NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY

The first private university in Bangladesh

(Established by the North South University Foundation)

Department of Mathematics & Physics

Introduction to Laboratory Equipment Manual

PHY-108L

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Plot #15, Block # B, Bashundhara, Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh

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 Breadboard

A
B
C
D
E

F
G
H
I
J

Figure 1: Breadboard (Top View)

Figure 2: Breadboard (Internal connections)

A breadboard is a rectangular plastic board with a bunch of tiny holes called nodes in it. These nodes let
you easily insert electronic components to build an electronic circuit. Pictures of breadboard are given
above.

The green lines marked on Figure 2 show the internal connections of a breadboard. As shown in Figure
2, the nodes “A B C D E” and “F G H I J” are connected vertically. On the other hand, “+” and “-” are
connected horizontally. A detailed visual picture is given below for your better understanding.
 .

Figure 3: Detailed visualisation of a breadboard

The common components that we are going to use in the breadboard are as follows:

• Resistor: A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical

resistance as a circuit element.

Figure 4: Resistors

• Capacitor: A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field. It is

a passive electronic component with two terminals.

Figure 5: Capacitors
 • Inductor: An inductor, also called a coil, choke, or reactor, is a passive two-terminal electrical
component that stores energy in a magnetic field when electric current flows through it.

Figure 6: Inductors

Now, as you see in the above diagrams, most of the commonly used components have two legs. In Figure
3, observe the blue shaded rows, each of these rows depicts one single node that consist of 5 holes (A B
C D E/ F G H I J), and each hole are internally connected. Now look at figure 3, there is a long break
labelled as “channel”, this channel separates the two nodes “A B C D E” & “F G H I J”.

Now, let’s move on to how to connect these components in the right manner. The rule for connecting the
components correctly is to avoid short connections. But how? To avoid short circuits, you must not
connect the two legs of the same component in the holes from the same single node (A B C D E). For
example, take a resistor, either insert one leg in any hole from the first node (A/B/C/D/E) and the other
leg into any hole from a single node as mentioned in Figure 3 after the break (“F/G/H/I/J”) or insert one
leg in any hole from the first single node (A/B/C/D/E) and the other leg into any hole from any other
single node below/above.

A brief on parallel and series connections of different components (resistors / capacitors / inductors) is
given below.
Series Connection on a breadboard:

Figure 7: Method 1 for series connection on a breadboard

As you can be seen in the above Figure 7, for a series connection, you must connet one leg of a component
to another leg of another component and so on. Another way of series connection is shown below. Note
that the connections in Figure 8 are same as the ones in Figure 7, just the placement is different.

Figure 8: Method 2 for series connection on a breadboard

Parallel Connection on a breadboard:

Figure 9: Method 1 for parallel connection on a breadboard

As you can be seen in above Figure 9, for a parallel connection, you must connect the legs of the
components in the same node and the corresponding legs must be in another node. Note that the
connections in Figure 9 are the same as the ones in Figure 10, just the placement is different.

Figure 10: Method 2 for a parallel connection on a breadboard

 Digital Multimeter (DMM)

A DMM is mainly used to measure current, voltage, resistance, capacitance and so on. In our
lab, there are two different types of DMMs with similar functionalities and some common
features such as a power button, a display, set of probes, and input jacks. The pictures of the
two types are given below along with their detailed functionalities.

Figure 1: Type 1 DMM; Model: GOM-8135

Figure 2: Type 2 DMM; Model: SDM3045X

 AC/DC

1) Power button – To turn on/off the DMM

2) Range Selectors – These buttons allow us to set the range of values. For example,
If our reading is within 20 (V/mA/ ), we will press the button which is labelled 20 and if
our reding is 180 we will press 200.

3) Unit buttons – We need to select the unit for which we are taking the reading.
To measure voltage- press V
To measure current- press mA
To measure resistance - press kΩ

4) Mode selector – For DC mode, the button will be as it is. For AC, the button
will have to be pressed inward.

5) Upper red port (labelled as V −Ω) – to measure voltage and resistance, connect
the red jack here.

6) Bottom-left red port (labelled as FUSE T2A 250V) – to measure current, connect
the red jack here.

7) Black port (labelled ad COM) – It is also known as common/ground. Always

connect the black jack to measure any value,
 Voltage/Resistance

1) Power button – To turn on/off the DMM

2) Voltage/Resistance Measuring port (labelled as V-Ω ) – to measure voltage

and resistance, connect the red jack here.

3) Current Measuring port (labelled as 10A RMS) – to measure current, connect

the red jack here.

