GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam

17-Mar-21

Name: Ravikumar Palla

GMR Institute of Technology

Department: ECE
Designation: Assistant Professor
Title:Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation

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 Dual beam CRO
In the analysis of electronic circuits and systems, it is very useful
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to be able to view the behaviour of two or more voltages

simultaneously.
This could be accomplished by using two oscilloscopes. Aside
from the expense, it is difficult to trigger the sweeps of each
oscilloscope at precisely the same time and to ensure that the
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sweep generators operate precisely the same.

Even if all this should be achieved, the two traces to be viewed
will be on two different oscilloscope tubes, and not one a top the
other where the comparison can be made easily.
There is an elegant solution to this problem, which requires a
special cathode ray tube that has two separate electron guns
generating two separate beams.

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 Each electron beam has its own vertical deflection plates, but the
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two beams are deflected in the horizontal direction by a common

set of deflection plates and deflection generator.

This is called a dual-beam cathode ray tube and is only used in

systems where absolute independence of the vertical channels is
required.
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The dual beam CRO Uses two completely separate electron

beams, two sets of Vertical Deflection Plates and a single set of
Horizontal Deflection Plates.

Only one beam can be

synchronized at one time, since the sweep is the same for both
signals, i.e. a common time base is used for both beams.

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 Dual Trace Oscilloscope

The more common and less costly method is to use the dual-
trace, as opposed to dual-beam, method.
In this method, the same electron beam is used to generate
two traces that can be deflected from two independent
vertical sources.
Two methods may be employed to generate the two
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independent traces.

ALTERNATE Mode

CHOP Mode

One method is to deflect the beam and display the first or A

vertical input. Then the beam is triggered and the B vertical
input is displayed at a different position on the oscilloscope.
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 An electronic switch is used to switch between the two vertical
sources, which are processed in separate vertical amplifiers that
include separate position controls.

Each time the sweep generator is triggered, the electronic switch

is changed to the other channel.
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The disadvantage of this system is that the display is not actually

a representation of two simultaneous events; the events were at
two different times. If the events are cyclical, this may not pose a
problem.
However, if the events are a single occurrence or are different
each cycle, this alternate-sweep method will not provide a true
picture.
 A second method is to switch from one vertical channel to the
other at such a rapid rate that the display is created from small
segments of the actual waveform.
This requires that the chopping frequency be much greater than
the input wave form in order to prevent the display from being
unrecognizable.
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The practical switching speed of an electronic switch will limit

the frequency capability of this method, and chopping
frequencies are usually less than 500 kHz.
The electronic circuits required to generate the chop method of dual-trace
generation are precisely the same as those used to generate the alternate
method, except the electronic switch is a high-frequency clock rather than the
trigger generator. Because there are significant advantages and disadvantages
with each system, most oscilloscopes have a switch that is capable of
selecting either method.
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ALTERNATE Mode
 A mode control switch enables the electronic switch to operate in
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two modes i.e. Alternate and Chop mode When the switch is in
ALTERNATE position.
The electronic switch feeds each signal alternately to the
vertical amplifier.
The electronic switch alternately connects the main vertical
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amplifier to channels A and B and adds a different DC

component to each signal; this DC component directs the
beam alternately to the upper or lower half of the screen.
The switching takes place at the start of each new sweep of
the sweep generator. The switching rate of the electronic
switch is synchronized to the sweep rate, so that the CRT spot
traces the channel A signal on one sweep and the channel B
signal on the succeeding sweep.
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CHOP mode
 When the switch is in the CHOP mode position, the electronic
switch is free running at the rate of 200-500 -kHz, entirely
independent of the frequency of UJT sweep generator.
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The switch successively connects small segments of A and B

waveforms to the main vertical amplifier at a relatively fast
chopping rate of 500 kHz e.g 1µs segments of each waveform
are fed to the CRT display.
 Measurement of amplitude and frequency using CRO
The major concern in observing a signal on the oscilloscope
screen is to make voltage and time measurements.

These measurements may be helpful in understanding the

behavior of a circuit component, or the circuit itself.
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The oscilloscope displays the voltage value of the waveform as a

function of time.

The oscilloscope screen is partitioned into the grids, which

divides both the horizontal axis(voltage) and the vertical
axis(time) into divisions which will be helpful in making the
measurements.
 The time or the voltage values
corresponding to each division are
determined by two variables
namely the time/div and the
volt/div, both of which can be
adjusted from the relevant buttons
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available on the front panel of the

oscilloscope .

The time/div button controls the trace time of the sweep

generator, whereas the volt/div button controls the `gain` in the
vertical amplifiers in the vertical deflection system.
 Typical quantities, which are of primer interest when observing
a signal with the scope, are shown in Figure.
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 Lissajous method of frequency measurement
When sine-wave signals of different frequencies are input to the
horizontal and vertical amplifiers a stationary pattern is formed
on the CRT when the ratio of the two frequencies is an integral
fraction such as 1/2, 2/3, 1/5, etc. These stationary patterns are
known as Lissajous figures and can be used for comparison
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measurement of frequencies.
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Examples:
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 Sampling Oscilloscope
Most ordinary oscilloscopes have an upper frequency limit in the
range 20 MHz to 50 MHz. Higher input frequencies cause the
electron beam to move so fast across the screen that only a very
faint trace is produced.
The sampling oscilloscope overcomes this difficulty by producing
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a low frequency dot representation of the signal. Each dot

represents an amplitude sample of the input signal, and each
sample is taken in a different cycle.

