Data presentation and recording

Analogue instruments
 Analogue instruments
 Direct Current Instruments:
 this type of instruments is based on the
electromagnetic induction theory
 which maintains that – if a current is passed through
a coil suspended in the field of a permanent magnet,
the coil experiences a torque which is given by:
 T = BANI where
 B = flux density in the air gap between the coil and
the magnet
 Cont’d
 A = area of coil
 N = number of turns and
 I = current
 for a given system, B, A, N, are constant i.e.
 T  I or T = kI
 A typical arrangement called the d’Arsonval meter
movement (or permanent magnet moving coil meter
movement ( PMMC) or simply a Galvanometer
 Cont’d
 It consists of a horse – shoe permanent magnet
with N and S soft iron pole pieces at its ends.
 Between the N and S pole pieces is suspended a
cylindrical-shaped soft iron core with a coil of fine
wire wound over it.
 The current being measured passes through the
coil and causes the pointer to deflect up-scale
against the tension of a spring mechanism, T2 such
that when the two torques are balanced, T2 = k2θ
= T = BANI
 Cont’d
 Where k2 = spring constant
 & θ = angular displacement of the coil
 At balance, k2θ = BANI and θ = SI
 Where S  BAN is the sensitivity or calibration
k2
constant of the Galvanometer.
 Cont’d
 Very often, large currents need to measured and
modification of the basic movement is necessary.
 One way is to use a low value resistor across the
coil in order to shunt away part of the current
from the coil as shown below:
I I m Rm
Rsh
I sh
 Cont’d
 Where I is current to be measured (i.e. full
scale deflection current of the modified
instrument.)
 I m is full scale current of the basic PMMC
 Rm is internal resistance of the meter
movement.
 I sh is current through the shunt resistor.
 Cont’d
 How then system works:
Vm  Rm I m  Rsh I sh
I sh  I  I m
 Rm I m  Rsh ( I  I m )
Rm I m
 Rsh 
I  Im
 Cont’d
 To evaluate Rsh, both Rm and Ifs must be
known.
 It is convenient in design to choose a number,
n, such that n = I/Im i.e. R  Rm
n 1
sh

 Rm ranges from a few ohms to several hundred

ohms.
 Cont’d
 Example –
 Calculate Rsh required to convert a 0 to 1 mA
movement to a 0 to 10 mA movement, if the
internal resistance of the meter is 100Ω.
 Practical meters must be multi-range for the
convenience of the user
 This is the Ayrton shunt, Universal shunt or multi-
range meter.
 Cont’d
 The three range Ayrton Shunt:
I m  100A Rm  1k

I sh Rb Ra

Rc
10mA
1A 100mA
•
 Cont’d
 The assignment is to find Ra, Rb, and Rc for the
three ranges. For example on the 10mA range,
Rsh = Ra + Rb + Rc and on this range,
 n = 10mA  100
100A
 Rm
 Rsh   10.1
n 1
 Ra  Rb  Rc  10.1
 Cont’d
Assignment:
Complete the example and find values of the
three resistors.
Precautions to be observed when using an
ammeter:
i. always connect meter in series with circuit
under test.
ii. Observe correct polarity to avoid damage..
 Precautions to be observed when
using an ammeter
iii. Select highest range to begin with and
reduce range for a good upscale reading.
Greatest accuracy is obtained when meter is
reading close to full – scale deflection.
iv. Ammeter resistance must be less than
resistance of circuit under test to avoid
insertion errors.
 Cont’d
vi. Remove from circuit before changing range
 Ammeter insertion errors:
 An ammeter always exhibit some internal
resistance and its insertion into a test circuit
always:
 increases the circuit resistance and
 reduces the current.
 Cont’d
 the resulting error depends on the relationship
between the ammeter resistance and the original
circuit resistance.
 Equivalent circuit for ammeter with
 zero internal resistance gives the

expected value of current.

Ie = E/R1
 Cont’d
Example:

R1 Ie

E Rm  0
 example
 Ammeter resistance is not zero
 Then E
I  & E  I e R1
R1  Rm
R1 I e
 Im 
R1  Rm
 example
A current meter with internal resistance of
78Ω is used to measure current through Rc
Find the error due to ammeter insertion
Ra
1k
1k Rb Rc  1k
E  3V
X

Y
 solution
 Looking from x y back into the circuit,
Thevenin’s equivalent resistance is
Ra Rb
RTH  Rc   1.5k
Ra  Rb
ETH
 Expected value of current I e   2mA
RTH
 With the meter in circuit,
ETH
Im 
RTH  Rm
 Cont’d
Im
 And  0.95
Ie

