Download Digitizing Oscilloscopes (2009)

University of Saskatchewan
Electrical Engineering Laboratory Equipment Manual
There is one last important point to be made about the digitizing oscilloscopes.
They all have coaxial connectors (known as BNC connectors); they consist of an inner
conductor and an outer conductor, which is connected to ground internal to the scope.
When you connect a scope to your circuit with a BNC-to-alligator clip cable, remember
that the red clip is the signal connection, while black clip is ground. Wherever that black
clip is connected will be grounded!
In terms of functionality, that’s really all there is to the operation of an
oscilloscope. What is more difficult to remember is where the controls are on all of the
different oscilloscopes, and where to find the specialized functions such as the “x vs. y”
display mode. The specifics of each oscilloscope in the lab now follow.
HP 54600A/54601A 100 MHz Digitizing Oscilloscope
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Repetitive Bandwidth – 100 MHz
20 MSample/s 8 bit A/D
2 channel (HP 54600A) / 4 channel (HP 54601A) input and display
Vertical sensitivity range 2 mV/div – 5 V/div
Horizontal sensitivity range 2 ns/div – 5 sec/div
The HP 54601A, is really just a two channel oscilloscope. The two main
channels are channels 1 and 2, with channels 3 and 4 being auxiliary or reduced
performance inputs. Each input has an input impedance of 1 M# in parallel with a
capacitance of $ 13 pF. Each input may tolerate an absolute maximum of 400 V. The
HPIB connector is found on the back left side of the scope.
Revised: Sept. 2009, J. Kowalski
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