How to Use Oscilloscopes, Logic Analyzers, Multimeters, and More

[@VastCNC]

Yes on the debugging, I know videos like this aren’t as popular as the “I made a Wi-Fi solar powered diddler for Mr. Beast” videos, but they’re vastly more timeless and valuable.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

With solar powered diddlers, I think the benefit of solar power outweighs the negatives of the neighbors calling the police.

[@dfbess]

Hey! solar powered diddler's are important!

[@xiggywiggs]

given the choice I would definitely prefer the debugging video! but uh... why not both?

[@seeranos]

Go evergreen baybeeeee

[@oscarterse]

Yes.

[@clintmilner2365]

Making someone suffer "just because I had to" is the most toxic of passing the buck in academia, anyone who willingly educates the next, and does so to reduce suffering, is a hero! Thank you, sir!

[@clintmilner2365]

@Jeremy Thurman True, /and/ experience-based learning can be separated from that mindset of, "just because it sucked for me, it should suck for you"

[@zoumeyz2984]

@@clintmilner2365 I agree to a point. The way we learn is from our failures and a big part of lab work in the engineering curriculum is fucking up. That's the "this sucked" part imo.

[@TechTinkerWorks]

@@zoumeyz2984 I think what he refers to are people who try to force analogue scopes on newbs so they learn to read the measurement from the grid. I have met this particular thinking before and it makes no sense for me. Any modern device even the cheapest 200usd garbage from aliexpress can read and tell you the measurement and you don't have to count it on the screen. It simply no longer adds value. If it would then people would use those old scopes and still count the grid. Other example when I went out to buy a telescope for myself and some old chap tried to stop me from buying anything that is motorized or computerized. He insisted I have to learn paper star charts and "starhopping". No dude, be happy counting stars I want to focus on the results.

[@clintmilner2365]

@Jeremy Thurman yep, both of yall are on point :) we learn through our mistakes, but needless suffering "just because" doesn't encourage growth

[@TheSlyMouse]

Finally sitting down and watching this. It was intimidating but it's a great video and I should have just watched it when it first came out because you did a great job

[@TheNabeshein]

100% yes to the debugger! My electronics repair career was a victim of the advancement of throwaway devices (I did tv repair, all the way from tubes to Oled), so I have firsthand experience on seeing that skillset disappearing. The more knowledge we can get recorded, the better!

[@caribeskinner6290]

With the way the economy is going coupled with pending trade wars, I can see your skills being needed again.

[@janthran]

@@caribeskinner6290 this is exactly why i'm studying eet in school, i plan to repair and reuse all sorts of electrical stuffs

[@collin5353]

6:50 you actually can get current clamps that can measure DC. I believe they use the the Hall effect to measure the static magnetic field produced by the current. The uni-t 210 is a great little meter including the dc current clamp, I’ve used mine for like 5 years now.

[@scorinth]

Yes, but they need to be used carefully because ambient magnetic fields can throw off the readings. Zero the clamp every time!

[@conorstewart2214]

Yes, they work similarly to the current measuring chips you can get to use with microcontrollers, except they need connected into the circuit but what it does is just have a thick current carrying trace very close to a Hall effect sensor.

[@TestSpaceMonkey]

Paused to make the exact same comment. The effort of having to be cautious about zeroing is more than made up for by being able to measure higher DC currents (that the small-ish gauge test leads have too much resistance for) and not being able to blow any fuses by leaving the meter setup for current probing (which is easy to do when impatiently troubleshooting a bunch of different measurements).

[@xxxburke]

I was going to say that while I was watching this video. DC clamp meters are easier to find these days as well.

[@zachcheung8400]

One tip worth mentioning is that the multimeter can measure the difference between two voltages, but the oscilloscope cannot unless you have a specific differential probe. The ground contact of an oscilloscope probe is directly connected to the earth ground of the outlet. Many accidents have occurred from people putting an oscilloscope probe in the power outlet and connecting the ground of the probe to the neutral or live wires.

[@jettthorp9444]

The Oscilloscope is actually so much simpler than I thought it would be! Awesome video, this definitely makes all these tools feel a little more approachable to try!

