Preparing for power-up
Chapter 7, Building High-Performance Digital Circuits, took us through the steps of constructing, cleaning, inspecting, and performing basic electrical checks on the digital oscilloscope circuit board. We are now ready to apply power to the board and perform testing to determine whether it is operating correctly.
Before applying power to the board, it is important to keep in mind that you need to exercise care when handling it and while it is operating. The integrated circuits on the board remain susceptible to damage from electrostatic discharge (ESD), and it is easy to cause damage when you're probing parts of the circuit with metallic multimeter or oscilloscope probes. It is best to perform this work in an ESD-controlled environment, such as on the mat you use for soldering, and with a wrist strap in place.
If you must work with the board in a non-ESD-controlled environment, you should carefully handle the board by the edges and avoid touching the...