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Controlling oscilloscope with keyboard

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Dennis edited this page Aug 26, 2026 · 7 revisions

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CRT can control a network connected oscilloscope from the keyboard/numpad, from within the component information window - the popup that opens when you click a component. The controls are not available on the "Oscilloscope" tab itself.

To enable and use the controls, do this:

  • Tick Enable network connected oscilloscope tab on the "Configuration" tab.
  • Go to the "Oscilloscope" tab, fill in the details for your oscilloscope and connect to it.
  • Click a component that has an oscilloscope baseline (images depicting a working system), and select one of its images.
  • In the component information window, tick Numpad controls oscilloscope. The checkbox is only available while CRT is actually connected to the oscilloscope.
  • Make sure NumLock is on.

The keys work while the component information window has focus. You can use these keys:

image

A few things worth knowing:

  • While the controls are on, the numpad digits no longer select pins (e.g. typing 1 will not select the image for pin 1), but the non-numpad digits 0-9 still do that.
  • Escape keeps its normal meaning, and will close the window.
  • The left/right arrow keys also keep their normal meaning, and will navigate to the previous/next image.
  • Capturing an image requires that you have selected an oscilloscope image folder on the "Oscilloscope" tab first.

If your oscilloscope is not in the list, or it does not work properly, then please do investigate which SCPI commands work for your specific oscilloscope model, as this varies quite a lot - even within the same vendor. I do not know all oscilloscopes, nor do I have access to anything other than my own, so you will need to provide this data yourself. You can add and test the required data in the main Excel data file Classic-Repair-Toolbox.xlsx in the sheet Oscilloscope. Note that the TIME/DIV and VOLTS/DIV value lists must be filled in as well as the command columns - the stepping keys resolve their target from those lists, and do nothing if the current value is not found there.

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