Everything you need to know when buying/using an Oscilloscope! EB#49

[@greatscottlab]

Here are some things I would like to add to the video: 1. I do not want to shame low cost scopes in this video. I started with a 2 channel one from Rigol and it worked perfectly fine. Over the years though I noticed that 4 channel scopes are the way to go. And I also only got such expensive Keysight scopes since they gave them to me for free in order to support my work. So in a nutshell, you can start with a low cost scope just fine! 2. I heard that people would just insulate the PE connector when powering the scope in order to measure mains AC voltage. This is a TERRIBLE idea. This way you connect a possibly very high voltage to the BNC connectors. If you touch that, you have a problem because you can be partly or completely connected to PE. Only use a differential probe for that or use two scope channels and use the math function in order to calculate the difference between them. Thanks for reading ;-)

[@username8459]

The second addition definately sounds like Electroboom :D Though he uses a differential probe in some of his videos.

[@xistencestudios8904]

I recommend something like an Owon VDS1022 for the bare minimum oscilloscope, a Hantek DSO2xxx series for the cheapest standalone scope with a function gen

[@VijayaLakshmi19807]

Hi sir. Sir please hack an AR glasses to work on a HDMI input even if the whole setup becomes bulkey. Bigg fan. Love from India ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@rsattahip]

Thanks, what about an isolation transformer to keep your scope and circuit safe?

[@marekaksmu]

What about using a separating transformator for powering osciloscope? I hope I translated it fine :) it can be usefull aswell ?

[@yeyee2418]

I was pretty sure something was gonna blow up on the intro, but quickly realize this is not electroBOOM. Great video as always sir!

[@greatscottlab]

Something did blow up while filming......but the camera was not rolling....too bad

[@joshm264]

Same, i was expecting "let's hook it up... SH****"

[@MohitSharmaxp]

@@greatscottlab 4:55 you did blow something I guess

[@eswing2153]

“Definitely not going to talk about why I only have three probes and unmatching tips.”

[@alejandroalzatesanchez]

*FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!!*

[@Kevin-jz9bg]

Greatscott: Let's hook it up and.... thank god, nothing blows up. Electroboom: Let's plug it in and... Wow, nothing blew up, that's surprising. Oh wait, I forgot the turn on the power strip. (flicks switch) BANG

[@bunny1033]

I was going tell that too

[@YTshashmeera]

I remember that video lol

[@panjak323]

You don't mess with 230V. 120V is at least relatively safe.

[@Dsbarrynl]

I mess with 220v all the time 😂 and yes i do get schocked sometimes but i don't really mind, as long as its just half a second haha

[@TechGorilla1987]

I love the fact that your hand computer (aka writing instrument) is permanently set to bold text. Your ability to accurately trace over your writing with your markers is legendary.

[@takatamiyagawa5688]

He needs a thicker pen.

[@kenmore01]

As a long time SMPS engineer, I can tell you, NEVER isolate the scope or defeat the PE ground on it! You can isolate the power supply (device under test or D.U.T.) with a 1:1 isolation power transformer, or my old fave for use when I don't have access to one is to use two scope channels. Connect just the probe tips (unclip your ground wires from the probes so they don't touch anything by accident), and use "invert and add." That works well for low to moderate frequencies. If you must measure higher frequencies, connect both grounding clips to an "X" capacitor (rated for across the line) of around 0.1uF or so and connect the other end of that cap to the D.U.T. electrical power supply ground, though that is the least preferred method. The most preferred is the power isolation transformer to isolate the supply. It makes it safer in case you touch it too.

[@oliverm1255]

what's wrong with isolating the scope ground

[@kenmore01]

@@oliverm1255 It creates an entire oscilloscope's worth of dangerous high voltage you you or anyone to touch.

[@MrOlezhandr]

I specifically bought a battery-powered oscilloscope, as I burned more than one microcircuit until I figured out that the matter was in the earth connections. But now I ordered an isolation transformer)

[@kenmore01]

@@MrOlezhandr Awesome! The life you save may be your own, or your kid's.

[@joeshmoe7899]

Why not just use a gfci, instead of an isolation transformer?

