What Type of Businesses Use Oscilloscopes?

Oscilloscopes allow a user to see electric voltage in a graphic display. They're useful in auto repair, the medical industry and in scientific laboratories. Electricians, telecommunications and engineers also use oscilloscopes.

Function

An oscilloscope creates a printed or on-screen image image, usually in graph form, of electrical voltage.

Types

Electricians use hand-held oscilloscopes and read an on-screen graph to determine the amount and type of voltage that's running through a wire, an outlet or an appliance. Geologists and medical labs use larger oscilloscopes that print poster-sized reports.

Medical Oscilloscopes

Doctors can use an oscilloscope to measure the current produced by heart contractions, detecting irregularities as a real-time EKG (electrocardiogram).

Engineering Oscilloscopes

Engineers use an oscilloscope as a multiple purpose instrument that can function as a digital multimeter a spectrum analyzer or to perform complicated measurements.

Telecommunications Oscilloscopes

In the telecommunications field, an oscilloscope can be used to determine the nature of error codes and to read the signals that are coming through the wires for diagnostic purposes.