Hello, I am a newbee as far as electronics are concerned (so please be patient with me!).
I have recently bought a Gould OS300 'scope. I built a circuit from a book which should produce a square wave. When I see the wave that is being produced, I only seem to get the top horizontal line and the bottom horizontal of the 'square wave showing'. I know my oscilloscope is a bit old and when I bought it, I was shown it working by the seller connecting a wave generator to it. Is this normal or am I mistaken in thinking I'm actually observing a square wave? Any help for this ancient novice would be appreciated!

 

Hello,

I think that you have the volts/div knob in the wrong position.

Take a look at this PDF how to use an oscilloscope:
XYZ_of_oscilloscopes.pdf

Bertus

 

Do the upper and lower lines go all the way across the screen? If not, you probably are failing to see the rise and fall times of the square waves because they move the electron beam much faster in the vertical direction than the horizontal direction. If you change the sweep speed to much faster and set your sync control properly, you should be able to see the rise time or fall time.

 

Hi, Ok, thanks, I will try both suggestions. Got to find the 'sinc control' now! Will let you guys know how I get on.

 

You can download a user manual for your O'scope by clicking on this link:
http://www.radioamateur.eu/schemi/acc_instrument/Gould_OS300_user.pdf