjusted correctly. Auto mode causes the oscilloscope to sweep, even without a trigger. If no signal is present, a timer in the oscilloscope triggers the sweep. This ensures that the display will not disappear if the signal drops to small voltages. It is also the best mode to use if you are looking at many signals and do not want to bother setting the trigger each time.

II.

In practice, you will probably use both modes: normal mode because it is more versatile and auto mode because it requires less adjustment. Some oscilloscopes also include special modes for single sweeps, triggering on video signals, or automatically setting the trigger level.

3.4 Trigger Coupling

Just as you can select either AC or DC coupling for the vertical system, you can choose the kind of coupling for the trigger signal.

Besides AC and DC coupling, your oscilloscope may also have high frequency rejection, low frequency rejection, and noise rejection trigger coupling. These special settings are useful for eliminating noise from the trigger signal to prevent false triggering.

3.5 Trigger Holdoff

Sometimes getting an oscilloscope to trigger on the correct part of a signal requires great skill. Many oscilloscopes have special features to make this task easier. Trigger holdoff is an adjustable period of time during which the oscilloscope cannot trigger. This feature is useful when you are triggering on complex waveform shapes, so that the oscilloscope only triggers on the first eligible trigger point. Figure7 shows how using trigger holdoff helps create a usable display.

3.6 Example

Figure 7: Trigger Holdoff [2]

Imagine the following repeating waveform in figure 8.

Figure 8: waveform

The green line is the waveform, the red vertical partial line represents the location of the trigger, and the yellow line represents the trigger level. If the scope was simply set to trigger on every rising edge, this waveform would cause three triggers for each cycle

Figure 9:waveform cycle 1

Figure 10: waveform cycle 2

Figure11: 17waveform cycle 3

Assuming the signal is fairly high frequency; your scope would probably look something like Figure 12.

Figure 12: high frequency signal

Except that on the scope, each trigger would be the same channel, and so would be the same color. What we want to do is set the scope to only trigger on one edge per cycle, so we need to set the holdoff to be a little less than the period of the waveform. That will prevent it from

triggering more than once per cycle, but still allow it to trigger on the first edge of the next cycle.

4. Dual and Multiple-trace oscilloscopes

Oscilloscopes with two vertical inputs, referred to as dual-trace oscilloscopes, are extremely useful and commonplace. Using a single-beam CRT, they multiplex the inputs, usually switching between them fast enough to display two traces apparently at once. Less common are oscilloscopes with more traces; four inputs are common among these, but a few (Kikuyu, for one) offered a display of the sweep trigger signal if desired. Some multi-trace oscilloscopes use the external trigger input as an optional vertical input, and some have third and fourth channels with only minimal controls. In all cases, the inputs, when independently displayed, are time-multiplexed, but dual-trace oscilloscopes often can add their inputs to display a real-time analog sum. (Inverting one channel provides a difference, provided that neither channel is overloaded. This difference mode can provide a moderate-performance differential input.) Switching channels can be asynchronous, that is, free-running, with trace blanking while switching, or after each horizontal sweep is complete. Asynchronous switching is usually designated "Chopped", while sweep-synchronized is designated "Alternate". A given channel is alternately connected and disconnected, leading to the term "chopped". Multi-trace oscilloscopes also switch channels either in chopped or alternate modes. In general, chopped mode is better for slower sweeps. It is possible for the internal chopping rate to be a multiple of the sweep repetition rate, creating blanks in the traces, but in practice this is rarely a problem; the gaps in one trace are overwritten by traces of the following sweep. A few oscilloscopes had a modulated chopping rate to avoid this occasional problem. Alternate mode, however, is better for faster sweeps. True dual-beam CRT oscilloscopes did exist, but were not common. One type (Cosset, U.K.) had a beam-splitter plate in its CRT, and single-ended deflection following the splitter. Others had two complete electron guns, requiring tight control of axial (rotational) mechanical alignment in manufacturing the CRT. Beam-splitter types had horizontal deflection common to both vertical channels, but dual-gun oscilloscopes could have separate time bases, or use one time base for both channels. Multiple-gun CRTs (up to ten guns) were made in past decades. With ten guns, the envelope (bulb) was cylindrical throughout its length.

5. The vertical amplifier

In an analog oscilloscope, the vertical amplifier acquires the signal[s] to be displayed. In better oscilloscopes, it delays them by a fraction of a microsecond, and provides a signal large enough to deflect the CRT's beam. That deflection is at least somewhat beyond the edges of the graticule, and more typically some distance off-screen. The amplifier has to have low distortion to display its input accurately (it must be linear), and it has to recover quickly from overloads. As well, its time-domain response has to represent transients accuratelyminimal overshoot, rounding, and tilt of a flat pulse top. A vertical input goes to a frequency-compensated step attenuator to reduce large signals to prevent overload. The attenuator feeds a low-level stage which in turn feed gain stages (and a delay-line driver if there is a delay). Following are more gain stages, up to the final output stage which develops a large signal swing (tens of volts, sometimes over 100 volts) for CRT electrostatic deflection.