4) Common/Ground port – It is also known as common/ground. Always connect the

black jack to measure any value.

5) Range selector – This button is usually set as Auto. However, if you need to set the
range manually, you can do that with this button.

6) DCV – used to measure DC Voltage.

7) DCI -In order to measure DC Current (DCI), press shift then press DCV.

8) ACV - used to measure AC Voltage. But to measure AC Current (ACI), press shift
then press ACV.
9) Run/Stop – Use to run or stop the reading.

10) Shift Button – To change the operational mode like DC to AC and vice versa.
 DC Power Supply

Voltage
Knob

Power
button

Figure 1: DC Power Supply (Model 1: LPS325D)

Voltage
Knob

Power
button

Figure 2: DC Power Supply (Model 2: LP3003D

A DC power supply provides direct current (DC) voltage to power a device under test such as a circuit
board/breadboard or electronic product. As of now, two models of DC power supply are available in your
physics laboratory shown above.

Model 1 (LPS325D):
• This model comprises a power button, two sets of positive and negative terminals, a ground terminal
and fixed 5V supply (at the right-most corner), two sets of voltage and current knobs.
• The red and black wires are connected in the positive and negative terminal respectively as shown in
the picture above. You can connect the wires on either set of terminals (right or left).
• If you need only 5V in any experiment, you may connect the wires in the fixed 5V terminal on the
rightmost corner of the supply.
• The voltage knobs are the only knobs that you will need to use in your experiments. As you turn the
knobs clockwise, the voltage increases.
• As you can see in the display of the DC power supply, the current is always set to 0. You can do this
by turning the current knob to its absolute anti-clockwise position.

Model 2 (LP3003D):
• a power button, a set of positive and negative terminals, a ground terminal, two current knobs (“fine”
& “coarse”), and two voltage knobs (“fine” & “coarse”).
• Unlike model 1, this DC power supply does not have a 5V fixed supply.
• The red and black wires are connected in the positive and negative terminal respectively as shown in
the picture above.
• The voltage knobs are the only knobs that you will need to use in your experiments.
• As can be seen in the diagram(left), there are two voltage knobs, fine and coarse. The fine voltage
knob allows you to make very small changes to the voltage, in other words, you can say it is less
sensitive to any movement you make to the knob.
• On the other hand, the coarse voltage knob allows you to make larger changes to the voltage, in others
words, it is more sensitive.
• As you can see in the display of the DC power supply, the current is always set to 0. You can do this
by turning the current knob to its absolute anti-clockwise position.

Note: Before connecting the DC power supply to your circuit, make sure the current is
 Function Generator

A function generator is usually used to generate different types of electrical waveforms over a wide range of
frequencies. Some of the most common waveforms produced by the function generator are the sine wave,
square wave, triangular wave, and sawtooth shapes. There are two types of function generators available in
the physics lab. Such as GFG-8250A and SDG-810. These function generators can provide versatile
waveforms of high efficiency and convenient operation. Familiarize yourselves with these functions
thoroughly through Operation Manual.

GFG-8250A (SAC512):

Figure 1: Function Generator (GFG-8250A)

GFG-8250A function generator can generate signals in the frequency range 0.5Hz to 5MHz. Let’s have
look at its functions.

1. Power Switch: The power switch is used for turning on and turning off the device.
 2. Frequency Range Selector: To select the required frequency range by pressing the relevant push
button on the panel as shown in Table 1.

3. Amplitude Control: Turn clockwise for increasing amplitude and anticlockwise for decreasing
amplitude.

Table-1 (for GFG-8250A)

Push Button 1M 100k 10k 1k 100 10 1

Frequency 500kHz 50kHz 5kHz 500Hz 50Hz 5Hz 0.5Hz

Range | | | | | | |
5MHz 500kHz 50kHz 5kHz 500Hz 50Hz 5Hz

4. Function Selector: Press one of the three push buttons to select the desired output waveform.

5. DC Offset Control: Pull out the knob to select any DC level of the waveform between ±10V, turn
clockwise to set a positive DC level waveform, and invert for a negative DC level waveform.