  I m  0.95I e
 which implies that the error due to meter
insertion is 5%
 Use of the PMMC for dc voltage
measurement:
The PMMC can be converted to measure
voltage by incorporating a series resistor
to extend the voltage range and limit the
current through the meter to its full scale
reading.
Im Rs Rm
 Cont’d
 Where Rs is multiplier resistor
– Analysis of the above circuit-
– First define sensitivity as the reciprocal of full scale
deflection current i.e S = 1/Ifs in Ω/v ( this is
normally quoted on practical meters).
– This gives us the resistance of the voltmeter for 1v
full scale deflection
– For voltage ranges greater than 1V, R s is found
from:
 Cont’d
V  I m ( Rs  Rm )
 Rs  SV  Rm  sensitivity  range  Rm
 Cont’d
 A practical voltmeter must be multi-range
 The circuit below is a three- range voltmeter:
Rm

R s1 Rs 2 Rs 3

10V 30V
3V

 _
 voltmeter
 Loading and loading errors:
 Measuring voltage across a circuit component
effectively puts the meter in parallel with
component
 Effective resistance is reduced and measured
voltage also reduced.
 The difference between expected voltage and
measured voltage is loading error.
 Cont’d
 General precautions when using a voltmeter:
i. Observe polarity
ii. Place meter across component whose
voltage is to be measured.
iii. Always use the highest range first and
decrease for a good upscale reading.
iv. Avoid loading errors by using higher
sensitivity voltmeters
 Cont’d
 Example of meter loading:

RA  25k
30V
X
RB  5k

Y
 example
 It is desired to measure the voltage across X Y
using meters A and B.
 Meter A has the following parameters:
 S = 1kΩ/V; range used is 10V and Rm  0.2k
 Meter B has the following parameters:
 S = 20kΩ/V and the rest are the same.
 Find and compare the loading errors for the
two meters.
 solution
5
 Expected voltage across RB   30V  5V
5  25
 Total resistance the meter presents to the
circuit = SV= 10kΩ 10  5
k  3.33k
 Equivalent parallel resistance =10  5
 Voltage reading with meter A =
3.33
 30V  3.53V
25  3.33
5  3.53
 and loading error is 100%  29.4%
5
 Calibration of dc meters
 Calibration is the process of matching an
instrument’s reading to a standard instrument
 The following circuit configurations are used
to calibrate dc ammeters and voltmeters
respectively:
a. dc ammeter
Constant dc Ammeter under
source test
V Standard resistor
 Cont’d
 Voltage across standard resistor is measured
using a standard voltmeter and the value of
the current is calculated from Ohm’s law.
b. Dc voltmeter:
Constant Standard
Dc source instrument
Voltmeter
Under test Standard resistor
 Some Applications of dc meters:

a. Leakage test in electrolytic capacitors

 The following circuit can be used to measure
leakage current in electrolytic capacitors.

ammeter
Constant dc + Electrolytic
_
source capacitor

 Leakage current depends on rated voltage and

 Cont’d
 Supply voltage should be close to the rated
voltage of the capacitor.
 After capacitor charges to the supply voltage,
no current should flow in the circuit.
 In practice a little current continues to flow .
This is the leakage current of the capacitor.
 Acceptable leakage currents are listed below:
 Cont’d
i. capacitors rated 300V and higher - 0.5mA
ii.capacitors rated 100V to 300V - 0.2mA
iii.
capacitors rated less than 100V – 0.1mA
b) If a non-electrolytic capacitor is leaky, it
exhibits a resistive effect and an equivalent
voltage drop across this resistance.
c) Continuity Testing
 The ohmmeter is used for testing:
 Cont’d
i. fuses,
ii.lamp filaments,
iii.
cables,
iv.switch contacts, etc. and
a reading of 0 ohm indicates continuity
d) Checking Semiconductor devices:
 This is helpful in identifying anode and
cathode for unmarked diodes,
 Cont’d
 detecting shorts and other faults in
semiconductor diodes and
 can be extended to bipolar junction
transistors.
Summary:
 The d’Arsonval meter movement is a dc
current sensing device which is capable of
measuring small dc currents.
 Cont’d
 It consists of a permanent horse-shoe magnet
and a movable electromagnetic coil with a
pointer attached to it .
 Larger currents can be measured by adding
shunts across the meter and
 voltages by adding multipliers in series with
the meter movement.
 Cont’d
 Loading or insertion error –
 This is the error caused by placing a meter in
the circuit to obtain a measurement.
 Sensitivity – reciprocal of full – scale current
expressed in ohm / volt.
Voltmeter-ammeter method of measuring
resistance:
V
 This is based on Ohm’s law R 
I
 Basic configurations
Two basic configurations can be used as
shown:
It Ix It I x
A A

Vx Rx V Vx Rx
V

(a) (b)
 analysis
 In (a) the true current supplied to load is
measured by ammeter.
 But the voltmeter measures the supply
voltage and not the load voltage.
 To obtain the right load voltage, voltage across
ammeter must be subtracted from supply
 In (b), the true load voltage is measured by
voltmeter.
 Cont’d
 In this case the ammeter also measures the
current drawn by the voltmeter.
 The ohmmeter:
 This is the instrument that directly measures
resistance in Ohms
 Series type
 this consists of a PMMC connected in series
with a resistance and a battery and
 Cont’d
 A pair of terminals to which the unknown
resistor is connected.
 The current through the movement depends
on the magnitude of unknown resistor
 Provided calibration has been taken into
account, reading on the meter is proportional
to the unknown resistor.
:
 Cont’d
Diagram:
R1 A