[@Lord_zeel]

At its most basic level, it really is pretty simple. The complexity comes in in two forms: The interface typically has a TON of buttons and knobs that look intimidating, but it's really just so that everything has a dedicated control and you don't need to switch between things, and secondly most scopes have a lot of additional abilities not even mentioned in the video that can be tricky to fully grasp, and aren't always really clear from reading the manual. But most of those features are super niche, and you will know you need them when you need them. Once you understand the basics, it all makes a lot of sense.

[@nikthefix8918]

I still like having a decent analogue scope in my kit tho. There's a lot of information in the 'feel' - like using moving coil multimeters. The needle balistics can tell you a lot.

[@omniyambot9876]

@@nikthefix8918 analogs are always more beautiful

[@dreamymaccready2287]

voidstar lab days are always good days

[@BitSmythe]

3:59 I’ve had that Fluke for probably 30 years. Can’t beat it for function. And I just got one of those tweezers two weeks ago. Most amazing thing ever. I can now check my clear LEDs faster than anything, let alone all the other functions it does. Fabulous tool!

[@RussellNelson]

If it's good, it's a Fluke!

[@TheHadi545]

At 300+ euros. HOT DAMN!

[@corneliusrosenaa3949]

Timestamps so people can jump to their relevant sections 00:00 - 01:57 Intro 01:57 - 03:15 Sponsor 03:15 - 03:55 Rundown 03:55 - 08:52 Multimeters 08:52 - 19:55 Oscilloscopes 19:55 - 22:16 Logic Analyzers 22:16 - 24:05 Debuggers 24:05 - 25:30 Spectrum Analyzers 25:30 - 25:55 Get quality tools! 25:55 - 30:01 Outro

[@ZackFreedman]

Thank you! I've added this to the description so they show up on the video itself.

[@winston6722]

@@ZackFreedman For the timestamps to show in the progress bar of the video, you need to only list the start of each section.

[@corneliusrosenaa3949]

@@ZackFreedman no problem, I'll probably be one of the ones using this the most lol

[@prosodyspeaks4036]

hey you from the potential sponsor - HEADS UP! - despite skipping literally all sponsored segs in all other content, i actually listen to Zack's because he's that much fun to listen to

[@Geoff_W]

Absolutely would love a debugger video! Also, your printing with every filament video(s) are literally something I reference on a weekly basis when pointing people new to 3D printing to useful resources, so this is definitely not the first edutainment video, but it's still a great one!

[@hullinstruments]

As someone who specializes in troubleshooting and component-level board repair of metrology and test equipment (both professionally and for fun.)😁. I would love to see you do a video series on more affordable test equipment. Myself and others are lucky enough to work with really nice high-end stuff but there's a huge niche and interest among hobbyists (and even professionals).. To examine and exercise the new and affordable dirt cheap test equipment. It really is a golden age for test gear and tools... That allow hobbyists to own equipment they could have never had even just a decade ago. So it would be awesome to see you highlight some of those more affordable tools, and explain how to use them clearly. I enjoy working with oscilloscopes that cost more than a house... Don't get me wrong. But I'm im fascinated with the engineering and execution in these cheaper designs. And more often than not find myself poking around inside of the new cheap equipment constantly. If nothing else just so I can have some cheap stuff to blow up if I'm in a sketchy situation, or to recommend for younger folks going through school, or getting into electronics. It's a golden age and it's incredible what has transpired for dirt cheap test equipment. Most of which is mindblowingly good quality and functional for the price. Everything from rigol scopes, feeltech function gens, and even aneng handheld meters. There are so many impressive tools available these days PS... I'll never forgive you for what you did to that poor oscilloscope. 😂

[@johnbrooks7350]

I know this video didn’t performed exceedingly well but this content is totally incredible and honestly even as someone who completed an entire computer engineering degree, I did learn something. Please, even if it’s on a separate channel or maybe just for patrons or something, this content is super important.

[@luminousbit]

Hi Zack, I watched this video when it came out and really liked it. So I came back again to leave a loving Comment Of Engagement after hearing it didn't do so well. It deserves more love!

[@JoanMendoza]

Yes; a debugging video would be awesome. I'd rewatch the crap out of it like I do the Gridfinity one to bump the metrics.

