frequencypiezoelectric-effecttransducerultrasound
An ultrasound transducer is specified to have two standard frequencies; 820 KHz, and 2.5 MHz, does this mean that any frequency in-between can be used?
If not, what would happen if a generated signal with a different frequency, let's say 1.5 MHz, was connected to the transducer?
I assume "as an analog signal" means on an oscilloscope as opposed to a logic analyser.
For a digital signal, it is important to be able to check the signal integrity and see whether it is subject to problems such as ringing, crosstalk, reflections, jitter, attenuation, etc.
This can only be done with a scope with a bandwidth > the frequencies present in the signal - remember with a digital signal there are frequencies much higher than the fundamental present, how high is dictated by the rise time of the signal. For a 1MHz digital signal you would generally want at least a 5MHz bandwidth, preferably much higher.
For debugging a typical small microcontroller (e.g. PIC, Atmel AVR, Arduino, etc) a scope bandwidth of at least 50MHz is preferable. This should be capable of handling just about all situations you might encounter.
There are many signals above 1MHz that need checking, most microcontroller clock signals are > 1MHz, SPI is often > 1MHz, USB, etc. FPGA designs may run at 100s of MHz, high speed ADCs and DACs, etc.
On a logic analyser all you can see is whether it is above a certain level or below a certain level (like a 1-bit scope) so while useful in other ways they are not suitable for checking signal integrity.
The image below (taken on an MSO - Mixed Signal Oscillscope, a combination of a scope and logic analyser) is a good example of crosstalk causing problems and why a scope is needed to see what's really happening. Notice the waveforms are quite a way from the idea of a "perfect" digital signal:
For the leftmost red arrow the second trace down is the transmitting trace, and the top trace down is the "victim" (receiving trace) and the right hand pulse they are reversed. We can see on the rise of the "transmitting" signal it causes a spike in the receiving trace, resulting in a unwanted glitch on the logic display, which is what the digital receiver would "see".
In this image at the top we can see signal degradation caused by an incorrectly terminated trace, causing reflections. At the bottom we can see the same signal after it has been correctly terminated:
On the logic analyser, both signals may work, but there is no way of knowing how marginal the first signal is without checking with a scope. The incorrectly terminated trace may only cause problems intermittently, so it's important to be able to check it's integrity.
Looking at your link to the DPScope design, I see it's dsPIC based. It won't be comparable to anything you can buy (you can get a 20MHz analogue scope for << £50 nowadays, and a 5-10MHz DSO for similar)
However, it would be a great project for educational purposes, and you will get something perfectly useable for low frequency (e.g. audio, UART, PWM) purposes. Plus you'll have fun building it. If your thinking of doing so, I'd say go for it, just don't expect it to take care of all your debugging needs. If your budget is limited, get a cheap analogue scope - you will generally get the highest bandwidth for your money.
Remember the chicken and egg problem - you need a scope in order to build and test a scope ;-)
Try these linear amplifiers made by Apex. They are designed specifically for ultrasound aplications.
Best Answer
820kHz and 2.5MHz (=3*820kHz) are eigenfrequencies of the mechanical system. You will be able to drive the transducer at any other frequency, but the damping will be greater by orders of magnitude, so it won't be usable.
Some ultrasound transducers can oscillate at both longitudinal and transverse mode. It is possible that that 820kHz and 2.5MHz are the natural frequencies for transverse and longitudinal mode while n*820kHz and n*2.5MHz are their harmonics. In this case, the transducer can be operated at both 820kHz and 2.5MHz with comparable amplitude but will produce different wave patterns. That does not neccessarily mean that any of the harmonics' damping is low enough to be usable.
There are also broadband transducers that do not operate in resonance. They can be used equaly well over a broad fequency range, but a resonance transducer operated at a correct frequency is much louder.