Would anybody be interested in a practical, hands-on, introductory class for oscilloscopes?
If so, please speak up, check the outline below, and mention any preference between a Wed or Thurs evening, or a Saturday or Sunday? I’d be happy to schedule a session around mid to late April…
Introduction to Oscilloscopes (Why Should I Care?)
Want to see what your circuits or Arduino software are actually doing?
Want to capture a glitch or waveform that happens rarely?
Ever wonder what a voltmeter is hiding from you?
Ever wonder how voltages or a signal changes over time?
Come to this class for an entry level introduction to Oscilloscopes
Course Goals
Provide enough confidence to
o Understand how and when a ‘scope can be helpful
o Try driving a ‘scope yourself
Introduce Concepts
Live & Hands-On Demonstrations
60 to 90 minutes
Prerequisites
Familiarity with basic concepts of electricity, e.g.
o Connecting a battery and switch to power a light
o Using a voltmeter
Yes, I was thinking to go after Raymond’s Test Equipment 101 relates 'scopes to other gear more broadly. Then I could dig a little deeper into 'scopes, share some additional example use cases, and give a chance for participants to ‘twiddle knobs and switches’ and observe first hand how that ‘affects the blinking lights’…
I’m hoping for and prefer a Wed or Thursday night in mid to late April, starting at 7:30pm or 8pm. That’s what I’ll pick unless there’s a groundswell for different times.
Alternatively, I could do a Saturday or Sunday, except the earliest I could do Saturday or Sunday would be ~ 2 May…
With 4 positives in half a day, looks like there’s plenty of interest. So I’ll start the reservations - probably aiming for 15, 16 or 23 April at 7:30 or 8:00pm.
BTW - no promises touching on all the crazy available features of modern scopes - this is meant as an intro warm up / refresher emphasizing the basics - but I think we can surely touch briefly on some of the newer features and continue the discussion based on the audience. Maybe I can find & share some sample screenshots to hint at the mind-warping range of capabilities…
Paul, that sounds like a great idea! Perhaps you could also bring a spare function generator or a circuit you’d like to look at.
I am thinking that the first 60 minutes should be about right to get through the outlined topics, then we’d have at least 30 minutes to follow through for those who may want to hang out and drill down one path or another. Vendor and model specific features and UI can often add confusion, but I bet we’ll be able to figure things out and add value even if it’s an unfamiliar scope…
For sure. I’ll bring several of my own example circuits as well. Was just suggesting that if somebody did have a circuit they’d like to get better insight to, this would be a great time to bring it along and ask for help
BTW - those look like good examples - a really nice way to get started…
Our scope is supposed to arrive on the March 28th but may be as late as April 8th. Hopefully we can have several scopes available. Even if it is from WWII
Well - although I do like WWII vintage units with burnt-in phospors , I’d prefer to use digital scopes for this class.
I’ll be projecting on the screen from my Hantek DSO-2090 USB (a dongle scope). We’ll also have at least the one Twinex from the committee room (I hope - please:), and whatever Paul brings. But it sounds like the new Rigol should also make it in time.
Anyhow, having too many different scopes at once in such a short time could actually be distracting. So I’m thinking that’s plenty, unless more people want to bring their own…
, I’d prefer to use digital scopes for this class.