Question

Let's say we received an oscilloscope from a manufacturer and we wanted to use it to measure the voltage as a function of time coming from a simple circuit we set up.

a) Can we trust the measurements we take from the oscilloscope right out of the box?

b) How would we know that the instrument was behaving as expected?

c) What would you do to insure that we could trust the measurements we take?

Answer 1

a) As the oscilloscope is manufactured at a different place and at different conditions so we cannot trust the measurements of the oscilloscope. The manufacturer may have different sets of uniform waves upon which he may have tested the oscilloscope.

B) We will pass uniform sinusoidal wave of known frequency and amplitude through the oscilloscope and process it. It it gives the exact measurements it is correct else we have to process it.

C) If the oscilloscope is not giving correct measurements then we will calibrate the oscilloscope by any wave of known frequency and amplitude and we will also check for any errors and set the zero scale accordingly.