6. Duty Cycle Adjustment: Pull out and rotate the knob to adjust the duty cycle of the waveform.

7. Frequency Adjustment: Turn clockwise the knob for MAX frequency and invert for MIN
frequency.

8. Display: Shows the frequency.

SDG810 (SAC514):

The Siglent SDG810 is a 1-channel Function/Waveform Generator that provides high-quality signals up to
5 MHz. The SDG810 function generators have a sophisticated and easy-to-use interface. All functions and
parameters are easy to locate thanks to the graphical interface. Let’s have a look at its functions:
 Figure 2: Function Generator (SDG810)

1. Power Switch: The power switch is used for turning on and turning off the device.

2. Waveform Keys: On the operation panel, there is a set of buttons with a waveform icon. See
Figure 1. Press “Sine” to get the Sine wave and press the Square, Ramp, Noise, Arb button for
respective signals.
3. Output Control: As is shown in Figure 2, there are two buttons on the right side of the operation
panel, which are used to output/trigger control. Press Output button, activate or deactivate the output
signal. You will not get the signal without pressing output button.

Figure 4: Output Control

4. Number Keys and Direction Keys:

a. The up and down keys are used to shift parameters and the left and right
keys are used to shift digits.

b. Keypad is used to directly set the value of the parameter.

c. Knob is used to change a signal digit value whose range is 0~9.

Figure 5: Number Keys and Direction Keys

5. LCD Display:

6. Menu Operation: Menu explanation is given in the following figure 7.

Figure 7: Menu operation

 Oscilloscope
Purpose
This manual will familiarize you with the introduction of digital oscilloscopes. You will explore two
different oscilloscopes that are used in our lab.
• Digital Oscilloscope (SIGLEND SDS1052DL+/50MHz)
• Digital Oscilloscope (GW instek GDS1102B/100MHz)

The Oscilloscope
An oscilloscope is an instrument that used to measure the potential difference (voltage) across a
component as a function of time. The display of the oscilloscope is a two-dimensional graph. Voltage is
displayed on the 𝑦-axis, while time is displayed on the 𝑥-axis.

Oscilloscopes are used to record data from electrical sensors, visualize waveforms generated by
instruments and troubleshoot and fix electronic devices. In troubleshooting devices, it is typically
important to understand the concurrent behavior of multiple devices at the same time, and so modern
oscilloscopes are capable of displaying and storing information for two or more signals (called channels)
at the same time. The input connectors (CH-1 and CH-2) are BNC (Bayonet Neill-Concelman) connectors.

Several settings adjustments are necessary for correct measurements of a waveform:

- Adjusting the POSITION of the waveform (left, right, up, down) is useful for centering or otherwise
aligning waveforms. This is very important when comparing two waveforms, as all measurements
require that the waveforms are aligned correctly.

- It is important that the full signal is visible and takes up the correct portion of the screen to
maximize the precision of the measurements. This can be adjusted with the voltage (VERTICAL)
SCALE settings which is voltage/div and time (HORIZONTAL) SCALE settings which is time/div.

Note: Changing the scale or position of the waveform does not affect the voltage or time of the signal
measurements; it only changes its display.
- The TRIGGER LEVEL is the minimum voltage at which the oscilloscope interprets the measurement
as a signal as opposed to noise. If the value is too high or too low, the signal will never cross the
trigger threshold and no waveform will be displayed. If it is too close to zero, the oscilloscope might
trigger noise, and you could miss the important part of the signal. Remember that the wires in your
circuit behave like antennae – you can pick up everything from radio signals to the electric lights
in the room!
- If you are unable to display a waveform, make sure that the cable is plugged into the correct
channel and that the appropriate channel button is pressed. Pressing on the AUTO button under
RUN CONTROL will typically get a useful measurement of the waveform, but it may not be ideal
for your purposes. (It just brings you close!). And then you can adjust the time and voltage/div
according to your requirements.

- With a digital oscilloscope, many measurements can be done automatically. Pushing the Measure
button will show you the list of possible measurements. The cursor for selecting a measurement
can be controlled using the button at the left of the menu panel.

Digital Oscilloscope (SIGLEND SDS1052DL+/50MHz)

Figure 1: SIGLEND SDS1052DL+ digital oscilloscope.

 Menu and Control Button
Showing as the following picture:

Figure 2. Menu and control button of SIGLEND SDS1052DL+

digital oscilloscope.

■ Channel buttons (1, 2): Press a channel button to turn that channel ON or OFF and open
the channel menu for that channel. You can use the channel menu to set up a channel. When
the channel is on, the channel button is lit.

■ MATH: Press to display the Math menu. You can use the MATH menu to use the
oscilloscopes Math functions.

■ REF: Press to display the Ref Wave menu. This menu can save and recall four or two
reference waveforms in internal memory.

■ HORI MENU: Press to display the Horizontal menu. You can use the Horizontal menu
to display the waveform and zoom in on a segment of a waveform.

