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PicoScope 6 User's Guide

1. PicoScope 6 PC Oscilloscope Software User s Guide Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved l PicoScope 6 User s Guide Table of Contents AEE E E E E A E E E E E E O E S 1 LN CIONO MD CALS a a a e 2 T Release INN Gt acta saeco E a a a ieee 3 FINT OGUCUION sestiere e E E E E E 4 T Legal statement ossein ENEE EE EE 5 2 Contact information cereri r A E A A E N 6 3 How touse this mantal creistairorsi r innen N N TN 6 A System reguirements sicnieccorn iran dra seas oes cesta aa E EA Sand A E Teese 7 4 Usina Picoscope Tor the TIRSELINMG eon i aae a EE T TEE 8 FICOSCODE and OSCIllOSCOpE PLIME savegacceaucanetentes n aE e EA EENEN 9 TOscilloscope basisna n ari AET O O TOEL 9 I PCO Basics caesarean hh eee teeta a a 10 3 PicOS cope bashes sitsde vec sostatesse sien tetas cttasiahe seat E OA EAC TEE 10 A Frequency legend resoneren irna E cts eaten soe NOA 11 B Measurements table neiere n TEE ET A E E OTEA 11 6 Post trigo arrow corrosie tise o KEA E secs EE EEA OSEE E E EE 12 T RUNS Seti hse cae cso av zsh is eene EE E A t 12 Eo eee eee ee ace eRe ee ee eee re eee eee ee ee eee 13 DS eCer enna Vie E E pes ates ohcades da eebisath E E 14 10 Properties Sine otorisasi anena EATA E EA E EE ETA 15 TT Cursor position tooltip serisine e uae A i En cates EAE 16 12 Time Fler Settee neato e a a E edema 17 13 Trigger markek een ee a eran T E E ete ie eer ee 18 14 Sianal rer conna E E
2. Logic This can detect a number of logical combinations of the scope s four inputs A B Ext and AUXIO The conditions that can be applied to each input vary A and B can be edge level or window qualified Ext is level qualified with a variable threshold and AUXIO is level qualified with a fixed TTL threshold You can choose to combine the channels with an AND NAND OR NOR XOR or XNOR function Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 65 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 7 2 1 Hysteresis Hysteresis is a feature of the advanced trigger types 63 in PicoScope 6 that reduces false triggering on noisy signals When hysteresis is enabled a second trigger threshold voltage is used in addition to the main trigger threshold The trigger fires only when the signal crosses the two thresholds in the correct order The first threshold arms the trigger and the second causes it to fire An example will help to illustrate how this works B47 2 my 116 1 1495 5 415 0 80 5 266 1 106 5 r3 15 252 0 432 4 us 612 0 Noisy signal with a single threshold Consider the very noisy signal above It is difficult to trigger reliably on this signal with a normal rising edge trigger because it crosses the trigger threshold the red line in this picture several times in one cycle If we zoom in on the highlighted parts of the signal we will see how hysteresis can help cen m
3. PNG images png Stores the graticule s2 rulers 821 and waveforms in Portable Network Graphics format The image is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high in 16 million colours and compressed Matlab 4 files mat Stores the waveform data in Matlab 4 format Details File formats for exported data PicoScope 6 can export raw data in one of two fundamental ways In a text based file Easy to read without special tools 1 Common formats like CSV and tab delimited can be imported into standard spreadsheet applications Files are very large if there are a lot of samples in the data so files are limited to 65 536 values per channel Text file format details 24 In a binary file Files remain relatively small and can even be compressed in some situations this means that the amount of saved data is unlimited Either a special application is required to read the files or the user must write a Small program to read the data from the file If you need to save more than 65 536 values per channel then you must use a binary file format such as the Matlab MAT file format Binary file format details 25 Data types for PicoScope 6 Regardless of whether the data types were loaded from a binary file or from a text based file we recommend the following data formats for storing the loaded values Sampled data such as voltages should use 32 bit single precision floating point data types Times should use 64 bit d
4. Reference 80 9 4 Trigger timing part 2 Trigger timing part 1 73 introduced the concepts of pre trigger delay 6c and the post trigger delay 60 This diagram below shows how they are related N Csaire Aeir 1 my Ae views Hewes Took ioie ja Hap w mie A rox Eng A 0 0s epe e HR a Trigger reference point Post trigger delay The pre trigger delay positions the scope view 13 in relation to the trigger reference point so that you can choose how much of the waveform should be before the reference point and how much after it The post trigger delay is like the delayed trigger of a conventional oscilloscope PicoScope waits for this time minus the pre trigger delay before capturing data Scope devices have a limit to the number of sampling intervals that can elapse between the trigger event and the end of the window so the software may adjust the pre trigger delay to keep within this limit Tip If you have set up a post trigger delay you can click the post trigger delay button while the scope is running whenever you want to switch between viewing the trigger event and the trigger reference point Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 81 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 9 5 Keyboard shortcuts You can activate most of PicoScope s functions using the menu system but some functions also have keyboard shor
5. Exploring the file format The full file specification available from www mathworks com is comprehensive so this guide does not describe the entire format Instead this guide describes enough of the format to allow you to get data from the file and use it in your own program The variables described above under Img 3 1 are stored ina series of data blocks each preceded by a header Each variable has its own header and data block and the corresponding variable names are stored with them such as A B Tstart The following sections describe how to read each variable from the file The order of the data blocks is not specified so programs should look at the variable names to decide which variable is currently being loaded The header The file consists of a number of data blocks preceded by 20 byte headers Each header contains five 32 bit integers as described in the table below Bytes Value 0 3 Data format 0 10 or 20 4 7 Number of values 8 11 1 12 15 0 16 19 Name length Data format The Data format in the first 4 bytes describes the type of numerical data in the array Value Description 0 Double 64 bit floating point 10 Single 32 bit floating point 20 Integer 32 bit Number of values The Number of values is a 32 bit integer describing the number of numerical values in the array This value may be 1 for variables that only describe 1 value but for arrays of samples or times e
6. Signal On Sine Frequency 5 kHz 5 Offset TET Signal On Tick this box to enable the demonstration signal generator 1 kHz t Frequency Type your desired frequency in hertz here or use the spin buttons som Amplitude Type your desired amplitude in millivolts here or use the spin buttons ak E Offset Enter a number here to add a d c offset to the demo signal By default the demo signals have a mean value of zero volts psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 68 Where to find it Click the Demo Signals button on the Demonstration Signals toolbar 67 You must have previously selected a Demo scope device 82 type in the Connect Device dialog 43 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 69 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 8 How to This chapter explains how to achieve some common tasks How to psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved How to 70 8 1 How to change to a different scope device Close PicoScope Unplug the old scope device 82 Plug in the new scope device Restart PicoScope PicoScope will detect that the scope device has changed and will immediately start using the new scope device If there is more than one scope device connected the Connect Device dialog 42 will appear to let you choose a s
7. l Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise THD N The ratio of the harmonic power plus noise to the fundamental power THD N values are almost be greater than the THD values for the same signal sum of squares of RMS values excluding datum THD N 20log 0 c RMS value of datum Spurious free Dynamic Range SFDR This is the ratio of the amplitude of the specified point normally the peak frequency component and the frequency component with the second largest amplitude call it SFDR frequency The component at the SFDR frequency is not necessarily a harmonic of the fundamental frequency component For example it might be a strong independent noise signal Signal Noise Distortion to Signal Noise Ratio SI NAD The ratio in decibels of the signal plus noise plus distortion to noise plus distortion SINAD 20 Jo RMS value of datum 4 sumof squaresof allRMS components except datum Signal to Noise Ratio SNR The ratio in decibels of the mean signal power to the mean noise power Hanning or Blackman windows are recommended because of their low noise SINAD 20 ou RMS value of datum 4 sumof squaresof allRMS components except datum Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 71 PicoScope 6 User s Guide I ntermodulation Distortion IMD A measure of the distortion caused by the nonlinear mixing of two tones When multiple signals are injected into a device
8. Copyright 5 Create New Custom Probe dialog 34 CSV files exporting 24 Cursor position tool tip 16 Custom grid layout dialog 30 Custom Probe wizard 33 Create New Custom Probe dialog 34 Edit Existing Custom Probe dialog 35 Edit Range dialog 41 Finished dialog 44 Lookup table Scaling dialog 38 Manual Ranges Setup dialog 40 Probe ID dialog 43 Probe Output Units dialog 36 Range Management dialog 39 Scaling Method dialog 37 Custom probes 20 32 Custom Probes dialog 32 D Deleting a measurement 11 30 Demonstration mode 67 Demonstration Signals dialog 6 7 Demonstration Signals toolbar 67 Display elements 9 Dropout trigger 63 E Edge trigger 63 Edit Existing Custom Probe dialog 35 Edit menu 28 Edit Range dialog 41 Editing a measurement 11 30 Email addresses 6 Equivalent time sampling 60 Escape key 81 ETS 60 and Advanced Triggering 62 Exit 22 Exporting data 24 binary format 25 text format 24 F Falling edge button 60 Fax number 6 File menu 22 Fitness for purpose 5 Frequency difference how to measure 71 Frequency legend 11 17 Frequency rulers 17 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Index 84 G General dialog 45 Glitches finding 63 Glossary 81 Graticule 13 14 Grid custom layout 30 layout 29 H Hand tool 66 Help menu 47 Horizontal axis 13 14 Hysteresis 65 Image savingas 23 Interval trigger 62 63 Introduction 4 K Keyboa
9. Ctri l Ctrl 0 Ctrl M Ctrl U Normal Selection tool This button turns the pointer into a standard arrow that you can use to click buttons drag rulers 82 and operate any other controls that appear in the PicoScope window Hand tool This button turns the pointer into a hand tool that you can use to click and drag the view to pan it vertically and horizontally when you are zoomed in You can also pan using the scroll bars Press the Esc key to return to the Normal Selection tool Zoom In tool This button turns the pointer into a zoom in tool Click the tool on the view to double the magnification of the horizontal and vertical axes Scroll bars will appear which you can drag to pan around the view or you can pan by using the Hand tool see above Press the Esc key to return to the Normal Selection tool Zoom Out tool This button turns the pointer into a zoom out tool Click the tool on the view to zoom out both horizontally and vertically by a factor of two You cannot zoom out beyond 100 normal size Press the Esc key to return to the Normal Selection tool Marquee Zoom tool This button turns the pointer into a marquee zoom tool Use it to draw a box called a marquee on the view and PicoScope will magnify that box to fill the view Scroll bars will appear which you can drag to pan around in the view or you can pan by using the Hand tool see above Press the Esc key to return to the Normal Selection tool Zoom t
10. The signal rulers are to help you measure signal levels with respect to ground or signal differences on a scope view 131 or Spectrum view 147 Ruler legend A Ruler S07 Om 11 0m 1 6184 drag handle Signal axis Signal rulers 1 0 0 5 04 03 02 m Fuler tool tip In the scope view 13 above the two coloured squares to the left of the vertical axis are the ruler drag handles You can drag these from the top left corner to the positions you want to measure on the waveform The two horizontal dashed lines are the signal rulers The signal rulers work in the same way on a spectrum view 14 Ruler legend The table at the top of the view is the ruler legend In this example the table shows that ruler 1 is at 807 millivolts ruler 2 is at 811 0 millivolts and the difference between them is 1 618 volts If you prefer to see the difference as a positive value swap the positions of the two rulers by dragging them Ruler tool tip If you move the mouse pointer over one of the rulers PicoScope displays a tool tip 82 with the ruler number and the signal level of the ruler You can see an example of this in the picture above 5 15 Windows views and viewports PicoScope contains one or more views which can be scope views 13 or spectrum views 14 When you first open PicoScope it contains a single scope view You can zoom and pan s this to show various different waveforms based on the data that t
11. much of the scope s input range is being utilised by the custom range currently 50 selected from the list SSS Input Range How to use the dialog If you wish you can click Auto Generate Ranges and the program will create a number of ranges for the selected device This will create the same list of ranges that you would have obtained by selecting Let the software manage my ranges for me automatically in the previous dialog When you select a range a diagram below the list will show its relationship to the scope device s input range this is explained further under Edit range dialog 41 You can then edit the ranges by clicking Edit or you can also add a new range by clicking New Range Both of these buttons take you to the Edit Range dialog Click Next to continue to the Click Back to return to the Range Management dialog 39 How to use a new custom range 43 After you have created ad File Views Measurements Tc a custom range it will appear in eden Channels lak 1 msidiv 1955 down list of ranges in toolbar the channels toolbar 50 like this HE custam range Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 41 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 5 2 6 1 Edit Range dialog This dialog allows you to edit a manual range for a custom probe You can get here by clicking the Edit or New Range buttons in the Manual Ranges Set
