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ENSC120 Lab Experiment 2

Getting to know Function Generator and Oscilloscope
Please read this document completely and thoroughly before you even touch any instrument.
Always handle the instruments gently. Use caution when you take the rolled-up probe leads, gently untangle
them and bring it to the bench area such that you can connect them to your circuit easily and conveniently.
Please dont tug or snatch the probes.

Oscilloscope
Oscilloscope is an electronic graphing instrument that plots the voltage with respect to time. This is an essential
instrument to visualize ac signals and waveforms. Most scopes will have multiple inputs so that you can monitor
(plot) multiple signals at once. The TDS1012 scope you have on your lab bench has two inputs (Channels 1 and 2)

DISPLAY SCREEN

On-Screen Menu Selection Buttons

Calibration Signal Pin

Ground Pin
Familiarize yourself with the locations of the following buttons, knobs and pin:
CH1 MENU, Position and VOLTS/DIV knobs for CH1, CH2 MENU, Position and VOLTS/DIV knobs for CH2,
MEASURE, ACQUIRE, CURSOR, DISPLAY, AUTO SET, TRIG, Level knob, 5V@1kHz probe-calibration signal
output pin and the 5 buttons to the right side of the display screen. These 5 buttons are the On-Screen menu
selection buttons. Note the calibration pin set has a ground pin as well. Usually this pin is never used for your
experimetns.
The X-axis (the time axis) is controlled by the SEC/DIV knob.
The Y-axis (voltage axis) is controlled by the VOLTS/DIV knobs and there are two of them, one for each channel.

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Gently take the probes from the blue container and untangle it. The probe leads and channel to which it is
connected can be identified using the coloured tab inserts on the wires. See images below

CH1 Probe

CH2 Probe

The probe end of the cable will have a hook-probe and an alligator clip. If you retract the plastic sleeve on the
probe you will see a golden coloured hook for connecting the probe to the circuit. See photo and inset below.
Always use a small stub of wire to connect the probe to the test point on the breadboard. The alligator clip is
usually connected to the ground or the common point of the circuit you are measuring.

Connecting Hook

Do not twist the probe wires

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Correct way to position the probe cables

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Operating the oscilloscope:
A. Turn ON the scope, the power button is on the top surface of the instrument at the left edge. The scope
takes a moment to go through the power-ON sequence.
B. Make sure the multiplier switch on the probe is set to 10X. See image below. Even if the multiplier switch is
in 10X, you move it to 1X and then switch it back to 10X. This operation will ensure connection.

C. Push CH1 MENU button once and observe the on-screen menu. From top to bottom the menu should be DC,
Off, Coarse, 10X, Off. If not, use the on-screen menu selection buttons to set the values.
D. Do the same for CH2. Push the CH2 MENU once. You will see the CH2 settings.
E. Connect both the probes to the 5V@1kHz probe calibration pin. See photo below. Connect both the hookprobes to the top pin of the calibration. You need not connect the gator clips to the Ground.
Both hook-connections
are on the top pin

F. Push the AUTOSET button. A moment later you will see two stationary waveforms appear on the screen.
Typically the CH1 trace will be on top and CH2 trace will be on the bottom on the display screen. The
channel numbers will be displayed to the left of the trace.

Trigger Level Indicator Arrow.

In this case the trigger is
based on CH1

Channel numbers

Y-axis scale for CH1

In this case 5 V per div
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Y-axis scale for CH2

In this case 5 V per div

X-axis scale
In this case 500s per div

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G. At the bottom of the display you will see the CH1, CH2 volts/division settings and the Time-Base
seconds/division. The display will also have Pk-Pk (peak-to-peak value of the signal), Period, Mean and
Frequency of the waveform of CH1. This is due to the automatic measurement feature of the scope.
H. Since this is a calibration waveform, the scope should display a 5V Pk-Pk, 1kHz signal. Make sure the scope
displays this. If not, most likely you have not set the probe multiplier value correctly. Go back to step 2.
I. The signal display on the screen is also called as the TRACE of the scope.
J. You can adjust the vertical and horizontal size of the traces. To adjust the height of the trace use the
VOLTS/DIV knob. Rotate the CH1 VOLTS/DIV knob to see how the waveform display changes on the screen.
Note, the Volts/Div value for each channel change at the bottom of the screen when you rotate the knob.
K. Rotate the Position knob and you can see the entire waveform shift vertically. This control can be used to
move the traces to a convenient vertical location on the screen.
L. Try the above two steps for CH1 and CH2 to familiarize how the traces behave on the display screen for
these controls.
M. Now adjust the SEC/DIV knob and see the waveform stretch and contract depending on your choice. The Xaxis scale value, also known as Time-Base value, displayed on the bottom of the display will also change as
you rotate the knob. You will also notice when you change the SEC/DIV, both the traces will stretch and
contract simultaneously.
N. For best measurement using a scope you have to adjust the channel and time base settings such that the
screen shows three cycles of the waveform and each channel occupy 40% of the display screen vertically.
O. Push the AUTOSET once again and bring back the old display screen (step6).

