Using an Oscilloscope (o-scope)

[Vogavt]

Sorry if I'm putting this in the wrong forum but I spend most of my time here in the "hobby" mill/lathe area.

I've read through most of the threads in this sub-forum about the usage of an oscilloscope. Most say something along the lines of "hook up and check" but don't go into any real detail of what to look for, where and how to make the connections, etc.? Some say "I sure wish I had an o-scope", but for what?

I know very little about the scope other than a few videos around on the web. Can you use it to further tune your motors? I assume so, but again where to connect, what settings to set, yahda, yahda.

Can someone point me in the right direction? I'm looking at one of the DSO Nano's on eBay and wondering if they'd fit the bill.

[sansbury]

Unless you're building your own controllers from scratch, a scope is overkill. You should be able to verify proper operation with nothing more than continuity and voltage tests.

A scope is the gold standard in that it can show a *knowledgable* operator exactly what's happening, but if you're building systems with off the shelf parts, a multimeter should tell you whether you have all the wires hooked up and if you need to send anything back. Most of the guys saying "I wish I had a scope" would probably not find one to be too helpful.

Aside from that, the DSO Nano is cute but the single channel aspect kills the deal for me as you can't see an input signal and an output signal together. I would wait for the DSO Quad which looks awesome as it has two analog and two digital channels. Looks to be twice the price, but a lot more than twice the instrument...

[Vogavt]

Thanks for the quick response!

[GeorgeRace]

Vogavt:

I have spent my life as an Electronic Technician. A good vacuum tube voltmeter and an oscilloscope are the only two instruments you need to troubleshoot most any problem in the machining business. If you are going to purchase a scope, I highly recommend a dual trace model. You can buy some very nice used ones on ebay. If you are just using it to troubleshoot events below 100 MHz bandwidth, there are many available. Most machine tools waveforms can be displayed properly on a 10 MHz bandwidth scope.

Basically, a scope is used to look at wave forms on active component leads, like the leads going to your motors and steppers. You can analyze what is happening by the shape of the waveform. If you have never owned or used a scope, there will be a very difficult learning curve to start with. There are some very good books on troubleshooting with the oscilloscope. And, even a lot of on line tutorials.

Once you have one and learn to use it properly, you will wonder how you ever got along without it. It is just having eyes into an electronic circuit and you can see what it is doing by the waveform on the scree.

Hope this helps,
George

[Vogavt]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRace Vogavt: Most machine tools waveforms can be displayed properly on a 10 MHz bandwidth scope. Hope this helps, George

It does! Thanks!

I don't think there are any Digital units though that go that low. Everything I can find on eBay seems to be Analog near that range. Seems it would work just as well.

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by Vogavt It does! Thanks! I don't think there are any Digital units though that go that low. Everything I can find on eBay seems to be Analog near that range. Seems it would work just as well.

Just for clarification, you don't need a scope that has a bandwidth limited to only 10 MHz.

You will do just fine (and will be better prepared to scope out other types of signals) using an oscilloscope with, for example, a 60 MHz bandwidth, or 100 MHz, or more.