12. power Preferences Bs General Performance PO p Capture rate limits Cancel Mains power E attery power Current power mode Mains Unlimited Reducing the number of data frames per second that the scope captures Will reduce the load on your PC This can help other applications to run Faster and will help to conserve battery life on a portable device The settings are in captures per second By default the capture rate is set to Unlimited when your computer is running on Mains AC power for maximum performance If other applications run too slowly on your PC whilst PicoScope is capturing then reduce the capture rate limit When your computer is running on Battery power PicoScope imposes a performance limit to save the battery You can increase this limit manually but this will cause the battery power to drain very quickly Where to find it Click the Preferences command in the Tools menu 32 on the Menu bar 217 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 47 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 6 Help menu Click Help on the Menu bar 21 Reference Manual es Contents Fl 2 Index re Search About PicoScope j Reference Manual This is the main help manual containing information on every menu item button and dialog in the program Contents Index and Search are shortcuts to the functions of the same names that can be foun
13. psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved PicoScope and oscilloscope primer 10 5 2 PCO basics A PCO PC Oscilloscope is a virtual oscilloscope 9 that consists of a hardware scope device and a PC running oscilloscope software Oscilloscopes were introduced long before digital computers existed and were originally self contained electronic instruments with limited abilities Later oscilloscopes began to use new digital technology to introduce more functions but they remained highly specialised and expensive instruments PC Oscilloscopes are the latest step in the evolution of oscilloscopes combining the measuring power of Pico Technology s scope devices with the convenience of the PC that s already on your desk LI PC scope device PCO 5 3 PicoScope basics PicoScope can display simple waveforms such as the example we saw in the Oscilloscope basics 9 topic but has many advanced features too The screen shot below shows the PicoScope window Click on any of the underlined labels to learn more Also please see Windows views and viewports 191 for an explanation of these important concepts Property Capture setup Buffer Navigation Measurements Zooming and sheet toolbar toolbar toolbar Scrolling toolbar tab PicoScope 6 Wenu bar Channel setup toolbar scope Time Ruler handle Scale indicator Stop Start Triggering Trigger toolbar toolbar m
14. 5000 Series scopes 5000 s large memory buffer by storing waveform buffer 50 Improved compatibility with PicoScope 5 PSD 22 files psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved 3 Introduction Introduction PicoScope is a comprehensive software application for Pico Technology PC Oscilloscopes Used with a scope device from Pico Technology it creates a virtual oscilloscope spectrum analyser and multimeter on your PC PicoScope 6 supports the following scope devices PicoScope 5000 Series PicoScope 6 runs on any 32 bit computer with Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista See System requirements 7 for further recommendations Legal statement 57 Contact information 6 How to use this manual 6 How to use PicoScope 6 Getting started see using PicoScope for the first time sj and PicoScope s Features 9 For further information see descriptions of Menus 21 and Toolbars 49 and the Reference 75 section For step by step tutorials see the How to 6 section Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en PicoScope 6 User s Guide 3 1 Legal statement The material contained in this release is licensed not sold Pico Technology Limited grants a licence to the person who installs this software subject to the conditions listed below Access The licensee a
15. Active SweepType Up Stop Frequency z kHz Frequency ES Increment l Hz Increment Time 1 m Interval ie Ea Close Signal generator dialog for the PicoScope 5204 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 57 PicoScope 6 User s Guide How to use it 1 kHz B Sine 2 kHz ES 10 Hz B 1 ms B Where to find it Signal On Tick this box to enable the signal generator Frequency Type in this box or use the spin buttons to select the frequency If the scope device has a frequency sweep generator then this box will set the start frequency of the sweep Signal Type Select the type of signal to be generated I mport Arbitrary For scope units that support arbitrary waveforms click to import an arbitrary waveform file 587 Sweep Mode Active Tick this box to enable sweep mode Otherwise the generator will operate at a fixed frequency set by the Start Frequency box Repeat Signal Tick this box to generate a repetitive sweep Otherwise the generator will reach Stop Frequency and then remain there Dual Slope In normal mode the generator will increase the frequency linearly from Start Frequency to Stop Frequency and then immediately begin again at Start Frequency In Dual Slope mode it will reach Stop Frequency and then decrease the frequency linearly to Start Frequency before beginning again Stop Frequency In Sweep Mode the generator will s
16. Range Management dialog 391 It allows you to enter text to identify the custom probe Custom Probe Wizard Custom Probe Identificaton Provide descriptive details so your new probe can be identified later Enter a name for the probe Acme current clamp Write a short description for the probe so it can be easily identified optional 600 4 current clamp 1 mova Cancel How to use the dialog Click Back to return to the Range Management dialog 391 or the Manual Ranges Setup dialog 40 if you chose manual setup The probe name will appear in the probe list The description is not used in the present version of the software Fill in the text fields and click Next to continue to the Custom Probe Finished dialog ve psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 44 6 5 2 8 Custom Probe Finished dialog This dialog follows the Custom Probe Identification dialog 431 It displays a summary of the custom probe that you have just set up FS Custom Probe Wizard Finished How to use the dialog Click Back to return to the Custom Probe Identification dialog 43 Click Finish to accept your custom probe settings and return to the Custom Probes dialog 327 6 5 3 Preferences dialog This dialog allows you to set miscellaneous options for the PicoScope software Click one of the tabs on the screen shot below to learn more Prefere
17. Scale Specifies the labelling and scaling of the vertical signal axis This can be one of the following Linear The vertical axis is calibrated in volts Logarithmic The vertical axis is calibrated in decibels referred to the level selected below in the Logarithmic unit control dBV Reference level is 1 volt dBu Reference level is 1 milliwatt with a load resistance of 600 ohms dBm Reference level is one milliwatt You can enter the load impedance for this calculation in the text box below the Logarithmic unit control Arbitrary dB Reference level is an arbitrary voltage which you can specify in the box below the Logarithmic unit control psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 56 7 5 Signal Generator toolbar The Signal Generator toolbar allows you to set up your scope device 82 s test signal output This toolbar appears only when you are using a scope device with a built in Signal generator Clicking the Signal Generator button opens the Signal Generator dialog 56 7 5 1 Signal Generator dialog This dialog controls the scope device s 82 built in signal generator It is not available if the selected scope device does not have a signal generator The number of controls in the dialog may vary according to the type of scope device in use Signal Gn Sine Import Arbitrary Start Frequency 1 kHz Amplitude iV Offset 0w Sweep Mode
18. control and post trigger delay control functions are described individually under Triggering toolbar so but the interaction between the two controls is also important to understand Here is a screen shot of a scope view 13 with post trigger delay enabled Picoscope 6 Seles eg File Views Measurements Tools Automotive Window Help H i i i Kt eH S S 100 i A A rO E Pre trigger Post trigger Post trigger Trigger dela delay delay Gelay diamond Caira button control Note 1 The trigger reference point does not lie on the waveform This is because the post trigger delay is set to 3 3 ms which means that the trigger occurred 3 3 ms before the reference point somewhere off the left hand edge of the scope view 13 The time axis is aligned so that the trigger reference point is at 3 3 ms Note 2 The pre trigger delay is set to 30 which forces the trigger reference point to appear 30 of the way across the scope view from the left hand edge Note 3 PicoScope limits the trigger to reference point delay to a multiple of the total capture time Once you have reached this limit the program will not let you increase the pre trigger delay and if you increase the post trigger delay PicoScope will reduce the pre trigger delay to stop the total exceeding the limit The multiple is typically 100 in most trigger modes and 1 in ETS gt mode psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved
19. example if the signal generator amplitude is set to 1 V then a sample value of 1 0 corresponds to an output of 1 0 V and a sample of 1 0 corresponds to an output of 1 0 V The file should contain exactly one cycle of the waveform which will then be played back at the speed specified in the Signal Generator dialog se In the example above the signal generator was set to 1 KHz so one cycle of the waveform lasts for 1 ms There are 10 samples in the waveform so each sample lasts for 0 1 ms Using files saved from PicoScope 6 As PicoScope 6 can export CSV and TXT files 24 you can capture a waveform and then play it back using the arbitrary waveform generator You must first modify the file by removing the header rows and time values so that its format matches the example above Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 59 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 6 Start Stop toolbar The Start Stop toolbar allows you to start and stop the scope device s2 The Start button is highlighted if the scope device is sampling otherwise the Stop button is highlighted ie Start button Start sampling Stop button Click to stop sampling You can also use the space bar to start and stop sampling psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 60 7 7 Triggering toolbar The Triggering toolbar tells the scope dev
20. gt Timebase control When the active view is a scope view 13 this sets the time represented by a single division of the horizontal axis when the zoom s factor is 100 The timebases available depend on the type of scope device s2 you are using Choosing a timebase of 200 ms div or slower causes PicoScope to switch to a different mode of data transfer The internal details of this are taken care of by PicoScope but the slow mode limits the sampling rate to a maximum of 1 million samples per second i MS Samples control Sets the maximum number of samples that will be captured If this is larger than the number of pixels across the scope view then you can zoom in to see more detail The actual number of samples captured is displayed on the Properties sheet 15 and may be different from the number requested here depending on which timebase is selected Li ly Spectrum Options button Appears if a spectrum view 14 iS open It opens the Spectrum Options dialog 54 _ psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved 7 4 1 Toolbars Spectrum Options dialog 54 This dialog appears when you click the Spectrum Options button in the Capture Setup toolbar 53 It is available only when a spectrum view 147 is open It contains controls that determine how PicoScope converts the source waveform in the current scope view to a spectrum view Spectrum Bins
21. menu The Advanced Options menu appears when you click the Advanced Options button on the Channels toolbar 50 Probe x1 sw Axis Scaling Scale 4 00 FA 5 Offset 0 00 Efa xl Probe list Indicates the probe currently in use and and allows you to select a different one Use it to tell PicoScope what type of probe is connected to a channel By default the probe is assumed to be x1 which means that a one volt signal at the input to the probe will appear as one volt on the display Expand probe list Click this to select from a list of probes laas Open Custom Probes dialog The Custom Probes dialog 32 allows you to edit your library of custom probes Aris Scaling These are the axis scaling controls 51 Scale 1 00 HE Offset 0 00 Hla 7 2 1 1 Axis scaling controls The axis scaling controls let you change the scale and offset of each vertical axis independently Axis Scaling Scale 1 00 FA 5 Offset 0 00 Ha There are two ways to obtain these controls Click the axis scaling button MEB at the bottom of a vertical axis in a view Click the probe drop down menu 51 1 00 s Scale control Increase to magnify the waveform decrease to reduce it The vertical axis rescales accordingly so that you can always read the correct voltage from the axis Click the reset button L to return to a scale of 1 0 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology
22. modulation or nonlinear mixing of these two signals can occur For input signals at frequencies f1 and f2 the two second order distortion signals will be found at frequencies f3 f1 f2 and f4 f1 f2 IMD is expressed as the dB ratio of the RMS sum of the distortion terms to the RMS sum of the two input tones IMD can be measured for distortion terms of any order but the second order terms are most commonly used In the second order case the intermodulation distortion is given by 2 2 EE 2 2 IMD 20 log S10 F E where F3 and F4 are the amplitudes of the two second order distortion terms at frequencies f3 and f4 defined above and F1 and F2 are the amplitudes of the input tones at frequencies f1 and f2 as marked by the frequency rulers in the spectrum window For reference the third order terms are at frequencies 2F1 F2 2F1 F2 F1 2F2 and F1 2F2 Note Hanning or Blackman windows are recommended because of their low noise An FFT size of 4096 or greater is recommended in order to provide adequate spectral resolution for the IMD measurements psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Reference 78 9 2 Window functions To create a spectrum view 14 PicoScope uses a Fast Fourier Transform to compute the spectrum of a block of sampled data A block of sampled data has a beginning and an end and these sharp boundaries have an effect on the comp
