You need oscilloscopes to check the accuracy of your amplifiers. To connect your oscilloscope to your amplifier, first, connect one of your oscilloscope’s probes to the ground terminal of your amplifier. Then connect the other one to where you want to check its accuracy or the output voltage.
Oscilloscopes are electronic measurement instruments that can graphically display any varying electrical signals. Oscilloscopes can determine the noise distortion, incorrect biasing, and blown fuses of an amplifier. The horizontal and vertical axis of your oscilloscope displays time and voltage respectively.
How to Connect Oscilloscope to Amplifier
Oscilloscopes can show the input or output signals of an amplifier in a digital or a cathode ray screen. The connection between an oscilloscope and an amplifier is the same as an oscilloscope and any other circuit.
To display the varying voltages, perform the following steps:
Step-1: First, connect the probe of the oscilloscope to the part of the amplifier that you want to check.
Step-2: Then connect the probe to the vertical channel that you want your output in. Oscilloscopes are ground-referenced devices. So, it would work fine even if you don’t connect the ground terminal of the amplifier to the oscilloscope’s probe. But it’s safer to ensure that they share the same ground.
Step-3: Then give power to both the oscilloscope and amplifier. The following figure shows the connection between an oscilloscope and a random circuit.
How Do I Use My Oscilloscope On My Amplifier
To use your oscilloscope on your amplifier, you have to follow the following steps:
- Secure a connection between your oscilloscope and your amplifier.
- Turn on the function generator that is connected to the amplifier.
- Turn on your oscilloscope using the marked button.
- Then use the buttons marked as 1 in the figure and select the channel that you want your output in.
- Ensure that the channel you are using is set to DC coupling.
- Set the trigger to the input that will be connected through the probe.
- Do not disconnect the ground cable.
- Adjust the oscilloscope’s dial of time and voltage to adjust the display. The horizontal axis is displaying the time and the vertical axis represents the voltage. Use the knobs 2 and 3 of the figure.
- Set the scales for your horizontal and vertical axis.
- Now you can move the probe to different parts of the amplifier and check the accuracy.
How Do I Connect My Oscilloscope to My Stereo
Oscilloscopes can view the audio waves of your stereo or audio device. To view this, you’ll need the following things:
- Stereo.
- Y adapter.
- Mini-phone plug cable.
- Headphones or earbuds.
Then perform the following steps:
Step-1: Set up your oscilloscope by adjusting the scales and the X and Y-axis.
Step-2: Plug the Y adapter into the earphone jack of your stereo.
Step-3: Plug the headphones and the mini-phone cable into the jacks of your Y adapter.
Step-4: Your mini-phone plug’s tip will have 3 metal areas. Connect your oscilloscope’s input probe to the plug’s tip and the ground probe to the metal area near the base of your plug.
Now you’ll be able to see the waves of your audio if you turn your stereo on. If you want to view waves at different frequencies, you’ll have to adjust the oscilloscope’s sweep speed.
How Do You Connect an Oscilloscope to a tube-amp
The process of using tubes to amplify a signal or power isn’t uncommon in electronics. Tube amplifiers are the same as this.
To connect your oscilloscope to a tube-amp perform the following steps:
Step-1: Set up your oscilloscope.
Step-2: Connect the ground terminal to the convenient ground location as the figure
Step-3: Connect the input probe to the load of the tube-amp that’s a 268KΩ resistor.
Step-4: Give power to your tube amp and you’re ready to go.
How Do I Connect My Oscilloscope to My Speakers
To connect your oscilloscope to your speakers, you’ll have to follow the similar steps of connecting your oscilloscope to your stereo. The only difference is that you’ll need a load in this case. The steps are given below:
Step-1: Connect the probe directly to the oscilloscope.
Step-2: Set the scope to 10x.
Step-3: Set the trigger to the input that’s connected through the probe.
Step-4: Set the scales of the horizontal and vertical axis.
Step-5: Set the persist time to infinity so that the maximum signal is always retained on the screen.
Step-6: Connect the probe of your oscilloscope with the audio channel that has a load on it.
Step-7: Attach ground to the RCA shell.
Step-8: Use a console in this case.
Oscilloscope Audio Visualizer Output
The example of an output of the oscilloscope, when connected to an amplifier, is given below:
An example of an output of the oscilloscope when you connect an audio device such as your stereo or radio to it is given below:
Conclusion
Oscilloscopes are necessary to visualize the output wave of any type of circuit. But you must connect it properly for accurate and perfect results. It will help you to understand the function of an amplifier to determine what areas of the amp you’d want to modulate.
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