[@Darkshadow799]

I learned more in this 12 minutes than in 8 hours of my electric measurements course. Good job

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@brianmendell1449]

Hey Scott I've been watching your videos for a couple of months. Man I just have to say thanks man for helping me learn a new trade after I was hit with a stray bullet 7 years ago. Learning how to chase down my electronic demons lol has now through your videos helped me help other people in my area with their mobility scooters or wheel chairs. So thanks and keep up the great content and I'll keep watching.. 👨‍🦼

[@jackwilliams2010]

Great tips! When I took an electronics course the instructors wouldn't let us touch the oscilloscopes until our second year. And then there were several reminders not to touch the leads to any of the board's powered by the mains unless you were on the other side of a transformer.

[@Meowface.]

This is one of those tools I’ll buy first and find a use for later

[@gokhanince3059]

11:37 When I was in the university, We solved this problem with a bit of electrical tape to mask the PE of the oscilloscope. But this method can be painful. Please don't try at home. But instead of the tape method, I think an isolation transformer can work fine.

[@boulder795]

DO NOT connect an oscilloscope to an isolation transformer. Always isolate the circuit you are working on, or if that is not possible use differential probes. Never isolate your test gear

[@Ryan_Tidwell]

@@boulder795 Why? as long as there are no ground loops you should be fine.

[@eDoc2020]

@@Ryan_Tidwell Rule of thumb: only connect an oscilloscope ground someplace you would feel safe putting your finger. The device under test needs to be isolated. Whatever you connect the ground clip to becomes connected to the oscilloscope chassis. If you isolate the oscilloscope and connect the clip to a mains reference the electronics will be happy, but if you touch the scope then you could get shocked. Plugging an oscilloscope into an isolation transformer is actually safe. However it's pointless because an oscilloscope's power supply is already isolated. More importantly, and to Stephen's point, this can provide a false sense of security. It's the equivalent of touching bare high voltage power wires while "protecting" yourself by wearing rubber shoes.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

Isolating your scope through a transformer works just fine. Nothing wrong with it as long as you keep in mind that poking another mains-connected thing with it will make everything else hooked up to the scope and any metal on the scope itself also mains-connected. If that's too much for you, you have no business poking mains-connected gear, no matter which part you isolate, full stop.

[@eDoc2020]

@@AttilaAsztalos Plugging a scope into an isolation transformer doesn't accomplish anything because an oscilloscope's power supply is already isolated. If you really want to isolate its ground, just tape over the ground/earth pin in the power cord. I'll discourage this because of the risks involved, but if you decide to do this please be sure to use a _tested_ GFCI/RCD in case something goes wrong.

[@peerappel2012]

The input and output of differential probes are actually usually not isolated, it's just a resistive voltage divider (the 4.5Meg measured in the video) that reduces the voltage on the input that enables measurement of high (common mode) voltages.

[@xConundrumx]

2 more options... 1. Use a separation transformer to power the device under test. 2. Use a handheld (or battery powered scope)

[@anthonymina8398]

You are my inspiration on why I chose Electronics Engineering for my college degree. Thank you, sir. Starting my class in a week. Wish me luck!

[@fseeletronicos]

Be prepared for the integrals.

[@johandepauw5969]

The possible error you mention of at 11:15 about the Alligator ground ref connected to PE. When working with a battery operated oscilloscoop, there is no connection to PE of the 230V mains as we work on battery. So we are isolated any time. Even not when the batteryloader is connected as this has no PE connection. So no worries to But good to know to remind me of this situation!.

[@deeprobardhan3411]

I have bought a hantek USB oscilloscope(20 mhz and 48MSa/s)since i cant afford a DSO, and that works quite ok for my POWER electronic projects. And Thanks sir for all this videos u made . Really appreciate it. Love from India.

[@greatscottlab]

Very nice!

[@Mladjasmilic]

I had electrical measurement classes at Faculty of electrical engineering. We worked with old analog scopes (2012). Our professor taught us that is we measure mains voltage or autotransformer that we can simply unground the scope by plugging it into ungrounded socked.

[@alisamerflorin]

Useful but dangerous.

[@AlienRelics]

Then the entire body of the scope becomes an electrical hazard.