23. name box and then select a file format in the Save as type box You can save data in the following formats Data files psdata Stores all waveforms and settings from the current scope device Can be opened on any computer running PicoScope Settings files pssettings Stores all settings but not waveforms from the current scope device Can be opened on any computer running PicoScope CSV Comma delimited files csv Stores waveforms as a text file with comma separated values This format is suitable for importing into spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel The first value on each line is the time stamp and it is followed by one value for each active channel Details Text Tab delimited files txt Stores waveforms as a text file with tab separated values The values are the same as those in the CSV format Details Bitmap images bmp Stores the graticule s2 rulers s21 and waveforms in Windows bitmap format The image is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high in 16 million colours and uncompressed BMP files are suitable for importing into Windows desktop publishing programs psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 24 6 1 1 1 GIF images gif Stores the graticule s2 rulers s2i and waveforms in Compuserve GIF format The image is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high in 256 colours and compressed GIF files are widely used to illustrate web pages
24. scope device 821 and the scope view 13 or spectrum view 14 to display your signals Demonstration mode If you start PicoScope with no scope device 82 connected the Connect Device dialog automatically appears and contains a list of Demonstration devices for you to choose from Once you have selected a demonstration device and clicked OK PicoScope adds a Demo Signals toolbar 7 to the main window Use this toolbar to set up the test signals from your demonstration device Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 49 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 Toolbars A toolbar is a collection of buttons and controls with related functions The Measurements toolbar 52 for example looks like this psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 50 7 1 Buffer Navigation toolbar The Buffer Navigation toolbar allows you to select one waveform from the buffer of stored waveforms Kd 4 s1ofsz gt DP The waveform buffer When you click the Start ss button or change a capture setting 53 PicoScope clears the waveform buffer and then adds a new waveform to it every time the scope device captures data This continues until the buffer is full or you click the Stop button 59 You can review the waveforms stored in the buffer using these buttons KI First waveform button
25. thane scetan nae et Obaiaotenas 19 15 Windows views and Viewports s sssssscsssssssssssesssessssesessscsssessesesesssssseseeseaesnssesseesseseaeess 19 MiG Custom Or OLS eee a0 ns aa eek scarica E acceded tle beter comeecels 20 GIGMUS Giccdsigecectentauisdas iectaans Aiicdsd ooecaagaideaas aseouawssussdes iuasouaagendiaes uu sdeabuamedes Moouucausaisiass beaauassaad ss 21 Tremenico TE E lena aera hate 22 1 Save As dialog ss seseessessseesssseseeresssseeeesssseeeesseseeeersnseeeerrsssseeresssseeeereeseeeerrnseeeeersssseeresseseeeersnseeeeeees 23 D Startup Stings mMenu rosae E tes liteeereaeaeane 27 DEd mEn E E aaa asat ied he 28 Oe ENE eC ee ee eee ET E 28 3 Views meni koninin a ipone ent es elton aha etnias eile 29 1 Custoni prid layoutdialog ei eee ca eta ie net iene ch are etic 30 A Measurements mehikeeciac ara arare EE ETE E E 30 1 Add Edit Measurement dialog ssssssssseseeressesssssseeeeereeresessseseeeerereereseseseeeeeererresessseseeeerereeseeee 31 E Tool mend arna o A ENEE ENA E ENE TEE 32 1 Custom Probes dialog eeeesseseesssssseeeesssseeeesseseeeersnseseerrsssseeeesssseeeersnneeeerenseeeerrsssseeresseseeeerseseeeeeees 32 PRENESE EA E EET T EEIE EEI EE O A ES AEE A TA A 33 3 Preferences dialog eeessseeeessessseeresssseeeesssseeeesseseeeerrnneeeeresssseeeesssseeeereeseeeerenseeeerressseeeesseseeeerseseeeeeees 44 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Table o
26. units that PicoScope will use to display the output of your custom probe 2 Custom Probe Wizard Probe Output Units Define the units that the Custom Probe will display Probes can display output in any units which helps in the interpretation of results These Units will be displayed in various places including on the graph O Use a standard unit from the list volts Use the custom unit defined below Enter the full name of the unit Provide a short name for the unit e g volts e g for volts ee SI systeme internationale magnitudes e g micro milli kilo mega etc standard form for displaying magnitudes fe g 10 6 2107 3 x10 S etc SE SE 3 How to use the dialog To choose a standard SI unit click Use a standard unit from the list and select one from the list To enter a custom unit click Use the custom unit defined below and type the unit name and symbol Click Next to continue to the Scaling Method dialog 37 Click Back to return to the Create New Custom Probe dialog 34 if this is a new probe or the Edit Existing Custom Probe dialog 35 if this is an existing probe Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 37 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 5 2 4 Scaling Method dialog This dialog follows the Probe Output Units dialog 36 It allows you to define the characteristic that PicoScope will use to convert the probe s volta
27. we OM dere x eaaix hold the mouse button down afro Je Jaee oc oes Scope it gw iD Scope 2 ri Scope 3 m 10 Y 0 2 0 2 0 6 1 09 25 15 05 05 15 25 ms ef Auto A dapis aaa 2 Drag the mouse pointer to the new location next seni a z 1 gt ar ESSE to the name tab of the Scope 1 view Pea EEE ne 3 Release the mouse button and the view will ORK move to the new location Scope soret h E i mh m Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 73 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 8 5 How to scale and offset a signal PicoScope offers three ways to change the size and position of a signal during or after capture These methods apply equally to scope views 13 and spectrum views 14 Use global zooming and scrolling To move all signals at once use the global zoom and pan controls on the zooming and scrolling toolbar 66 he ey G amp 100 This is usually the quickest way to put your signals where you want them Whena view IS zoomed in it has vertical and horizontal scroll bars that let you move the Signals around as a group You can also use the hand tool Use axis scaling and offset Use this method when you want to apply an accurate scale and offset to only one channel Click the scaling indicator 51 at the bottom of the axis you
28. wish to modify and the axis scaling controls 51 E appear To adjust the offset without using the axis scaling controls click on the vertical axis and drag it up or down Define a custom probe This is the most complex method but saves time if you use a particular scope probe frequently You only need to set it up once for each probe and you can then easily retrieve it whenever you use that probe See the Custom probe 2 topic for details psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved How to 74 8 6 How to set up the spectrum view Creating a spectrum view First ensure that the trigger mode 607 is not set to ETS 82 as it is not possible to open a spectrum view in ETS trigger mode There are two ways to open a spectrum view 14 Go to the Views menu 29 select Add view then select Spectrum Close view Grid Layout Arrange Grid Layout Reset View Sizes Move View To H Arrange Views File Edit Measurements Tools Help Right click on any view 13 select Add view then select Spectrum The menu is similar to the Views menu 29 shown above Configuring the spectrum view See Spectrum Settings dialog Selecting the source data PicoScope can produce a spectrum view 14 based on either live or stored data If PicoScope is running the Start 59 button is pressed in the spectrum view represents live data Other
29. 07 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 39 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 5 2 5 Range Management dialog This dialog follows the Scaling Method dialog 371 It allows you to override PicoScope s automatic range creation feature for custom probes In most cases the automatic procedure will be ideal Custom Probe Wizard Range Managemen Choose whether the ranges available on this probe will be managed automatically Each probe must have one or more ranges that refer ta any of the input ranges on the scope the same input range can be refered to more than once Recommended Let the software manage my ranges for me automatically This will directly map as many Custom Probe Ranges to scope Input Ranges as possible This method haz the advantages of giving your Custom Probe the best chance of being compatible with other scope hardware and also allowing auto ranging to work Enable auto ranging on this probe hat is Auto ranging O Advanced will manage the Custom Probe Ranges manually Use this option if you want to limit the number of ranges available to the user maybe because the physical probe you are using has a very specific function or if your ranges require specific fed limits that may not map well to the scope s input ranges How to use the dialog If you select Let the software manage my ranges for me automatically then clicking Next will take you to the Custom Probe Identifi
30. 1 rici i nE EE E E a eaaeecasesas acer Gaaes 79 A Trigger timing Dare 2 xcevodsarecessccandstciegane ytasequs A en ke e S e E EAEE E E ON 80 5 Keyboard shortcuts cso csesazsteeescecsectsa cade esenario OA ANEETA EERE A aan 81 6 Glossary eenaa EE EE TE ioe een bem iernana een as 81 E ye EEE E sees nce ec EAA E E A T E E E 83 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en PicoScope 6 User s Guide 1 Welcome Welcome to PicoScope 6 the PC Oscilloscope software from Pico Technology Limited With a scope device from Pico Technology PicoScope 10 turns your PC into a powerful PC Oscilloscope 10 with all the features and performance of a bench top oscilloscope 9 at a fraction of the cost How to use this manual 6 What s new in this version 2 Software version PicoScope 6 0 10 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Version 6 0 update 2 2 Version 6 0 update PicoScope 6 is a major new release of PicoScope Pico Technology s software for PC Oscilloscopes Higher performance e Faster capture rates making it easier to see fast moving signals e Faster data processing e Better support for the latest PicoScope USB oscilloscopes including the PicoScope 5000 Series Improved usability and appearance e Clearer graphics and text e Tooltips and help messages to explain all features e Easy point and click
31. 16384 T window Function Blackman Display Mode Magnitude Scale Logarithmic C Linear Logarithmic unit dBm B00 s2 Apply close SpectrumThe number of frequency bins into which the spectrum is divided This Bins control sets the maximum number of frequency bins which the software may or may not be able to provide depending on other settings The main constraint is that the number of bins cannot exceed half the number of Samples in the source waveform If the source waveform contains fewer samples than required that is fewer than twice the number of frequency bins then PicoScope zero pads the waveform up to the next power of two For example if the scope view contains 10 000 samples and you set Spectrum Bins to 16384 then PicoScope zero pads the waveform to 16 384 samples which is the nearest power of two above 10 000 It then uses these 16 384 samples to provide 8 192 frequency bins which is fewer than the 16 384 requested If the source waveform contains more samples than required then PicoScope uses aS many samples as necessary starting from the beginning of the waveform buffer For example if the source waveform contains 100 000 samples and you request 16 384 frequency bins PicoScope needs only 2 x 16 384 32 768 samples so it uses the first 32 768 samples from the waveform buffer and ignores the rest Window Allows you to choose one of the standard window functions to reduc
32. Displays waveform 1 H Previous waveform button Displays the previous waveform in the buffer Waveform number indicator Shows which waveform is currently displayed and how many waveforms the buffer holds You can edit the number in the box and press Enter and PicoScope will jump to the specified waveform Next waveform button Displays the next waveform in the buffer DI Last waveform button Displays the last waveform in the buffer 7 2 Channel Setup toolbar The Channel Setup toolbar controls the settings for each vertical input channel 81 The screen shot below shows the toolbar for a four channel scope device 82 but different scope devices may have different numbers of channels hlo E OFF Each channel has its own set of buttons oe Scale Control Determines the maximum and minimum signal levels at the top and bottom of the Y axis for this channel The number of options depends on the selected scope device 821 and probe 82 If you select Auto PicoScope will continually adjust the vertical scale so that the height of the waveform fills as much of the view as possible pc dm Coupling Control Selects AC coupling 811 or DC coupling 82 Advanced Options button Opens the Advanced Options menu 51 with options for probes 82 and scaling 51 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 51 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 2 1 Advanced Options
33. Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 52 ow 24 4 Offset control Increase to move the waveform up the display decrease to move it down The vertical axis shifts accordingly so that you can always read the correct voltage from the axis Adjusting this control is equivalent to clicking and dragging the vertical axis Click the reset button E to return to an offset of 0 00 ARIS dragging cursor 7 3 Measurements toolbar The Measurements toolbar controls the measurements table 11 It contains the following buttons EJ Add Measurement Adds a row to the table and then opens the Add Measurement dialog 31 Edit Measurement Opens the Edit Measurement dialog 31 for the currently selected measurement You can also edit a measurement by double clicking on a row of the measurements table 110 Delete Measurement Deletes the currently selected row from the measurements table 117 If you delete the last measurement the table disappears Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 53 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 4 Capture Setup toolbar The Capture Setup toolbar controls the time related settings of your oscilloscope It looks like this F 1w0pstdiv gt 1 Ms rd Auto Setup button Searches for a signal on one of the enabled input channels then sets up the timebase and signal range to display the signal correctly 100 psidivy
