Hosted by David L. Jones
And presented in Dave's unique non-scripted overly enthusiastic style!
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EEVblog #162 – Oscilloscope Probe Shock
Posted on April 12th, 2011 42 commentsDave shows how the piezoelectric effect applies to oscilloscope probes.
Dave’s entry for the My Tektronix Scope contest:
Please VOTE for it here once per day for the rest of April -Thanks!
http://mytektronixscope.com/videos/#vote33 responses to “EEVblog #162 – Oscilloscope Probe Shock”
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Voted.
Unemployed? How come? Trying to make a full-time occupation from video blogging now or going freelance design?
Best of luck in your endevours whatever they may be.
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Hi Dave,
Best of luck. I noticed the contest rules state the video be between 1 and 5 minutes long, yours is nearly 10. I wonder if the judges will consider it? That aside, as a young player I found it very interesting.
Lisa-
This is the directors cut. The uploaded contest one was just under 5 min.
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Couldn’t it be called cheating to have multiple votes from the same person?
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HammerFET April 12th, 2011 at 21:16
Well they let you vote everyday so not really cheating…
Either way, everyone make sure they vote and Dave will have this easy!
Or at least beat the dude who shows how to measure the voltage of a battery with an oscilloscope… ‘¬_¬
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Not cheating, they actually allow that. One vote per IP address per day!
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He he… One sure way to win Tektronix contest is to submit the video showing the same probe tapping phenomenon, but use the Agilent scope and probe instead!
Or maybe the Agilent kit doesn’t do it?
Younger Players indeed; hurrumph…..
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The fixed x10 Agilent probes do it too. As do all my other brand probes.
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PedroV April 12th, 2011 at 22:29
Hi Dave!
Best of all luck with you professional future!
I would like to ask a thing from you:
Now that ‘you are free’ can you maybe dig deeper in the PCB Design?!
I believe you have a lot to tell us and we a lot to learn..
Best of all luck!
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Yes, I have plans on doing that. Sadly though, even though I have a lot more free time to work on stuff, it’s still not nearly enough!
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Dimlow April 13th, 2011 at 00:20
Duh! Its the switch in the probe!!!!
My HP probes don’t have a switch and I don’t get this effect.
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Morten Larsen April 13th, 2011 at 03:39
I would be nice with a recurring donations option on your donate link now that you are a full time blogger.
Keep up the great work.
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Dimlow,
it is not the switch, how could a contact between similar metals generate an EMF? Microphony in ceramic capacitors is well known, as is the triboelectric effect in cable. Broadcasters know about this. It’s an easy mistake to make, if you don’t have wider knowledge of many industries and applications.
Colin-
Dimlow April 18th, 2011 at 06:55
Well, I cant reproduce it with my HP probes, But I have reproduced it with my cheap Rigol probes. The HP probe seem to have their caps ect in the other end of the lead in a Shielded metal case. Maybe that is why ?
HP probes are HP 10431A http://www.techrecovery.com/ccp4603-10431a-probe-10431a-1211.htm
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Dave, do you really think this effect is relevant in practice?
I can hardly imagine bumping around the probes while measuring.BTW, is it your tedious 1012 or TDS1012 scope?
regards..
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Dave you have something unique going on here, it’s about the attitude of the show, I think you pretty much got the hang of it when you did the arduino review, I which you talked about the new generation of “hackers”, there’s a new identity growing behind this community and I think is people like you that is making it happen.
I’m not making any comparison here but most of us have at least read one or more Stephen Hawking’s books, he’s the guy who got an entire new generation of people interested into cosmology, just like string theorist are doing it the field of physics.
You and many other people like you are doing just the same with the electronic enthusiasts community.
I think you’re making the right choice by hanging on to the show, best of luck !Regards.
Ben. -
Dave, do you really think this effect is relevant in practice?
I can hardly imagine bumping around the probes while measuring.I’ve seen it happen on rare occasions. Some probes are lot more sensitive to others.
The ESD problem I showed in a early blog is much more likely to happen though.BTW, is it your tedious 1012 or TDS1012 scope?
That did sound a bit NZ didn’t it? :->
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Dave,
I’ve been following for about a year. I wish you the best of luck on your professional endeavors. Thanks for doing this blog.
Wish you the best,
Jonathan
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(voted)
Dave, now please connect a couple of those probes to an audio amplifier and play a drum solo:)
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Florian April 15th, 2011 at 02:52
On my Rigol DS1052E the effect is barely noticeable with like <50mV Vpp
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I’ve clicked on the link for Vote, and for some reason I automagically gave vote to that RS323 chick. It gave me no option to choose where my vote should go. I think it’s better to ask people to click on Vote button on that page instead of providing #Vote link, which probably randomly chooses video.