[@Mladjasmilic]

@@AlienRelics So what? Sometimes common sense is better than relying on safety systems to protect you.

[@tvishmaychoudhary69]

Mehdi from electroboom didnt explained that much Happy that you did it 😀

[@greatscottlab]

Yep, it is an important subject. I am glad I can finally cross it off my to do list :-)

[@shkhamd]

EEVblog has a video that goes into even more detail

[@varunrmallya5369]

Sir, could you make a series teaching us about the features of an oscilloscope and wave forms observed in electronics. Would be really helpful

[@getcartercarpark.]

I love the exclamation at the beginning of the video when you plug the homemade switch mode PSU into the mains AC!!!!!

[@fullwaverecked]

Being financially challenged has one silver lining; every bit of test kit I own will make a good repair video... Thank you for the scope tips! Very broad in scope. Cheers!

[@Salfke]

Great video, you teach simple steps of using a scope in 12 minutes better then all the other videos I have seen. nice and easy.

[@greatscottlab]

Glad you liked it!

[@rbmwiv]

I found a nice 2 channel 200mhz Tektronix scope used for $200. It was only 2 years old when I bought it a year ago. I started with a Tektronix CRT scope. I used it for many years and still use it sometimes especially since when I need more than 2 channels. 90% of the time a 2 channel scope is all I need that’s why I went with a 2 channel.

[@richardscheffenegger9138]

When working with mains voltage electronics, it's a great idea to actually power the bench with a isolation transformer (and a fast acting, low current fuse,, if your inrush current allows that). Like in a IT grid, that was there have to be two faults, before current can flow (unlike working directly with grounded AC). (The fast acting fuse would also protect the isolation transformer. A 220V/110V dual output transformer with the power rating suitable to your project usually works fine....

[@bkailua1224]

I was an electronic nerd in the 60s. I like it how some things like "smoke test" and "it didn't blow up" are still being said today.

[@barnabywilde374]

everyday now i see that i'm a fading technician. So much has changed since i began my hobby/job in the late 1970s. My 20MHz B&K was a home "standard," and i'm in awe of modern oscilloscopes. Now, we REPLACE ENTIRE BOARDS, whereas in my day we replaced mostly components. It's a magical time to be alive now, kids. We have computers in our pockets and advanced electronics that perform all kinds of astounding tricks. And mostly, we have fine folks running video sites like this offering FREE instructions and advice. Thank you!

[@2wrdr]

I'm right there with you, went to "Tech School" studying Electronics Technologies majored in RF Electronics. My first 2 jobs (Motorola 2-Way Repair Shop then Satellite Receive Only) both jobs I did component level troubleshoot with scopes replacing discrete component and some ICs. For me those were the good ole days and I loved it for the satisfaction of constantly solving the puzzles of failed electronics then seeing my work....well work. Not long after lots of equipment became throw aways and there just wasn't much $ in being an electronics technician. I got lucky with a railroad job that then led me into railway signal engineering which paid much more even though I didn't have an engineering degree I was able to do the work so that worked out well but it was never as fun as doing real component level repair.

[@reggiep75]

I grew up around oscilloscopes and the like as my dad was a TV engineer and often did various jobs at home for people. I'd look over the edge of the workbench at the green boards, soldering iron and the scope and often hear the odd pop or swear word when a particular job was difficult or something just exploded, ElectroBOOM-style. This was back in the early 80's and by the mid 90's people just dumped broken stuff and bought new stuff, rather than fix it.

[@gtb81.]

an isolation transformer is always recommended when working on something at mains voltage, that way if a mistake is made your equipment will be less likely to be damaged. it can protect you from a nasty shock as well, or worse

[@nirbhay.8400k]

THE best video for beginners! You are a life saver dude! Perfect and clear explanations.

[@dylanvient6360]

Some how I'm coming back now 7 years later when I used to watch your videos when I was a kid and realizing what I put behind me

[@oldsparks3177]

I used to repair swm PSU s . The golden rule is to feed it via a mains isolation transformer, then you can safely connect the earthed ground wire of your scope probe to the circuit board without creating any problems .

