On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:15:26 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

Is there some way to detect a 3-5volt say khz clock using an ordinary
instrument(no osciloscope)

You can use your computer's sound card. You can add a voltage
divider to insure the sound card Line input is getting less than about
3 Vpp, if you want to make sure you don't clip its input. (The input
can handle 5V without damage, but the wave will be clipped.) If you
want to avoid loading the clock output with the sound card input
(which can be in the 2K to 47K range), you can use big resistors for
the divider. Don't worry about dividing it down too low... the sound
card has 16 bits of resolution, so you'll be able to see
sub-millivolts easily.

SHAMELESS PLUG: You can try my Daqarta software for free.
It has calibration options so you can use it as a real scope (as well
as spectrum analyzer, frequency counter, voltmeter, sound level meter,
signal generator, etc, etc). If you decide not to buy (US$29.00)
after the trial expires, the inputs stop working but the signal
generator keeps working FREE forever, along with file analysis, etc.

I'll be glad to answer any questions.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

DAQARTA v4.00
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
FREE Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!