PMMC R2 Rx
E
B
Where:
 Cont’d
 R1 = current limiting resistor
 R2 = zero adjust resistor
 E = internal battery
 Rm = internal resistance of movement
 Rx = unknown resistor
 With terminals A B shorted, (i.e. Rx  0 ),
maximum current flows in the circuit and R2 is
adjusted for full-scale indication.
 Cont’d
 The full-scale position of the pointer is marked
“0Ω.”
 When Rx   (i.e. terminals A, B are open),
 The movement indicates zero current
 This is marked as “ “
 Intermediate marking are made by replacing
the unknown resistor with known standard
resistors.
 Cont’d
Disadvantage:
 Internal battery’s voltage decreases gradually
with time.
 There is need to always short the terminals
and adjust the zero adjust before use.
 Scale reads from right to left
Advantage:
 It is used extensively in portable instruments
 continued
Shunt type ohmmeter:
 Consists of a battery in series with an
adjustable resistor and a PMMC.
 The unknown resistor is connected across A, B
in parallel with the meter.
 It is necessary to incorporate an on-off switch
to disconnect the battery when meter is not in
use.
 diagram
R1 A

E Rx
Rm
S
B
 Cont’d
 When unknown resistor is zero (i.e. A and
shorted), and S switched on, meter current is
zero.
 This is marked as 0Ω on the scale and appears
on the left hand side of the scale.
 If the unknown resistor is infinite(i.e. A B
open), maximum current passes through
meter and R1 is adjusted for full scale reading
 Cont’d
 On the scale this is marked infinite Ohms
 The shunt meter is marked from zero to
infinite starting from the left side.
 Measurement of ac signals
Sinusoids
 These are completely specified by their time
domain description
 This specifies the signal amplitude at any point
in time i.e. v(t )  V p sin 2ft , where isV p
the peak value.
 In measurements it is convenient to have a
partial signal specification where
 Cont’d
 It is desirable to find a time-invariant source
that delivers the energy as v(t) over an interval
T (signal period) into a resistor R.
 energy delivered by v(t) is:
T
1 2
W   v (t )dt
0
R
 Energy delivered by an equivalent time-
V 2T
invariant source W 
R
 Cont’d
 Equating the two:
2 T
V T 1 2
  v (t )dt
R R0
T
1 2
V 
T0 v (t )dt
 V is termed the effective value or the root
mean square value of v(t)
 For a sinusoid, v(t )  V p sin 2ft
 Cont’d
Then:
1  cos 2ft
2 T 2 T
Vp Vp
Vrms   sin 2ftdt 
T 0
2

T 0
2
2 2
Vp Vp
  sin 4ft
2 8ft
 since sin 4ft  0
 Cont’d
Vp
Vrms   0.707V p
2
 Cont’d
 Average value of a sinusoid = 0
 For a full wave rectified sine wave,
v(t )  V p sin 2ft
2V p
 Solution gives:Vave   0.636V p for full wave
rectification and 
Vp
 for half wave rectification Vave   0.318V p

 Note: Vave  0.45Vrms &Vave  0.9Vrms for half and full
wave rectification respectively.
 Ac voltmeter
 The basic PMMC can be used to measure ac
signals using
 either full wave or half wave rectification
 If a 10Vrms signal is applied to a meter using
half wave rectification, meter reads only 4.5V
 i.e. sensitivity of a half wave rectified ac meter
is 0.45 sensitivity of a dc meter.
 Practical ½ wave rectified meter is shown
below
Practical half-wave rectified ac meter

Rs D1
A

D2
Rsh Rm

B
 Cont’d
How it works:
 D2 is reverse biased on the positive half cycle
and has no effect on circuit behavior.
 On the negative half cycle, it provides an
alternative route for reverse bias leakage
current.
 This would normally flow through D1 & Rm
 Rsh increases current flow through D1
 Cont’d
 This forces it to operate in the more linear
portion of its characteristic curve.
 Example:
 In the half-wave rectified configuration,
calculate:
i. Rs
ii. Voltage sensitivity
Rm  Rsh  100; I m  I fs  1mA; RD!  RD 2  400
 Cont’d
 and ac voltage being measured is 10Vrms
Solution:
 Equivalent dc value of rectified signal
 Edc  0.45Erms  4.5V
 Total current , I t  2 I fs  2mAdc
Edc
 Total resistance as seen at A B = Rt  I  2250
t
 Where R  R  R  Rsh Rm  R  450
Rsh  Rm
t s D1 s
 Cont’d
 Rs  1800 &
Rt
S ac   225 / V
Vrms
 Full-wave rectified ac voltmeter
A meter using full-wave rectification will give
an average of 9V from a 10Vrms
i.e. an ac meter using full-wave rectification
has sensitivity equal to 0.9 dc sensitivity.
Example:
 In the following diagram of a full-wave
rectified meter, calculate Rs
 Cont’d

