Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Photo 11.4
The prototype sound card oscilloscope interface
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20 kHz bandwidth;
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trigger adjustment;
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point-and-click measurement function;
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storage mode;
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data export to the Windows clipboard or to a disk file.
A typical Windows Oscilloscope 2.51 display is shown in Figure 11.18. The
software operates in dual-channel mode with different colour traces used to
differentiate the two channels. Separate sliding position and gain controls are
provided. Both the trigger level and the trigger delay are adjustable using slider
control. The timebase is also set by means of a slider control.
Clicking the meter button in the toolbar of Windows Oscilloscope 2.51
toggles Meter Mode on and off. In Meter Mode, you can measure time and
level of a waveform simply by clicking left and right mouse buttons on the
Oscilloscope display. A left button click sets cursor 1 and right click sets cursor
2. When both cursors are set, the difference between the cursors' positions is
shown in the right three parts of the status bar.
For convenience, the reciprocal value of time/frequency difference is
shown in the 1/dt (1/dF) status window. This allows you to quickly measure
the frequency of a waveform by clicking left and right buttons on the successive
maximums and looking at the 1/dt value displayed.
Software Oscilloscope
The second of our duo of sound card oscilloscopes originates in Japan. Unlike
the previous two packages, Software Oscilloscope operates with a single
channel, and it provides
simultaneous
time domain and frequency domain
displays (see Figure 11.19).