Channel control and Trigger:

P. CH1 MENU and CH2 MENU buttons are Toggle buttons. If you push it once it will display the channel
settings. If you push the button once more it will turn off that channel. So, if you push the channel select
buttons twice consecutively it will turn OFF. To turn it ON, you have to push the button once again. Try
switching ON and OFF the channels. At the end of this trial display both the traces.
Q. Next, let us look at a feature called Trigger. Trigger is the feature that allows the scope to display the signal
like a stationary snapshot. This stationary trace (image) on the screen is needed so that you can make
meaningful measurements. The next few steps will teach you how to look into the trigger menu.
R. Press the TRIG MENU button. The on-screen menu will now change to TRIGGER display. Choose the trigger
source as CH1. Rotate the LEVEL knob above the TRIG button. You will notice an arrow on the right side of
the CH1 trace on the screen move up and down depending on your knob rotation.
S. Rotate the knob such that the trigger indicator arrow is well above the height of the CH1 trace. You will see
the scope looses its trigger and the waveform becomes un-steady. Bring the trigger indicator arrow back to
the original location and get a steady waveform.
T. Usually the AUTOSET feature will automatically set the trigger and give you a steady waveform. When the
input signal is too weak, or in some special conditions, the AUTOSET will not be able to set the trigger and
consequently you will notice an un-steady waveform on the screen. In that case, you have to go into the
trigger menu and adjust the trigger setting to get a steady waveform.

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Measuring signal parameters:
U. The main purpose of the oscilloscope is to observe the shape of the signal and also measure, particularly,
the amplitude and period. TDS1012 offers two features to make these measurements: using the CURSOR
button or automatic measurement. First we will see the CURSOR feature.
V. Press the CURSOR button. You will now see the on-screen menu display change to cursor menu. In this
menu you can choose voltage measurement or time measurement. Using the on-screen menu selection
button, choose CH1 as your source. Choose Voltage as the Type. Now two horizontal cursor bars will appear
on the screen. These two bars can be moved by the position knobs of CH1 and CH2. Adjust one cursor to the
top of the CH1 waveform and the other cursor to the bottom of the CH1 waveform. The Delta is the peak to
peak value of the CH1 trace. The individual cursor values will be shown in Cursor1 and Cursor2 window
below the Delta.
W. Now change the Type to Time. The cursors bars will now become vertical. Move the cursors such that you
can measure one period. The Delta display will show the period and the frequency. The accuracy of your
measurement will depend on the placement of the cursors. Therefore, you have to make sure you choose
the appropriate time base and vertical amplification (SEC/DIV and VOLTS/DIV) setting to display just the
necessary portion of the waveform as big as possible on the screen. Then use the cursors very carefully and
precisely to make the measurements.
X. If you want to make any measurements for the CH2 waveform, set the source to CH2 in cursor option and
do the measurements as described in the last two steps.
Y. If the signal waveform is a clean sinusoidal or square or triangular waveform, the scope has enough
intelligence to make measurements automatically. This can be done by pressing the MEASURE button.
Z. When you press MEASURE the on-screen menu will change. Using the on-screen menu selection buttons,
you can choose to display amplitude (Peak to peak) value and Frequency. Since this menu offers 5 display
windows, you can set the Pk-Pk and Frequency display values for both the channels. This measurement
option is usually good for very strong signals and the measurement values do not carry good accuracy.
However, this can be used for a quick check of your waveform values.
Cleaning up noisy signals:
AA. Some times you will have a steady waveform, but the trace will be very fuzzy. This happens when you are
measuring an extremely weak signal. If this happens you will not be able to determine the location or the
features of the signal to make good measurements. For this condition, the scope offers an averaging
feature. This can be initiated by pressing the ACQUIRE button.
BB. Push the ACQUIRE button. Once again you will see the on-screen menu change and you will see the scope is
set to Sample mode. You can change it to Average mode and also you can choose different number for
averaging. Basically the number indicates how many sweeps the scope averages to create the trace on the
screen.
CC. For good quality, set the Averages to 128 and select the Average. You will now see the waveforms become
very sharp and clean. With a sharp display you can make more precise measurements.
DD. Once you have made the measurements, set the acquire to Sample. If you dont do this, the display will be
very sluggish and you cannot use the scope for further measurements.