[@TheBlibo]

Hi Electronics was only ever a hobby for me and I stopped at analogue stuff In my job years ago doing engine development we had the use of a scope only single channel and no storage facility, if you wanted storage you clipped a Polaroid camera to the screen hi tech back then, isn't it wonderfully that you can now download an app to use your phone as a scope Keep up.the good work

[@DehyasHusband26651]

Thanks for the explanation, I've wanted to get a scope for some years now but haven't due to costs and not knowing how to use one. This video also explains them in a simpler way than others have done.

[@mattwillis3219]

Essential viewing for anyone venturing into the domain of power electronics, quality education as always GreatScott!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@Music_Engineering]

This is such a great video! I am a TA and will definitely recommend this video to new students 😊

[@Jesperkraakman]

I wish i heard a “HOLD IT” when I first made this mistake, of connecting the scope ground to the rectifier - of an SMPS…

[@ignispurgatorius5297]

Since you recommended differential probes it would be interesting to see a little video for them and what to look out for. Differential probes can come in ultra cheap

[@arfeausmutt9884]

Parametric analyser was a fancy name for a simple curve tracer. Easy to do on an old scope using a 5vac transformer a resistor and a set of test leads. Set H to Ext drive. H equals sample voltage while V equals current through device under test.

[@zaphodbond]

I've being teaching myself electronics and I wonder if someone can recommend a tutorial about learning to use an Oscilloscope. Maybe something where you learn by doing projects and then learn ways to debug or test your circuits. This is great by the way it's a good start, thank you!

[@cache4pat]

Thx for the reminder .... that explained why I was having trouble measuring the 120VAC Inverter in my PHEV. So I dug out my isolation transformer, to avoid the cost of that expensive probe attachment.

[@adisharr]

I appreciate your multi-color sketches as you present the topic. Always very well done! Very easy to listen to and educational :)

[@ubyteconsulting]

Really amazing video. I've been using oscilloscopes for more than 2 years now. I've never seen such a comprehensive tutorial about using oscilloscopes. Great job great Scott!!!!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@jasonbrown467]

i just got a scope for christmas and have no idea what i am doing. this is by far the best video for beginners i have seen so far. all the other vides assume we know the basics

[@mixxx2005]

My rule of thumb is to first check voltage with multimeter between desired ground point and oscilloscope ground clamp. If 0 or open circuit, then all good to attach ground. Else - start to look for electrical tape for PE 😇

[@hansaKg]

finally!!! I've been waiting this video for long time. Thanx!

[@greatscottlab]

You are welcome :-) I hope the video answers all your questions :-)

[@hansaKg]

@@greatscottlab Oh it did. Now I can start using my new Rigol scope.

[@glasslinger]

The scopes can also be isolated from the power line. The input power supply of the scope meets certain international standards that include 2000 volts isolation, as good as an isolation transformer. Of course when doing this BE CAREFUL since you can have the common of the scope at high voltage with reference to ground. (only to be done by experienced users)

[@iMakeFunnier]

Been waiting for a video like this for a long time. Thank you very much. This is very informative for those of us without electronics backgrounds.

[@greatscottlab]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MorsAdvancedTech]

Scott: no don't do that it may cause a lot of damage Electroboom: here's how to make a 500000000000v wand and kill all electronics around the house

[@Kevin-jz9bg]

HAHAHA

[@zacharychristy8928]

If space or money is a concern (and you have a computer), I really like my Digilent Analog Discovery 2. It's $400 (but priced cheaper for students), and it's got a 2 channel oscilloscope, signal generator, multimeter, protocol analyzer and frequency analyzer, all in a package about the size of a deck of cards. It's definitely got limitations, but for most hobbyist applications it's more than enough. I've even done entire electronics labs for school just using that one little device!

[@Jhale716]

Yup more than capable for the majority of people. In my service days I had a 20mhz CRO a bit of a beast to lug. Didn't need it nearly as much as one thinks. The USB ones with logic analyser are very handy.

[@DoDo-is7yb]

Great video! For the basics I would add to adj. the cap in the probe for a correct square wave.

[@Abodino]

I was thinking about buying an oscilloscope and finally got a great video about oscilloscopes... THANKS!!!