Rs

I fs  1mA
Ein  10Vrms

Rm  500
 Cont’d
 Solution:
 S  1  1k / V
dc
I fs
 Rs  Sac  Rm & Sac  0.9Sdc  900 / V

 Rs  8.5k
 3-range ac voltmeter
D1
R s1 Rs 2 Rs 3



Rsh Rm

D2
 Recording Instruments -
Electromechanical and Magnetic
Electromechanical Recorders:
These provide a graphic record on paper of
some physical event over time
Basic elements are:
i. paper chart
ii. writing instrument (pen or stylus)
iii. interfacing apparatus between the
measurand and writing instrument
 Cont’d
Two types of electromechanical recorders:
a. Instruments that record one or more
variables that change with time – Strip
– chart and galvanometer recorders.
b. Instruments that record one or more
dependent variables that change with
respect to some independent variable –
called X-Y recorders or function plotters.
 Cont’d
 frequency response in electromechanical
recorders is very low (typically 0 to 125 Hz)
in the case of a galvanometer recorder, use of
a light beam in place of a writing instrument
and photographic paper in place of paper
chart improves frequency response to a few
thousand Hertz.
 Cont’d
Self Balancing Technique as it is used in
electromechanical recorders.
input A
Error High gain
B
detector amplifier

Mechanical linkage Servo motor

Writing Paper
instrument chart
Reference voltage motor
 How it works
 to the servo motor is attached a writing
instrument
 the motor is mechanically coupled to a
potentiometer which is supplied with a
constant voltage source.
 when the voltages at A and B are equal, the
output error is zero
 and there is no drive to the servo motor.
 Cont’d
 Pen or stylus traces a straight line on the sheet
of paper.
 The paper is driven past the writing
instrument by another motor.
 when the two voltages differ, a ± error
appears at the input of the amplifier.
 The error is amplified and used to drive the
servo motor accordingly
 Cont’d
 The pen makes a corresponding trace on the
paper.
 because of feedback, the new motor position
is continuously being compared with the input
signal until the two are equal
 i.e. the angular displacement of the servo
motor is proportional to the input voltage.
 Cont’d
NOTE:
i. the electronics achieve “null-seeking” but
the electromechanical part does not follow
exactly the input signal due to inertia and
friction in the moving parts.
ii. This results in ‘dead band” – i.e. the
minimum signal to which the recorder will
respond, backlash in the mechanical system
and overshoot.
 The X-Y Recorder (Function Plotter)

 the recorder described above is the “strip

chart” recorder.
 the X-Y recorder consists of two servo motors
driven from two error detectors and two servo
amplifiers.
 the two motors drive one writing instrument
in the X and Y directions simultaneously.
 one signal is the independent variable and the
other is the dependent variable.
 Cont’d
 unlike the strip chart, the paper is stationary
Some applications:
a. Strip chart:
 this can be used in conjunction with a
thermocouple or a resistive type of
temperature transducer to record
temperature variation with time.
 As shown in the diagram:
 Cont’d

iron iron
hot Strip-chart
recorder
constantan iron

Ice bath
 applications
Recording of sound levels:
 Used in conjunction with a microphone, sound
level variations with time can be recorded.
 If levels are not high enough, an amplifier is
imposed before the recorder.
Recording amplifier drift:
 Drift is change in operating point of
semiconductor devices over a long period.
 Cont’d
 Drift is temperature dependent and can be
recorded by a strip-chart recorder
 The setup is shown below:
Load

Amp
Strip  chart
recorder
 X-Y recorder
 Applications:
i. Plotting characteristic curves of vacuum tubes,
transistors, diodes, etc.
ii. Plotting speed-torque curves for electric motors
iii. Plotting resistance of materials as a function of
temperature.
iv. Physical and mechanical measurements such as
pressure- volume, temperature-linear
expansion, stress-strain, etc.
 Some definitions
i. Backlash – this is mechanical hysteresis
where there is a lag between application of
the driving force and the response of what is
being driven.
ii. Dead band – the largest amplitude of applied
signal to which the instrument will not
respond
iii. Null-seeking –
 Cont’d
iii. achievement of a null condition by
comparing a reference value to a feedback
value in self balancing systems.
iv. Overshoot - the distance back to the null
position as a % age of full scale deflection.
v. Servo drive Motor – the component in a
closed loop system that converts an
electrical error signal into a mechanical
position.
 Magnetic Tape Recording:

