Electronics > Beginners
Purchased an oscilloscope but did I make a mistake? (re: newbie + Arduino, etc)
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JS:
One thing I forgot to mention and comes to this topic theme, learning how to correctly use a scope and all the advantages it has not only helps to learn how to use the device and being able to do measurements but it helps a lot to understand signals in the time domain, which is even more useful than knowing how to use a particular device. Something similar happens with spectrum and network analyzers but in the frequency domain.

JS
Old Printer:

--- Quote from: sofakng on June 13, 2018, 04:36:42 pm ---(Also, somebody was wondering about my eBay 20% off;  I purchased the scope from eBay but the seller was TEquipment;  eBay themselves pay for the 20% discount and TEquipment receives the full sale price before discount so I should have a valid warranty, etc).

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That was me. Thanks for the response. I think that is a great opportunity backed by a good dealer. You should be as safe buying from them as anybody.
tggzzz:

--- Quote from: sofakng on June 13, 2018, 04:36:42 pm ---I just wanted to say thanks again to everybody for their opinions and advice.  I've watched a few videos on introductions to oscilloscopes (including Dave's) but I could still use more information.  Can anybody recommend any other videos or tutorials/guides?

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General principle: if X is a mistake then you will be able to define the reasons it isn't sufficient. If you can't define reasons, then it is OK for your current purposes.

As with any instrument, don't trust what you see at first. Play around, experiment, look at known signals to make sure that what you see is what you expect. Perturb things, and make sure the new measurements correspons to the perturbations. When, not if, you find something unexpected, work out whether it is a peculiarity of the instrument, your understanding or your experimental technique.

With a scope, the probes and probing technique are at least as important as the instrument. Use the right probes for the job, and assess how they will affect the circuit you are testing.
rbm:

--- Quote from: mtdoc on June 13, 2018, 08:00:16 pm ---Tektronix XYZs of Oscilloscopes

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Some other resources for beginners:
NJARC Oscilloscope School a.k.a. "Scopes For Dopes"  video on Youtube.  Search for its identifier  8ZKMrzTGxLQ

Tektronix "Concepts" Series Books
mathsquid:
Buying an oscilloscope, especially a 1054z for $300, is a great move. I put off buying an oscilloscope for a long time. The thing that pushed me over the edge was when I was using an atmega328 to control my TV by IR, and I just couldn't get it to work. An hour after the scope was delivered I knew exactly what the problem was. (Fuse settings affecting clock speed and thus the IR signals.)
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