Categories of exhibits
Oscilloscope deflection coil
Exhibit no. 886
Oscilloscopes served in early days of mass spectrometry as recording devices. They were useful for giving a preliminary scan of the whole sample spectrum and allowed both fine-tuning of instrument parameters and the determination of the ion signal strength before an accurate mass scan was made.
The permanent recording could be taken, for example, by photographing the oscilloscope screen with a Polaroid camera. Oscilloscopes showed voltage signal as a function of time. The heart of an oscilloscope was a cathode ray tube (CRO, cathode-ray oscilloscope). It had a luminous spot that moved over the display area in response to an input voltage. The spot was produced by a beam of electrons striking on a fluorescent screen. The beam was deflected using two coils of wire; one for the vertical deflection of electrons and the other one controlled the horizontal deflection.
The exhibit is an oscilloscope deflection coil from the MS902 double-focusing mass spectrometer manufactured by AEI Scientific Apparatus Ltd in 1969. The oscilloscope was located on the main control panel of the instrument console.