[@TurpInTexas]

Back when I was an early teen and repaired tube TV's, we used an isolation transformer because many of the TV's of that time didn't have a power transformer and hooked one side of the full wave bridge directly to the chassis (a.k.a. a hot chassis) so if you wanted to connect any kind of test equipment, the isolation transformer was a must. Also, if I remember correctly, Tektronix had a line of oscopes where the ground of the probe was isolated from its own chassis and the powerline, so you connect those units probes to a hot chassis with any issues.

[@flarosantana6330]

Ive been using a board called the espotek labrador that you plug into a computer with software and get various functions like oscilliscope and power supply. It takes some time and knowledge to set up, and may not have the best sampling rate, but if you need a basic oscilliscope for cheap, its like 30$ and works perfectly

[@Archnemesis88]

Great video, I recently picked up a 2 channel scope as an upgrade over my DIY oscilloscope kit, can't wait till I can upgrade to something much fancier! You dropped some great tips in this video 👍

[@TotalWarChronicles]

Really good video Scott! It is nice a nice change to have a video that is less complicated!

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

The first scope I ever used (in middle school no less) had vacuum tubes and a CRT. Tons of knobs. 2 large RG type probe connections. Weighed several kg and was the size of a medium suitcase. No manual, but somehow I managed not to blow it or myself up even when messing w/ an AC stepdown transformer.

[@sairfan06]

Thanks Scott for the video, now a days most people are reviewing the scopes and this video was most wanted where you are explaining how to use a scope, i hope you will do more videos on this topic, if you could use Siglent or Rigol that would be great as most of hobbyist are using these brands, as they are target audience of these videos that will greatly help.

[@huseynmashadiyev5435]

I have fast reaction to pause the video, when someone says: "Let's hook it up", I guess ElectroBoom's mental traces are visible :D

[@Kevin-jz9bg]

LOLL I thought the same thing

[@arnavjindal3021]

I am still in school, understood 25%..... Searching meaning of everything you told from Google. 😍🤤..... Way too curious to learn everything bout electronics. I have and old oscilloscope lying.... Will apply knowledge on it.

[@theGentec]

I recently got myself a Picoscope wich i find quite handy. Im not doing any High Power/High Frequency stuff and use it mainly for 5V logic level and protocol analysis. And for this purpose this is just fine since it also can directly decode Protocols like I2C, SPI and UART. Since it is possible to export the data i was able to do a curve fitting in MATLAB for a step response - super nice :D

[@minkorrh]

$90 CDN for an isolation transformer to build a really nice power supply pays off in saved test equipment. I built your basic power supply that used a solar charge controller (CC, CV) and it's still working fine. I've just rewound a MOT to 24V and am going to use that in my next supply as I don't really need a full 120/120 for anything else.

[@jamesgoacher1606]

Thank you. Too often the basics are forgotten about and I am one of those who would benefit by their inclusion.

[@greatscottlab]

Glad to help :-)

[@shazmiah]

Hi. I love your channel and am a subscriber. The other way to avoid the problem with AC powered projects and Oscilloscopes is to get a battery powered Digital Storage Oscilloscope(DSO). I have and OWON DS7102V 2-channel, and whenever I do any AC stuff I simply disconnected the AC power to the scope and switch on the rechargeable internal lithium Ion 18650 battery pack. Isolated probes are very ( extortionately ) expensive . I think you should have mentioned that as one of your alternatives. You can pick up a decent 2-channel 1GSa/s DSO for around £500.

[@amnesie6615]

I love this basic / beginner videos! Danke!

[@greatscottlab]

Glad you like them!

[@gettingbuzzywithsreyon2562]

The more people learn or know about oscilloscope, the more Electroboom's sponsors will be worthy, this video is really helpful for everyone 🤩

[@ColinMill1]

I learned this lesson as a kid in the 1960s. I clipped the ground lead of the school's only oscilloscope to the metal chassis of a live-chassis record player. The earth clip vaporised and the fuse of the record player blew hard enough to leave a nasty mark on the wall socket. Needless to say, I was in significant trouble 😀

[@joeds3775]

hope you blamed inadequate supervision amd training

[@martinoptilon9915]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge in a very straightforward and comprehensible way. Now I just have to save up to buy the cheapest oscilloscope I can find :)

[@AubsUK]

Great, as always. I'd love to see a review of some of the cheap (

[@USAWal]

I just realised that I honestly like Scott's diagrams!

