A Four Channel X - Y Oscilloscope Multiplexer

A four channel X/Y oscilloscope multiplexer
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http://www.analogmuseum.org/english/homebrew/scope_multiplexer/

Although I have some Tektronix oscilloscopes with appropriate plug in units yielding an four channel
display, I always wanted something else: A true four channel oscilloscope with four distinct X/Y
inputs which would allow me not only to display four traces with a common X deflection but to draw
up to four distinct figures on the screen at the same time.
Something like this is very useful in conjunction with an analog computer, i.e. one can display
different movong masses in a simulation at once, etc. This led to the development of such multichannel
X/Y oscilloscopes like the truly wonderful Telefunken OMS 811 dual channel oscilloscope.
Although I am the proud owner of such an instrument, its limitation to only two channels was a bit
disappointing (currently I want to simulate a multiple spring-mass-system and display all moving
masses at once to get a feeling for the forces of the system), so decided to build my own multiplexer.
The front plate of the instrument can be seen later - below is a picture taken during the calibration of
the multiplexer (it is a bit blurry - sorry for the bad quality - I desperately need a camera fixture for my
oscilloscopes) - four Lissajous figures displayed at once (it is always the same figure since, it is some
kind of a proof of concept picture):
The basic structure of the multiplexer is simple, although it was one of the more complex projects I
implemented during the last years which is due to the fact of the excessive cabling necessary for all of
the control elements on the front (and back) plate:
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There are four X and Y inputs on the front plate using banana jacks and on the back plate using
a 15 pole SUB-D connector. Using a switch on the front plate one of these signal sources can be
activated using two rather large relays (since this is not time critical and will be done only
during startup, I preferred relays over semiconductor multiplexers here). The front panel input
jacks will be used for stand alone operation while the back panel input connector will be used
when the multiplexer will become an integral part of a larger analog computer where the input
lines will be tied to the central patch panel by appropriate trunk lines.
Each of the eight inputs is fed to a ten turn precision potentiometer for input attenuation before
being fed through an impedance converter to remove any load from the potentiometers, thus
assuring a linear behaviour.
Following these converters the signals are fed through an additional operational amplifier stage
with an amplification rate of 10 which is also used to add a constant position signal to allow the
shifting of each of the four figures.
Following these operational amplifier stages comes the multiplexer, a MAX 355 which is a dual
4:1 analog multiplexer. This multiplexer receives to binary counter signals and feeds two output
stages built from OP27 operational amplifiers driving the X/Y input lines of the oscilloscope
connected to the multiplexer.
The tricky part is the blanking logic since I did not want to see faint lines between the figures
when the beam moves from drawing one figure to the next. In addition to this the blanking logic
allows the selection of one, two, three or four indepentent figures to be displayed
simultaneously.
The picture on the left shows the front plate.

From left to right you find the following control
element groups:
12 banana jacks (5 times ground, 4 times X, 4 times Y, 1 input to deactivate the oscilloscope
output during halt and initial value times of the analog computer).
4 green LEDs showing the active channels, one yellow LED which is lit when the oscilloscope
beam is blanked.
Three BNC jacks for X, Y and Z output to the oscilloscope.
A four position rotary switch to select the number of individual channels to be displayed
concurrently (the blanking logic guarantees that the intensity of the display will not change with
the number of figures displayed!).
Four groups of two ten turn precision potentiometers for signal attenuation and two single turn
potentiometers for changing the position.
The power switch with two power LEDs (one for the positive supply, one for the negative) and
one switch to select between front panel input and back panel input.
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The pictures above give an impression of the immense amount of cabling necessary to connect all of
the front panel control elements to the remaining circuitry of the multiplexer.
The power supply, shown on the right, is quite

simple. I used a toroidal core transformer yielding 2
x 18 V with 800 mA each, followed by three
integrated voltage regulators (7815, 7915 and 7805
for the blanking logic). The rectifier is way too large
but was the only one I found when I started building
the device.
Shown on the left are the two input selector

relays - fortunately I found two relays with six
contact pairs each - eight contact pairs are
needed to switch between the eight front panel
X/Y input jacks and the back panel connector
while another contact pair is needed to switch
the blanking input between these two sources,
so nine out of twelve contact pairs are utilized.
The two pictures above show the central circuit board (component side view on the left, soldering side
view on the right). Next to the VG connector are the operational amplifiers, the calibration
potentiometers and the multiplexer IC itself. The other half of the board is populated with the blanking
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logic and associated driver circuitry. Some passive components are used to yield proper input voltages
for the position setting potentiometers.
The picture on the right shows the overall

multiplexer - the right half of the drawer is occupied
by the (small) power supply, the left half houses the
multiplexer electronics itself and the input selector
relays. (The picture was taking during the test
phase, thus the additional cables.)
The picture on the left shows the back panel of

the multiplexer. Next to the input power
connector are three BNC jacks delivering the X,
Y and Z signals to the oscilloscope (these are
just paralleled to the corresponding jacks on the
front plate) and the already mentioned 15 pin
SUB-D connector.
Shown on the right is a photo taking during the

calibration phase. Since the MAX 355 multiplexer
has a non zero resistance, the attenuation effect
caused by this has to be corrected by the output
operational amplifiers (OP27). To calibrate the
multiplexer, I used a 1 kHz, 2 Vpp input signal for
X and Y, set all attenuator potentiometers to 0.1 and
adjusted the two calibration potentiometers mounted
on the central circuit board for an output signal of 2
Vpp. (The attenuation by 0.1 will be compensated
by the intrinsic amplification by a factor of 10.)
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The four pictures above show the effect of the multiplexer with the channel number selector set to one,
two, three and four channels respectively. Please note that the intensity of the picture does not vary
with the number of channels displayed (due to a trick in the blanking logic :-) ).
The picture above shows the power supply schematic - it bears nothing special at all, the two signal
+POS and -POS are the feeder voltages for the position control potentiometers on the front plate, the
two relays are the input selector relays mentioned above.
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The schematic above shows the multiplexer circuitry of the device. Please note that the input section
will be needed eight times, occupying four TL084 chips (and lots of wires to the front panel
potentiometers). The 50k (10 turn) potentiometers in the feedback path of the OP27 operational
amplifiers are used for the calibration of the multiplexer device.
The clock generation circuitry is shown in the schematic above. An astable multivibrator made from
an NE555 drives a two stage counter consisting of two JK flip flops used in a T flip flop configuration.
The respective Q outputs of these flip flops are used to drive the MUX while the active low clock
signal /CLK will be used for the following blanking logic.
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The blanking logic shown in the schematic above generates an appropriate blanking signal to dim the
oscilloscope's beam during beam movements between figures. Furthermore this Z signal can be used
to suppress one to three of the maximum of four figures displayed simultaneously without having to
readjust the beam intensity
The operational amplifier (OP27) is used to drive the Z signal for the oscilloscope - with the aid of the
potentiometer the polarity and pulse height can be adjusted to match most common oscilloscope's Z
axis inputs. (For example: My HP 180C oscilloscope expects a +2 V pulse to dim the beam while
ground potential at the Z input will display the beam in normal intensity.)
ulmann@analogmuseum.org
09-OCT-2006, 26-JAN-2008
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A Four Channel X - Y Oscilloscope Multiplexer

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A four channel X/Y oscilloscope multiplexer