34. a scope view 13 it shows time and signal values and in a spectrum view 14 it shows frequency and signal values Cursor position tool tip al i 26 7617 us 3fU 551 mv ari SST mv Cursor position tool tip in a scope view Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 17 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 5 12 Time rulers The time rulers measure time on a scope view 13 or frequency on a spectrum view 144 Ruler legend A 1 2 142 ds 349 Ops 201 Ops Li Fuler 1 148 02 tooltip Time ruler Fuler E m 0 3 0 01 00 0 1 OF 03 04 amp handle Time Frequency axis legend In the scope view 13 above the two white squares on the time axis are the time ruler handles You can drag these from the bottom left corner to the positions on the time axis you want to measure The two vertical dashed lines are the time rulers The rulers work in the same way on a spectrum view 14 but the ruler legend shows their horizontal positions in units of frequency rather than time Ruler tool tip If you point to one of the rulers as we have done in the example above PicoScope displays a tool tip with the ruler number and the time value of the ruler Ruler legend The table at the top of the view is the ruler legend In this example the table shows that time ruler 1 is at 148 0 microseconds ruler 2 is at 349 0 microseconds and the difference between them
35. arker Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 11 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 5 4 Frequency legend SF 26 32 KHz Wy The frequency legend appears when you have placed two time rulers 171 on a scope view 13 It shows 1 A in hertz the SI unit of frequency equal to cycles per second where A is the time difference between the two rulers You can use this to estimate the frequency of a periodic waveform but you will get more accurate results by creating a frequency ee using the Add Measurements button on the Measurements toolbar 52 5 5 Measurements table A measurements table contains the automatic measurements that you have instructed PicoScope to make on a particular view 13 You can add delete or edit measurements from this table Hame Channel Scope Yalue Ea a e Whole trace AC AMS Between rulers ABS mi To add a measurement Click the Add Measurement button on the measurements toolbar 52 To delete a measurement Select a measurement in the table by clicking once on it and then click the a Delete Measurement button on the measurements toolbar 527 If you delete the only measurement in the table the table will be removed To edit a measurement If the measurement you wish to edit is selected click the l Edit Measurement button on the measurements toolbar 52 Otherwise double click on the measurement To change the width of a measu
36. ars 49 Tools menu 32 Trace 9 Trademarks 5 Trigger advanced 60 62 dual edge 62 interval 62 marker 18 mode control 60 pulse width 62 reference point 79 timing 79 toolbar 60 Triggering dropout 63 edge 63 glitches 63 interval 63 logic 63 missing events 63 pulse width 63 window 63 U Upgrades 5 Usage 5 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Index 86 V Valid edges finding 63 Version 1 Version 6 0 update 2 Vertical axis 13 14 Viewports 19 Views 19 how to move 72 menu 29 scope view 13 spectrum view 14 Viruses 5 W Waveform 9 13 What s new 2 Window function 54 Window functions 78 Window trigger 63 Windows 19 Z Zooming and Scrolling toolbar 66 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 87 PicoScope 6 User s Guide psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Pico Technology Ltd The Mill House Cambridge Street St Neots PE19 1QB United Kingdom Tel 44 0 1480 396 395 Fax 44 0 1480 396 296 Web www picotech com psw en 10 7 07 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved
37. by a specified interval of time First set the Starting edge to either Rising or Falling according to the polarity of the edges you are interested in Next select one of the four Condition options Greater than triggers when the second edge occurs later than Time 1 after the first edge useful for detecting missing events Less than triggers when the second edge occurs earlier than Time 1 after the first edge useful for detecting timing violations and spurious edges Inside time range triggers when the second edge is later than Time 1 after the first edge and earlier than Time 2 useful for finding valid edges Outside time range triggers when the second edge is earlier than Time 1 after the first edge or later than Time 2 useful for finding Spurious edges Finally set up Time 1 and Time 2 if present to define the time interval 14 Window pulse width This is a combination of the window trigger and the pulse width trigger It detects when the signal enters or leaves a voltage range for a specified period of time im Level dropout This detects an edge followed by a specified time with no edges It is useful for triggering on the end of a pulse train i Window dropout This is a combination of the window trigger and the dropout trigger It detects when the signal enters a specified voltage range and stays there for a specified time This is useful for detecting when a signal gets stuck at a particular voltage
38. cation dialog 43 PicoScope s automatic ranges should be ideal for most applications If you select will manage the Custom Probe Ranges manually clicking Next will take you to the Manual Ranges Setup dialog 40 Click Back to return to the Scaling Method dialog 37 What ts Auto ranging When the Auto ranging function is selected PicoScope continually monitors the input signal and adjusts the range when necessary to allow it to display the signal with maximum resolution This function is available on all standard ranges and can be used with custom ranges only if you select Let the software manage my ranges for me automatically in this dialog psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 6 5 2 6 Manual Ranges Setup dialog 40 This dialog appears when you select the Advanced option in the Range Management dialog 39 and then click Next gt It allows you to create ranges manually for your custom probe Custom Probe Wizard HM anual Ranges Setup Setup the Custom Ranges manually Mew Range Use the list on the right to manually 11 37 4 r _New Range See configure the available ranges on the e i e 450 A Each hardware scope has its own set of Input ranges Select a device from below to consider whilst setting up custom ranges PicoScope 3423 e Delete Auto Generate Ranges The bar on the right demonstrates how Scaled Range
39. ced trigger types eeeeeeesssssesessesereretttttterersesssssssestetttttttttrereeeensnssnsnnnntettttttrterererernenrnnnnneat 63 8 Zooming and Scrolling Cool bar scssck ves scssect eccae veces seeaasieouieses sae ieseni N EE 66 9 Demonstration Signals toolbar i2is i 5055 iescesaesssscpatastecacssbiesdieashaessucdadsansalecenaabentsanssneesaeetsaers 6 1 Demonstration Signals dialog ss s lt c scscssessccectavseedos ssecatnntactnncapen catondecaeassnectessuddenssagsesesbavaedondes 67 O IOW CO a2 roarai n a E E E aatundgasedsaubueesstesans 69 1 How to change to a different scope device sessessesessessessessesessesseseesseseesessereesseseesesseseees 70 2 How to use rulers to measure a signal eeseeseesssesssseessssessesseseesersersesseseesersessesseseesessessesseseee 70 3 How to measure a time difference sssssscececccccccceceeesssessssscscececeeecececeesesesssseseesceceeeeees 71 A TOW to moye a VieW 655658 sa sass eet sacs es Herd a T 72 5 How to scale and offset a signal Gzneten teed aera ule eden et 73 6 How to set up the spectrum view cssccsssessseessecssscesscesseseeesenseesseesessnesssecessesssesesssensesnsenses 74 PREEN O i hte Usd wet oaictaalaads woe uem hae Uiek aeh onic A pecs oumtantts 75 1 Measurement types serseri ae E E TENE ETEA E eterna ones 75 isconamedira nener aar innn AEE AEO 75 f Speerin measurement o 76 2 Window functions soinera ences i e ANE EE E ENRE EE 78 3 Trigger timing Dart
40. cifies whether the trigger should detect the signal entering the window leaving it or both Threshold 1 and Threshold 2 are the upper and lower voltage limits of the window The order in which you specify the two voltages does not matter Hysteresis scan be set to reduce the number of false triggers on a noisy signal and is described in a separate topic je Pulse Width This trigger type detects pulses of a specified width First set the Pulse Direction to either Positive or Negative according to the polarity of the pulse you are interested in Next set one of the four Condition options Greater than triggers on pulses wider than the specified time Less than triggers on pulses that are narrower useful for finding glitches Inside time range triggers on pulses that are wider than Time 1 but no wider than Time 2 useful for finding pulses that meet a Specification Outside time range does the opposite it triggers on pulses that are either narrower than Time 1 or wider than Time 2 useful for finding pulses that violate a specification Next set the trigger Threshold in volts or other units or drag the Trigger marker 181 on the scope view Finally set up Time 1 and Time 2 if present to define the pulse width psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 64 im Interval This type lets you search for two successive edges of the same polarity that are separated
41. cope 8 2 How to use rulers to measure a signal Using a single ruler for signal to ground measurements Look at the Channels toolbar 501 to find the colour code for the channel 81 you wish to measure A Auto Dic Find the ruler handle the small coloured square in the top left or top right corner of the scope view 131 or spectrum view 14 of this colour E hl 100 usdi f Drag the ruler handle downwards A signal ruler 19 horizontal broken line will appear across the view Release the ruler handle when the ruler is where you want it Look at the ruler legend 12 the small table that appears on the view It should have a row marked by a small coloured square matching the colour of your ruler handle The first column shows the signal level of the ruler 1 2 E 580m Using two rulers for differential measurements Follow the steps above for using a single ruler Drag the second ruler handle of the same colour downwards until its ruler is at the signal level to be measured Look at the ruler legend 12 again The second column now shows the signal level of the second ruler and the third column shows the difference between the two rulers 1 2 A 26 Ory 493 Om 1 079 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 71 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 8 3 How to measure a time difference Find the time ruler han
42. d in the help window About PicoScope Shows information about this version of PicoScope psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 48 6 7 Connect Device dialog When PicoScope is not sure which scope device 82 to use it displays a list of all the units attached to your computer and allows you to select which one to use Connect Device Select the series of device you have plugged into your PC From the drop down list or click the Find All button bo Find any supported devices eer Demo Iv Find all os Help Select a device to use From che lisk below Device eral PicoScope 5204 DEM PicoScope 5205 DEMO PicoScope 3206 DEM PicoScope 3205 DEMO PicoScope 3204 DEM PicoScope 3424 DEMO PicoScope 3425 DEM Bicn Scone 4274 Mewar kE Refresh List Where to find it Select the File menu 221 and then the Connect Device command See How to change to a different scope device 70 if you wish to switch to a different scope device later Procedure To restrict the selection to a particular series of devices click on the device drop down box and select a device series otherwise click the Find All button Wait for a list of devices to appear in the grid Select one device and click the OK button PicoScope will open a scope view 13 for the selected scope device Use the toolbars 49 to set up the
43. dle the small white square in the bottom left corner of the scope view 13 Time ruler handle Drag the ruler handle to the right A time ruler 17 vertical broken line will appear on the scope view Release the ruler handle when the ruler is at the time you wish to use as the reference N Cursor changes 0148 i when dragging al the handle Drag the second white ruler handle to the right until its ruler is at the time to be measured Look at the ruler legend 12 the small table that appears on the scope view It Should have a row marked by a small white square The first two columns show the times of the two rulers and the third column shows the time difference LO 125 0 ps 44 0 ps 29 0 ps The frequency legend 11 shows 1 A where A is the time difference es 26 32 kHz You can use a similar method to measure a frequency difference on a spectrum view 1A psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved How to 72 8 4 How to move a view You can easily drag a view 197 from one viewport 821 to another This example shows four viewports The viewports contain scope views 13 or spectrum views 14 called Scope 1 to Scope 4 Suppose you wish to move the Scope 4 view to the top left viewport ee 1 Click on the name tab of the Scope 4 view and aQ File views Measurements Tools Automotive Window Help ae eX Sh
44. e Edit Measurement Select the channel to measure l Cancel Select the type of measurement ees AC RMS e Help Choose which section of the graph will be measured Whole trace e Where to find it Click the Add Measurement or Edit Measurement button on the Measurements toolbar 521 or in the Views menu 29 or double click a measurement in the measurements table 11 Channel Select one of the scope device 82 s channels to measure Type PicoScope can calculate a wide range of measurements for waveforms See Measurement Types 75 for details Section You can measure the whole trace just the section between rulers 82 or a single cycle that you point to using one of the rulers Where to find it Click the Edit Measurement button on the Measurements toolbar 52 or in the Views menu 29 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 32 6 5 Tools menu Click Tools on the Menu bar 21 Custom Probes E Preferences Custom Probes Opens the Custom probes 32 dialog which allows you define new probes and copy delete move and edit existing ones Ej Preferences Opens the Preferences dialog 44 which contains various options that control PicoScope s behaviour 6 5 1 Custom Probes dialog This dialog allows you to define your own probes and set up custom probes 201 To open this dialog choose Custom Probes in the T
