My First Oscilloscope

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

I think the 2KV one will be enough. Any voltages higher than this in a CRT TV are DC which have no need to be checked with an oscilloscope if at all. These voltages are usually measured with a multimeter and 1000:1 probe. Best to avoid these areas for now.

Okay. Thanks.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

My oscilloscope came today!!!! I'm still waiting on my probes though. I wanted to try and test the oscilloscope. I have something I bought when I was a kid called a function generator (HP 3310B). I want to hook it up to the oscilloscope. Can I use a 6 Foot RG-58 BNC-to-BNC 50 Ohm cable assembly from Radio Shack? The item number is: 2103481. The function generator's output impedance is 50 ohm...

[tom66]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

Yes.

The amplitude will be 2X larger than the signal generator is set to, because the function generator expects the output to be terminated with 50 ohms. However, this does not indicate a fault with the oscilloscope.

Almost every scope also has a "probe compensation" output which can be used to check functionality. It typically produces a 1kHz, 2Vp-p square wave.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

Yes.

The amplitude will be 2X larger than the signal generator is set to, because the function generator expects the output to be terminated with 50 ohms. However, this does not indicate a fault with the oscilloscope.

Almost every scope also has a "probe compensation" output which can be used to check functionality. It typically produces a 1kHz, 2Vp-p square wave.

The "probe compensation" output would allow me to test it without having anything hooked up, no probes, nothing? I'm also a little curios about the ground hookup on the scope. I got a manual, I just have to read it. My neurologist put me on some new medicine and it's taking me a bit to get used to it. It's been hard for me to concentrate lately. I will try to read the manual when I get back. I couldn't find anything on the scope called probe compensation. There is a knob that says variables and it reads OFF - Readout - On and in dark letters it says 1x under the off, PROBE under the Readout and 10x under the on. I think that might be it.

[tom66]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

You will need a probe to connect to probe compensation, hence the name. It's intended for setting the compensation (filter network) of the probe correctly; refer to the documentation which comes with your probe. In the meantime, a wire between the central pin of the BNC and probe comp could do the job.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

I think I have a problem with my oscilloscope. I've been reading the manual and there's an up/down lever on my scope called the Selector level. It says in the manual "Move the SELECTOR lever upward and downward to illuminate the desired function lamp. Then adjust the VARIABLE control. The options I'm supposed to be able to select are SINGLE, A/B SEP, DELAY, HOLDOFF, TIME, H POS, MEASURE, Delta Symbol V, Delta T, 1/Delta T, and FREQ. I cannot get it to move off of H POS. Am I doing something wrong or is my scope broken? I just want to calibrate the probes right now. Thanks

[tom66]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

What trigger mode is it set to? Perhaps try cleaning the control, it could be dirty and not making good contact.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

What trigger mode is it set to? Perhaps try cleaning the control, it could be dirty and not making good contact.

The trigger mode is currently set to Auto, as per the instructions in the scopes manual in the section about how to calibrate the probes. Do you mean try cleaning the Selector lever? I could only do that by ripping it apart. I believe there are supposed to be three settings on this. I think it's a mom-none-mom toggle switch. I think the lever is supposed to stay in the middle until you push it. Pictures of the same unit on the net show the lever in the middle. On mine, there is no middle. It's just up or down. I can see no possibly way of how this would work to make a selection. How would it know where to stop when it's in the up position? If it moves up one at a time, how could I move up twice? I'd have to hit up, down, up. How would it know I didn't want to go down? I'm trying to provide as much info on what's happening as I can. Thanks for the help.

[tom66]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

Yeah, it does sound like that control may be faulty which sucks. You might have to send the scope back. Perhaps the control is replaceable, but that would involve tearing into the scope to find a part #.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

Yeah, it does sound like that control may be faulty which sucks. You might have to send the scope back. Perhaps the control is replaceable, but that would involve tearing into the scope to find a part #.

I was looking at the service manual and I believe the part numbers are as followed:
S1603 Lever - (Hitachi part number) SSL0076 (real part number) AL2S-2M (WITH NOBAZ4004) (description?) I could not find anything with those numbers on the net. I found something that involved genomes. That's not what I'm looking for though.

[RON_CET]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

Sorry to say yes I also think you have problem with your selector switch on you Scope.
That switch is a rocker type switch with center position,so with normal operation your selector switch should be in center position then you can move upward or downward 1-click at time with selector switch returning to center position which allows you to step through your measurement settings,I would contact seller and advise of issue and seek his return policy,that feature not working on the scope would be in my opinion a valuable feature not functioning.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

Thanks Ron CET. I agree. I had an idea of how it was supposed to work. I've been in touch with the seller and I really don't want to send it back. I'd love to be able to get it working and everything, being my first scope and everything. There's ones on E-bay now, same model and everything for around 300$. This was 115$. I explained everything to him and he found the part I need in his warehouse and is sending it to me. He said he's shipping it out today. Do you guys think this would be an easy repair? I'd have to take the unit apart. The function generator is broke. I think it's the step-down transformer inside. I'm getting 0V on every wire. It was a pain to take a part. Would this be similar? All I have to do is remove the front cover. The service manual shows a diagram of it apart but it's hard for me to follow. If I remember correctly, the quality isn't the greatest. Any ideas? Thanks for the help!

Spork

[Spork Schivago]

Re: My First Oscilloscope

I know this conversation has long since been dead, but I did eventually get the part I needed. The guy I bought it off of went back to the warehouse, found another one, ripped it apart and send me the whole front board (with the selector switch). Thanks.