Been trying to wrap my head around oscilloscopes- it is finally starting to make sense thank God. The main thing that was hard to understand is
WHEN to use an oscilloscope!
At first I thought it was just good to have because they look cool and girls go crazy over guys with them!
Please correct me where I am wrong.
Oscilloscopes simply help us LOOK at a signal. No matter fancy they are, no matter how many buttons and functions, the basic principle is always the same- we are looking at a signal and its ADVANCED characteristics/attributes.
But why would we watch signals when we can watch TV instead?For most electronic enthusiasts using modern components, doing everyday troubleshooting/repair 99% of the time an oscilloscope is NOT going to help as much as common sense and a multimeter.
Oscilloscopes are extremely valuable for SERIOUS circuit designers to make sure their design is working exactly as expected. In other words, doing QA, testing, and troubleshooting.
When a SERIOUS designer is making sure their work is professional, they often have to have multiple scopes sensing different part of the circuit simultaneously to visually see that everything is "working as designed". The more complex the systems get... the chance for errors is higher... thus the need for doing extensive testing with scopes.
A beginner should learn to use a scope on simple systems just to see how waveforms look. By starting to learn how to use the scope dials and triggers to quickly "lock on" the signal, we get better at using the scope and discovering how they can help us as we learn.
The more often beginners look at the scope waveforms and their characteristics... the more we start to understand signals, because many people are visual.
Professionals/advanced people who are more mathematically inclined can use the math functions of a scope to do all kinds of advanced tests and comparisons.
Modern scopes with storage capability can be very useful for finding random glitches by sensing a signal for a long time and looking for random glitches in the signal by parsing the stored data.-For digital data being transmitted, looking carefully at the bytes, ACKS, etc help ensure signal /packet integrity.
For snooping/groping/reverse engineering a digital signal, rough packet capture can done with modern scopes, although there are sometimes better tools for this like dedicated packet sniffers.Are there any other times when an oscilloscope should be used over any other tool?
Enthusiasts working with older equipment can more often turn to an oscilloscope to get granular ability to find signal issues, this is useful when replacement parts are hard to get.
Professionals repairing very high end equipment can do a very thorough test of every component in the system to make sure it is high quality workmanship.
I know the value of being able to troubleshoot, I am a programmer.
Troubleshooting is everything! If you can share specific circuit examples of when using a scope is the best tool to troubleshoot it will greatly help beginners, it is hard to find practical tutorials/examples for beginners.
Thx