■ TRIG MENU: Press to display the Trigger menu. You can use the Trigger menu to set
the trigger type (Edge. Pulse, Video, Slope, Alternative) and trigger settings.
■ SET TO 50%: Press to stabilize a waveform quickly. The oscilloscope can set the trigger
level to be halfway between the minimum and maximum voltage level automatically. This
is useful when you connect a signal to the EXT TRIG connector and set the trigger source
to Ext or Ext/5.
■ FORCE: Use the FORCE button to complete the current waveform acquisition whether
the oscilloscope detects a trigger or not. This is useful for Single acquisitions and Normal
trigger mode.

■ SAVE/RECALL: Press to display the Save/Recall menu. You can use the Save/Recall
menu to save and recall up to 20 oscilloscope setups or waveforms in internal memory (up
to 20 waveforms) or on a USB memory device (limited by the memory capacity of the USB
device). You can also use it to recall the default factory settings, save waveform data as a
comma-delimited file (.CSV), and save or print the displayed waveform image.

■ ACQUIRE: Press to display Acquire menu. You can use the Acquire menu to set the
acquisition Sampling Mode (Sampling, Peak Detect, Average).

■ MEASURE: Press to display a menu of measurement parameters.

Example: Vmax, Vmin, Vamp, Vp-p, Mean, Vrms

■ CURSORS: Press the Cursor Menu. Vertical Position controls adjust cursor position
while displaying the Cursor Menu and the cursors are activated. Cursors remain displayed
(unless the “Type” option is set to “Off”) after leaving the Cursor Menu but are not
adjustable.

■ DISPLAY: Press to open the Display menu. You can use the Display menu to set grid and
waveform display styles, and persistence.

■ UTILITY: Press to open the Utility menu. You can use the Utility menu to configure
oscilloscope features, such as sound, language, counter, etc. You can also view system status
and update software.

■ DEFAULT SETUP: Press to reset the oscilloscope’s settings to the default factory
configuration.

■ HELP: Enter the online help system.

■ AUTO: Automatically sets the oscilloscope controls to produce a usable display of the
input signals.

■ RUN/STOP: Continuously acquires waveforms or stops the acquisition. Note: If

waveform acquisition is stopped (using the RUN/STOP or SINGLE button), the SEC/DIV
control expands or compresses the waveform.

■ SINGLE: Acquire a single waveform and then stops.

 Connector

Figure 3: connector of SIGLEND SDS1052DL+ digital

oscilloscope.

■ Channel Connector (CH1, CH2): Input connectors for waveforms display.

■ EXT TRIG: Input connector for an external trigger source. Use the Trigger Menu
to select the “Ext” or “Ext/5” trigger source.

■ Probe Component: Voltage probe compensation output and ground. Use to

electrically match the probe to the oscilloscope input circuit.
Negative Connection

Positive Connection Figure 4: Probe

Note: If you connect a voltage source to a ground terminal, you may damage the
oscilloscope or the circuit under test. To avoid this, do not connect a voltage source to any
ground terminals.

1
 Auto Measurement

Figure 5: Measure Button

When you take automatic measurements, the oscilloscope does all the calculations for you.
Because the measurements use the waveform record points, they are more accurate than the
graticule or cursor measurements. Press the ‘MEASURE’ for the Automatic Test. There are
three auto measurement types: Voltage, Time, and Delay.

Table 1: Auto measure function menu 1:

Option Instruction
Voltage Press this button to enter the Voltage measure menu.
Time Press this button to enter the Time measure menu.
Delay Press this button to enter the Delay measure menu.
All Mea Press this button to enter the All Measurement menu.
Clear Measure Press this button to clear all the measurements that you chose.

Figure 6: Auto measurement function

 Table 2: Auto measure function 2-Voltage measure menu:

Option Setting Instruction

Source CH1, CH2 Select input signal source for
Voltage measure.
Type Vmax, Vmin, Vp-p, Vamp, Vtop, Vbase, Cycle Mean, Press the “Type” button or turn the
Mean, Cycle Vrms, Vrms, ROVShoot, FOVShoot, “Universal” knob to select the
RPREShoot, FPREShoot Voltage measure parameter
Add Example: Vp-p Choose the measurement, after
pressing the button, the
measurement value will be shown
in the lower left of the screen
Return Return to the first page of the auto
measurement menu.

