Measurement generally involves an instrument as a physical means to determine a quantity or a variable. The
instrument serves as an extension to the human senses and enables the designer to determine the value of
an unknown quantity which the unaided human cannot measure. In short, an instrument is a device to determine
the value or magnitude of a quantity or variable. Typical measuring instruments that are widely used in
electronics project design are oscilloscope, multimeters, logic analyzers, curve tracers and spectrum analyzers.
Test and measurement equipments are generally used to simulate the actual inputs to a system or device under test. These test
equipments will enable the designer to test the simulated real life condition. Typical test equipments that
are used in the electronics design are function generators, signal generators, RF amplifier and a host of
other specialized equipments.
Some of the common test and measurement equipments that are used are listed below.
Logic Analyzer In the process of debugging and doing validation in a digital system, one of the common task a designer need to
do is the acquisition of digital waveforms using the logic analyzer.
Spectrum Analyzer The spectrum analyzer can be described as a frequency-selective, peak-responding voltmeter
calibrated to display the rms value of a sine wave.The oscilloscope plots
the amplitude in the time domain whereas the spectrum analyzer plots the amplitude in the frequency domain.
Audio and RF Signal Generator The generation of signals is an important development in the troubleshooting and development of electronic design.
The signal generator is used to provide known test conditions for the performance evaluation of electronic system
design.
Multimeter A multimeter is an indispensable tool used to make various electrical measurements of which we are not able to see
with our naked eyes without the aid of this valuable tool. This should be the first equipment that a beginner to
electronics must have.
Oscilloscope The oscilloscope is a graph displaying device that display the electrical signal based on the input to its
probes. It shows in real time how signals change over time. Usually the Y axis represents the voltage and
the X axis time.
