Testing Your First Digital Oscilloscope - A Guide for Beginners.

[petreza]

So you are at the beginning of your journey into electronics. You only have some basic components, a breadboard, a multimeter, and perhaps a power supply. You buy some books; you build some circuits; (you discover the awesome EEVBlog Forum); and you order your second most important piece of testgear - a digital oscilloscope. Then it arrives and you say "now what?"

Granted two things:
   1. You should RTFM through-and-through.
   2. Every oscilloscope model is different so different things are applicable.

But what advise can you give to someone with limited electronics experience with regards to testing their first digital oscilloscope? Assume they do not have a function generator or one of those oscilloscope demo boards. How can they make sure within the limited time of the return policy that their oscilloscope is fully functional and within spec.

Similar to that, what MUST they NOT do?
For example, I will link here Dave's "EEVblog #279 - How NOT To Blow Up Your Oscilloscope!"




Any advice for "young players" would be greatly appreciated!

[petreza]

(reserved.......)

[Wuerstchenhund]

So you are at the beginning of your journey into electronics...

[..]

Any advice for "young players" would be greatly appreciated!

Any advice for beginners should be posted in the forum for beginners, which exists for that very reason - to answer beginners questions.

This forum is for discusssions about test gear, and while usage is generally included anything that is beginner specific should be posted in the beginner subforum.

This also makes it easier for beginners as they'll find all information in a single place.

[petreza]

So you are at the beginning of your journey into electronics...

[..]

Any advice for "young players" would be greatly appreciated!

Any advice for beginners should be posted in the forum for beginners, which exists for that very reason - to answer beginners questions.

This forum is for discusssions about test gear, and while usage is generally included anything that is beginner specific should be posted in the beginner subforum.

This also makes it easier for beginners as they'll find all information in a single place.

My bad - a beginner's mistake  - if it can be moved, moderators please move it. Thanks!

[MrWolf]

How can they make sure within the limited time of the return policy that their oscilloscope is fully functional and within spec.

Impossible.

[Simon]

Topic moved and the bully banned for a week to work out if he is a user or a moderator (I know the answer).

[Muttley Snickers]

I have a tendency to research, study and comprehend equipment manuals and specifications prior to the acquisition of any equipment including test gear so that there are no or very few surprises when it arrives. In regards to an oscilloscope I would have thought that probe compensation would be a good place to start after becoming familiar with the buttons, knobs and general feature set. 

[rstofer]

If I were testing my scope, first and foremost, I would keep the voltages low.  Like 5V or 3.3V.  I really don't like using a scope on higher voltages and since I don't design PSU, it's not a problem.

I would adjust the probe compensation using the built in signal source for that purpose.  While I was at it, I might play with the time/div and volts/div.  Maybe use the Measurements feature and see what comes out.  Clearly I would want to use the Frequency Counter feature.

Then I would set up an Arduino to output a character string over and over.  Or just once...  I'd have to think about it.  I would use serial decoding to display the string on the scope.  The string should probably be short.  One thing you can do is scroll through the trace and watch it decode characters as they come into view.

I would probably use the same Arduino to set an SPI transaction.  I would hook up at least 3 channels (CS', SCK, MOSI (I could loop MOSI back to MISO to use all 4 channels)).  Again, I want to use the scope for decoding.  I would sync on Channel 1: CS' going negative.

Next I would set up PWM on the Arduino and watch the pulse width on the scope.  I would also measure the period.  In fact, Measurements might come in handy as will all those neat things on the left buttons.

I could do a lot with just a scope and an Arduino.

Have fun!

[tautech]

Don'ts:

DON'T CONNECT TO MAINS

[oldguyjohn]

As a complete beginner I hesitate to comment on forums as I know next to nothing, but from my perspective.
I see a great deal of discussion about "first or beginner" oscilloscopes, most from knowledgeable people, who, simply because they are knowledgeable, have opinions about testing circuits, which to complete beginners are meaningless.   My humble advice to anyone starting out is buy a scope which you like the look and feel of, with simple controls and a good screen and learn to USE IT.   The truth is for some time to come your new scope, whatever the make and model, will be much more able than you are.
It's like buying your first car, arguments about whether a Ferrari is better than a Toyota are meaningless if you can't drive.  By the time you can genuinely criticise things which limit you personally you will know enough yourself to replace it with one that suits your requirements and not someone else’s.

You may disagree, but just a complete beginners view.  Most of you, I'm sure, can't remember how little you knew when you first started.

[tggzzz]

I see a great deal of discussion about "first or beginner" oscilloscopes, most from knowledgeable people, who, simply because they are knowledgeable, have opinions about testing circuits, which to complete beginners are meaningless.   My humble advice to anyone starting out is buy a scope which you like the look and feel of, with simple controls and a good screen and learn to USE IT.   The truth is for some time to come your new scope, whatever the make and model, will be much more able than you are.

That is very very true, and I agree that too many people don't acknowledge it. It is also true that it can be worth buying any cheap and working scope just to get a feel for them. Having done that people will be in a better position to know what they do and don't need. Old adage: "plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow".

However, the one caveat I would add is to ask what the beginner would like to do with it, since that can eliminate some possibilities. I wouldn't expect a beginner to give a fully coherent answer, but they should be able to articulate some form of response.