Intro and Newbie Question

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Dave Jakeman
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Joined: Sun May 25, 2014 6:54 am

Intro and Newbie Question

Post by Dave Jakeman »

Greetings,

My intro post and a question:

I recently bought my first oscilloscope. It's a £50 Chinese affair with a sample rate of 48MS/s. The PC software looks OK, but is unstable. I see some horrible waveforms on occasion and I'm unsure if it's what I'm measuring or the 'scope that's at fault. The latest bug-fixed release of the 'scope software won't install. The support website only displays in Chinese, so I'm stuffed. This wasn't entirely money wasted, as it serves as a low-cost intro to USB 'scopes. Not knowing anything about 'scopes before this, nor how to use one, I quickly learned that having a 'scope is a Good Thing. It also taught me I need a much better 'scope than this and what to look for when buying one, so I came here.

I've just ordered a 5244B and am waiting for it to arrive. Meanwhile, I've been reading the manuals. These cover things like safety considerations, statutory notices, specifications, etc, but don't explain how to actually use a 'scope.

I'm looking for a document that explains to a complete beginner what oscilloscopes are about, how to set them up and use them. That would be oscilloscopes in general, not just PicoScopes -- a kind of Oscilloscopes 101. I've visted the Manuals page and downloaded the PicoScope 6 Training Programme PDF. This looks good. Is this the best place to start? As a newbie, is there anything else I should read, or is it all in there?

Thanks,

Dave

Martyn
Site Admin
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Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:15 am
Location: St. Neots

Re: Intro and Newbie Question

Post by Martyn »

You may want to look at the many videos on our TV channel http://www.picoscope.tv/ they will help to get you and running.
Martyn
Technical Support Manager

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