Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Adjust A Stroboscope

Adjust your stroboscope to measure speed in RPMs, like a tachometer.


Use a stroboscope, also called a strobe, when you want to give moving objects the illusion of appearing still or if you want to study a moving object in slow motion. This can come in handy for a wide range of applications, including laboratory experiments and strobe photography when you need a photograph taken at a significant moment. By adjusting the flashing light from a stroboscope with certain frequencies of rotation, you can also determine the speed of an object's rotation.


Instructions


1. Plug in your stroboscope and turn the power switch to the "On" position. Your stroboscope will begin to flash automatically and display the flash rate in flashes per second.


2. Locate the "Flash Rate Adjust" knob near the display on your stroboscope and adjust the flash rate by turning the knob clockwise to increase the flash rate or counterclockwise to lower the rate.


3. Press the switch near the LEDs to change the display from flashes per second to revolutions per minute or RPM. Press the same switch to change the display to External Trigger. The External Trigger mode means your stroboscope flashes only if you provide an external trigger, such as an external event or when you want to synchronize the flashes of two or more stroboscopes. Press the switch to return to the display of flashes per second.


4. Mark a point on a rotating device, start your stroboscope at a flash rate higher than the rotating device's frequency, which you can see on the display, and then adjust the flash rate until the mark you made appears motionless. You will see the accurate measurement of the frequency of rotation on your stroboscope display.