
Circuit Description—Type 324
Alternate Modes of Operation
5 D IV CAL. The gain and overall operation of the
oscilloscope can be checked by switching the V O L T S /D IV
switch to 5 D IV CAL position. A t that time a square wave
is accepted from an internal Calibrator. The appearance of a
5 division square wave on the CRT is indicative of proper
operation. Its amplitude is sufficiently accurate to permit
gain calibration. A 0.5 V square wave signal from the Cali
brator is always available at the CAL O U T jack for purposes
such as calibrating an attenuator probe.
E X T H O R IZ . The horizontal beam deflection can be
controlled by an externally applied signal when the T IM E /
D IV switch is placed in the E X T H O R IZ position and the
Trig/Horiz Coupling switch is in an EXT T R IG OR H O R IZ
position. A t that time the Sweep Generator is disabled. The
CRT is unblanked and the electron beam moves to center
screen. Signals applied to the EX T T R IG OR H O R IZ
IN PU T jack pass through the Trigger Input circuit to the
Horizontal Am plifier, where they are amplified, converted
to push-pull, and applied to the CRT horizontal deflection
plates. Vertical deflection operation remains the same as
previously described.
V E R T IC A L PREAM PLIFIER < T >
Block Diagram Description
The principal sections and controls are shown on the
block diagram which is on the Vertical Preamplifier sche
matic diagram page. Signals applied to the V E R T IN PU T
connector can be AC or DC coupled into the attenuator
section by the IN PU T coupling switch. The position of the
V O L T S /D IV switch determines the amount of attenuation
the signal receives to provided the deflection factor indi
cated by the switch. One position of the switch allows
selection of a square wave signal from a built-in calibrator
unit to allow checking and calibrating of the oscilloscope
circuitry. Two different calibrator amplitudes are available.
The proper amplitude is automatically selected to present a
5 division calibration display in both positions of the X 5
V E R T G A IN switch.
The input signal is applied to one half of a dual field
effect transistor (FET) in the Source Follower circuit. The
FET provides an extremely high input impedance, and
nearly unit gain output. The second half of the FET pro
vides an offset signal which cancels any thermal or power
supply change effects upon the input FET.
The signal from the Source Follower is applied to the
First Amplifier circuit where equal but opposite polarity
signals are developed to provide a differential signal.
With the variable control in CAL position and the X 5
V E R T G A IN pushed in, the gain (push-pull output -r single-
ended input of the First Am plifier section is approximately
5. Stage gain decreases to approximately 2 when the V A R I
ABLE control is fully inserted into the circuit.
The Second Am plifier provides a gain of about 8. The
gain increases to about 40 when the X5 V E R T GAIN
switch is closed. (The deflection factor indicated by the
V O L T S /D IV switch must be divided by 5 to determine the
actual deflection factor whenever X 5 V E R T GAIN is in
effect.) The POSITION control injects a push-pull current
to change the quiescent (reference) vertical position of the
trace.
Vertical Input Circuitry
Refer to the Vertical Preamplifier schematic. The Verti
cal Input Circuitry consists of the V E R T INPUT connector
(J20), the INPUT Coupling Switch (S21), coupling capac
itor C20, resistor R21, the input attenuators and the cali
brator.
Input Coupling. With IN P U T switch S21 in AC position,
C20 blocks the DC component of the signal while per
mitting the AC component to pass to the attenuator and
preamplifier circuitry. In GND position, the switch con
nects the attenuator circuitry to ground to provide a DC
reference for adjusting the vertical DC reference position of
the trace. When switched to DC, the IN PU T switch by
passes C20 and R21, allowing both the AC and DC signal
components to be applied to the attenuator and pre
amplifier circuitry.
Vertical Input Attenuators. Eleven deflection factors
(V O L T S /D IV ) are made available through various combin
ations of five attenuator circuits and a "straight-through"
circuit. The combinations can be arrived at by connecting
the attenuators as indicated at each switching position of
S25 (V O L T S /D IV ).
In the .01 (straight-through) position, 1
and 47 pF
oscilloscope input impedance is provided by R101 and the
Preamplifier input cabling and stray capacitance. Attenu
ators are designed to maintain this same value of impedance
at the V E R T IN PU T connector, regardless of the attenuator
in use. Since each attenuator has the same input impedance
as the Preamplifier, attenuators can be connected in series
and still maintain the 1
and 47 pF impedance at the
V E R T INPUT connector. The total attenuation affecting
the signal is then equal to the product of the attenuation
factors in use.
The attenuators are voltage dividers. DC voltage division
is done soley by the resistors, while low-frequency AC sig
nals are attenuated by resistors, capacitors and stray capaci
tance. A t high frequencies the attenuation becomes largely
a function of the capacitors and stray capacitance.
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