 Low frequency limitation( 0 to 125Hz)

encountered in electromechanical recorders is
overcome by use of magnetic recorders.
 magnetic tape recording relies on the altering
or reorientation of the domain structure of
fine metal oxide particles deposited uniformly
on a plastic ribbon or tape (also applicable to
magnetic discs).
 Cont’d
 The recorder must have at least 2 heads, an
erase head and a record / reproduce head.
Advantages over the electromechanical types:
 Much higher frequency response
i. Record and repay speeds can be changed
easily.
ii. Recorded material can be played very many
times without noticeable deterioration
 Cont’d
iii. Recorded material is readily available as an
electrical signal if needed for further
processing
iv. Tape can be erased and re-recorded many
times
v. Possibility of easy multi-track recording.
 Major Disadvantages:
i. sensitivity to heat
 Cont’d
ii. affected by stray magnetic fields.
 Record / Reproduce Head:
 this consists of a toroidal core with a coil
wound over it and a fine air gap across which
the tape moves.
 a current in the coil causes a flux of the same
shape as the current to appear across the gap.
 the oxide particles are reoriented by this field
 Cont’d
 (i.e. in sympathy with the input signal)
 this pattern is after the tape passes the head.
 playback is the opposite of this process.
 How it works: -
 in the above setup, assume both head and tape
are stationary.
 when I is increased, the magnetic field strength,
H, in the coil increases and the flux, B,
 Cont’d
 induced on the tape increases as shown until
saturation is achieved/
 diagram
 Cont’d
 assume both head and tape are stationary.
 when I is increased, the magnetic field
strength, H, in the coil increases and
 the flux, B, induced on the tape increases as
shown until saturation is achieved.
 saturation occurs when all the magnetic
domains (tiny bar magnets) have been
aligned.[ usually at H = 4x104 amp/meter and
B = 10x10-2Newton / amp.]
 Cont’d
 when I is decreased progressively, (and hence
H), B does not decrease in the same way it
increased but follows a different locus such
that,
 when H = 0, B retains a positive value (
approximately 9x 10-2 Newtons / Amp)
 this value corresponds to a remanance on the
tape ( some kind of memory effect)
 Cont’d
 Some record / reproduce characteristics
 The frequency characteristic of the reproduce
head is shown below: Reproduce
head

resultant
System noise reproduce
level amp
 Cont’d
 From the above characteristic of the
reproduce head, it is important to design a
reproduce amplifier
 with a compensating characteristic to achieve
an overall flat frequency response.
 This is called equalization in magnetic tape
recording terminology.
 Recording Tape characteristic
Tape characteristics
B

H
 cont’d
 As can be observed, this yields a distorted
recorded signal.
 Limitations of magnetic Tape Recording:
i. at low frequency ( of the order of 50 Hz),
recorded signal level and system noise level
are comparable.
ii. At high frequencies, the limitation is
determined by the gap width of the replay
head.
 Cont’d
 As tape moves across the gap, the wavelength
on the tape is given by: 

f
 where v is tape speed and f is the frequency of
the input signal.
 If the gap width is a significant proportion of
λ, the reproduce circuits cannot reproduce the
small changes in the signal i. e.
 Cont’d
 i. e. the gap width must be very small compared
to the highest frequency to be recorded.
 Typical gap width of 6.4μm at a tape speed of
1524mm/s gives a bandwidth of 100kHz.
 The non-linear characteristic of the B-H curve
imposes another limitation.
 To compensate for the non-linear portions of the
characteristic, the signal to be recorded is first
amplified,
 Cont’d
 and then mixed with a high frequency
sinusoidal bias signal.
 The amplitude and frequency of the bias
signal are chosen to be several times larger
than the amplitude and frequency of the
signal to be recorded.
 This is an example of amplitude modulation
(AM) recording.
 Cont’d
 Disadvantages of AM:
i. poor recordings at frequencies below 50Hz.
ii. Imperfections in tape coating can cause
reduction in signal levels. This is tolerable in
speech or music but not in data recording.
 FM Recording
 This overcomes the limitations of AM.
 The signal is used to drive a voltage controlled
oscillator (VCO)
 Cont’d
 the center frequency of the VCO corresponds
to a 0 volt input.
 a positive dc voltage produces an increase in
the carrier frequency
 an ac signal produces carrier frequencies on
both sides of the center frequency
 i.e. dc and ac signals can be recorded and
amplitude instabilities have no effect on the
recorded signal.
 Cont’d
 demodulation and filtering recovers the
original signal
Digital Recording
 this involves 2 levels (0 or 1)
 this is achieved by saturating the tape in the
positive and negative directions.
 bits that represent the decimal number
(binary code) are recorded simultaneously in
 Cont’d
 in parallel across the tape with each bit on
separate track.
 Disadvantages:
 sensitivity to tape drop – out
 requires high quality tape and special tape
transport mechanisms
 Advantages:
 record / reproduce amplifiers are simple and
inexpensive
 Cont’d
 signals are available in digital format and
hence compatible with the computer.
 Analogue instruments (cont’d)
The cathode ray oscilloscope(CRO)
 This is one of the most versatile instruments in
any laboratory.
 Usefulness is only limited by user’s ability and
imagination.
 It finds applications in measurement of:
i. Ac and dc voltages and currents
ii. Time
 Cont’d
iii. Phase relationships
iv. Frequency and
v. To perform waveform evaluations e.g. rise
time, fall time, ringing, overshoot, etc.
vi. Non electrical quantities can be measured by
incorporating suitable transducers
vii. e.g. a temperature probe for temperature
measurements.
 Cont’d
The oscilloscope consists of six major
subsystems:
i. Cathode ray tube (CRT)
ii. Vertical amplifier
iii. Horizontal amplifier
iv. Triggered sweep generator
v. Trigger circuits
vi. Associated power supplies.
 Block diagram

