Article

Voltage Tracker for Oscilloscope

Slow-timebase measurements on your oscilloscope using an Arduino shield

Suppose you want to measure a slowly-varying voltage from a sensor, or perhaps plot the discharge curve of a battery. Is it really necessary to sit there and note down a reading from the multimeter every so many seconds or minutes? It is less tedious and much more elegant to use this Arduino-based unit connected to your oscilloscope.Two questions motivated Kurt Schuster at the beginning of this project: ‘is my battery any good?’ and ‘is this charger charging my battery correctly?’.

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Materials

www.elektormagazine.com/150442

www.elektormagazine.com/labs/voltage-tracker-for-oscilloscope

PCB PDF

Project software

Gerber file

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PCB

Download Gerber file: 150422 voltage tracker Gerbers V1.1.zip

Component list

Component List
Resistors
R1,R5 = 1kOhm 5%, 0.25W
R2,R3,R4 = 5.11kOhm 1%, 0.25W, metal film
Capacitors
C1–C7,C9,C11 = 100nF 50V, X7R, 0.2’’ pitch
C8,C10,C12 = 100µF 25V, radial, 0.1’’ pitch
Semiconductors
D1,D2 = 1N4148
LED1 = red, 3mm
IC1 = DAC0808LCN, DIP16
IC2 = MCP601-I/P, DIP8
IC3 = ICL7660CPAZ, DIP8
Miscellaneous
K1, K2 = 8-pin pinheader
K3 = 2-pin pinheader
K7,K8 = BNC socket, PCB mount, right angled
K5 = 6-pin pinheader
K6 = 36-pin (2x18) pinheader
S1–S4 = pushbutton, 6x6 mm, PCB mount
IC sockets for IC1,IC2,IC3
Two coax cables with BNC plugs
PCB # 150422-1 from Elektor Store
Arduino Mega, # 140566-93 from Elektor Store
Caution: all pinheaders to be mounted at PCB underside