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Crapouille April 16th, 2011 at 03:56
Hi Dave, very interesting and important post. I’m just a computer science engineer but one week ago, a teamworker of mine told me that he realized that some capacitors have a piezo effects. Shake it and u obtain a signal ! It’s due to the (cheap ?) material used (sorry I cannot remember its name). So it’s important to know that if u realize some embedded cards who can vibrate (typically DC motor controllers …)
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Hi Dave, I always enjoy your show! I’m not an electronics engineer by any means, but a software one, only dabbling in electronics every so often.
Reading @Rasto’s comment I voted via the main site and not the link given, seems like the RS232 video has quite a few accidental votes, oops!
Best of Luck!
Wes, South Africa -
vk6zgo April 18th, 2011 at 18:01
Hi Dave,
Most of the other entries are pretty much in
the “well–duhhh!” category,but yours & the RMS
measurement one are the most interesting.(I’m
pretty sure I’ve read something about the
latter back in the “dreamtime”!)
The RS232 lady lost me halfway,but then,I don’t
have a DSO.
The DC voltage bloke has just discovered what
most people fixing stuff with an oscilloscope
have,in that it’s quite easy to check dc levels
as you go,without changing instruments.
I have seen the effect you describe,but never
thought to investigate it.
My vote goes to you,although the RS232 lady is
much better looking.
VK6ZGO
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vk6zgo April 21st, 2011 at 11:54
Well,today the RS232 lady & the keyfob bloke
are neck & neck in the lead.
The lady is nice but a bit confusing,& looking
at a keyfob doesn’t thrill me much (I’ve done
it with a real spectrum analyser,& it wasn’t
a hell of a rush then!)
The kA thing is interesting,but he didn’t do
much of a job crushing the can.
Cheers,
VK6ZGO
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Yes, funny how they have more than double the votes I do, they must both have MUCH BIGGER audiences than me! :->
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Shieldcracker April 23rd, 2011 at 04:52
I wonder how you can cancel this effect, especially if you are working on an engine or some other mechanical device.
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Slobodan April 26th, 2011 at 00:01
I got two emails so far from Lonela, where she asks for me to vote for her (RS232 for Dummies…and stop button feature – by Ionela). I dont know where did she got my e-mail.
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I did some similar experiment with a 100nF ceramic capacitor. I whacked it and found some shocks. Here is the link…
http://obtuze.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/ripples-and-peizoelectic-effects/
9 Trackbacks / Pingbacks
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[...] Dave is unabashedly asking people to vote for him in the Tektronix Scope Contest! Dave’s video is about the piezoelectric effect in probes. [...]
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[...] Jones from the EEVblog has done a very extensive investigation of an issue he noticed which is the Noise an Oscilloscope Probe generates when Physically Shocked. I would have guessed it was just the switch that was not keeping a good contact when experiencing [...]
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Electronics-Lab.com Blog » Blog Archive » Oscilloscope Probe Noise when Physically Shocked April 17th, 2011 at 04:51
[...] Probe Noise when Physically Shocked – [Link] Tags: Oscilloscope, Piezoelectric, probe Filed in Test/Measurements | 2 views No Comments [...]
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[...] Jones from the EEVblog has done a very extensive investigation of an issue he noticed which is the Noise an Oscilloscope Probe generates when Physically Shocked. I would have guessed it was just the switch that was not keeping a good contact when experiencing [...]
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geekbiscuit.com wiki | Blog | Oscilloscope Probe Noise when Physically Shocked April 20th, 2011 at 07:25
[...] Jones from the EEVblog has done a very extensive investigation of an issue he noticed which is the Noise an Oscilloscope Probe generates when Physically Shocked. I would have guessed it was just the switch that was not keeping a good contact when experiencing [...]
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World Base Post » Blog Archive » Oscilloscope Probe Noise when Physically Shocked April 24th, 2011 at 07:38
[...] Jones from the EEVblog has done a very extensive investigation of an issue he noticed which is the Noise an Oscilloscope Probe generates when Physically Shocked. I would have guessed it was just the switch that was not keeping a good contact when experiencing [...]
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[...] again and I started to experiment with piezoelectric effects in capacitors as Dave said in his post. I hooked up a ceramic 100nF capacitor with DSO probes and whacked it many times and got some [...]
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[...] again and I started to experiment with piezoelectric effects in capacitors as Dave said in his post. I hooked up a ceramic 100nF capacitor with DSO probes and whacked it many times and got some [...]
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[...] Jones from the EEVblog has done a very extensive investigation of an issue he noticed which is the Noise an Oscilloscope Probe generates when Physically Shocked. I would have guessed it was just the switch that was not keeping a good contact when experiencing [...]
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Jeff April 12th, 2011 at 17:48