Vertical INT EXT

amplifier
Triggered
CRT Sweep
generator

INT
Power Horizontal
XY
supplies amplifier
 description
The purpose of all circuits in the CRO is to
display on the screen a faithful reproduction
of the input signal.
 The signal to be displayed is fed to the vertical
input.
 The signal is amplified and fed to non-
grounded vertical deflection plate.
 This causes the beam to be deflected in the
vertical plain as dictated by the input signal.
 Cont’d
 Output of vertical amplifier is also fed to the
triggered sweep generator
 This generates a saw tooth waveform which is
sent to the horizontal amplifier.
 This waveform causes the beam to move from
left to right.
 Horizontal amplifier amplifies the signal from
the sweep generator with S2 in the INT.
position
 Subsystem description
i. Cathode ray tube:
 This is similar a TV picture tube except that
deflection is electrostatic and the deflection
plates are inside the tube.
 Electrons are produced by a process called
“thermionic emission” from a heated
cathode
 The cathode is surrounded by a cylindrical
cap held at a negative potential.
 Scope (cont’d)
 Because of the negative potential, electrons
are repelled from the cylinder walls
 They are forced to exit a small hole on the
cylinder axis into the focusing field .
 Purpose of focusing is to collimate is to obtain
a minimum size and best defined spot on the
screen.
 Accelerating electrodes increase the electron
velocity.
 Cont’d
 Electrostatic rather than electromagnetic
deflection is used.
 This also offers high frequency operation.
 After deflection, electrons reach the face of
the tube.
 Inside the tube face is coated with phosphor
material
 This material produces visible light when
bombarded by electrons
 Cont’d
 This property is called fluorescence
 Material also possesses another property
called phosphorescence
 Here material continues to emit light for
some time after the beam is removed.
 diagram

Control
Focus Accelerating
grid
grid grid
heater

cathode

Intensity
-ve high control Focus control Low +ve
 Controls
a. Intensity control:
 control grid potential is negative with respect
to cathode.
 Adjusting the intensity control has the effect
of reducing or increasing the number of
electrons leaving this area.
b. Focus control:
 Focusing anode and accelerating anode
 Cont’d
 Form an electrostatic lens which collimates
the electron beam
c. Astigmatism control:
 In practice, a well focused beam at the center
of the screen may be defocused at the edges
 Adjusting the astigmatism control takes care
of this problem.

 Cont’d
d. Vertical and horizontal position
 When both controls are in their mid position
with no input signal the trace is a straight line
along the x-axis.
Deflection plates

+ve
Low
To astig. control voltage
 Vertical amplifier
 This is critical in determining the sensitivity,
bandwidth and input impedance of the scope.
 Sensitivity is defined as volts per centimeter of
vertical deflection
 The amplifier is specified by its gain
/bandwidth product which is constant for
each amplifier
 At the vertical amplifier input is a rotary
switch marked volts/division.
 Cont’d
 Sensitivity of the scope is the smallest
deflection factor that can be selected by the
switch.
 E.g. if smallest setting of the switch is 5mV/div,
then sensitivity is 5mV/div
 Bandwidth determines the range of
frequencies that can be accurately reproduced
on the CRT screen.
 Cont’d
 A plot of gain versus frequency gives the
frequency response of the amplifier.
gain
0dB
-3dB

f1
 Cont’d
 Where f 2 is the bandwidth and is the range of
frequencies over which the gain is within 3dB
of that of mid-range.
 Another specification of the vertical amplifier
is the rise time
 This is the time it takes a pulse to rise from
10% to 90% of its final value.
 Approximate relationship: tr  BW  0.35
 Cont’d
 Input of the vertical amplifier should present a
very high input impedance.
 This is achieved by using F.E.T. or operational
amplifier at the input.
Horizontal amplifier:
This serves two purposes –
i. It amplifies sweep generator output in
internal mode
 Horizontal amplifier
ii. It amplifies the external signal in X-Y mode.
 Specifications are not as stringent as the
vertical amplifier.
 It is only required to faithfully reproduce the
sweep signal which has a high amplitude and
a slow rise time
 Sweep generator
It is required in oscilloscopes, to linearly move
the electron beam across the screen.
This is achieved by using a ramp signal.