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Please note:
This process of setting the multipler to 10X, connecting the probes to the calibration pins and pushing
AUTOSET is called Calibrating the Scope. Once you calibrate the scope, you should remove the probes
from the calibration pin and use it for your circuit measurement. At this stage you should never touch the
AUTOSET again. You have to use the control knobs and buttons of the scope for all adjustments and
measurements.

Never touch the AUTOSET button after you have calibrated the scope
unless you have a very strong signal for both channels.
How to download the SCOPE screen image to a computer
The Tektronix scope offers two options to download the signal traces to the computer. You can either get an
Image-Capture or a Data-Download. Image capture will get you a .bmp file (an image file) of the screen. Data
download will get you a .csv file that can be opened using EXCEL. With a .csv file you can re-plot the signal and
also edit the signal segments.
Before you start an image capture or data download, you have to calibrate the scope, measure the signal
properly and have the trace on the scope displaying a steady waveform. If necessary use ACQUIRE and AVERAGE
option to get a very sharp image on the screen.

Open the program OpenChoice

.
This will open the Tektronix Interface Control program. You will notice this invoking several other programs, two
small windows pop-up from bottom right and disappear. Give it a moment and you will see the Tek window
open. Choose Select Instrument.

Select ASLR2 and click OK

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If you dont see ASRL options, click cancel and open the Select Instrument once again and Choose ASRL2 and
click OK
Now you can click Get Screen and that will get you the scope screen shot as a .bmp image file. This will take
quite a while to download the image. Once the download is complete it will give you a save option.
Click Save As and save the .bmp file to a convenient location on your computer or your personal thumb drive.
Also give it a name that you can remember later.
If you want to download the scope image as a data file. Click the Waveform Data Capture from the top menu.
You will get a window as shown below

Choose CH1 and CH2 and click Get Data. This will take quite a while to download the data. Once the dialog is
complete, click Save As and save the .csv file. You can then use the excel file to plot the waveform.

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Function Generator:

A function generator is an ac voltage source with a 50

internal resistance.

This instrument produces the ac waveform for your experiments. It is capable of producing sinusoidal, triangular
and square waves. The amplitude, frequency and the DC offset is adjustable.
Make sure the BNC-connector is attached to the Main output. Gently take the probe and make sure the circuit
connection end is not shorted. See photos below.
Adjust speed
switches

Hold button
to disable the
panel control

Adjust knob

PWR switch

BNC Connector

Do not short these two probes

at any time

a) Turn the power on

b) Push the blue SHIFT button and immediately push the RS232 button.
c) This will reset the FnGen and set-up the unit to 10kHz, 5V peak (10V peak to peak) sinusoidal signal with
zero DC offset.
d) Now connect the FnGen output probes to the Scope probes. Connect the Red mini-grabber pin to both
scope probe hooks. Connect the Black mini-grabber pin to both the alligator clips of the scope probes: see
photo below. Make sure the Red and Black connections do not short to each other. Place it on the desktop
such that you will not accidentally move it or disturb it.

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e) You will now see two black patches on the scope screen. Adjust the SEC/DIV knob and the VOLTS/DIV knobs
of the scope until you see two identical waveforms one on top of the other on the scope screen. As I
mentioned before, adjust the scope settings such that you see three cycles of the waveform on the screen. If
necessary use trigger control to get a clean and stationary waveform on the screen.
f) To change the function, push the FUNC button. You will see the function toggle between the three types of
signal, sinusoidal, triangular and square wave cyclically. You should be able to see the waveform on the
scope screen. Bring the waveform back to sine wave.
g) To adjust the frequency, press FREQ. Now you can punch-in the frequency you want using the keypad and
complete the entry using one of the following keys [ MHz or kHz or Hz ]. For example, punch 1
followed by kHz. This will set the FnGen to 1 kHz output. The scope screen image will change. You have to
rotate the SEC/DIV knob anticlockwise to display a clean waveform display on the screen.
h) An alternatively way to adjust the frequency is to use the Adjust-Knob. You can dial up or dial down the
frequency. Slowly rotate the knob clock wise and anticlockwise to see how the frequency changes. You can
use the speed control buttons to make the change faster or smoother. Push the left side speed-adjust switch
once. Now rotate the knob to see how fast the frequency changes when you turn the knob. Do this again to
see how fast the frequency changes with the knob turning. Push the right hand side speed adjust switch
until the right most digit on the FnGen display blinks. Now rotate the knob and you will see the frequency
change very smoothly and also very slowly. Every time you adjust the frequency you also have to adjust the
SEC/DIV knob to make sure the screen displays at least 3 cycles of the steady waveform.
i) To adjust the amplitude, press AMPL. Press 3 followed by Vpp button. You will see the amplitude value
reduce on the FnGen display and also reflect this on the scope screen.
j) Press the right side speed adjust button until the right most display in the FnGen blinks. Now gently rotate
the knob clock wise and anticlockwise. You will see the amplitude go up and down and you can see this in
the scope waveform as well.
k) Similarly, the DC offset can be adjusted as well. Press the OFFSET button. The FnGen will display the offset as
zero. Now rotate the knob and you will see the DC offset change. If you rotate clock wise the scope
waveform trace will move up. If you rotate anticlockwise, the waveform trace will move down.
l) Bring the offset value back to zero. Do not disconnect the probes. You have to make a few measurements
and submit a record.

