PicoScope 5000 Series

FlexRes® Oscilloscopes

PicoScope 5444D PC oscilloscope connected via USB cable to a silver laptop running PicoScope 6 software

High speed and high resolution. Breakthrough ADC technology switches from 8 to 16 bits in the same oscilloscope.

From just £809

More

Electromagnetism - experiments with a simple AC dynamo

Introduction

This educational application note shows how the output of a simple AC dynamo can be displayed using a PC Oscilloscope. It assumes a basic knowledge of electromagnetic induction. 

Equipment required

  • Simple AC Dynamo
  • A Pico PC Oscilloscope (We used a dual-channel channel PicoScope 2205)
  • Connecting cable, Pico part number MI029
  • Supplied USB cable from the 2205 to your PC or laptop

Any dynamo is suitable for these experiments. 

Experiment setup

The experiment was set up as shown in the photograph below.

experiment set up

Analyzing the results

To test the setup, the handle was given a few turns. The PicoScope oscilloscope software was set to single-shot trigger to capture the results. Pre-trigger (40%) was used to show signals before and after the trigger event. The PicoScope screen shot shows the results:

dynamo experiment

Example questions

  1. What was the maximum frequency produced by the dynamo?
  2. What was the maximum voltage it produced?
  3. What happened to the speed of rotation of the dynamo while it was turning?
  4. How was the voltage related to the the speed of rotation of the dynamo? Use your knowledge of electromagnetic induction to explain this. 

Testimonials

  • The kit (2408B) is of obvious quality, easy to setup and calibrate and the free to download software has a reasonable learning curve. Superb kit, superb support, what more can I say.

    Rop Honnor

  • I have been using my 4224 PicoScope for years. I travel abroad so this has been ideal due to its physical size. Storage of waveforms on my Laptop is very easy allowing me to quickly email waveforms to my Colleagues.

    Andrew

  • Not many USB scopes works on Win & Mac & Linux too, so that proves me that guys from Pico really cares about us, customers. This made my decision much easier when I was looking to buy an USB scope.

    Raul Trifan

  • We have been using Picoscope 6404D for quite some time, and are amazed by its accuracy and powerful emulations while working with numerous signal evaluations.

    J Mohanty

  • PicoLog TC-08: This is a very nice unit that works consistently and reliably.

    Jeff Hulett

  • It is a great scope. I had a weird problem - it did not work on one of my PC’s. Customer service gave me first class service. If I could give 6 stars for customer service - I would do so.

    Niels Larsen

  • Perfect Partner for Development of Encoder controlled Stepper Motor Actuators. Since the included software is really stable, this type of device is a great tool for great tasks!

    Helmut Schoettner

  • A superb piece of equipment worth its weight in gold

    Nigel Clinch

  • So simple to use & beats any other I have ever used hands down.

    John D Samsing

  • Great functionality in a compact size. I really like moving the mouse pointer to a position and having the Time and Voltage display the values at that point. Calibration equipment is a breeze with that feature.

    Don Horein