Tr

Ts
 Cont’d
 During time Ts the beam moves from left to
right.
 During time Tr beam quickly moves back to
the left to start another sweep
 During this period, the control grid is gated off
to avoid retrace patterns
 For measurement or display of signals with
different frequencies, sweep rate must be
adjustable
 Cont’d
 The front control marked “time/div” or
“sec/div” is used for this adjustment.
 A simple sweep circuit:
 Cont’d
t

 The output voltage is given by Vo  Vcc (1  e )RC

 The exponential function is fairly linear in the

region 10% to 15% of Vcc
Sweep generator synchronization:
 To obtain a stable trace on the scope, the
input signal and the sweep signal must be
synchronized.
 For synchronism, the frequency of the vertical
 Cont’d
 Input signal must be equal to or be an exact
multiple of the sweep signal frequency.
 If the frequency of the saw tooth is too high,
the trace moves to the right and vice-versa
 The Schmitt trigger circuit:
 This circuit is basically a voltage level detector
 It compares the voltage from the vertical
amplifier to a reference voltage
 Cont’d
 When this voltage exceeds the reference, the
output of the Schmitt trigger goes high.
 This is called “the upper trigger point”
 When the voltage drops below a certain value,
the output of Schmitt trigger goes low
 This is the “lower trigger point”
 It is common practice to pass the resulting
triangular wave through an RC circuit.
 Cont’d
 The RC circuit (differentiator) produces short
duration pulses.
The oscilloscope probe:
 This is the link between the measurand and
the vertical amplifier
 Types of probes:
i. Passive attenuating
ii. Passive non-attenuating
 probes
iii. Active
iv. Current sensing
v. Temperature probe
vi. High voltage probe
vii. Logic probe
 It is normally required to increase the
scope’s input resistance and reduce
capacitance
 Cont’d
 Consider the circuit of an attenuating probe:

R1 C1
vi
R2 C2 vo
 Cont’d
Typical high input impedance probe
arrangement: scope
C1

R1 R2 C2
Probe end
 analysis
vi
 Let k be the attenuating factor i.e. k 
vo
R
 Then R2  1
k 1
 And C2  C1 (k 1)
 Where R2 is scope’s internal resistance
(typically 1MΩ)
 C2 is internal capacitance (typically 30pF)
 10 – 1 probe
 Here, k = 10
 Internal resistance is 1MΩ and
 Internal capacitance is 30pF
 R1  R2 (k  1)  9M
C2
C1   3.33 pF
k 1
 Effective resistance R  R2  R2  10M
 Cont’d
C1C2
 Effective capacitance C   3 pF
C1  C2

 This shows that input resistance has been

increased and input capacitance has been
reduced each by a factor of 10
 C1 is adjustable in practical oscilloscopes.
 The effects of adjusting this capacitor is
illustrated:
 Cont’d

(i) Correct value (ii) Too small (iii)Too large

 Other probe types
ii. Passive non – attenuating probes
 These are marked 1x and are used for
maximum voltage sensitivity.
 Bandwidths for these probes are limited to
between 4MHz and 34MHz
 Some probes are switchable between 1x and
10x.
 Cont’d
Active probes
 These contain very high impedance, low
capacitance amplifiers ( typically the FET
types)
 Realizable bandwidths are greater than 1GHz
and power for the amplifier is supplied by the
scope.
 Cont’d
Current sensing probes
 Sometimes current waveforms contain more
valuable information than voltage waveforms
and current sensing probes eliminate the need
to use a sense resistor to determine the
current
 Have very low loading effect on the circuit
under test
 Cont’d
 A transformer in the probe converts the
coupled flux from an ac circuit into a voltage
with frequency response up to 1000MHz.
 Dc current probes use a combination of Hall –
effect devices and transformers.
 Special probes
 These cover a variety of applications which
include:
 Cont’d
 (i) HV probes for measurements of voltages up
to 40 KV
 (ii) environmental probes that can operate in
extreme temperatures
 (iii) logic probes for digital circuits
 (iv) temperature probes for temperature
measurements.
 Function of delay line in a scope

V – Amp.
Delay
i/p line
V

Schmitt
trigger H

Sweep
generator
H - Amp
 Delay line
The following observations can be made:
a. The H signal is initiated by a portion of the
vertical output.
b. The processing in the H- circuit consists of
i. generating and shaping the trigger pulse.
ii. which starts the sweep generator
iii. which feeds the H – amplifier
iv. Which feeds The H – deflection plates.
 Cont’d
 This process takes a finite time (typically 80ns)
c. The signal from the vertical amplifier must be
delayed before application to the vertical
plates.
 In practice, sweep is initiated before vertical.
 This allows observation of the leading edge
of the input.
 Therefore a delay of 200ns is employed.
Oscilloscopes with special features
a) Dual trace oscilloscope
Pre-amp
Channel 1 1