[@mvv175]

Thank you for making this type of videos they are so informative

[@greatscottlab]

Glad you like them!

[@HackingElectronics]

Once that circuit was connected to mains, I thought the circuit was gonna blow up but sadly we are not in ElectroBoom's channel... Edit: Lol I just saw many comments same as mine.

[@casperlegendary9380]

This motivates me to learn more electronis. thanks to you GreatScott!!

[@greatscottlab]

Glad to hear it!

[@ThePo707]

When measuring the output ripple on the switch mode power supply you should not use the long ground wire on the scope, this will make ripple bigger

[@stuartbridger5177]

Nice video. This reminds me of when I worked in a repair shop many years ago. We had early Tektronix graphics terminals. For some reason known unto them, the display logic boards had a signal "ground" that was floating at +600V DC. My colleague would unhook the PE from the scope power plug, put a paper notice on the scope (also Tek) Saying "Don't Touch" . Then connect up the scope probes and start diagnostics with the scope case, BNCs, etc, all at +600VDC! Wouldn't be allowed now. We certainly didn't have isolated differential probes available back then. Incredibly dangerous work practice, should not be attempted.

[@meowcula]

Once you get an oscilloscope, you'll wonder how you ever lived without one. I ended up getting a Rigol and I can definitely recommend them for a budget scope.

[@msmith2961]

Great refresher on oscilloscopes. I'm still using an old 'Goldstar' CRO which does the job just fine for me (analogue audio), but amazed at how cheap the digital ones have got now!

[@michaelclark2131]

Awsone. You helped me purchase a scope. Simple concise. Excellent !!!!!!

[@tech29X]

Thank you for the education, I wish you would expand on this subject. For example you did not mention memory depth and its impact on sample-rate/time-scale. Two scopes that has the same bandwidth and sample rate of the waveform. To make matters more complicated some scope "manufacturers" specify memory in wave forms, while other's in Kilo or megabytes...

[@harsimransinghbawa2724]

I love your videos sir and i have already learned a lot of new thing by watching to it

[@greatscottlab]

Glad to hear that

[@erikdenhouter]

The switches on the 1 : 10 probe are also a bit dangerous. The 1 : 1 setting is when you switch to the front, and that can happen by accident when you put pressure on the probe while your finger is on the switch. I also have a cheap one from which the inner print with the switch can shift a bit inside, by which also that switch can shift from 1 : 10 to 1 : 1. They should at least turn these settings around, or as I did, take off the plastic knob, and use a little screwdriver to switch the now deeper laying switch.

[@impactodelsurenterprise2440]

Thanks for the tip

[@acidbyte4760]

I actually hookup the ground lead ALWAYS. But i have to say i power the electronics with a isolation transformer (to work more safe). Then you actually must connect the groundclip!

[@Dr_Mario2007]

Occasionally battery-powered oscilloscope, such as Zoyi and Finsri oscilloscopes would actually be best especially if you don't want to fry something inside especially with the grounding short circuits. It's usually best to remove the primary ground from the oscilloscope especially when you have something that runs off the internal Lithium-ion cell. Just be mindful when using multiple oscilloscope probes, you definitely don't want to have two different ground plane voltage clashing with each others.

[@michaelcolacino8602]

Thanks!

[@stevetobias4890]

Great video Scott, I am still learning my way around my beginner Siglent SDS 1102DL+ scope. It has come in handy a couple of times but I need to learn more.

[@pb5640]

you can also temporally run your oscilloscope on battery and unplug the power cable which should give good results.

[@neoncyber2001]

Great scope tutorial! I will bookmark this video and send it out to any oscilloscope newbs I find.