[@calyodelphi124]

I loved your sensible no-BS explanation of how an oscope works. I have an oscope and I mostly-know how to use it, but the way that you described the time offset actually taught me something new and helped me to understand why, if I adjust the time-offset after already capturing a signal, I can't just see more of the signal that came after the time offset! Thank you! 😄

[@TheToric]

I know this one didnt do as well as the others, but I really, really enjoyed this, and there isnt enough stuff like this on the web.

[@OldmanSerious]

Yes on the debugging video please! There are some cheap hand held oscilloscopes are around but they are often low bandwidth or a bit quirky. The Eeblog channel(s) you linked to have some cool teardowns of different oscilloscopes.

[@FilamentFriday]

Well done. Great summary.

[@spencerkittleson]

It's been so awesome to learn from Zach. I'm sure he gets it all the time but to inspire me to be better, finish projects, and really enjoy the process has changed my life. Thanks Zach ❤

[@heyspookyboogie644]

A lot of this sort of stuff is way beyond me. I’m at the “follow someone else’s project and if it doesn’t work and I can’t find something I did wrong, move on” stage. BUT it’s still nice to learn about and I like the cut of your jib, so I’d like to see more vids like this sprinkled in.

[@AaronTisk]

Thanks!

[@AaronTisk]

this is for the content i consume with ad blocker. should cover a few more views. keep it weird!

[@TheBassiist]

Couple of extra tips! if you have more probes than what you need to use you can use the gnd clamp from the extra probe as your ground freeing up your main probe and you can connect the gnd clamp to the probe tip do make a sniffer that easily can pick up high frequency signals such as the VCO in a HAM radio.

[@kylefoster5813]

This is really helpful... Logic analyzers are new to me, and this was a very accessible intro. Thanks!

[@ZevEisenberg]

A video on debuggers would be so great! As a new media major turned programmer, I’m comfortable with a debugger, but not when there’s some assembly required. I’m currently like six rabbit holes deep on getting my Adafruit Feather RP2040-based music player project working, and the available tools are a teetering mountain of hacks. And once I got gdb actually working over a J-Tag Mini, I didn’t really even know what I was looking for. What are the failure modes of Arduino-compatible hardware? No idea. Enlighten us, oh alliterative one!

[@kevinknutson4596]

God the patron read only ever gets better and better. Definitely have been putting off upgrading my ee game.

[@drivers99]

I always notice “good succ” in the list lol

[@damiancampbell1743]

I also wanted to say that even though this video didn't preform well, I really enjoyed this video. You obviously are allowed to make whatever you want, amd what ever you feel is best for you and your channel, but I just wanted to point out that should you desire to make more of these sorts of vids, there is certainly an audience... smaller, but an audience. Thanks for the great videos

[@alexscarbro796]

The benefit of using the probe spring is that it uses a ground closer to the signal you are measuring and, very importantly, it presents a much smaller “loop” and will so will pickup less noise from elsewhere in the circuit (e.g. a switch more buck converter).

[@benferrara4121]

Big yes on the debugging video. Your style that makes your maker videos completely engaging is perfect for educational videos

[@RainOrigami]

I've spent way too much time trying to get debuggers to work with my arduinos and dsps and the likes, and it was so painful that I decided to use serial println instead because it was more convenient. so yes, if you made a video about microchip debugging, I'm all here for it!

[@cyn0_]

What a wonderfully useful episode, thanks for this one Zach!

[@simplethingsasmr4565]

ADHD Tech youtube is such a blast! You’re one of if not the only creator i watch on 1.0 speed and i respect you madly for making me have to do it!

[@BitSmythe]

I love how the Fluke debounces continuity testing. Whether a brief break in continuity or a brief short, the meter converts the short event to an audible sound of longer duration you can’t miss!

[@jackakers13]

In case anyone was wondering, the supporter name with all the numbers translates to "pla is life" in ASCII. Awesome video!

[@Elmojomo]

pla...like the 3D printing filament material?

[@ZoneKei]

This was so over my head, but just hearing funny smart people words was entertaining enough to keep watching!

[@roninspoon3935]

Yes, please. More videos about debugging, troubleshooting, tool use, etc.

