Testing & Test Equipment
Testing and test instruments are key to any electronics design, development, production and maintenance activity. Learn about test instruments from digital multimeters and logic analyzers to oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers and many more with our online tutorials.
Electronics test and test equipment or test instruments are essential elements of the electronics, radio, wireless and connectivity scene.
Electronic equipment can develop failures, or it may not work properly when it is built. In order to discover whether a circuit is working, and then where the problem is located, it is necessary to use various forms of test equipment.
The items of test equipment that are commonly found are multimeters, analogue and digital (DMM - digital multimeter), oscilloscopes, and under some circumstances more specialised test equipment including spectrum analyzers may be used.
Test Instruments
There are many different forms of test instrument that can be used to test electronic equipment. The digital multimeter is one of the most common, but there are many other items of test equipment including the oscilloscope, signal generator, spectrum analyzer, logic analyzer and many more. Find out about the different types of test instrument available.
Test systems and environments
Apart from the test equipment itself, testing often utilises one of a number of specialised test systems or environments to enable control, organisation of the testing that might be required.
Today, automation and the associated hardware systems or platforms provide a significant boost to the performance, convenience and time-saving required for modern testing both in production and development and research, etc.
Measurement techniques
There are many different measurement techniques that are used, and understanding the working behind them can enable them to be employed in a variety of areas.
An understanding of testing and test equipment is essential within any area of electronics. Testing is required during all stages of development, manufacture, field service and repair. Only by properly testing electronic equipment can it be ascertained whether the item is working correctly, and if not what it is not. To be able to test electronic circuits a variety of test equipment is available these days- everything from basic meters, through analogue and digital multimeters, to oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers and very many more items.
