The virtual scope: an impedance match to the beginning ECE student

Because of the poor quality of available oscilloscopes and the often limited lab experience of beginning ECE (electrical and computer engineering students), a viable computer-simulated substitute was created. Based on experience in the student labs, an affordable virtual scope combination of hardware and software was conceived that would aid the beginning ECE student. The design is based on the `user interface´ of the Macintosh computer. The A/D hardware interface is based on an inexpensive single-board-computer (SBC). Software, custom programmed in the Forth language to implement the virtual scope concept, links the two computers. Fifteen systems were built by an undergraduate student technician during the summer of 1988. The devices are currently in use in the undergraduate laboratories at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The author discusses the design philosophy and the implementation of the hardware and software