[@T3rraL33t]

Make videos on all equipment! I have been using o-scopes professionally for quite some time, I learned a lot today. Had I seen this video 10 years ago, I'd be a better engineer. Please keep this series alive. ❤

[@byoung255]

FYI, you can get DC current clamps. In those, a hall effect sensor picks up static magnetic fields.

[@lqqkout8214]

Yes please! I'd love to see an in-depth debugger video! This has been an excellent video and a great reference :)

[@conorstewart2214]

I would recommend getting a cheap interchangeable set of multimeter leads, they are good enough for hobbyist use. The ones I have come with screw in tips, things like normal multimeter tips, different lengths and thicknesses of tips and one of my favourites: tips with concave ends, the concave ends are perfect for sticking on the top of a microcontroller pin and since they are concave they don’t slip off, it makes working with any kind of pin much easier than trying to hold the tip against the side. My set also came with banana plug tips, both pointed (more useful, pretty much just a spike on the tip) and rounded, with attachments that plug onto the banana plugs, like crocodile clips or the U shaped crimp connectors. It also came with short and stubby tips with a lot of insulation on them, I think they are for mains screw terminals so they don’t have any exposed metal and are just long enough to probe the screws. The ones I use the most are the convex tips, the crocodile clips and the spiky banana plugs since you need them for the crocodile clips and the spiky end can be used just like a normal multimeter probe. It is far easier if you use a tip that is well suited for what you are doing and will save you a lot of time and frustration, the screw in tips and similar don’t add enough resistance to matter (it is often indistinguishable from the stock probes) and are definitely good enough for most uses.

[@Bossmodegoat]

KZbin please have your stupid algorithm support more content like this.

[@max_steele]

I appreciate the shout out. My lack of balls has been remedied.

[@Discopuss]

I didn't understand most of that, but it was downright entertaining anyway! Thanks Zach!

[@AzureSkyBeta]

big yes on the debugging, and its good that you called us out for not watching this, because it reminded me to come back and watch it! This was great as always!

[@AdamFrantz]

my dude, desperately needed and well executed. Keep it coming.

[@NICKCIN]

dude this is insanely useful, I'm a gearhead and have dodged learning about a lot of this stuff and this has been a very informative video!

[@matveyshishov]

Thank you so much, Zack! First, I have learned A LOT, you've answered so many questions I've always had and even more I never knew I had (I'm not an electrical engineer even as a hobby). You've enriched my world immensely, with your well-structured and very easy to ramp up insightfulness. Second, I was very surprised to hear in the first minute about the "invisible nature" of electronics, lack of observability provided by mother nature (sharks could be better electrical engineers, maybe?) This narrow feedback bandwidth is what I'm working on a lot these days, in a different field, where it's even harder (electrical engineers have it easy - stick your multitool probe in and you see SOMETHING).

[@DarkRavenhaft]

For (very) basic wireless: A really cheap and hacked together option would be to use a "wand" probe attached to a wide-band signal booster that feeds into your O-scope in FFT mode. Use this configuration frequently when looking for damaged SMDs on the precision instruments I work on. It basically just picks up on increased activity in a broad frequency spectrum, but it does tell you what frequency and that's good enough to trace a clock signal.

[@thomasschellekens5084]

"You're building entire projects on sheer guesswork" -- ahh, certainly describes my experience this week :D

[@flexeast]

Here to show this video some love, I learned a ton and as soon as I get back into circuits as a hobby this will be absolutely invaluable. You really did a great job demystifying oscilloscopes!

[@LouisWhittington]

I needed this topic covered in an entertaining way. I have been stuck on my first project debugging for 2 weeks!

[@invias]

Please on the debugging, love most of your shiz but the deep dives are my favorite. been waiting for an o-scope video for a while!

[@swissfreek]

I started college as an aerospace engineering major. Sometime in my first week of school, a EE student a couple years ahead of me told my group something to the effect of "if you haven't decided on a major yet, don't pick EE. It sounds cool, death rays and stuff, but it's actually dark magic and impossibly hard. Pick something else." I ended up as an electromechanical engineer (oversimplification: mix of mechanical and electrical engineering), and can confirm that he was 100% correct. Electrical engineering is indeed dark magic, and impossibly hard, and I wish I could have just been pure mechanical.