[@tuxcode7344]

The DS1052E is my first scope as well! 😁 It's still good enough for me. The highest frequencies I'm working with are between 12-20MHz for clock signals in audio codec or microcontroller systems. I might get myself a differential probe at some point though. I'm always afraid that I accidentally hook up the ground clamp to some point that creates some kind of circuit I didn't intend. 😅

[@38911bytefree]

1052 here ..... I dont do crazy things, so it is really GOOD ENOUGH.

[@keefazstudio]

Same, although newer scope display look good, I'll keep my money to use on other thing

[@joelstienlet1641]

I let my 4-channel USB oscilloscope float 😅 350V common mode offset is no problem (of course I insulated the BNC connectors, the scope chassis... It can be VERY dangerous, be careful!). I use an insulated 5V power supply, built by coupling two motors through a piece of insulating material. The output of the second motor (a stepper) is rectified and sent to a 5V buck converter. This provides me with an insulated 5V that can withstand several kV common mode, and just as a battery powered device offers very low coupling at high frequency (EMI which could otherwise interfere with measurements). To insulate the USB, I use a board built around the Silana ICEUSB3. This only works for DC common mode though, as the ICEUSB3 chip doesn't work with fast fluctuations between ground planes... I may improve my setup with USB over fiber, not tested yet (that would also greatly improve the EMI).

[@FreeCircuitLab]

Opps! Today I was doing the reverse, 12v dc to 220v 😀

[@makermelissa]

Thanks. I found this video very useful. I’d love to see some more in depth oscilloscope videos.

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the feedback :-) I will see what I can do

[@TheSlimbridge]

Thanks

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the support :-)

[@gherbent]

I use a Li-ion battery source of power on my oscilloscope, in this way I can be totally isolated from the mains and the source of noise it brings. My Owon SDS7102V has an integrated module of 2S Li-ion 6A enough for 1 hour of work. Or I can add and use a 10 S battery (from tools like Makita, Panasonic) via a step down converter to 8 V, in this case I have added a switch to not short circuit to the internal 2 S module.

[@tcurdt]

I got one of the popular Rigol's. The performance more than enough for me - but the UX is such a pain. I wish there was a reasonably priced one that features a touch screen.

[@KeritechElectronics]

My specialty is analog and mostly vacuum tube audio electronics and I've got a trusty old Hameg HM204 which is fine for that kind of work, but I saw its limitations when I tried to take a closer look at the sampling process when reverse-engineering the Sochor delay device. Who knows, maybe it's time for me to get a digital one?

[@jacobwigent1931]

Really well-made video you made this a lot easier to understand!

[@greatscottlab]

Glad you liked it!

[@GeorgeGeorge-xj2bc]

The electrical ground wiring once had some meaning for protection if touching the metal casing of the scope to prevent leakage since a lot of high voltages were present.Nowadays in digital scopes with plastic covers what is the meaning of the live ground?I dont recommend the practice of ommiting the usage of the mains ground wiring since everyone who uses professional tools (and i instist on this) is responsible to treat his tools freely as long as he ensures that nobody will got hurt or cause damage to person,property or animals.

[@psubond]

Dave at EEVblog did a similar vid called "how to not blow up your oscilloscope ", i suffest watching that one too.

[@kennethng8346]

Whenever I debug a mains circuits I run it through a 1KVA isolation transformer to lower the risk of accidental zaps. Not fool proof, but adds some protection.

[@jameskidd7906]

As always a good vid sir! Thank u and 'bravo' but i think u forget the alignement of trace before using the oscillo for the first time with a square signal

[@SimonBauer7]

you can do the stuff where you need to insulate PE just fine with a usb or battery powered scope as these are normally isolated from the mains

[@sdjhgfkshfswdfhskljh3360]

Thank you for 70.7% description of bandwidth. Only thing which surprises me is why such large sample rate (2GS/s) is needed for 200MHz bandwidth. With Nyquist theorem in mind, it is possible to pack 200 MHz signal into ~400MS/s.

[@greatscottlab]

I guess the more the better

[@sanketpatadiya8168]

When you use all 4 channels simultaneously then 500MS/s will be used for each. I think that's reason for giving 2GS/s sampling rate.

[@sdjhgfkshfswdfhskljh3360]

@@sanketpatadiya8168 so extra 100 MS/s per channel is required because otherwise filter circuit will be too expensive?