Video: Zooming In On Waveforms

Many modern oscilloscopes offer the ability to zoom in on select portions of a waveform trace, allowing users a much more detailed look at whatever anomalies may (or may not) be present. Zooming is a handy feature on any oscilloscope, but it's even handier if you happen to be using a Teledyne LeCroy HDO. These instruments bring 12 bits of vertical resolution to the table for even more detail and cleaner, crisper waveforms than any legacy 8-bit oscilloscope.

So, without further delay, here's a short tutorial video on how to implement zoom traces on an HDO.

Back to Basics: Probes (Part II)

In a previous post, we provided some basic information about oscilloscope probes, including a brief survey of the different types and what can happen when the probe is connected to a DUT. In this installment, let's continue along those lines and take a closer look at passive probes.

Back to Basics: Probes (Part I)

Figure 1: An example of an active

oscilloscope probe 

To speak of an oscilloscope probe is to open a fairly large can of worms. There are many kinds of probes on the market, with differing functions and characteristics (Figure 1). This is the first in a short series of posts on the basics on probes, what the various kinds are used for, and how they might be expected to affect measurements taken with them.

Oscilloscope Basics: Controlling an Oscilloscope (Part II)

Figure 1: An example of a
touch screen-equipped
oscilloscope.

In a recent post, we discussed how to control a modern digital oscilloscope using the front-panel controls. That was a natural place to begin, given that it's the "traditional" means of controlling the instrument and the one that most seasoned users cut their teeth on. But there's more than one way to skin this cat these days. Many of today's oscilloscopes carry touch screens that do everything the front-panel controls can do, plus some things they cannot do.

Oscilloscope Basics: How to Set Up and Use Cursors

As a follow-up to a recent post with an oscilloscope front-panel tour, we want to dig a little deeper into one aspect of controlling the instrument, and that's how to set up and use cursors. But instead of describing it in prose, it makes more sense to show you. So enjoy this brief tutorial video that will get you started with cursors! We're demonstrating on a Teledyne LeCroy HDO4054, but most of what we're showing you translates to other manufacturer's instruments.

Going From FFTs to Spectrum Analysis

Figure 1: Spectrum Analyzer software for the HDO series
oscilloscopes provides an intuitive user interface

In earlier posts, we looked at a) the basics of fast-Fourier transforms (FFTs) and b) how to set up an FFT on a modern digital oscilloscope. In this post, we'll take a brief look at what that modern scope can do with an FFT, provided that scope is outfitted with software that will let it take full advantage. After all, the object of an FFT is to transform a time-domain waveform into the frequency domain. Sounds kind of like a spectrum analyzer, no?

Waveform Generator Tricks: Pulse-Width Modulation

Figure 1: Teledyne LeCroy's WaveStation
waveform generator

Imagine that you're designing a digital control circuit but you really want it to behave like an analog circuit. Say, something like light dimmers, or a motor controller. A tried-and-true approach is to use pulse-width modulation (PWM) to have your digital control logic emulate the behavior of analog control. And your handy-dandy waveform generator, if so equipped, is a great way to generate a PWM signal to test out your design.