Theory of

Oscilloscope

1
 Introduction
• What is an oscilloscope?

2
 Introduction
• A graph-displaying device of electrical signal
– X axis: Time
– Y axis: Voltage
– Z axis: Intensity or brightness

3
 Introduction
• Information given by oscilloscopes
– Time and voltage
– Frequency and phase
– DC and AC components
– Spectral analysis
– Rise and fall time
– Mathematical analysis

4
 What can you do with
oscilloscopes?
• Designing and repairing electronic equipment
• With the proper transducer (Ex: microphone)
– Electrical signal in response to physical stimuli,
such as sound, mechanical stress, light, or heat.
– Engine vibrations
– Brain waves

5
 Control panel of an
oscilloscope
• Vertical Section
• Horizontal Section
• Trigger Section

6
 Basic setting
• Vertical system
– attenuation or amplification of signal (volts/div)
• Horizontal system
– The Time base (sec/div)
• Trigger system
– To stabilize a repeating signal and to trigger on a
single event

7
 In digital circuits
• Measuring
– Logic level
– Timing
– Logic strength
– Rise and fall time
– Frequency
– Signal integrity
• Waveform distortion
• Noise level

8
 In digital circuits
• Diagnosing
– Timing fault
– Proper fan-in and fan-out
– Proper pull-up and/or termination
– Collision
– Signal integrity
• Reflection
• Noise, crosstalk and ground bounce
– Open, short or stuck at 0 or 1

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Analog and digital
oscilloscope

10
 Analog oscilloscope
• Real-time display of signals
• Block diagram
– Sweep generator and vertical amplifier
– Earthquake recorder

11
 Digital oscilloscope
• Capture and view events
– Digital storage oscilloscope (DSO)

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Digital oscilloscope (contd.)
 Sampling

 Interpolation

13
Advantage of Digital Scope
 Trend towards digital.
 Easy to use.

 One-shot measurement

 Recoding

 Triggering

 Data reuse

 Connectivity

14
 Probes
• Components

15
 Probes
• High quality connector
• High impedance (10MΩ)
• 50Ω for high frequency
measurement

16
 Passive probe
• 10× attenuation
– Good for low circuit loading
– Suitable to high frequency signal
– Difficult to measure less than
10mV signals
• 1× attenuation
– Good for small signals
– Introducing more interference

17
 Active probe
• Signal conditioning ⇒ oscilloscope
• Require power source
• Good for high speed digital signals
over
100MHz clock frequency

18
Sensors and

Transducers

19
 Objectives
At the end of this chapter, the students
should be able to:

 describe the principle of operation of

various sensors and transducers; namely..
Resistive Position Transducers.
Capacitive Transducers
Inductive Transducers

20
 Introduction
 Sensors and transducers are classified
according to;
 the physical property that they use
(piezoelectric, photovoltaic, etc.)
 the function that they perform
(measurement of length, temperature, etc.).
 Since energy conversion is an essential
characteristic of the sensing process, the various
forms of energy should be considered.

21
 Introduction
 There are 3 basic types of transducers namely
self-generating, modulating, and modifying
transducers.

The self-generating type (thermocouples,

piezoelectric, photovoltaic) does not require the
application of external energy.

22
 Introduction
 Modulating transducers (photoconductive
cells, thermistors, resistive displacement devices) do
require a source of energy.
For example, a thermocouple is self-generating,
producing a change in resistance in response to a
temperature difference, whereas a
photoconductive cell is modulating because it
requires energy.
 The modifying transducer (elastic beams,
diaphragms) is characterized by the same form of
energy at the input and output. The energy form on
both sides of a modifier is electrical.
23
 Features of Sensors
The desirable features of sensors are:

 accuracy - closeness to "true" value of variable;

accuracy = actual value - sensed value;
 precision - little or no random variability in
measured variable
3. operating range - wide operating range; accurate
and precise over entire sensing range
4. calibration - easy to calibrate; no "drift" - tendency
for sensor to lose accuracy over time.
5. reliability - no failures
6. cost and ease of operation - purchase price,
cost of installation and operation
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 Sensors Types
A list of physical properties, and sensors to
measure them is given below:

25
Sensors Types

26
 Common Sensors
Listed below are some examples of common
transducers and sensors that we may encounter:

 Ammeter - meter to indicate electrical current.

 Potentiometer - instrument used to measure
voltage.
 Strain Gage - used to indicate torque, force,
pressure, and other variables. Output is change in
resistance due to strain, which can be converted into
voltage.
 Thermistor - Also called a resistance thermometer;
an instrument used to measure temperature. The
operation is based on change in resistance as a
function of temperature. 27
 Sensors Types
• There are several transducers that will be
examined further in terms of their
principles of operations.
• Those include :

4. Resistive Position Transducers

5. Strain Gauges
6. Capacitive Transducers
7. Inductive Transducers
8. And a lot more…

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 Strain Gauges
• The Strain Gauge is an example of a passive
transducer that uses electrical resistance variation
in wires to sense the strain produced by a force on
the wire.
• It is a very versatile detector and transducer for
measuring weight, pressure, mechanical force or
displacement.

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 Strain Gauges
The construction of a bonded strain gauge shows a
fine wire looped back and forth on a mounting plate,
which is usually cemented to the element that
undergoing stress.