45. e bar You can click any of the menu items or press the Alt key and then navigate to the menu using the cursor keys or press the Alt key followed by the underlined letter in one of the menu items Click a menu now for more Information File Edit views Measurements Tools Help The list of items in the menu bar may vary depending on the windows that you have open in PicoScope psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved 6 1 Menus 22 File menu Click File on the Menu bar 21 to open the File menu Connect Device Open r 5 LAI r Py save All Waveforms As A Save Current Waveform As Startup Settings Print Preview Print Ext Connect Device This command appears only when there is no scope device connected It opens the Connect Device dialog 48 which allows you to select the scope device you wish to use Open Allows you to select the file you want to open PicoScope can open psdata and psd files which contain both waveform data and scope device settings and pssettings and pss files which contain only scope device settings You can create your own files using the Save and Save As commands described below If the file was saved using a different scope device from the one that is presently connected PicoScope may need to modify the saved settings to suit the present device Save All Waveforms As Opens the Save As dialog 23
46. e amplitude and time or frequency of features on the waveform Grid The arrangement of viewports The number of grid rows and the number of grid columns can each be either 1 2 3 or 4 In focus PicoScope can display several views but one view is drawn in stronger colours than the others This is the view that is in focus When you click a toolbar button it will usually affect only the view that is in focus To bring a view into focus click on it Probe An accessory that attaches to your oscilloscope and picks up a signal to be measured A probe can pick up any form of signal but it always delivers a voltage Signal to the oscilloscope PicoScope knows about standard probes but also allows you to define custom probes Roll mode Normally PicoScope redraws the waveform in a scope view many times every second At timebases slower than 200 ms div however it switches to roll mode This causes the waveform to move continuously from right to left with old data disappearing off the left hand side and new data being added on the right hand side This mode is more convenient for viewing slowly changing data Ruler A vertical or horizontal dashed line that can be dragged into place on a waveform in a scope view PicoScope displays the signal level time value or frequency value of all rulers in a Ruler Legend box Scope device A box of electronics that with the help of the PicoScope software turns your computer into a PC Oscilloscope T
47. e the Function effect of operating on a time limited waveform See Window functions 78 Display You can choose Magnitude Average or Peak Hold Mode Magnitude the spectrum view shows the frequency spectrum of the last waveform captured whether live or stored in the waveform buffer 507 Average the spectrum view shows an rolling average of spectra calculated from all the waveforms in the waveform buffer 50 This has the effect of reducing the noise visible in the spectrum view To clear the averaged data click Stop 59 and then Start 59i or change from Average mode to Magnitude mode Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 55 PicoScope 6 User s Guide Peak Hold the spectrum view shows a rolling maximum of the spectra calculated from all the waveforms in the buffer In this mode the amplitude of any frequency band in the spectrum view will either stay the Same or increase but never decrease over time To clear the peak hold data click Stop 59 and then Start 5 or change from Peak Hold mode to Magnitude mode Note when you switch to Average or Peak Hold mode there may be a noticeable delay while PicoScope processes the entire contents of the waveform buffer which may contain many waveforms to build up the initial display If this occurs a progress bar appears at the bottom of the screen to show that PicoScope is busy _
48. easurement Grid Font Size 8 25 Column Auto width Add measurement Adds a row to the measurements table 11 and opens the Edit Measurement Dialog 31 You can also find this button on the Measurements toolbar 527 Edit measurement This takes you to the Edit Measurement Dialog 31 You can find this button on the Measurements toolbar 52 or you can edit a measurement by double clicking on a row of the measurements Table 11 Delete measurement Removes the selected row from the measurements table 11 You can also find this button on the Measurements toolbar 52 825 Grid font size Sets the font size for the entries in the measurements table ii Column Auto width If this button is pressed the columns of the measurements table 11 gt will continually adjust to fit the contents whenever the table changes Click again to release the button Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 31 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 4 1 Add Edit Measurement dialog This dialog allows you to add a measurement of a waveform to the selected view 191 or edit an existing measurement PicoScope automatically refreshes the measurement every time it updates the waveform If this is the first measurement for the view PicoScope will create a new measurements table 11 to display the measurement otherwise it will add the new measurement to the bottom of the existing tabl
49. ere To display the Notes area click on the Edit menu then select Notes Capture Window 1 Hotes Tes are the waveforms from my sine wave square wawe experiment Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 29 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 3 Views menu Click Views on the Menu bar 21 or right click on a view 191 This menu controls the layout of PicoScope views 82 Odd view Close view Grid Layout Arrange Grid Layout Reset view Sizes Move View To The contents of the Views menu may vary depending on the location of the cursor and the state of the PicoScope window It sometimes incorporates the Measurements menu 3o Add view Adds a view of the selected type scope 13 or spectrum 14 In automatic mode the default PicoScope will create a new grid or expand the existing grid to make room for the new view up to a limit of four views Any further views will be added as tabs in existing viewports If you have selected a Standard or custom grid layout PicoScope will not change it Close view Removes a view from the PicoScope window In automatic mode the default PicoScope will rearrange the grid to make the best use of the remaining space If you have selected a Standard or custom grid layout PicoScope will not change it Grid Layout The grid layout defaults to Automatic mode in which PicoScope automatically arranges views in a
50. f Contents T 6 Help mentere E cance EE E E A O 47 7 Connect Device Gi ale gsi ssisteecscaisysicaned sens canstasdanntsinesatovensandedugs snseensanelavesnectvencansd ENEE N EER 48 TAES E E E A E E A E E E 49 1 Buffer Navigation toolbar c sssssssosecsssseaves ssuesesaven ni norane n nE E T 50 2 Channel Setup toolbar ecisrreneanii essa tess soseolesseassisdendvoeseipnactecavet ented ee eens 50 1 Advanced Options menu ssssssssssssssssssessssssescesssssesessnsssesesesnssscsesssnssesesssnnssesessnseseseessnneeeseeenneeeessee 51 3 Meastirements toolbar ccrecnirron uenee i o e aa ora a de seas a a 52 A Capture Setup tool bare s sesicsecacotiyopaiss ected es TEE EEN E E TE 53 1 Spectrum Options dialog ssscssscssecssecssecssecssecseecssccssccssecssecssecssecssecssecssecssecasecssesssesssecnsesssests 54 5 Signal Generator toolbar wi sasiseucat cssecscestcasecssatucacssccuve iaeia a e a a nE E a A a 56 1 Signal Generator dialog es seseesesssseesesssseeeesseseeeerrnseseerenssseeeesssseeeerenseeeerenseseerressseeresseseeeerseseeeeeees 56 2 Arbitrary waveform files s ssssssssssssssstesssssseessuessseesssessseesssessseesssessueesssessuesssessuessstesseeesssessies 58 6 Start Stop toolbar siener rnea a epa a e e Piei eeen Ares ae eia 59 T Triggering Coolbarenereaiee n A N E O 60 1 Advanced Triggering dialog eeessseeresssseeeesssseeeersnseseeersssseeeesssseeeersnneeeerrnseeeerenssseererseseeeesseseeeeeees 62 2 Advan
51. ge output to a measurement on the display Custom Probe Wizard Scaling Method A Custom Probe can apply scaling to the data before it is displayed Use a linear equation to scale the data y mx c Gradient m 100 Offset c So wt Use a look up table linearly interpolates between points on the table Don t apply any scaling to the data Cancel How to use the dialog If you do not require any scaling or offset click the Don t apply any scaling button If the probe requires linear scaling click the Use a linear equation button and enter the gradient or scale factor m and the offset c in the equation y mx c where y is the displayed value and x is the probe s voltage output If you wish to apply a nonlinear function to the probe s output choose Use a look up table then click the Create a Lookup Table button to create a new lookup table This will take you to the Lookup table Scaling dialog 38 Click Next to continue to the Range Management dialog 39 Click Back to return to the Probe Output Units dialog 36 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 38 6 5 2 4 1 Lookup table Scaling dialog This dialog allows you to enter a look up table to calibrate a custom probe You can get here by clicking the Create a Look up Table button or Edit the Lookup Table button in the Scaling Method dialog 37 Looku
52. grees to allow access to this software only to persons who have been informed of these conditions and agree to abide by them Usage The software in this release is for use only with Pico products or with data collected using Pico products Copyright Pico Technology Limited claims the copyright of and retains the rights to all material software documents etc contained in this release You may copy and distribute the entire release in its original state but must not copy individual items within the release other than for backup purposes Liability Pico Technology and its agents shall not be liable for any loss damage or injury howsoever caused related to the use of Pico Technology equipment or software unless excluded by statute Fitness for purpose No two applications are the same Pico Technology cannot guarantee that its equipment or software is suitable for a given application It is your responsibility therefore to ensure that the product is suitable for your application Mission critical applications This software is intended for use on a computer that may be running other software products For this reason one of the conditions of the licence is that it excludes usage in mission critical applications for example life support systems Viruses This software was continuously monitored for viruses during production but you are responsible for virus checking the software once it is installed Support If you are dissa
53. grid You can also select one of the standard grid layouts or create a custom layout which PicoScope will not change as you add or remove views Arrange grid layout Adjusts the grid layout to fit the number of views Moves any tabbed views to empty viewports PicoScope may change the number of viewports Reset view sizes f you have resized any of the views by dragging the vertical or horizontal separator bars between viewports this option will reset all the viewports to their original sizes Move view to Lets you move views backward or forward in the grid or to specified viewports You can achieve the same effect by dragging views by their name tabs and dropping them in a new place See How to move a view 72 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved 6 3 1 6 4 Menus 30 Custom grid layout dialog This dialog allows you to lay out the view 82 grid with the number of rows and columns that you want up to a limit of four rows and four columns You can then drag the views to different locations in the grid Custom erid layout Columns x Where to find it Right click on the PicoScope window to get the Views menu 29 then select the Grid Layout submenu and then the Custom layout command You can also find the View menu on the Menu bar 21 Measurements menu Click Measurements on the Menu bar 21 4dd Measurement Edit Measurement elete M
54. hat you chose on the Scaling Method 37 page defines the relationship between the input range and the scaled range This dialog enables you to set up ranges to display the scaled data on the scope view psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 42 The range utilisation bar This diagram at the bottom of the dialog represents the relationship between the scaling and the hardware input range of the scope device Scaled Range Input Range N Unused Used Unused portion of portion of portion of Input range input range scaled range e Green The section of the input range that is used by the scaled range This Should be as large as possible to maximise the use of the scope device s resolution e Blue Areas of the input range that are not being used These indicate wasted resolution e Grey Parts of the scaled range that are not covered by the input range These will result in wasted space on the graph The range utilisation bar may not represent these areas accurately when non linear scaling is being used so you Should always test the scaled range limits on the scope view Finishing Clicking OK or Cancel will return you to the Manual Ranges Setup dialog 4 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 43 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 5 2 7 Custom Probe Identification dialog This dialog follows the
55. he scope device captured If you wish you can add more views to the PicoScope window how 297 Each view is a differently zoomed and panned section of the same capture Multiple views are always arranged in a grid Each location in the grid is called a viewport and can be empty or occupied by one or more views psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved PicoScope and oscilloscope primer 20 5 16 Custom probes A probe is any connector transducer or measuring device that you connect to the input channel of your scope device 82 PicoScope has a built in library of common probe types such as the x1 and x10 voltage probes used with most oscilloscopes but if your probe is not included in this list you can use the Custom Probes dialog 32 to define a new one Custom probes can have any voltage range within the capabilities of the oscilloscope display in any units and have either linear or nonlinear characteristics Custom probe definitions are particularly useful when you wish to display the probe s output in units other than volts or to apply linear or nonlinear corrections to the data Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 21 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 Menus Menus are the quickest way to get to PicoScope s main features The Menu bar is always present at the top of the PicoScope main window just below the window s titl
