Oscilloscope

Jan 11, 2006 2 Replies

I have a Digitor 20 MHz (ex Dick Smith) oscilloscope which I bought some years ago when money was burning a hole in my pocket. I unpacked it the other day to familiarize myself with it. I tested various components, resistors, capacitors, diodes etc. and found that I got two quite different respones fro LEDs. Some generated the right angled trace supposedly typical of diodes while some generated the 9 o'clock flat portion of the trace but the other half angled off to about 1.30. The Zener diode that I tested responded as though it was an ordinary diode. Informative comment would be much appreciated.



R

A zener will look like a normal diode in the forward direction. The "component tester" on your oscilloscope may not generate a high enough voltage to break down the zener in the reverse direction.

They don't make many scopes with component testers these days!

Dave :)

"Roger Dewhurst"

** Could some of your LEDs be self flashing ones ?

What was the voltage of that zener ?

Might be too high for the CRO's test signal to operate.

.......... Phil

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