OSCILLOSCOPES · GUIDES
Oscilloscope Guides
New to scopes or chasing a stubborn glitch? Start by reading the graticule and getting a stable trigger, then move on to real measurements: ripple on a supply rail, PWM duty cycle, square-wave edges, overshoot, propagation delay and channel math. Explainers on bandwidth, sample rate and probes show what the specs mean before you buy, and the buying guide narrows down the right first scope.
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What Is an Oscilloscope?What a scope shows, the main types, and what it's forHow to Read an Oscilloscope ScreenTurning grid divisions into volts and hertzHow to Measure Voltage With an OscilloscopePeak-to-peak, RMS, DC level and couplingHow to Measure Frequency With an OscilloscopePeriod, f = 1/T, cursors and common errorsHow to Trigger an OscilloscopeEdge, level, slope, modes and holdoffWhat Is Oscilloscope Bandwidth?The -3 dB point, the 3-5x rule and rise timeWhat Does GSa/s Mean?Sample rate, Nyquist and memory depth explainedHow to Compensate an Oscilloscope ProbeFlat square-wave corners in five stepsOscilloscope vs MultimeterWhich tool for which job, and when you need bothDo You Need an Oscilloscope for Electronics Repair?Which repair faults a meter finds, and which only a scope showsWhy Does My Oscilloscope Show a Flat Line When a Signal Is Present?Channel, probe, scale, coupling, timebase and trigger settings checkedWhy Does an Oscilloscope Show the Wrong Voltage?Probe ratio, measurement type, coupling, 50 Ω input, bandwidth and clippingWhy Does My Oscilloscope Waveform Look Distorted?Probe compensation, bandwidth, aliasing, ground lead and loading vs real distortionWhy Is My Oscilloscope Frequency Reading Unstable?Trigger, threshold noise, cycles on screen, sample rate and real jitter explainedWhy Is My Oscilloscope Trigger Not Working?Level, source, type, holdoff, coupling and Normal/Single mode checkedWhy Is There No Signal on One Oscilloscope Channel?Swap probes and channels, compare settings, test the probe, spot a damaged inputHow to Measure Ripple VoltageAC coupling, V/div zoom and a short groundBandwidth for Switching Power SuppliesEdge speed, 0.35/tr and the 3-5x marginHow to Measure PWM Duty CycleHigh time, period, cursors and averagesWhy Does an Oscilloscope Waveform Look Noisy?A long ground lead, ground loops, or genuinely real noiseHow to Measure Phase Difference on an OscilloscopeTiming the delay between two channels, plus Lissajous figuresAnalog vs Digital OscilloscopesLive beam vs. sampled memory, and the aliasing trade-offHow to Trigger an Oscilloscope on a Falling EdgeSlope, level and mode for active-low and shutdown eventsHow to Compare Input and Output Signals on an OscilloscopeGain, inversion and clipping across two channelsHow to Capture a Brief Voltage Spike With an OscilloscopeSingle-shot trigger, peak detect, and honest probingHow to Measure Mains Frequency With an OscilloscopeSafe 50 Hz method and the 20 ms periodHow to Connect an Oscilloscope Probe CorrectlyBNC, 1x/10x match, ground clip and springWhy Does Connecting an Oscilloscope Probe Change the Signal Being Measured?How probe R and C load a circuit: shrunk, slowed, ringingHow to Measure a Switching Power Supply Waveform With an OscilloscopeSwitch node, duty cycle and ringingHow to Measure a Square Wave With an OscilloscopeLevels, frequency, duty and rise timeHow to Measure Propagation DelayTwo channels, 50% points and probe deskewWhy Does an Oscilloscope Waveform Shift Vertically?Position, coupling, probe ratio and groundHow to Subtract Two Signals With Scope MathCH1 − CH2 setup, scaling and limitsHow to Measure Overshoot and RingingOvershoot %, ring frequency and probe artifactsHow to Measure Rise Time With Oscilloscope CursorsFinding the 10% and 90% amplitude levels and reading the deltaHow to Measure Pulse Width With an Oscilloscope50% points, cursors and the pulse-width triggerHow to Use Oscilloscope Persistence to Find Intermittent GlitchesInfinite persistence, colour grading and isolating outliersHow to Measure Noise Floor With an OscilloscopeScope self-noise, RMS vs Vpp and bandwidth limitHow to Use an Oscilloscope to Check a Crystal OscillatorProbe loading, XTAL_OUT and a dead oscillatorHow to Measure a Differential Signal With a Two Channel OscilloscopeCH1 − CH2, matched probes and common-mode limitsHow to Measure the Settling Time of a Signal With an OscilloscopeError bands, offset zoom, averaging, and cursorsHow to Use an Oscilloscope to Diagnose a UART Communication ProblemIdle level, bit width, baud rate, wiring and levelsHow to Compare Clock Jitter Using an OscilloscopeEdge spread, period statistics, and the scope's floorHow to Capture a Power Supply Transient With an OscilloscopeLoad steps, rail zoom, undershoot and recoveryHow to Measure Ringing on a MOSFET Gate Signal With an OscilloscopeGate-to-source probing, Miller plateau, and Rg fixesHow to Measure Phase Shift: Voltage and CurrentSense current, time the delay, get power factorHow to Measure Amplifier Bandwidth With a ScopeMidband reference and the -3 dB pointsHow to Find Signal Clipping on an OscilloscopeCircuit clipping vs off-screen display clippingHow to Measure a Logic Signal With a Scope Probe10x probe, short ground, levels and edgesHow to Identify Ground BounceProbe a quiet pin and rule out probe ringingHow to Trigger on a Runt PulseTwo thresholds and edge-trigger workaroundsHow to Compare Two Frequencies on a ScopePeriods, ratios and Lissajous figuresHow to Measure an Encoder Signal With a ScopeQuadrature phase, direction, rpm and indexHow to Use Oscilloscope Cursors to Measure Voltage DifferenceY1/Y2 cursors, ΔV and cursor resolutionHow to Stop an Oscilloscope Waveform from DriftingTrigger source, level, mode and holdoff fixesWhy Does an Oscilloscope Show Different Voltage Readings from a Multimeter?RMS vs peak, bandwidth and probe settingsHow to Measure the Amplitude of a Noisy Signal With an OscilloscopeVamp vs Vpp, averaging and high-res modeHow to Use Oscilloscope Segmented Memory for Intermittent FaultsTimestamped captures of rare eventsHow to Measure Power Supply Startup Time With an OscilloscopeInput-to-regulation timing on two channels