scopes [was: how to troubleshoot? ...]

[Grant Richter]

Back in the bad old days before calibrated linear sweeps, the Z axis was the
only way to take time measurements. They did have frequency counters (the
displays had 10 neon bulbs in a row behind plastic discs with numbers on
them, that was before Nixie tubes)

So you would set up your square wave generator to a known frequency and
input it to the Z axis. You could then count how many little dashes showed
on different parts of the waveform and you could estimate the length of
pulses and such.

The only reason I know this is that I was lucky enough to hang out with a
Ham in his 80s when I was a teen (he was a repairman at Standard Radio
Supply on State street in Racine, WI). His first radio set was a spark
transmitter. It still astonishes me that we went from spark gaps to direct
conversion DSP in one lifetime. Now entire technologies can appear and
disappear in the same amount of time a single model of a tube radio would
have been in production.

> From: harry <harrybissell at prodigy.net>
> Reply-To: owner-synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl
> Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 21:53:54 -0500
> To: Glen <mclilith at ezwv.com>
> Cc: synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl
> Subject: Re: scopes [was: how to troubleshoot? ...]
> 
> The Z feature of a scope lets you control intensity modulation. You
> make the trace brighter and dimmer. It can be used to blank the
> retrace if you want to construct your own timebase... or if you put
> a squarewave in it can act like a "strobe" and freeze the rotation of
> lissajous patterns.
> 
> Include it in your oscillators if you want an oscilloscope light show !!!
> 
> H^) harry (played with z axis for about 3 days in the early '70s....   ;^)
> 
> Glen wrote:
> 
>> At 01:14 PM 1/15/01 , Happy Harry wrote:
>>> The XYZ unit sounds like a vectorscope. I'm not sure what the
>>> professional use of these are, I think some kind of video
>>> or communication use...
>> 
>> My Hitachi dual channel oscilloscope will let you assign the two input
>> channels as "X" and "Y". Then there is an input on the back of the unit
>> labeled "Z", which controls the intensity of the beam in response to
>> voltage fed into this input.
>> 
>> Although I've used the "X" and "Y" features. I've never used this "Z input"
>> feature. Does anyone know of a good use for it?
>> 
>> Later,
>> Glen
> 
>