ADV.

ELECTRONICS
Third Year

LABORATORY ACTIVITY NO. 1

THE OSCILLOSCOPE

OBJECTIVES
1. To become familiar with the controls of an oscilloscope.
2. To be able to measure values using oscilloscope and compare it with the values using DMM.
3. __________________________________________________________________________________

EQUIPMENT LIST
1. Oscilloscope 3. Variable dc Power Supply
2. Digital Multimeter (DMM) 4. 9-V Battery

INTRODUCTION
The oscilloscope is the most versatile piece of equipment in the shop or laboratory. It can be used to
measure voltage, frequency, and current. And it can actually "draw" a graph of voltage direction and
amplitude.
The voltage is converted into a visible display by a cathode ray tube (CRT), a vacuum device similar to a
television picture tube. The oscilloscope can be broken into four functional blocks: vertical section,
horizontal section, trigger section, and display section.

vertical signal
input Vertical Display
signal section section

Trigger Horizontal
synchronizing section section sweep signal
signal

The input signal is coupled through a vertical section to a display section, causing the beam to move up and
down as the input voltage moves up or down. A trigger section sends a signal to the horizontal section
causing the beam to move (or sweep)across the screen. This horizontal movement must be synchronized with
vertical signal to present a stable pattern on the screen.
Controls for each of the functional blocks are usually grouped together. Look for the controls for
each functional group on your oscilloscope. The display controls include intensity, focus and beam finder.
The vertical controls include input coupling, volts/div, vertical position, and channel selection (CH1, CH2,
DUAL, ALT, CHOP). The triggering controls include mode, source, trigger coupling, trigger level, and
others. The horizontal controls include the sec/div, magnifier, and horizontal position controls.

PROCEDURE
1. Review the front panel controls in each of the major groups. Then turn on the oscilloscope, select CH1,
set the sec/div to 0.1 ms/div, select AUTO triggering, and obtain a line across the face of the CRT.
2. Take the 9-V battery. Now use the oscilloscope to measure this dc voltage from the battery. The
following steps will guide you:
a. place the vertical COUPLING (AC-GND-DC) in the GND position. This disconnects the input to
the oscilloscope. Use the vertical POSITION control to set the ground reference level on a
convenient graticule line.
b. set the CH1 VOLTS/DIV control to V/div.
c. Place the oscilloscope probe on the positive side of the supply. Place the oscilloscope ground on the
negative. Move the vertical coupling to DC position. Observe what happens. (Multiplication of the
number of divisions of deflection times volts per division is equal to the voltage measurement.)
d. Reverse the connections of the probe. What happens?
3. Complete the table below by using the first two lower settings of the power supply. Compare
oscilloscope measurements with the DMM measurements.

Supply VOLTS/DIV Number of Oscilloscope DMM

setting Setting Divisions of (measured (measured
Deflection voltage) voltage)

9 V

EVALUATION & REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Draw the front panel of the oscilloscope. Label; each of the controls.

2. Briefly, describe the four major groups of controls on the oscilloscope and the purpose of each group.

3. What did you observe in procedure 2-C? in 2-D?

4. What can you observe and conclude on the measurements obtained from the two measuring devices?

5. The most accurate way to measure a waveform on an oscilloscope is to use a large portion of the display
area. Why?
Name:___________________________________ Date:________________

ADV. ELECTRONICS
Third Year

LABORATORY ACTIVITY NO. 2

DIODE CHARACTERISTICS AND TESTING

OBJECTIVES
1. To become familiar in testing diode using an ohmmeter.
2. . To show the effects of forward- and reverse-bias on the diode current.
3. To determine experimentally the volt-ampere characteristic of a diode.

EQUIPMENT LIST
1- Diode, silicon (1N914) or equivalent
Variable dc power supply
Resistor, 200 ohms
Multitester
Breadboard

PROCEDURE

1. Set the multitester to its ohmmeter range. Connect a diode between the test leads of the
tester. Observe the meter display.
2. Reverse the ohmmeter connections and observe the display. Determine which diode
terminal is the anode and which is the cathode.
3. To investigate the forward bias characteristics of the diode, mount the following circuit
on the breadboard.

+ VR -
RC05 270 ohms
Vs V DIODE VAB
DO-7

4. Adjust Vs so that the voltage across VAB increases from 0V to 1.5 V, as shown in Table
1. Measure and record in Table 1 the supply voltage Vs, and the voltage V R across the
resistor for each increment of VAB.

5. Reverse the supply voltage in the circuit. Adjust Vs so that the voltage VAB decreases, as
shown in Table 2. Measure and record in Table 2 the supply voltage Vs, and the voltage across the
resistor for each decrement of the voltage.

DATA:

Table 1.
VAB (volts) Vs VR (volts) I = VR / R
0
 Table 2.
VAB (volts) Vs VR (volts) I = VR / R
0.0
-3
-6
-9

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION:

1. When using the ohmmeter to determine diode terminals as in proc.1&2, what would you
conclude if you obtained:
a. only high resistance measurements
b. only low resistance measurements
when the diode was connected in both directions?

2. Calculate and record the current values, I, in Table 1; What conclusion can you reach from
your calculations?

3. Calculate and record the current values, I, in Table 2; What conclusion can you reach from
your calculations?

4. Using the values obtained for I and VAB in Tables 1&2, graph the I-V characteristic curve of
the diode. Plot I on the vertical axis and VAB on the horizontal axis.

5. Which portion of the volt-ampere characteristic appears to show linear conduction?

CONCLUSION:

APPLICATION: What are the three conditions that will result in a response of an applied voltage
across a diode’s terminal?