DS0 Quad (DS0203) Oscilloscope - First Time Use

As a gift I received a new portable oscilloscope: the DS0203. This, I know will come in handy in the future! Nevertheless, there are a few things to note with its use... First and foremost, this may or may not be able to measure signals faster than 8MHz - I haven't tested anything high than 100KHz yet. Second and more importantly, there is a bit of a learning curve to it's use, something I wish to clear up here.


When I turned the device on, the first question I asked was: "How do I measure a signal?"

For this tutorial, you will need:

• DS0203 Oscilloscope
• Probe
• Signal Source (I used an Arduino UNO and generated a PWM wave on pin 9)

1. Plug one of the probes into CH-A
1. Attach the alligator clip to GND (ground)
2. Mount the probe to the signal source (pin 9)
3. (optional) See that the probe is set to "X10"
2. Turn on the DS0203 Oscilloscope
1. The power switch should be on the lower right
3. Press the "Play/Pause" button until the screen reads "RUN" in the upper left-hand corner (RUN will continuously capture a signal from the source, while HOLD will allow you to analyze the recorded signal before it changes)
4. Adjust the settings to improve the signal quality on-screen (Use the leftmost -...+ control to set the value and the rightmost -...+ control to navigate. Use the △ button to switch between horizontal and vertical menus.)
1. Under channel A (blue), set the values to 0.2V DC. This will vertically scale the signal on screen
1. Move the leftmost -...+  left or right to change 1V to 0.2V
2. Press the leftmost -...+ button to switch to signal type and change it to DC
2. Where it says "AUTO" (orange), set the time measure to about 500uS. This will horizontally scale the signal on screen
1. Move the leftmost -...+ left or right to change the time to 500uS
3. Set the threshold "THR" to stabilize the signal and reduce flickering
1. Press the △ button to navigate the menu on the right
2. Navigate to THR and press the leftmost -...+ button to select channel A (blue)
3. Then move the leftmost -...+ left or right to adjust the threshold (left moves down, right moves up; the threshold marker will be label 'T' on the left of the graph)
5. By now, a fairly decent wave should appear on screen. (These are the exact steps I used when familiarizing my self with the DS0203's environment)