56. he Eile menu 22 and click Startup Settings Save Startup Settings Load Startup Settings Reset Startup Settings Save Startup Settings Saves your current settings ready for when you next select Load Startup Settings These settings are remembered from one session of PicoScope 6 to the next Load Startup Settings Returns to the settings you created with the Save Startup Settings command Reset Startup Settings Deletes the startup settings you created with the Save Startup Settings command psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 28 6 2 Edit menu Click Edit on the Menu bar 21 Copy as Image Crrl C Copy as Text Motes Copy as I mage Copies the active view to the clipboard as a bitmap You can then paste the image into any application that accepts bitmap images Copy as Text Copies the data in the active view to the clipboard as text You can paste the data into a spreadsheet or other application The text format is the same as that used by the Save As txt command and is explained in the Save As dialog 23 topic Notes Opens a Notes area 28 at the bottom of the PicoScope window You can enter any explanatory text that you wish to in this area 6 2 1 Notes area A Notes area can be displayed at the bottom of the PicoScope window You can enter any text you wish in this area You can also copy formatted text from another program and paste it h
57. he New Probe button in the Custom Probes dialog 32 HE Custom Probe Wizard Edit an Existing Custom Probe This wizard allows you to change any aspect of the Custom Probe Fress the Nest button until you find the information pou wish to edit lt Back new How to use the dialog Click Next to continue to the Probe Output Units dialog 36 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved 35 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 5 2 2 Edit Existing Custom Probe dialog This dialog introduces you to the process for editing an ae custom probe Get here by clicking the Edit button in the Custom Probes dialog 32 E HE Custom Probe Wizard Edit an existing Custom Probe This wizard allows you to change any aspect of the Custom Probe Fress the Nest button until you find the information pou wish to edit Jump forward to the Manual Ranges Setup page How to use the dialog Click Next to continue to the Probe Output Units dialog s where you can edit the custom probe Click Jump forward if you have already set up the custom probe s basic characteristics and want to add or change a custom range manually psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 36 6 5 2 3 Probe Output Units dialog This dialog follows the Create new Custom Probe dialog 34 It allows you to choose the
58. i 2202 161 4 Wag im 4 161 4 5 1026 43 63 07 43 83 238 3 971 5853 2068 355 5033 183 0 1978 2127 2275 2423 2571 Noisy signal with hysteresis threshold In these zoomed in views the original threshold is the lower red line The upper red line is the second threshold used by the hysteresis trigger The signal rises across the lower threshold at 1 and 2 arming the trigger but not firing it At 3 the signal finally crosses the upper threshold firing the trigger On the falling edge of the signal at 4 and 5 rising edges of noise pulses cause the Signal to cross the upper and lower thresholds but in the wrong order so the trigger is not armed and does not fire Thus the trigger occurs at only one well defined point in the cycle 3 despite the noise on the signal Hysteresis is enabled by default for all the advanced trigger types The Hysteresis controls in the Advanced triggering dialog 62 let you change the hysteresis voltage as a percentage of full scale The trigger marker T shows the size of the hysteresis window psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 66 7 8 Zooming and Scrolling toolbar The Zooming and Scrolling toolbar allows you to move around a scope view 13 or spectrum view 14 q Each button has a keyboard shortcut which is listed in the table Sky A amp amp 100 Q LOD Ctri S or ESC Ctrl D
59. ice when to start capturing data Ta ial s ao 7amv Ei 44 256 A Trigger Mode None PicoScope acquires waveforms repeatedly without waiting for specific events Auto PicoScope tries to wait for a trigger event before displaying data If there is no trigger event within a specified time it displays data anyway It repeats this process until you click the Stop button 59 Auto mode does not set up the trigger level automatically you still need to do this yourself Repeat PicoScope waits for a trigger event before displaying data but if there is no trigger event it displays nothing It repeats this process until you click the Stop button s9 Single PicoScope waits once for a trigger event then stops sampling To repeat a single trigger click the Start 59 button ETS Equivalent Time Sampling s21 The scope view 13 Captures several cycles of a repetitive signal then combines the results to produce a single waveform with higher time resolution than a single capture For accurate results the signal must be perfectly repetitive and the trigger must be stable If you select ETS when an Advanced Trigger 62 type is enabled the trigger type will revert to Simple Edge and the Advanced Triggering button will be disabled _ Advanced Triggering Click to open the Advanced Triggering dialog 62 which gives you extra trigger types beyond the simple edge trigger If this butto
60. idth 15 26 kHz Sample limit 65 54 ps Signal Type Signal generator Frequency settings Amplitude Offset Positioning the Properties sheet The Properties sheet has a number of modes When you first start PicoScope 6 it is in hidden mode Hidden All you can see is a tab labelled Properties at the right hand edge of the window Quick view To use quick view move the pointer over the tab but do not click on it The sheet will then slide into view and will disappear when you move the pointer away from it Focused view To enter this mode click on the Properties tab The Properties sheet will then remain in view until you click elsewhere on the PicoScope 6 window Fixed view Click the pin icon L in the title bar of the Properties sheet The icon changes to pinned ery and the sheet remains visible while you use the other functions of PicoScope In this mode you can also move the sheet to any part of the window by dragging its title bar To hide the sheet click the pin icon again to return to quick view mode The sheet then disappears when you move the pointer away psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved PicoScope and oscilloscope primer 16 5 11 Cursor position tool tip The cursor position tool tip is a box that displays the horizontal and vertical axis values at the cursor location It appears temporarily when you click the background of a view 82 In
61. igger types 637 Instructions _ and diagrams also appear in the dialog Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 63 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 7 2 Advanced trigger types The advanced trigger types can be switched on in the Advanced Triggering dialog 2 For all trigger types the first step is to select which signal the scope should use as the trigger so set Source to either A B Ext or Auxl O These names correspond to the BNC input connectors on the scope device Then choose one of the trigger types below _ Simple Edge This type provides the same Rising and Falling edge triggers that are available from the Triggering toolbar 60 It is included in this dialog as an alternative method of setting up the Simple Edge trigger You can set the trigger Threshold while in the advanced triggering dialog or alternatively you can drag the Irigger marker 18 on the scope view This is the only trigger type that is compatible with ETS sz mode _ amp Advanced Edge This trigger type adds an extra Rising or Falling edge trigger and Hysteresis to the Simple Edge trigger The Rising or Falling option triggers on both edges of a waveform and is useful for monitoring pulses of both polarities at once Hysteresis 65 is described in a separate topic i Window This trigger type detects when the signal enters or leaves a specified voltage window The Direction control spe
62. is 201 0 microseconds Frequency legend The frequency legend in the bottom right hand corner shows 1 4 where A is the time difference between the two rulers 1 A is 4 975 kilohertz in this example The accuracy of this calculation depends on the accuracy with which you have positioned the time rulers For greater accuracy with periodic signals use the frequency measurement 75 function built in to PicoScope This legend appears only in scope views psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved PicoScope and oscilloscope primer 18 5 13 Trigger marker The trigger marker shows the level and timing of the trigger point Trigger marker The height of the marker on the Y axis shows the level at which the trigger is set and its position on the X axis shows the time at which it occurs You can move the trigger marker by dragging it with the mouse or for numerical control use the buttons on the Lriggering toolbar 60 Other forms of trigger marker In post trigger delay mode the trigger marker is temporarily replaced by the post trigger arrow 12 while you adjust the post trigger delay When some advanced trigger types are in use the trigger marker changes to a window marker which shows the upper and lower trigger thresholds Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 19 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 5 14 Signal rulers
63. ith your scope device then click the Install Software link and follow the on screen instructions Plug in your scope device Windows will recognise it and make the necessary changes to allow your computer to work with it Wait until Windows tells you that the device is ready to use Click the new PicoScope icon on your Windows desktop PicoScope will detect your scope device and configure itself ready to display a waveform The green Start 59 button will be highlighted to show that PicoScope is ready Connect a signal to one of the scope device s input channels and see your first waveform Why did it do that Help is at hand Our technical support staff are always ready to answer your telephone call during office hours see our Contact Details 6 At other times you can contact our support forum or send us an email Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en PicoScope 6 User s Guide 5 PicoScope and oscilloscope primer This chapter explains the fundamental concepts that you will need to know before working with the PicoScope software If you have used an oscilloscope before then most of these ideas will be familiar to you If not please take a few minutes to read at least the Oscilloscope basics 91 and PicoScope basics 10 topics and then return here to read the more detailed topics in this chapter when you need them 5 1 Oscilloscope basics An osci
64. l appear like this Channel A You can drag the legend around the view resize it by dragging one of its edges or minimise it by clicking the minimise button B in the top right hand corner See also frequency legend 11 which shows 1 4 where A is the time difference Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 13 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 5 8 Scope view A scope view shows the data captured from the scope as a graph of signal amplitude against time PicoScope opens with a single view but you can add more views by using the views menu 297 Similar to the screen of a conventional oscilloscope a scope view shows you one or more waveforms with a common horizontal time axis with signal level shown on one or more vertical axes Each view can have as many waveforms as the scope device has channels Click on one of the labels below to learn more about a feature Graticule Trigger Signal Ruler diamond ruler legend Scope 1 Scope z ee E S ee ES io O6 Vertical axis m for channel B vertical axis for channel A Time ruler Channel B Ruler handle 3 Scale indicator Ens O CEP ysedice EEN Measurements table WM Peak ToPeak 4 Between rulers 1 602 MM Duty Cycle A Whole trace AO OS 2 Time Frequency asis legend psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved PicoScope and oscilloscope primer 14 5 9 Spectru
65. layed briefly For this control to have an effect you must first make sure that the Post trigger Delay button is enabled See the reference topic Irigger Timing 79 for information on how the Pre trigger Time and Post trigger Delay controls interact psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 62 7 7 1 Advanced Triggering dialog This dialog appears when you click the Advanced Triggering button in the Triggering toolbar so It allows you to set up more complex trigger types than simple edge triggering Simple Edge Source rt Threshold ov pa _ Advanced Edge Direction Rising Le window LE Pulse width UE Interval LE Window Pulse Width Wla Level Dropout Whg Window Dropout a nec Logic ni 4 simple edge trigger with no advanced Features that triggers when a rising edge crosses the specified threshold Help Close Simple Edge Advanced trigger types list This control lists all the available advanced trigger types 63 Click on the condition you require and a Se ean diagram and description will appear on the right of the dialog Advanced Edge If ETS triggering s2 is enabled in the triggering toolbar so then selecting any trigger type except Simple Edge switches off ETS mode Advanced triggering options The options aauree E available depend on the trigger type selected Direction Rising se See Advanced tr
66. lloscope is a measuring instrument that displays a graph of voltage against time For example the picture below shows a typical display on an oscilloscope screen when a varying voltage is connected to one of its input channels Fie w 0 6 0 4 ga 0 0 924 0 4 HE 0 8 1 0h G 00 02 04 06 08 101214161820 EEREN U ee re Oscilloscope displays are always read from left to right The blue line called the trace begins at point A If you look to the left of this point you will see the number 0 0 on the voltage scale and this tells you that the voltage is 0 0 volts If you look below point A you will see another number 0 0 this time on the time scale which tells you that the time is 0 0 milliseconds ms at this point At point B 0 25 milliseconds later the voltage has risen to its positive peak of 0 8 volts At point C 0 75 milliseconds after the start the voltage has dropped to its negative peak of 0 8 volts After 1 millisecond the voltage has risen back to 0 0 volts and a new cycle is about to begin This type of signal is called a sine wave and is one of a limitless range of signal types that you will encounter All oscilloscopes allow you to adjust the vertical and horizontal scales of the display The vertical scale is called the voltage range in this example at least although scales in other units are possible The horizontal scale is called the time base and is measured in seconds or as in this example fractions of a second
