Specifications
10
What Is an Oscilloscope and Why Do You Need One? (continued)
Types of oscilloscopes
Economy oscilloscopes
Economy oscilloscopes are
reasonably priced, but they do
not have as much performance
capability as high-performance
oscilloscopes. These oscilloscopes
are typically found in university
laboratories. The main advantage
of these oscilloscopes is their
low price. For a relatively modest
amount of money, you get a very
useful oscilloscope.
High-performance oscilloscopes
High-performance oscilloscopes
provide the best performance
capabilities available. They are
used by people who require
high bandwidth, fast sampling
and update rates, large memory
depth, and a vast array of
measurement capabilities.
Figure 15 shows an example of
a high-performance oscilloscope,
the Agilent Infiniium 90000A
Series oscilloscope.
The main advantage of a
high-performance oscilloscope
is that it enables you to properly
analyze a wide range of signals
and provides many applications
and tools that make analyzing
current technology simpler and
faster. The main disadvantage of
high-performance oscilloscopes is
their price and size.
Where oscilloscopes are used
If a company is testing or using
electronic signals, it is highly
likely they have an oscilloscope.
For this reason, oscilloscopes are
prevalent in a wide variety
of fields:
• Automotive technicians use
oscilloscopes to diagnose
electrical problems in cars.
• University labs use
oscilloscopes to teach students
about electronics.
• Research groups all over the
world have oscilloscopes at
their disposal.
• Cell phone manufacturers
use oscilloscopes to test the
integrity of their signals.
• The military and aviation
industries use oscilloscopes
to test radar communication
systems.
• R&D engineers use
oscilloscopes to test and design
new technologies.
• Oscilloscopes are also used for
compliance testing. Examples
include USB and HDMI where
the output must meet certain
standards.
This is just a small subset of the
possible uses of an oscilloscope.
It truly is a versatile and powerful
instrument.
Figure 15. Agilent Infiniium 90000A Series oscilloscope
Oscilloscope Fundamentals