[@nathanielEvry]

This video was incredible. I came JUST to give it a thumbs up and click a few buttons when you'd mentioned it didn't do well. It seriously is something I want to use at work to reference for training.

[@laserbeans437]

Yes a debugger vid would be super helpful!

[@2nd_bloxx]

Imagine being so early, that KZbin still has to process the video... Great stuff man, keep it up!

[@filker0]

For the O-scope, get at least 2 channels (3 is the sweet spot for me); usually if you need more than 3 on a project you designed yourself, you're dealing with digital signals, so a logic analyzer is a good idea. At work, I was implementing the USB device stack software for an FPGA based project, and it took a USB analyzer (Beagle), an O-Scope (determines if the signal is of sufficient quality) and logic analyzers (need to look at what passes between the USB device controller ("Link") IP block and the USB PHY ("Transceiver") over the ULPI bus. For the most part on this project, we used the Xilinx ILA as the logic analyzer, but had we not had that, we could not have diagnosed a bug in the USB device controller IP (VHDL) implementation that we had licensed from a third party.

[@owen8417]

I hope this isn't too late. Yes please to the debugging video. You're educational style works to keep my brain interested! Thank you!

[@CarsSimplified]

7:08 - Doesn't the amp clamp that you're using/showing have a DC setting?

[@RichardThompsonCA]

I found this very useful, I've got a scope and logic analyzer, but little knowledge on how to use them effectively. Thanks!

[@Galileocrafter]

15:04 No, they are not for alligator clips. You can actually replace the alligator clips with some better suited ones, similar to the gripper on the probe itself. But yes, of course you can use alligator clips too, it might be just a bit too tight sometimes.

[@mereskimade]

This is such a huge help to me! I wasn't finding any great videos on how a multimeter works and when to use the functions. Thanks man!

[@Kitteh.B]

Is there a link to that altoids tin storage rack thing? 19:57

[@Apersonl0l]

Ah yes, the video that saved you a house I’m excited for a “new lab” tour

[@alberts6096]

Thank you for this tutorial. It's always cool to learn something new.

[@vk3xe]

Great video, but messing around with radio as someone who doesn't have an EE degree has been surprisingly more accessible that expected, and there is plenty of community of folks in the same basket. And yes would love to hear more about debugging in a decent editor (so I can debug the microcontroller in my homebrew radio)

[@ezrabird4860]

Yes please on debugging, I'm trying to step up my electronics game cause i've learned so much about electronics from youtubers but I feel like i'm capping out so I'd be so stoked for more specific content.

[@gzilla14031]

This is great maker content, thanks maker man!

[@bonce]

Yes to the debug tools, I have a bus pirate and it baffles me. I start using it, then I give up, then I get annoyed that I gave up. Then I usually do something stupid like roll my own solution and I swear the bus pirate just looks at me with the side eye of 'you know I could be doing that a WHOLE lot easier, right?' and I know, I really do.

[@commanderguy-rw7tj]

I actually think that rigol is basically keeping their devices really hackable for a reason, cause their biggest market is schools and stuff, which won't hack their scopes anyway, and will rather pay the full price for all the software features included. And it being hackable makes them a really good choice for makers like us, cause you get a lot of hardware for little money.

[@Lord_zeel]

Exactly, they make their money off of actual businesses and education. The small number of scopes they sell to hobbyists isn't moving the needle for them. But also, some of those hobbyists may also work for companies that buy these products, and they might recommend that the company buy the brand of scope they are familiar with, so that can lead to real sales at full price.

[@drew8704]

Already knew how to use a scope, but loved this video. Will be referring makerspace folks to it for tutorial. Would love to see more of these.

[@AnDy-of3mj]

Easily top 5 youtuber. Up there with this old Tony and Tested. Stay awesome Zack

[@AndyOz2012]

Thank you for making this video! This information is super valuable to new engineers and tinkerers

[@JoanMendoza]

10:56 60Hz ghosts, the least exciting type of ghost.