The sampling circuits must be capable of operating at very high

frequencies, but the CRT and its associated circuitry may be
relatively low frequency equipment.
One disadvantage of this system is that only repetitive
waveforms can be investigated.
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 Block diagram of a sampling oscilloscope
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The input waveform is applied to the sampling gate. The input

waveform is sampled whenever a sampling pulse opens the
sampling gate. The sampling must be synchronised with the
input signal frequency.

At the beginning of each sampling cycle, the trigger pulse

activates an oscillator and a linear ramp voltage is generated.
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This ramp voltage is applied to a voltage comparator which

compares the ramp voltage to a staircase generator.

When the two voltages are equal in amplitude, the staircase

advances one step and a sampling pulse is generated, which
opens the sampling gate for a sample of input voltage.

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 Storage Oscilloscopes
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Analog Storage Oscilloscope & Digital storage oscilloscope

Analog Storage Oscilloscope, which employs a special type of

CRT. Signal waveforms are stored on elctrodes with in the CRT.
This instrument is particularly useful for investigation of
nonrepetitive, single event signals.
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A digital Storage Oscilloscope is a combination of the sampling

and storage oscilloscope. Input signals are sampled, and the
samples are stored in a digital memory. No special CRT is
involved.
The stored samples are recalled from the memory to reconstruct
the original input waveform for display. The digital oscilloscope
can be used for both single event and repetitive signal
investigations.
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Digital storage oscilloscope

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 Probes for CRO
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CRO probe performs the important function of connecting the

circuit under study to the vertical input terminals of the CRO.

The probe is made of a length of coaxial cable with a tip at one

end and a BNC connector at the other. Though the probe directly
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connects the tip to the CRO, the shunt capacitance of the cable is
to be considered.
Each probe has two
connections, an input and a
ground. This type of probe
is usually referred to as a 1:1
(one-to-one) probe, because
it does not contain resistors
to attenuate the input signal.
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The coaxial cable consists of an

insulated central conductor
surrounded by a circular conductor
which is covered by an outer layer
of insulation as shown in Fig.
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The central conductor carries the

input signal, and the circular
conductor is grounded so that it acts
as a screen to help prevent unwanted
signals being picked up by the
oscilloscope input.

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Equivalent circuit of signal source, probe and

oscilloscope input
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The coaxial cable connecting the probe to the oscilloscope has a

capacitance (Ccc) which can overload a high-frequency signal
source.
The input impedance of the oscilloscope at the front panel is
typically 1 MΩ in parallel with 30pF.
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The coaxial cable can add another 100 pF to the total input
capacitance.

The total impedance offered by the coaxial cable and the

oscilloscope input should always be much larger than the signal
source impedance. Where this is not the case, the signal is
attenuated and phase shifted when connected to the
oscilloscope.
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At frequencies where the reactance of (Ccc+ Ci) is very much

larger than Rs and Ri, the capacitances have a negligible
effect and the oscilloscope terminal voltage is
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Problem:

Solution:

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 Attenuator probes
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Attenuator probes attenuate the input signal, usually by a factor of

10. Because of the 10 fold attenuation, these probes are usually
referred to as 10:1 probes; however, other probes are available
with different attenuation factors.
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They also normally offer a much larger input impedance than a

1:1 probe, thereby minimizing loading effects on the circuit under
test. Compensation is included for oscilloscope input capacitance
and coaxial cable capacitance. A typical probe uses a 9 megaohm
series resistor shunted by a low-value capacitor to make an RC
compensated divider with the cable capacitance and scope input.
The RC time constants are adjusted to match.

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Circuit of 10:1 Probe

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 Specifications of CRO
Vertical Deflection System
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1. Sensitivity : 5 mV/cm to 10 V/m

2. Band width : DC to 15 M Hz
3. Rise Time : 24 ns
4. Accuracy : ±3%
5. Max. Input voltage DC + AC peak : 400 V
6. Input Impedance : 1 M/35 pF

Horizontal Deflection System

1. Sweep Speed : 0.5 S/cm to 0.1 ms/m

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2. Accuracy : +3%
3. Nonlinearity : ± 2%

Triggering

1. Mode : Auto/level/free run

2. HF Sync : Yes
3. Source : INT/EXT
4. Coupling : AC/TV (Line, Frame)

Others

1. Power : 230 V ± 10% 50 Hz 30W

2. Calibrator : 1 V, 1 kHz
3. Display Area : 8 cm x 10 cm
4. Trace Rotation : Yes
5. Weight : 11 kg
6. Dimensions (H x W x D) in mm : 272 x 184 x 420
7. Bandwidth : DC to 5 MHz
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