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I wanted to measure the voltage of the electrical outlet. I wanted to see the signal with an oscilloscope, but I don't want to break it down. What is the best way to do that?

I have seen that some oscilloscope probes make the signal greater, they are x10 or x100 probes, but I am not sure if exists x0.1 or x0.01 probes. I was thinking also about using an operational amplifier to attenuate the signal. What would you recommend me. I want to do that because I am making a dimmer, and I want to see the signal.

Dau
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    X10 and X100 probes do NOT make the signal greater. They divide it down, and you must multiply the voltage shown by the scope by 10 or 100. – JRE Nov 04 '16 at 16:45
  • Do take a look at the link given by @EugeneSh. That's exactly what you need to do. – JRE Nov 04 '16 at 16:46
  • What I do is use an oscilloscope with isolated inputs. TPS2024B, IIRC. It's about $5K USD and 200MHz AB. Mains-rated probes are extra. – Spehro Pefhany Nov 04 '16 at 18:06

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First of all, be very careful with playing with voltages from outlet. They are deadly.

Next, your oscilloscope probe already has what you need. The generic ones, that you receive with you measuring device, most probably have a switch for x1 and x10. That's attenuation, not amplification. So if you switch it to x10 and feed 110V into it, you will read 11V on your scope. Now change the probe attenuation at channel setting to x10 and you will read real value of the signal. Be careful with your oscilloscope max. voltage specifications if you are in area with 220V coming from the outlet.

Second way would be to use a simple voltage divider and connect to your scope with x1 attenuation.

davaradijator
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