Electronic Vertical
amplifier To rest of
switch scope

Channel 2 Pre-amp
2
 How it works
 The two input are electronically switched into
a common vertical amplifier.
 The selection switch on the scope has
positions marked 1, 2, Alt. and chopped.
 In the positions 1 or 2, the selected signal is
displayed and the other switched off.
 In the alternate position, the two signals both
appear on the screen and the electronic
switch switches between them.
 Cont’d
 Switching rate is synchronized with the sweep
rate
 This position is preferred when high
frequencies are involved.
 In the chopped position, switching rate is
independent of the sweep rate
 As a result each signal has portions missing
while the other is being displayed.
 Cont’d
 The chopped mode is preferred ay low
frequencies where the Alt. mode gives a
flicker.
b. Oscilloscope with delayed sweep:
 With this feature, it is possible to magnify a
selected portion of a waveform in order to:
i. Measure waveform jitter
ii. Rise time
 Cont’d
iii. Check pulse – time duration
 This technique allows a precise time
between the occurrence of a trigger pulse
and the start of a sweep.
Trigger pulse
Main sweep

Delay control
t0 t1
Delayed sweep
 Effect of delay on a pulse
 Delay time = t1  t0

Un-delayed sweep 5micro s

Delayed sweep 0.1 micro sec

 Storage oscilloscopes
c) In these types , it is possible to retain the CRT
display for an extended time.
 This makes it possible to make real-time
observations of one-time events.
 There are two types of storage scopes.
i. Analogue type – which uses a specially
designed cathode ray tube.
ii. Digital type – uses the standard CRT and
digital memory. `
 Storage scopes
a. Analogue storage scope:
 Here, the tube is modified so that it contains:
i. The normal electron gun (called the writing
gun), whose electron beam passes through
the focus electrode and the deflection plates
ii. Two electron guns (called flood guns) whose
flood beams flood the CRT screen.
 Analogue storage
 The write gun writes the image (from vertical
amplifier) on the storage target.
 The written portions of the target are
bombarded by low energy electron and
 The written image is stored.
Disadvantages of analogue scope:
i. When power is lost, image is also lost.
ii. The image is not sharp and fades with time.
 Cont’d
iii. Tube is complicated and expensive
Deflection
focus plates
Writing
gun

Face
Flood
plate
guns
Storage target
layer
 Digital storage oscilloscope
Advantages:
i. Stored traces are bright and sharply defined
ii. Traces can be stored indefinitely or
iii. written to some external data storage device
iv. and reloaded when needed
v. Allows comparison of a trace acquired from a
system under test to a known standard trace
from a known - good system.
 Cont’d
vi. Digital scopes can analyze waveforms and
provide numerical values as well as displays.
vii. These numerical values typically include:
 Averages
 Maxima and minima
 Root mean square values
 and frequency
viii. Trace can be manipulated after acquisition e.g.
 Cont’d
 A portion of the trace can be magnified to
observe details.
 Digital oscilloscope block diagram
i/p
Trig. & S/H
I/P
Pick A/D D/
Amp memory
off converter A
.
Amp. V-plate
V-
Trig. Time- H-plate Amp
base
Trig. Amp H-
Ext &
Source & Control Amp
selector shaper ccts Saw-tooth
 How it works
i. The vertical input (measurand) is fed to the
input trigger and pick off amplifier with two
outputs.
ii. One output feeds the “sample and hold”
circuit and the other the trigger select circuit
iii. This selects between internal and external
triggering (similar to analogue scope)
iv. Output of S/H is converted to digital by the
A/D converter.
 Cont’d
v. The digital output of the converter is stored
in memory.
vi. When required, this is converted back to
analogue and supplied to the vertical
amplifier.
vii. The trigger source selector switches between
internal and external triggering and the
selected trigger signal is fed to the trigger
amp and shaper.
 Cont’d
viii.This supplies the time base (sweep)
generator whose output is a saw tooth wave.
ix. The time-base and control circuits also
produce the retrace blanking pulse which
prevents retrace patterns.
 Other types of scopes
Mixed signal oscilloscope (MSO)
This has two types of inputs –
i. Small number of inputs (typically 2 to 4
)analogue channels.
ii. A large number of inputs (typically 16) of
digital channels.
 Oscilloscope related instruments
Instruments used in a variety of applications
are actually oscilloscopes where,
 Inputs, controls, calibration, etc are
specialized and optimized for a particular
application.
 Examples:
i. Waveform monitors for analyzing video
signals in TV production and broadcasting
 Cont’d
ii. Vector scope for analyzing color in TV studio
iii. Medical devices e.g. vital function monitors,
e.g. electrocardiogram
iv. In vehicle repairs, ignition analyzer is used to
indicate spark waveforms for each cylinder.
v. Spectrum analyzer.