oscilloscope
(ɔːˈsɪləskəʊp)
[f. as prec. + -scope.]
† a. (See quot.) Obs. exc. as in d.
| 1909 Webster, Oscilloscope, an instrument for showing visually the changes in a varying current; an oscillograph. |
† b. (See quots.) Obs.
| 1915 R. Knox Radiogr. i. 53 The best method of detecting reverse current is by the use of an oscilloscope tube... Two aluminium wires, separated by a small gap, are enclosed in an oblong glass tube, and the wire connected with the negative pole becomes, when the current passes, surrounded by a violet fluorescence, but if each wire is alternately negative and positive both wires become fluorescent and the length of the fluorescent band indicates the intensity of the current. 1926 Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (Brit. Engin. Stand. Assoc.) 206 Oscilloscope, an auxiliary discharge tube in which the length of the negative glow affords an indication of the amount of current passing. |
† c. An apparatus in which the principle of the stroboscope is employed to render visible irregularities in the motion of rapidly rotating or oscillating machinery. Obs.
| 1922 Glasgow Herald 10 Oct. 6 The Elverson oscilloscope..is an apparatus for slowing down to the eye..any high-speed machinery. 1924 A. J. H. Elverson in Jrnl. Sci. Instrum. I. 116 The ‘Elverson Oscilloscope’ is an opto⁓mechanical device which has been designed to facilitate the examination of the behaviour of high speed movements under working conditions. This is effected by presenting, in rapid succession, accurate pictures of the movement at predetermined intervals of angular displacement in such a way that, owing to persistence of vision, the eye of an observer sees a true representation of the movement at a speed which is a fraction of the true speed. 1927 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. May 550/1 There was a device produced in England a few years ago by a Mr. Elverson, designed for visualizing the movements of rapidly oscillating mechanisms. It is purely mechanical and optical in its nature and is now generally known as the Elverson oscilloscope. |
d. More fully cathode-ray oscilloscope. An electronic instrument in which a moving spot on the screen of a cathode-ray tube represents by its position the relationship between two variables, usu. a steady or varying signal voltage (vertically) and time (horizontally), and which is capable of displaying a periodic variation in voltage as a stationary trace.
| 1927 Bedell & Reich in Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. May 546 These limitations..may be removed and the field of usefulness of the cathode-ray oscillograph so widened that it becomes practically a new instrument. As the instrument developed for this purpose..is primarily intended for visual observation, we have given it the name ‘oscilloscope’. Permanent record may be obtained..by a photograph in the usual way. On the other hand, an oscillograph of the Blondel or Duddell type, both in name and in fact, is primarily for graphical record. 1936 Karapetoff & Dennison Electr. Lab. Exper. xix. 451 The need exists for an oscillograph possessing negligible inertia. Such an instrument is the cathode-ray oscillograph, or oscilloscope. 1953 A. C. Clarke Prelude to Space xxiii. 121 Clifton seemed to be hypnotised by a cathode-ray oscilloscope, the screen of which was filled with fantastic geometrical figures, continually shifting. 1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run a Railway viii. 99 One weekend the oscilloscope at one depot, Liara, found seven axles flawed. 1972 C. N. Herrick Instruments & Measurements for Electronics xv. 350 A conventional oscilloscope can be converted into an oscillograph by mounting a camera in front of its crt screen. 1976 Word 1971 XXVII. 522 A small computer generated displays of letter-like elements on an oscilloscope screen. |
Hence oˌscilloˈscopic a., oˌscilloˈscopically adv.
| 1949 Jrnl. Appl. Physics XX. 1105/1 In all of the oscilloscopic records at 200 volts there are 10 examples of the ends of transient opens. 1961 Trans. Symposium Electrode Processes 1959 186 All measurements were made oscilloscopically. 1962 Trans. Faraday Soc. LVIII. 389 The potential changes were generally recorded oscilloscopically. 1965 Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) iv. 136 Few, if any, systematic studies have been made to assess an experimenter's information-handling capacity as applied to his ability to view oscilloscopic traces or examine film records. |