67. lue of the waveform The amount of time that a signal spends above its mean value expressed as a percentage of the signal period A duty cycle of 50 means that the high time is equal to the low time The rate at which the signal voltage falls in signal units per second Measured between 80 and 20 of its peak to peak value The time the signal takes to fall from 80 to 20 of its peak values The number of cycles of the waveform per second The amount of time that the signal spends above its mean value The amount of time that the signal spends below its mean value The highest level reached by the signal The lowest level reached by the signal The difference between maximum and minimum The time the signal takes to rise from 20 to 80 of its peak to peak value The rate at which the signal rises in signal units per second Measured between 20 and 80 of its peak to peak value psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Reference 76 9 1 2 Spectrum measurements Frequency at peak The frequency at which the peak signal value appears Amplitude at peak The amplitude of the peak signal value Total power The power of the whole signal captured in the spectrum view Total power saqrt sum value n 2 for all n Total Harmonic Distortion THD The ratio of the harmonic power to the power at the specified frequency 2 2 2 2 Mo ENa EN FV Fes THD 20log
68. m view A spectrum view is one view of the data from a scope device PicoScope opens with a single view but you can add more views by using the views menu 291 Similar to the screen of a conventional spectrum analyser a spectrum view shows you one or more spectra with a common frequency axis A spectrum is a diagram of signal level on a vertical axis plotted against frequency on the horizontal axis Each view can have as many spectra as the scope device has channels Click on one of the labels below to learn more about a feature Fuler Signal Graticule legend ea Scope z E100 eH Bs47deu Channel r L 1 03k Hz ty Signal axis 410 et eee Se a for Channel A e Frequency ruler 56 5 75 05 0 0 1 0 20 3 0 40 5 0 6 0 kHz Measurements table Frequency at Peak A Peak nearest ruler 1 1000 Hz MS Amplitude at Peak 5 At Peak 1 068 dBu Frequency axis For more information see How to set up the spectrum view 74 and Spectrum Options dialog 5 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 15 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 5 10 Properties sheet The Properties sheet is a summary of the settings that PicoScope 6 is using It normally appears to the right of the waveforms in the PicoScope window but you can move it if you wish Properties Sampling Sample interval 2 ns settings Sample rate ROD MSs No samples FOOO0 Window Blackman settings Bin w
69. n is disabled it is because you have selected either None or ETS in the trigger mode control If you want to enable the Advanced Triggering button set the control to another trigger mode such as Auto Repeat or Single Trigger Source This is the channel that PicoScope monitors for the trigger 82 condition Rising Edge Click to trigger on the rising edge of the waveform Falling Edge Click to trigger on the falling edge of the waveform Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 61 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 20 mv ao 20 us E 5 Trigger Level Sets the trigger 821 level You can also set the trigger level by dragging the trigger marker 18 Up or down on the screen Pre trigger Time 0 to 100 This parameter controls how much of the waveform appears before the trigger point It defaults to 50 which puts the 181 is in the middle of the screen You can also control this parameter by dragging the trigger marker 18 to the left or right Post trigger Delay Enable Click this button to toggle the Post trigger Delay control see next item Post trigger Delay The post trigger delay is the time that PicoScope waits after the trigger point before sampling You can also modify this parameter by dragging the trigger marker 18 while the Post trigger Delay button is enabled As you drag the marker you will see the post trigger arrow 12 disp
70. nces Performance General Cancel Apply an a a i Where to find it Click the Preferences command in the Tools menu 32 on the Menu bar 21 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 45 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 5 3 1 General dialog This dialog contains general controls for PicoScope Preterences General Performance Reset Don t show this again dialogs waveform Buffer Maximum Elements 25 a Reset Click this button to restore any missing dialogs that you asked PicoScope not to show again Waveform Buffer Maximum Elements This is the maximum number of waveforms that PicoScope will store in the waveform buffer 50 The actual number of waveforms stored will depend on the available memory and the number of samples in each waveform Where to find it Click the Preferences command in the Tools menu 32 on the Menu bar 217 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 46 6 5 3 2 Performance dialog The performance settings limit the soeed at which PicoScope captures data from the scope device The other PicoScope settings the type of scope device 82 and the speed of the computer will all affect whether this limit can actually be reached PicoScope automatically selects the appropriate limit according to whether your computer is running on batteries or on mains line
71. nt a column of data and a carriage return at the end of the line to represent a new row of data These files work in any language and are a good choice for sharing data internationally The 65 536 values per channel limit applies to tab delimited files to prevent excessively large files being created 6 1 1 1 2 Binary formats PicoScope 6 can export data 24 into version 4 of the mat binary file format This IS an open format and the full specification is freely available from the www mathworks com website PicoScope 6 saves data into the MAT File format in a specific way which is detailed in this topic Importing into Matlab Load the file into your workspace using this syntax load myfile Each channel s data is stored in array variable named by the channel So the Sampled data for channels A to D would be in four arrays named A B C and D There is only one set of times data for all channels and this is loaded in one of two possible formats 1 A start time an interval and a length The variables are named Tstart Tinterval and Tlength 1 An array of times Sometimes used for ETS data The time array is named T If the times are loaded in as Tstart Tinterval and Tlength then you can use the following command to create the equivalent array of times T Tstart Tinterval Tstart Tlength 1 Tinterval psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 26
72. o full view Resets the view to normal size The view will no longer have scroll bars and panning will no longer be possible Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 67 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 7 9 7 9 1 Demonstration Signals toolbar The Demonstration Signals toolbar allows you to set up test signals so that you can experiment with PicoScope when no scope device is connected To use this feature close PicoScope unplug all scope devices and then restart the program PicoScope will prompt you to select a demonstration device using the Connect Device dialog 48 Demo Signals When you click the button a drop down list of all the available channels in your demonstration device will appear like this 4 Sine 1 kHz aja B Square 1 kHz Click one of the channels to open the Demonstration Signals dialog 67 which will allow you to set up a Signal from that channel Demonstration Signals dialog This dialog controls one channel of the demonstration signal generator a feature of PicoScope that creates a variety of test signals to simulate a scope device Open it by clicking the Demo Signals button on the Demonstration Signals toolbar 7 and then selecting a channel It is available only when you start PicoScope with no scope device 82 connected to your computer and then select a scope device type of Demo in the Connect Device dialog n
73. ools menu 322 or click the A Channel Advanced Options button Custom Probes Select 4 probe BE Built in Y Standard x1 10 20 l l 100 Duplicate Bf Automotive ae 20 1 Attenuator Inport 6004 Current Clamp SS gt 20004 Current Clamp Eid Library 0 204 Frequency to voltage converter Explain what Built in Library and Loaded probes are Understanding the probe list All the probes that PicoScope knows about are listed under three main headings Built in Library and Loaded The probe list is preserved between sessions so t PicoScope will never forget your custom probes unless you delete them to hat Built in probes The built in probes are supplied by Pico Technology and do not change unless you download an authorised update from us As a safeguard PicoScope does not allow you to edit or delete these probes If you want to modify one of them you can copy it to your library by clicking Duplicate and then edit the copy in your library Library probes These are the probes that you have created using any of the methods described in this topic You can edit delete or duplicate any of these probes by clicking the appropriate button in this dialog Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en PicoScope 6 User s Guide 33 1 2 3 6 5 2 Loaded probes Probes in PicoScope data files psdata or settings files pssetting
74. ooltip A label that appears when you move the mouse pointer over some parts of the PicoScope screen such as buttons controls and rulers Trigger A device that detects when the waveform rises or falls past a preset signal level When this event occurs the program may begin to acquire data View A presentation of data from a scope device Views may be scope views or spectrum views Viewport A rectangular space in the PicoScope window that can contain one or more views or can be empty Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 83 PicoScope 6 User s Guide Index omp files saving 23 csv files saving 23 gif files saving 23 png files saving 23 psdata files saving 23 pssettings files saving 23 txt files saving 23 A AC mains power 46 Access 5 Add Measurement dialog 31 Adding a measurement 11 30 31 Address 6 Advanced Options menu 51 Advanced trigger types 63 Advanced triggering 60 62 Arbitrary waveform files 58 Arbitrary waveform generator 56 Axis horizontal 13 14 vertical 13 14 Axis offset 73 Axis scaling 73 Axis scaling controls 51 B Battery power 46 Binary files exporting 25 Buffer Navigation toolbar 50 C Capture rate 46 Capture Setup toolbar 53 Channel Setup toolbar 50 Clipboard 28 Close file 22 Column auto width 30 Connect Device dialog 22 48 Contact information 6 Converter how to change 70 Copy as image 28 Copy astext 28
75. ouble precision floating point data types 6 1 1 1 1 Text formats Text format files exported by PicoScope 6 24 are encoded in UTF 8 format by default This is a popular format which is capable of representing a huge range of characters whilst still retaining some compatibility with the ASCII character set if only standard Western European characters and numbers are used in the file Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 25 PicoScope 6 User s Guide CSV comma separated values CSV files store data in the following way Time Channel A Channel B us V V 500 004 3511 DezZzis SUCeU0U0Z S227 4ae 2eL30 9U0 Beto Lada CSV files have a comma after each value on a line to represent a column of data and a Carriage return at the end of the line to represent a new row of data The 65 536 values per channel limit applies to CSV files to prevent excessively large files being created Note Because some languages use the comma character as the decimal point CSV files are not the best choice of format if you are working in one of these languages Instead try using the tab delimited format which works in an almost identical way Tab delimited Tab delimited files store data in the following way Time Channel A Channel B ys V V po0 0U04 Bacall Legis 500 00A 4724 AsL 900 Dette Aaa he The files have a tab character after each value on a line to represe
76. p table Scaling Input units Scaled units Ok mits E Cancel 600 600 a 300 350 Hep 0 0 300 350 600 600 Click to add a new row eq Add Row E Insert Row Above I Insert Row Below Delete Row Redo Cue Import l Export Copy He Faste Delete a Select All Editing the Look up Table First select suitable values in the I nput units and Scaled units drop down boxes For example if your probe is a current clamp that outputs one millivolt per ampere over the range 600 to 600 amperes select I nput units of millivolts and Output units of amperes Next enter some data in the scaling table Click the first empty cell at the top of the table and type 600 then hit the Tab key and type 600 When you are ready to enter the next pair of values press the Tab key again to start a new row You can also right click on the table to obtain a more detailed menu of options as shown in the picture In the example above we have entered a slightly nonlinear response if the response had been linear then it would have been easier to use the linear option in the Scaling Method Dialog 37 gt I mport Export Using the I mport and Export buttons you can fill the look up table from data in a comma separated or tab delimited text file and save the look up table to new file Finishing Clicking OK or Cancel will return you to the Scaling Method dialog 37 Copyright 20
77. rd shortcuts 66 81 L Legal statement 5 Liability 5 Logic trigger 63 Lookup Table Scaling dialog 38 M Mains power 46 Manual Ranges Setup dialog 40 Marquee Zoom tool 66 Matlab 4 files exporting 25 Measurements adding 11 31 deleting 11 editing 11 font size 30 list of types 75 menu 30 table 11 toolbar 52 Measurements scope 75 Measurements spectrum 76 Menus 21 Missing events finding 63 Mission critical applications 5 N New features 2 Normal Selection tool 66 Notes area 28 O Offset 73 Open file 22 Oscilloscope 9 P PC Oscilloscope 10 PCO 10 Performance dialog 46 PicoScope 10 how to use 4 8 9 version 1 version 6 0 2 Post trigger delay 79 arrow 12 control 60 79 Preferences 32 dialog 44 Pre trigger delay 79 control 60 79 Print 22 Print preview 22 Probe ID dialog 43 Probe Manager 32 Probe Output Units dialog 36 Probes custom 20 Progress bar 54 Properties sheet 15 Pulse width trigger 62 63 R Range Management dialog 39 Reference manual 47 Release notes 3 Reset Don t show this again dialogs 45 Rising edge button 60 Ruler legend 12 Rulers handles 13 14 time 13 14 voltage 13 14 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 85 PicoScope 6 User s Guide S Sales email address 6 Sampling rate 53 Save As 22 dialog 23 Save file 22 Scaling 10 73 Scaling Method dialog 37 Scope measurement
