Demonstrate AM vs. FM for Ham Radio

[skawamae]

I teach a Ham Radio class here in Hawaii.  I'm looking for a software defined oscilloscope so I can display via projector or display screen.  I want to be able to demonstrate a sine wave showing what happens when I increase and decrease the carrier frequency.  I would also like to be able to add AM and FM modulation onto a carrier frequency to show the differences in the sine wave behavior.  I'd also like to be able to demonstrate bandwidth of that carrier.  I apologize if this is rudimentary.  I have absolutely no experience with oscilloscopes.  But it's a tool that I've always wanted to learn more about.  I'm looking for an inexpensive solution to demonstrate these fundamentals.  If Open Scope MZ is all I need, that's great.  But if Analog Discover 2 or the Ham Radio Workbench bundles fit the bill, I might be in one of those.  In other words, if I can make use of more features, great, as long as I can demonstrate the fundamentals to my classes.  I'd appreciate any guidance in this matter.  Thanks in advance. 

 

Aloha - Steve - KH6WG - skawamae@gmail.com - 808.754.9217

[jpeyron]

Hi @skawamae,

I moved you post to a section where more experienced Waveforms/AD2/OpenScope MZ engineers look.

thank you,

Jon

[attila]

Hi @skawamae

On the following page press the More button to see a comparison.
https://store.digilentinc.com/all-products/scopes-instruments/
I think you should decide on the parameters like Scope input bandwidth, sample rate and software features. For details see:
https://reference.digilentinc.com/reference/instrumentation/openscope-mz/reference-manual
https://reference.digilentinc.com/reference/software/waveforms/waveforms-3/reference-manual

You can try both in demo mode to see the software features and some of the hardware limitations:
WaveForms Live for Open Scope: http://waveformslive.com/ 
WaveForms for Analog Discovery 2: https://reference.digilentinc.com/waveforms3

[Kristoff]

The Analog Discovery 2 uses the WaveForms software which has a lot more configuration options for both the oscilloscope and the waveform generator.  OpenScope uses WaveForms Live which has a subset of the functionality found in WaveForms.

@attila I know you can combine multiple wave types in the Waveform generator in WaveForms (too many uses of 'waveform'  ) , but does WaveForms provide AM or FM modulation as an option? 

Thanks!

-Kristoff

[attila]

Hi @Kristoff

Yes, with WaveForms and Analog Discovery you can generate standard and custom waveforms, apply amplitude and frequency modulation.
Long waveforms, like audio data can be played/streamed to device. This can be used as direct output or to modulate the output signal...