Figure 7: Auto measure function 2-Voltage measure menu

 Table 3: Auto measure function3-Time measure menu:

Option Setting Instruction

Source CH1, CH2 Select input signal source for Time measure.
Type Rise Time, Fall Time, Freq, Period, Press the “Type” button or turn the
BWidth, +Width -Width, +Duty、-Duty. “Universal” knob to select the Time measure
parameter
Add Example: Freq, Time Period. Choose the measurement, after pressing the
button, the measurement value will be shown
in the lower left of the screen
Return Return to the first page of the auto
measurement menu.

Default Setup

The oscilloscope is set up for normal operation when it is shipped from the factory. This is
the default setup. To recall this setup, press the DEFAULT SETUP button. For the options,
buttons, and controls that change settings when you press the DEFAULT SETUP button, refer
to Appendix B.

The DEFAULT SETUP button does not reset the following settings:

● Language option
● Saved reference waveform files
● Saved setup files
● Display contrast
● Calibration data
Digital Oscilloscope (GW instek GDS1102B/100MHz)

Figure 8: GW instek GDS1102B digital oscilloscope.

Figure 9: Menu and control button of GW instek GDS1102B

digital oscilloscope.
So, in this part, we will have a look at the Cursor and Measure functions for the below-
displayed Oscilloscope.

Procedures to use cursor function for the GWINSTEK GDS-1102B model Digital Oscilloscope:

Step-1: Carefully look at the yellow-colored box below in figure-10 and match it with your
machine. You’ll find a set of keys with ‘Measure’, ‘Cursor’, ‘App’, ‘Acquire’, ‘Display’, ‘Help’,
‘Save/Recall’, and ‘Utility’.

Step-2: You can measure waveform data using cursors. Cursors are horizontal and vertical
markers that indicate X-axis values (usually time) and Y-axis values (usually voltage) on a
selected waveform source. When you press the Cursors key, it will illuminate, and the cursors
will turn on. To turn cursors off, press this key again until it is not illuminated. See the no. 2
circled key namely ‘Cursor’ in the yellow box below in Figure-10.

This oscilloscope will have vertical and horizontal cursors for both channel 1 and channel 2.

3 2
1

Figure 10: Measure and Cursor functionalities for GWINSTEK GDS-1102B

model Digital Oscilloscope.
Step-3: After pressing on the cursor key, it will appear with two cursors as displayed in figure-
11.

Step-4: You’ll see a row of boxes beneath the edge of the display for:

H Cursor – Horizontal Cursor,

V Cursor – Vertical Cursor,
H Unit– Horizontal Axis Unit for the Plot in the display,
V Unit – Vertical Axis Unit for the Graph in the display.

Step-5: Now, when you select H Cursor by pressing the respective button just below the boxes,
cursors in the display will work for horizontal mapping on the signal. It means that cursors can
move across the x-axis over the signal.

Step-6: After fixing your horizontal axis coordinates through H Cursors, we need to go to the
respective output coordinates on the signal to get the desired output value. For this, we will
select V Cursor which will employ the cursors to move across the y-axis over the signal.

*** You will move the cursors to the desired coordinates using the variable knob as mentioned
as no. 3 circles in Figure-10.

(Each cursor has three functions to do. You can select one cursor only when another will
appear with a dashed line. You can select the second one by pressing twice on the particular
cursor option, the selected one will appear with a blue-colored solid line. You can move both
of the cursors by pressing thrice over the particular cursor, both will appear as blue-colored
solid lines.)

Figure 11: Horizontal (H) Cursor and Vertical (V) Cursor

Procedures to use Measurement function for the GWINSTEK GDS-1102B model Digital
Oscilloscope:

Step-1: By selecting the track menu you have to setup cursor A/cursor B for channel 1 /
channel 2, you may use the measure function to find out the necessary parameters’ output
values. You will use the ‘Measure’ button (as shown in no 2 circled in Figure-10) to activate
the measurement functions in the display which in turn will appear with the below-shown
display.

Figure 12: Measurement function

Step-2: Following Figure-12, we can add/remove measurements on the display for the signals.
However, for instance, it needs to get the peak-peak voltage value for the input/output signal
you performed. You’ll use the ‘Add Measurement” button following the respective button
below.
 Figure 13: Parameter bases and Source options

Step-3: After selecting ‘Add Measurement” the display appears as shown in Figure-13 with
parameter bases and source options in the red marked section, try and match with your
device!

Step-4: First one for voltage and current measurement. You’ll be able to get the respective
voltage and current values by selecting the V/I Pk-Pk menu along with the Period, Frequency,
and so on.

Step-5: Must select the source for the desired signal values in the oscilloscope display you
want to get using measurement functions.