how to use an oscope to set your gains correctly

[Lucky 76 5]

i recently got an internship and in our engineering lab where i work we have many oscopes. i was wondering how i would be able to use the oscope to set the gains on my amplifier

[JASON123 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQDEkxD8ed8 part 1

part 2

Hope this helps

[Lucky 76 5]

thanks! that is exactly what i was looking for

[sound=vibration 34]

lucky you i want a fing oscope.!!!

[Julian 641]

i might do this too. my dad is an electrical engineer and has an o-scope

thank you also.

[Lucky 76 5]

my pops is vp of sales for fluke so i get all the free multimeters i want =) ... i have about 20 at my house lol

[Julian 641]

haha nice.

[Lucky 76 5]

quick ? about the video ... meade says that his h/u clips at 60 ... y does his h/u clip? ... also why is he tunning his amps to 59? ... i thought you were supposed to set ur gains 3/4 of the way because some music is louder than others? .... he says he can play it at 59 without it ever clipping is this true or will some music cause the amp to clip?

[KU40 173]

quick ? about the video ... meade says that his h/u clips at 60 ... y does his h/u clip? ... also why is he tunning his amps to 59? ... i thought you were supposed to set ur gains 3/4 of the way because some music is louder than others? .... he says he can play it at 59 without it ever clipping is this true or will some music cause the amp to clip?

Head units clip just like amplifiers, because they are amplifiers as well. Why wouldn't his head unit clip? All do. We set our gains at 3/4 volume because that's about the point that most head units begin to clip. He may be right about 59 never clipping, and he may be wrong. It depends on if he set the gain at 59 with a 0 db tone. Then no, nothing could be louder than that tone and it should never clip. But if he set it with just some random song, chances are another song was recorded at a higher level and it could clip.

[Lucky 76 5]

but how does your h/u clip if you are running off of rcas ... you are not using the amplifier's hi levels

[johnecon2001 82]

but how does your h/u clip if you are running off of rcas ... you are not using the amplifier's hi levels

You can still clip a signal..

[Lucky 76 5]

how can i check my rcas using the oscilloscope? can i just go inside pos shielding neg?

[JASON123 1]

this 1 how you do the radio

[Lucky 76 5]

thanks again ... i still dont see how he is hooking up the outputs tho ... is it positive inside negative shielding? how would you do this with you high level outputs

[sadistic 13]

thanks again ... i still dont see how he is hooking up the outputs tho ... is it positive inside negative shielding? how would you do this with you high level outputs

are you use a fluke with clip on leads if so which one? i believe so but i must look it up be for you quote me on it. you got to remember dc flow from plus to minus you maybe able to clip the positive lead on the speaker positive and leave the speaker ground on the speaker and just ground the shield to the frame. play some thing like 150 threw reg coaxial and lower then 100 threw sub amps. play sine sweeps and square waves threw system wile testing. what your looking for is the top part of the sine wave to be clipped off or flat. on the "o" scope

[sadistic 13]

you may need a times ten probe to get to register on the screen it's a resistance value that will multiply the voltage out put times 10 so you can see it on the screen.

it should just be a shielded probe to were you just connect the one lead to the dc voltage source if there is a "y" on one lead coming off the probe connect the one positive strait to the positive of the speaker of the amp out put. or in between the speaker and the amp out put. plus and minus so it still is connected to the speaker but threw the meter. i have seen them do this in many ways so if there is a model number i may be able to read the meter manual and fill you in.

the times ten probe may be some think like a ten mega ohm resistor or similar depending on which your o scope uses. any ways if you give me a model number i mite be able to help more.... all i got resistor color codes if you need me to tell you them what the resistor should be....

[KU40 173]

but how does your h/u clip if you are running off of rcas ... you are not using the amplifier's hi levels

A signal is a signal. It's just that the power is lower on RCAs.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

thanks again ... i still dont see how he is hooking up the outputs tho ... is it positive inside negative shielding? how would you do this with you high level outputs

you got to remember dc flow from plus to minus

Only problem here is music is alternating current. If you have DC going to a driver, you have a cone stuck in one direction which = zero sound being produced.

[Lucky 76 5]

the one i am borrowing is an OWON HDS1022M

[sadistic 13]

thanks again ... i still dont see how he is hooking up the outputs tho ... is it positive inside negative shielding? how would you do this with you high level outputs

you got to remember dc flow from plus to minus

Only problem here is music is alternating current. If you have DC going to a driver, you have a cone stuck in one direction which = zero sound being produced.

one problem there your kinda wrong

it's switched dc not ac man big difference. it's switched buy a triggering voltage on the amplifier chip it self. you are right if you got a full blast of dc threw the chip your speaker will do just what you said = zero hertz.

see what happens is it read the disk tape or what what ever and transfer that pulse to the rca or the radio amp it's self this is interpreted but the amp as on or a off signal that simple it flickers the chip. causing a 20hz-30,000 hertz pulse i have seen less then 20 hertz so do take that for grated either.

[sadistic 13]

the one i am borrowing is an OWON HDS1022M

is it this meter ? or close to it?

http://www.owon.com.cn/eng/hdsSeries.asp

what they say to do is connect the probe from channel one to the positive wire with the ten "x" probe used. ignore the alligator clip. and connect it strait to the connection point of the speaker. adjust your y and x axis . so you can read the wave so it fit on the screen. i always start on the highest setting and and work my way lower if i fell it's needed. you can find your owners manual at the link under tech support. i think it was under page 88 of how to use o scope it's the first link i found under tech support.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

thanks again ... i still dont see how he is hooking up the outputs tho ... is it positive inside negative shielding? how would you do this with you high level outputs

you got to remember dc flow from plus to minus

Only problem here is music is alternating current. If you have DC going to a driver, you have a cone stuck in one direction which = zero sound being produced.

one problem there your kinda wrong

it's switched dc not ac man big difference. it's switched buy a triggering voltage on the amplifier chip it self. you are right if you got a full blast of dc threw the chip your speaker will do just what you said = zero hertz.

Which is AC. It is alternating, just in many cycles instead of at one cycle.

[sadistic 13]

thanks again ... i still dont see how he is hooking up the outputs tho ... is it positive inside negative shielding? how would you do this with you high level outputs

you got to remember dc flow from plus to minus

Only problem here is music is alternating current. If you have DC going to a driver, you have a cone stuck in one direction which = zero sound being produced.

one problem there your kinda wrong

it's switched dc not ac man big difference. it's switched buy a triggering voltage on the amplifier chip it self. you are right if you got a full blast of dc threw the chip your speaker will do just what you said = zero hertz.

Which is AC. It is alternating, just in many cycles instead of at one cycle.

wrong again alternating current power etc.. flow's in two direction's in a conductor there is the positive cycle and the negative cycle if the power never drops below plus or minus 0 volts it's d.c. if it goes negative then positive then it's ac.

so what fine school did you get this load of crap from any ways.

[johnecon2001 82]

Careful with your words sadistic..

[Tirefryr 1,742]

It's cool John.

As for my schooling, it's just countless years of being an electrician and hands-on experience. I could let you know how right I am, but I'm not going to waste my time.