In free-running ("chopped") mode, the oscillator (which may be simply a different operating mode of the switch driver) blanks the beam before switching, and unlinks it only after the switching transients have settled. Part way through the amplifier is a feed to the sweep trigger circuits, for internal triggering from the signal. This feed would be from an individual channel's amplifier in a dual or multitrace oscilloscope, the channel depending upon the setting of the trigger source selector. This feed precedes the delay (if there is one), which allows the sweep circuit to unlink the CRT and start the forward sweep, so the CRT can show the triggering event. High-quality analog delays add a modest cost to an oscilloscope, and are omitted in oscilloscopes that are cost-sensitive. The delay, itself, comes from a special cable with a pair of conductors wound around a flexible magnetically-soft core. The coiling provides distributed inductance, while a conductive layer close to the wires provides distributed capacitance. The combination is a wideband transmission line with considerable delay per unit length. Both ends of the delay cable require matched impedances to avoid reflections.

6. X-Y Mode
Most modern oscilloscopes have several inputs for voltages, and thus can be used to plot one varying voltage versus another. This is especially useful for graphing I-V curves (current versus voltage characteristics) for components such as diodes, as well as Lissajous patterns. Lissajous figures are an example of how an oscilloscope can be used to track phase differences between multiple input signals. This is very frequently used in broadcast engineering to plot the left and right stereophonic channels, to ensure that the stereo generator is calibrated properly. Historically, stable Lissajous figures were used to show that two sine waves had a relatively simple frequency relationship, a numerically-small ratio. They also indicated phase difference between two sine waves of the same frequency. Complete loss of signal in an X-Y display means that the CRT's beam strikes a small spot, which risks burning the phosphor. Older phosphors burned more easily. Some dedicated X-Y displays reduce beam current greatly, or blank the display entirely, if there are no inputs present.

7. Bandwidth
Bandwidth is a measure of the range of frequencies that can be displayed; it refers primarily to the vertical amplifier, although the horizontal deflection amplifier has to be fast enough to handle the fastest sweeps. The bandwidth of the oscilloscope is limited by the vertical amplifiers and the CRT (in analog instruments) or by the sampling rate of the analog to digital converter in digital instruments. The bandwidth is defined as the frequency at which the sensitivity is 0.707 of the sensitivity at lower frequency (a drop of 3decibel). The rise time of the fastest pulse that can be resolved by the scope is related to its bandwidth approximately bandwidth in Hz x rise time in seconds = 0.35 For example, an oscilloscope intended to resolve pulses with a rise time of 1 nanosecond would have a bandwidth of 350 megahertz. For a digital oscilloscope, a rule of thumb is that the continuous sampling rate should be ten times the highest frequency desired to resolve; for example a 20 mega sample/second rate would be applicable for measuring signals up to about 2 megahertz.

8. CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, an oscilloscope is a test instrument which allows you to look at the 'shape' of electrical signals by displaying a graph of voltage against time on its screen. It is like a voltmeter with the valuable extra function of showing how the voltage varies with time. A graticule with a 1cm grid enables you to take measurements of voltage and time from the screen. The graph, usually called the trace, is drawn by a beam of electrons striking the phosphor coating of the screen making it emit light, usually green or blue. This is similar to the way a television picture is produced. Oscilloscopes contain a vacuum tube with a cathode (negative electrode) at one end to emit electrons and an anode (positive electrode) to accelerate them so they move rapidly down the tube to the screen. This arrangement is called an electron gun. The tube also contains electrodes to deflect the electron beam up/ down and left/ right. The electrons are called cathode rays because they are emitted by the cathode and this gives the oscilloscope its full name of cathode ray oscilloscope or CRO. A dual trace oscilloscope can display two traces on the screen, allowing you to easily compare the input and output of an amplifier for example. It is well worth paying the modest extra cost to have this facility.

9. REFRENCES [1] www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscilloscope; accessed 11/6/2011

[2] www.google.com/img ; accessed 11/20/2011 [3]www.measurebetter.com/products/hi1565. ; Accessed 11/6/2011 [4] www.kpsec.freeuk.com ;accessed 2/12/2011 [5] Www. Tektronix.com/ Oscilloscope Probes and Accessories; accessed 11/7/2011 [6] Faraz Hussain; Understanding Physics; UnderstandingPhysics.org; 2011. [7]. Meizhong Wang ; Understandable electric circuits; Stevenage: Institution of Engineering and Technology; 2010.