Brochure

To learn more about oscilloscopes, visit us at:
www.tektronix.com/oscilloscopes
Copyright © 2015, Tektronix. All rights reserved. Tektronix products are covered by U.S. and foreign patents, issued and pending. Information in this
publication supersedes that in all previously published material. Specification and price change privileges reserved. TEKTRONIX and TEK are registered
trademarks of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
02/15 EA 3GW-60028-0
Oscilloscope Fundamentals
Capturing Your Signal in 3 Easy Steps
Making Connections
■
Check the attenuation of your
probes. Are they 1x or 10x probes?
Make sure the scope input settings
match the probes.
■
Check probe compensation.
Connect the probe to the PROBE
COMP output on the front of the
scope. If you don’t see a clean square
wave, adjust the probe compensation.
■
Connect the probe ground to a
grounded point on your circuit.
■
Connect the probe tip to the signal
you want to measure.
Step 1
Set the Vertical Scale
(volts/division)
Moves the waveform up and down on
the display
Varies the size of the waveform on the
screen
Blocks frequencies above the limit
Use DC coupling in most cases. Use
AC coupling to see AC signals “riding”
on a DC offset
Position
Scale
Bandwidth Limit
Input Coupling
Moves the waveform left and right on
the display
Determines the amount of time
displayed
Position
Scale
Step 2
Set the Horizontal Scale
(seconds/division)
Step 3
Set the Trigger Type,
Source and Levels
T
Triggering stabilizes the waveform on the displayBoth channels use the same timescaleLarger waveforms give better measurement resolution
Edge triggering is used most often –
it captures on a rising or falling edge
Determines which signal is compared
to the trigger settings
Determines where on an edge the
trigger point occurs
Determines whether the trigger occurs
on the rising or falling edge
Type
Source
Level
Slope
Avoiding Pitfalls
■
If you don’t see a signal
- Try using Autoset.
- Is the channel turned on?
- Is the waveform off the screen? Try adjusting
the vertical position.
- Is the instrument waiting for a trigger? Does it
say Ready? Try forcing a trigger or switch the
trigger mode to “Auto”.
■
Aliasing. If the frequency of the input signal seems
too low, or if it’s difficult to get a stable waveform,
try increasing the instrument’s sample rate by
turning the horizontal scale clockwise.
■
Built-in Help. The Help button provides
context-sensitive answers when all else fails.
Making Measurements
Time
Using Scale Factor
(4 div)(250 ns/div) = 1 µs
Using Cursors
Using Automatic
Measurements
1
1 2 3
2 3
Voltage
Using Scale Factor
(5.2 div)(200 mV/div) = 1.04 V
Using Cursors
Using Automatic
Measurements