There are other capabilities that would be extremely useful for your future: particularly, using MATLAB to control the
FnGen and how to set automatic scanning of frequency. These can be found in the instrument manual placed in the Ref
Folder of the LabNet computers. When you have time go through them.
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Experiment and Record submission.
1. Open the Lab2_Record.pdf using FOXIT.
2. Reset the FnGen [See step (b) of FnGen operation].
3. Set the function generator to output a frequency of 5kHz sinusoidal signal and set the amplitude to 4V.
Record these values.
4. Since this signal is a strong signal you can use AUTOSET in scope to set the scope parameters. Push AUTOSET
button. This will automatically set the scope to display the signal on both channels of the scope. Makes sure
the scope display is steady and clean.
5. From the display, record the X-axis, Y-axes scales, CH1 Pk-Pk value and the Frequency.
6. Push the MEASURE button on the scope. Set the on screen measurement value displays from the top to
bottom as follows. CH1 Pk-Pk, CH1 Freq, CH2 Pk-Pk and CH2 Freq.
7. Record these four values.
8. Get a Screen-Capture of the scope display. Use the Tek-VISA program. Save the image file as 1.bmp
9. Push the CURSOR button on the scope. Set the Type to Voltage. Set the Source to CH1. Now move the
cursors using the position knobs such that one cursor is perfectly aligned to the top edge and the other
cursor is perfectly aligned to the bottom edge of the CH1 signal.
10. Now record the Delta value. Note the units as well. This is the measured pk-pk voltage value of CH1.
11. Get a Screen-Capture of the scope display. Use the Tek-VISA program. Save the image file as 2.bmp
12. Now set the Type to Time. You will see the cursors change to vertical. Move one cursor to perfectly align to
one of the top peaks of the CH1 signal. Move the next cursor to the adjacent peak exactly.
13. Now record the Delta value with units. This is the period of the CH1 signal. Calculate the frequency.
14. Get a Screen-Capture of the scope display. Use the Tek-VISA program. Save the image file as 3.bmp
15. Now press the AMPL button on the FnGen and set the amplitude value to 0.05V
16. Adjust the VOLTS/DIV knobs of the scope to increase the vertical size of the signal on the screen. Adjust both
the channels such that the trace shows reasonable size waveforms for both channels. The waveforms will be
very fuzzy and might be shaking or unsteady. Rotate the Trigger knob to get the image steady.
17. Press ACQUIRE button on the scope and average the signal for 128 samples and make the display sharp and
clean.
18. Now press the CURSOR button on the scope and set the Type to Voltage. Using cursors measure the pk-pk
voltage of CH1.
19. Record the Delta value.
20. Get a Screen-Capture of the scope display. Use the Tek-VISA program. Save the image file as 4.bmp
21. Attach the 4 image files to the Lab2_Record PDF file. See the demo video on how to attach an image to a
PDF file using FOXIT reader. Save the file and mail a copy to yourself.
22. Submit the Record through canvas.
23. Turn OFF the instruments, roll the probe cables and place them in their respective position. Clear the
desktop of any debris before you leave the lab.
Due dates:
LA 01
22 Sept

LA 02
23 Sept

LA 03
24 Sept

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LA 04
25 Sept

LA 05
29 Sept

LA 06
30 Sept

LA 07
01 Oct

LA 08
02 Oct

LA09
23 Sept