
SECTION 3
CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION
Type 324
Change information, if any, affecting this section will be found at the rear of the manual.
Introduction
Block diagram descriptions and detailed descriptions of
the Type 324 Oscilloscope circuitry are contained in this
section. The block diagrams and schematics in the back of
this manual are used in conjunction with the descriptions.
S c h e m a tic numbers are used extensively for cross-
referencing, and are therefore contained in a diamond
shaped outline for quick recognition.
Simplified drawings are provided where necessary for
effective circuit explanations. No attempt is made to ex
plain basic operations of components, except for those that
are not considered generally known. Additional infor
mation regarding components is included in the Mainten
ance section.
BLOCK D IA G R A M DESCRIPTION
Refer to the block diagram in the Diagrams section.
Operation with an internal sweep will be discussed first.
Internal battery, external DC, or AC powered operation
can be selected at the Power Pack. During AC operation,
the AC power input is full-wave rectified and applied to
battery charger circuits which supply power to the external
batteries and the oscilloscope circuits. During EX T DC
operation, the battery and battery charging circuit are
by-passed and the applied voltage goes directly to the
POWER switch.
In all modes of operation, a DC voltage is received by
the Power Regulator, which employs a blocking oscillator
and a flyback-type transformer to develop voltages which
are used throughout the oscilloscope. This includes CRT
filament supply and high voltage.
When internal sweep operation is selected, the Trigger
Generator develops triggers in response to any of three
sources selected by the operator: trigger multivibrator,
vertical signal, or externally applied triggering signal. When
the vertical signal or the E X T T R IG input is selected, the
Comparator Am plifier causes the Trigger Multivibrator to
generator a trigger each time the input signal passes through
a specific voltage determined by the Comparator Amplifier.
When A U TO triggering is selected, the Trigger Multivibrator
free-runs, providing a continuous succession of triggers.
Whenever either a vertical signal or external triggering signal
is present and has a higher frequency than the multivi
brator's free-running rate, the multivibrator no longer free-
runs but becomes slaved to the triggering signal.
The Trigger Multivibrator output enables a Sweep Gate
circuit. This causes the Sweep Generator circuit to develop
a linear sawtooth voltage, which drives the Horizontal
Amplifier. The Horizontal Am plifier increases the ampli
tude of the sawtooth voltage as necessary to provide
slightly more than ten divisions of horizontal deflection
when the voltage reaches its peak.
When the sawtooth voltage out of the Sweep Generator
rises sufficiently positive to provide full trace deflection, it
disables the Sweep Gate and sweep voltage returns to its
reference value. The Holdoff Circuit prevents triggers from
reaching the Sweep Gate during sweep time, and continues
to block them until enough time has elapsed after sweep
time for the circuits to return to their quiescent values. This
ensures that each sweep will start from the same point on
the display as the preceding sweep.
Deflection blanking is used in the CRT to prevent the
electron beam from striking the CRT face during retrace
and holdoff time. The Sweep Gate output causes the
Unblanking Amplifier to apply +100 V to an unblanking
deflection plate during sweep time. This cancels the effect
of the +100 V which continuously exists on an opposing
deflection blanking plate, permitting the horizontal (and
vertical) deflection plates to control beam position on the
face of the CRT. The CRT beam can be blanked at any
time by application of an external blanking signal of at least
+5 V to E X T BLANK jack J350.
When a signal is applied to the V E R T IN PU T, it passes
through an attenuator which is controlled by the V O L T S /
D IV switch. The signal (or a portion of it determined by
the switch setting) is applied to the Vertical Preamp where
it is amplified and converted to a push-pull signal. It is then
amplified by the Vertical Output Am plifier which applies
the signal to the CRT vertical deflection plates. The vertical
signal applied to the upper deflection plate is also applied
to the Trigger Generator circuit. This slaves the trigger and
sweep generator to the input signal frequency, thereby per
mitting a stable display.
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