30
 Strain Gauges
• For many common materials, there is a constant
ratio between stress and strain.
• Stress is defined as the internal force per unit
area.
•
F S – Stress (kg/m2)
S= F – Force (kg)
A A - Area (m2)

• The constant of proportionality between stress

and strain for the curve is known as the modulus of
elasticity of the materials, E or Young’s Modulus.

31
 Capacitive Transducers
• The capacitance of a parallel plate is given
by:

kAε
k= dielectric constant
A= area of the plate
C= o εo=8.854x10-12 F/m

d d= plate spacing

• Since the capacitance in inversely

proportional to the spacing of the parallel
plates, any variations in d will cause a variation
in capacitance.
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 Capacitive Transducers
• Some examples of capacitive transducers

33
 Inductive Transducers
• Inductive Transducers may be either the self-
generating or the passive type transducers.

• In the Self-Generating IT, it utilises the basic

electrical generator principle that when there is
relative motion between conductor and magnetic
field, a voltage is induced in the conductor.

• An example of this is Tachometer that directly

converts speeds or velocity into an electrical
signal.

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 Tachometers
• Examples of a Common Tachometer

35
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
• Passive inductive transducers require an external
source of power.
• The Differential transformer is a passive inductive
transformer, well known as Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT).
• It consists basically of a primary winding and two
secondly windings, wound over a hollow tube and
positioned so that the primary is between two of
its secondaries.

36
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
• Some examples of LVDTs.

37
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
• An example of LVDT electrical wiring.

38
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
• An iron core slides within the tube and therefore
affects the magnetic coupling between the primary
and two secondaries.
• When the core is in the centre , the voltage
induced in the two secondaries is equal.
• When the core is moved in one direction of centre,
the voltage induced in one winding is increased and
that in the other is decreased. Movement in the
opposite direction reverse this effects.

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 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
•In next figure, the winding
is connected ‘series opposing’
-that is the polarities of V1
and V2 oppose each other
as we trace through the circuit
from terminal A to B.
•Consequently, when the core
is in the center so that V1=V2,
there is no voltage output,
Vo = 0V.

40
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
• When the core is away from S1, V1 is greater than
V2 and the output voltage will have the polarity of V1.
• When the core is away from S2, V2 is greater than
V1 and the output voltage will have the polarity of V2.
• That is the output of ac voltage inverts as the core
passes the center position.
• The farther the core moves from the centre, the
greater the difference in value between V1 and V2,
and consequently the greater the value of Vo.

41
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
• Thus, the amplitude of Vo is a function of distance
the core has moved. If the core is attached to a
moving object, the LVDT output voltage can be a
measure of the position of the object.
• The farther the core moves from the centre, the
greater the difference in value between V1 and V2,
and consequently the greater the value of Vo.

42
 Linear Variable
Differential Transformer (LVDT)
Among the advantages of LVDT are as follows:

• It produces a higher output voltages for small

changes in core position.
• Low cost
• Solid and robust -capable of working in a wide
variety of environments.
• No permanent damage to the LVDT if
measurements exceed the designed range.

43
Temperature Transducers
• The temperature transducers can be divided
into four main categories:

o Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD)

o Thermocouples
o Thermistors
o Ultrasonic transducers

44
 Resistance Temperature
Detectors (RTDs)
• Detectors of resistance temperatures
commonly employ platinum, nickel, or
resistance wire elements, whose resistance
variation with temperature has a high intrinsic
accuracy.

• They available in many configurations and

sizes and as shielded and open units for both
immersion and surface applications.

45
 Resistance Temperature
Detectors (RTDs)
• Some examples of RTDs are as follows:

46
 Resistance Temperature
Detectors (RTDs)
• The relationship between temperature and
resistance of conductors can be calculated from
this equation:

R = Ro (1 + α∆T )
where;
R= resistance of the conductor at temp t (oC)
Ro=resistance at the reference temp.
α= temperature coefficient of resistance
∆= difference between operating and reference
temp.
47
 Thermocouples
• A thermocouple is a sensor for measuring
temperature. It consists of two dissimilar / different
metals, joined together at one end, which produce a
small unique voltage at a given temperature. This
voltage is measured and interpreted by the
thermocouple.

•The magnitude of this voltage depends on the

materials used for the wires and the amount of
temperatures difference between the joined end and
the other ends.

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 Thermocouples
• Some examples of the thermocouples are as
follows:

49
 Thermocouples
• Common commercially available
thermocouples are specified by ISA
(Instrument Society of America) types.

• Type E, J, K, and T are base-metal

thermocouples and can be used up to about
1000°C (1832°F).

• Type S, R, and B are noble-metal

thermocouples and can be used up to about
2000°C (3632°F).
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 Thermocouples
•Calibration curves for several commercially
available thermocouples is as below:

51
 Thermocouples
• The magnitude of thermal emf depends on the
wire materials used and on the temperature difference
between the junctions.
• The effective emf of the thermocouple is given as:

E = c(T1 − T2 ) + k (T − T ) 1
2
2
2

•Where;
c and k – constant of the thermocouple materials
T1 - temperature of the ‘hot’ junction.
T2 - temperature of the ‘cold’ or
‘reference’ junction.
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