Tektronix TDS 500C User Manual

Measuring Waveforms

TDS 500C, TDS 600B, & TDS 700C User Manual

To find information on cursor units with video waveforms, see the TDS Family
Option 05 Video Trigger Interface, if your oscilloscope is equipped with the
video trigger option.

The TDS Oscilloscope provides a graticule for measuring the difference (either
in time or amplitude) between two points on a waveform record. Graticule
measurements provide you with quick, visual estimates. For example, you might
look at a waveform amplitude and say “it is a little more than 100 mV.” This
section briefly describes how to take graticule measurements.

To measure the amplitude of a waveform, do the following steps:

1. Press the channel selection button of the channel you wish to measure. Note

the vertical scale factor for the channel in the channel readout on screen.

2. Count the graticule divisions between two features to be measured and

multiply by the vertical scale factor.

For example, if you count five major vertical graticule divisions between the
minimum and maximum values of a waveform at a scale factor of 100 mV/di-
vision, then you can easily calculate your peak-to-peak voltage as:

5 divisions 

×

100 mV/division = 500 mV.