[@PullTab]

Thank you for creating a video for people that already know how to use an oscilloscope.

[@cirouk]

Thank you for this content Zack! You have an excellent way of explaining and breaking things down. Love all your videos! All the best mate

[@Andertheil]

YES to the debugger. Yes to videos helping explain how and what. Yes continue.

[@henninghoefer]

Gets sponsored by Keysight, immediately shows Fluke meters - Savage! 😆

[@gigiopincio5006]

You should seriously double monetize the monetizers. "Cross threading is just free loctite" would look stunning on my underwear.

[@AxcelleratorT]

11:52 "You're probably building digital electronics..." Zack, it's like you don't even know me!

[@wallydisc]

You are just doing a great job man. Keep it up. Solid Content. Thank you!

[@justinbanks2380]

Very cool to see and understand how scopes work. As I definitely never knew how to use one, even though I knew they are useful, but was always wary as I thought they were too complex or easy for me to mess up the circuit or scope

[@Taylachteam]

I WANT MORE TUTORIALS AND HOW TO LIKE THIS!!! Great Video!! love you zach keep up the great work brother

[@moomoobeef]

As someone who does things just to learn, thank you for the diagnosis!

[@lachlanlau]

9:16 and are beautiful pieces of vintage test gear.

[@heyspookyboogie644]

Funny for how long Keysight has been a sponsor that this hasn’t been made before. Though I have a feeling them being a minor hero in the apartment story was the kick in the butt you needed to tackle it (on top of actual debugging)

[@danielwilson2086]

Be encouraged @Zack Freedman. I know content didn't go huge, but it's evergreen and my self and many others will keep coming back to it.

[@GantryG]

This video is an excellent example of high-density precision teaching 👍

[@anbu94]

I went to school for automotive technology and we had to supply our own tools which included a fluke multimeter. The first day of the first electrical class, we put a blade fuse holder inline on our positive multimeter leads. If you accidentally had it in current mode, it would pop the inexpensive and now easy to replace blade fuse instead of the internal fuse.

[@RussellNelson]

1:44 I owned my own DuMont dual beam (tube) oscilloscope in high school, and while yes, I have a BSEE and MSES (Clarkson 1979 and 1981), I already knew how to use an oscilloscope while still a junior in high school. When I had to do an "Introduction to The Oscilloscope" unit in EE lab, I whined about it, but in the end had to knuckle down and do the unit.

[@axelchevette]

Great video! I learned a lot! ... So far. I notice it hasn't been out long enough for people commenting to have watched the whole thing.

[@axelchevette]

I suppose it could turn to garbage near the end. Guess we'll see! 😅

[@axelchevette]

Concerns were misplaced, video was good. Also, the only KZbinr that I watch all the way through sponsor shout-outs.

[@jerrys2292]

Love the video; the only thing I don't agree with is that analog shots are dead, they have their place beside a digital scope. Say you have a signal that has a spurious that you aren't expecting; a digital scope may discard the samples, and an analog scope is still going to shoot some electrons at phosphor every time. Handy for the edge cases that the digital scopes ignore and intentionally hide.

[@drivers99]

I just started learning about ARM/STM microcontrollers. I bought a nice oscilloscope while building Ben Eater projects. I’ll have to get a logic analyzer! For the STM stuff, I’m follow BuildYourCNC’s book and videos. I think he’ll get into debugging etc but can always use more.

[@MarkRouleau]

I would love to see more in depth video on each of these tools.

[@kertrats360]

Curse the algorithm for making education less profitable. This was fantastic! Yes to debugging vid! Chase those sine waves 🤙🏼

[@junoestro]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS I NEEDED THIS

[@benfrost5317]

Thank you for making this video and not pretending that all this black magic is the easiest thing in the world. You make the learning process easier by making it funny

[@chemicalvamp]

"You people who do things just to learn are F***** psychotic" I want that whole clip in an E-frame near the workbench for when I need a pep talk.

[@AngryMarkFPV]

One of your better videos my friend, keep these coming. Make me a better - school of hard knocks engineer!

[@JD_JR]

Would love some fancy pants debugging! Amazing tutorial on Oscilloscopes! I've always wanted to know more about how they work. Thank you for sharing!