If you want to measure voltage you reach for a voltmeter. Current? An ammeter. Resistance? An ohmmeter. But what about measuring AC power? A watt meter? Usually. But if you know what to do, you could also reach for your oscilloscope. If you don’t know what to do, [Jim Pytel] has the video answers for you. Truth is, an oscilloscope can measure almost anything if you know how. [Jim] shows how to measure the voltage and current in a circuit and then it is simply a matter of doing a little math, something modern scopes can do very easily.
We like that [Jim] shows a circuit and how the math works before he verifies the math with the scope. Of course, theory doesn’t always match practice. The method uses a small current-sensing resistor that throws readings off a bit. The scope and signal generator are not perfect, either. However, the results match up pretty nicely with the computed results.
Electronics can be pretty abstract and the oscilloscope is probably the best tool for visualizing what’s going on inside. It used to be that hobbyists had to buy old surplus scopes to get something nice, but now you can get a fantastically capable scope for a few hundred dollars brand new.
Of course, if you like, you can pay over a million. Or, perhaps you’d like to visualize your signals in flames.