78. rement column Drag the column s border to create the column width you need The i i cursor will change to a column i i B resize symbol as shown here ehween T To at ri psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved PicoScope and oscilloscope primer 12 5 6 Post trigger arrow The post trigger arrow is a modified form of the trigger marker 18 that appears temporarily while you are setting up a post trigger delay or dragging the ee marker after setting up a post trigger delay What is a post trigger delay 80 Live trigger The left hand end of the arrow indicates the trigger point and is aligned with zero on the time axis If zero on the time axis is outside the scope view 13 then the left hand end of the post trigger arrow appears like this The right hand end of the arrow temporarily replacing the trigger marker 18 indicates the trigger reference point Use the buttons on the Triggering toolbar 60 to set up a post trigger delay 5 7 Ruler legend The ruler legend displays the positions of all the rulers 82 you have placed on the view 82 It appears automatically whenever there is a ruler on the screen Fuler 1 Ruler 2 Fuler values values difference S Signal rulers For a reminder of which row refers to which signal point using the mouse to one of the colour coded boxes in the left hand margin and a label wil
79. s AC volts measurement 75 Burn time measurement 75 Burn voltage measurement 75 Crank RPM measurement 75 Cycle time measurement 75 DC volts measurement 75 Duty cycle measurement 75 Dwell angle measurement 75 Dwell time measurement 75 Fall time measurement 75 Falling rate measurement 75 Frequency measurement 75 High pulse width measurement 75 Injector duration measurement 75 Low pulse width measurement 75 Maximum measurement 75 Minimum measurement 75 Peak burn voltage measurement 75 Peak to peak measurement 75 Rise time measurement 75 Rising rate measurement 75 Scope view 13 Selection tool normal 66 Signal difference how to measure 70 Signal Generator dialog 56 toolbar 56 Signal rulers 13 14 19 Software version 1 Space bar 59 81 Spectrum measurements Amplitude at peak 76 Frequency at peak 76 Intermodulation Distortion IMD 76 Signal to Noise Ratio SNR 76 Spurious free Dynamic Range SFDR 76 Total Harmonic Distortion THD 76 Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise THD N 76 Total power 76 Spectrum options bins 54 dialog 54 display mode 54 scale 54 Spectrum view 14 how to set up 74 Spreadsheet exporting to 23 Spurious edges finding 63 Start Stop toolbar 59 Startup Settings menu 27 Support 5 System requirements 7 7 Technical support email address 6 Telephone number 6 Text files exporting 24 Text exporting as 23 Time difference how to measure 71 Time rulers 13 14 17 Timebase controls 53 Toolb
80. s that you have opened appear here until you copy them to your library You cannot edit or delete these probes directly but you can click Duplicate to copy them to your library where you can edit them You can also import probes from the custom ranges stored in PicoScope 5 psd and pss files but these lack many of the features provided by PicoScope 6 See Upgrading from PicoScope 5 2 for more details Adding a new probe to your library There are three ways to create a new probe Create a duplicate of an existing probe as described above Click New Probe to define a new probe Click Import to load a probe definition from a psprobe file and add it to your library These files are normally supplied by Pico but you can also create your own by defining a new probe and then clicking Export The second and third methods open the Custom Probe Wizard 33 to guide you through the probe definition process Custom Probe wizard The Custom probe wizard allows you to define custom probes 20 and set up custom ranges ES Custom Probe Wizard The first dialog in the series is either the Create a new Custom Probe dialog 34 or the Edit an existing Custom Probe dialog 35 psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Menus 34 6 5 2 1 Create New Custom Probe dialog This dialog introduces you to the process for creating a new custom probe To open it click t
81. tcuts These can save time on tasks that you repeat often Ctrl C Copy the current view to the Windows clipboard You can then switch to another application and paste the contents of the clipboard as a picture The method for doing this varies but many applications use the Ctrl V key or a Paste button Ctrl D Hand tool Use to pan the waveform when zoomed in Equivalent to the Hand tool button on the Zooming and Scrolling toolbar 6867 Ctrl Zoom in tool Click on the waveform to zoom in Equivalent to the Zoom in tool button on the Zooming and Scrolling toolbar ss Ctri M Marquee zoom tool Click on the waveform and drag to draw a box a marquee and PicoScope will zoom in to make the box fill the view Equivalent to the Marquee zoom tool button on the Zooming and Scrolling toolbar s87 Ctri O Zoom out tool Click on the waveform to zoom out ate ees to the Zoom out tool button on the Zooming and Scrolling toolbar 66 Ctrl S Cancels a zoom or pan mode and restores the pointer to a standard or selection tool Equivalent to the Normal selection tool button on the Esc Zooming and Scrolling toolbar s6 Ctrl U Zoom to 100 scale Restores a view to its normal state Equivalent to the Zoom to 100 scale button on the Zooming and Scrolling toolbar 66 Space bar Starts and stops the scope device 9 6 Glossary AC coupling In this mode the scope device rejects very low signal frequencies below a few hertz This allows
82. tion to PicoScope we suggest that you start with these topics Using PicoScope for the first time 8 Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en PicoScope 6 User s Guide 3 4 System requirements To ensure that PicoScope operates correctly you must have a computer with at least the minimum system requirements to run one of the supported operating systems as Shown in the following table The performance of the oscilloscope will increase with more powerful PCs including those with multi core processors item Absolute Recommended Recommended minimum minimum full specification Operating system Windows XP SP2 Windows Vista Processor 300 MHz 1 GHz Memory As required 256 MB 512 MB by Windows Free disk space 1 GB 2 GB See note 1 Ports USB 1 1 compliant port USB 2 0 compliant port Note 1 The PicoScope software does not use all the disk space specified in the table The free space is required to make Windows run efficiently psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Using PicoScope for the first time 8 4 Using PicoScope for the first time We have designed PicoScope to be as easy as possible to use even for newcomers to oscilloscopes Once you have followed the introductory steps listed below we hope that you will soon become a PicoScope expert Install the software Load the CD ROM that is included w
83. tisfied with the performance of this software please contact our technical support staff who will try to fix the problem within a reasonable time If you are still dissatisfied please return the product and software to your supplier within 14 days of purchase for a full refund Upgrades We provide upgrades free of charge from our web site at www picotech com We reserve the right to charge for updates or replacements sent out on physical media Trademarks Windows Is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation Pico Technology Limited and PicoScope are internationally registered trade marks psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Introduction 6 3 2 Contact information Address Pico Technology Limited The Mill House Cambridge Street St Neots Cambridgeshire PE19 1QB United Kingdom Phone 44 0 1480 396395 Fax 44 0 1480 396296 Office hours 09 00 to 17 00 Mon Fri Technical support email support picotech com Sales email sales picotech com Web site www picotech com 3 3 How to use this manual If you are using a PDF viewer to read this manual you can turn the pages of the manual as if it were a book using the back and forward buttons in your viewer These buttons should look something like this q back H forward You can also print the entire manual for reading away from your computer Look for a print button similar to this i print For your first introduc
84. tools for panning and zooming New features e The latest Windows NET technology helps us get new features to you quicker e Custom probes 32 manager to make it easy for you to use your own probes and sensors with PicoScope e Multiple views of the same data with individual zoom and pan settings for each view e Advanced triggering conditions s2 e Properties sheet 15 displaying all settings at a glance See the Release Notes s for more details Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en PicoScope 6 User s Guide 2 1 Release Notes Release 6 0 10 June 2007 New channel scaling 51 feature Hysteresis added to advanced triggering New binary file formats 25 for exported data Logic trigger now has edge triggering Full range of devices now available in Demonstration mode New 200 second per division timebase added Release 6 0 9 May 2007 Improvements to advanced triggering Release 6 0 8 May 2007 New Advanced Triggering conditions so Simplified Startup Settings menu 27 Release 6 0 7 April 2007 New Spectrum view 14 4 New measurements to A spectrum view 14 New Properties sheet 15 5 New save amp load defaults 27 menu commands Release 6 0 1 Decem ber 2006 New Auto Setup 53 button New support for PicoS Support for PicoScope in scope memory cope
85. top increasing the frequency when it reaches Stop Frequency Frequency Increment In Sweep Mode the generator will increase or decrease the frequency by this amount every Increment Time Interval Increment Time Interval In Sweep Mode the generator will increase or decrease the frequency by Frequency Increment once every time interval of this duration Click the Signal Generator button s6 on the toolbar psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Toolbars 58 7 5 2 Arbitrary waveform files Some PicoScope PC Oscilloscopes such as the PicoScope 5203 and PicoScope 5204 have an arbitrary waveform generator 81 AWG PicoScope can program this with a Standard waveform such as a sine or a square wave or can import an arbitrary waveform from a text file A text file for PicoScope 6 is a simple list of decimal floating point values as in this example 0 0 m i0 0 3 y 0 9 O6 0 6 O 4 0 6 02 Ged gt og ate DA Dia 0 40 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 01 02 03 04 05 06 OF 0 6 0 0 Ms The file may have between 10 and 8 192 values as many it needs to define the waveform Each line may have more than one value in which case the values must be separated by tabs or commas The values are samples between 1 0 and 1 0 and must be equally spaced in time The output is scaled to the amplitude selected in the Signal Generator dialog 56 and the selected offset is added if necessary For
86. up dialog 407 Edit Range Standard Options Recommended Automatically select the hardware input r range for the range limits specity below Cancel Use this hard Input Use this hardware input range Help Scaled range limits Min 5 A 37 Scaled Range 63 rr Input Range Automatic mode If you leave the Automatic radio button pressed the program will automatically determine the best hardware input range for the device as you change the Scaled range limits This is the best mode to use for almost all ranges You should set the Scaled range limits to the maximum and minimum values you wish to see on the vertical axis of the scope display Fixed range mode If you press the Hardware input range radio button and select a hardware input range from the drop down box PicoScope will then use that hardware input range whatever scaled range limits you choose Set the upper and lower scaled range limits to the limits you wish to appear at the top and bottom of the vertical axis in PicoScope s scope view 137 What is an input range An input range is the signal range usually in volts on the input channel of the scope device 82 Your scaled range should match this as closely as possible to make the most of the scope s resolution What is a scaled range The scaled range is the range that will appear on the vertical axis of the scope display when the probe is selected The scaling t
87. uted spectrum creating unwanted artefacts such as ripple and gain errors To reduce these artefacts the signal can be smoothed so it tapers off to zero at the start and end of the block A number of different types of smoothing called window functions can be applied depending on the type of signal and the purpose of the measurement The rectangular window is simply the unsmoothed truncated version of the data The Window Functions control in the Spectrum Options dialog 54 lets you select one of the standard window functions for spectrum analysis The following table shows some of the figures of merit used to compare window functions Window Main peak Highest Side lobe Notes width bins side lobe roll off 3 dB dB dB octave Blackman 1 68 58 18 often used for audio work Gaussian 1 33 to 1 79 42to 69 6 gives minimal time and frequency errors Triangular 1 28 27 12 also called Bartlett window Hamming 1 30 41 9 6 also called raised sine squared used in speech analysis Hann 1 20 to 1 86 23 to 47 112 to 30 also called sine squared used for audio amp vibration Blackman Harris 1 90 92 6 general purpose Flat top 2 94 44 6 negligible pass band ripple used mainly for calibration Rectangular 0 89 13 2 6 maximal sharpness used for short transients Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 79 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 9 3 Trigger timing part 1 The pre trigger time
88. which allows you to save the settings and waveforms for all views in various formats Save Current Waveform As Opens the Save As dialog 23 which allows you to save the settings and waveforms for all views in various formats Startup Settings Opens the Startup Settings dialog 27 Print Preview Opens the Print Preview window which allows you to see how your workspace will be printed when you select the Print command Print Opens a standard Windows Print dialog which allows you to choose a printer set printing options and then print the selected view Exit Close PicoScope without saving any data Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 23 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 6 1 1 Save As dialog The Save As dialog allows you to save your waveforms and settings to a file in various formats To open it go to the File menu 22 and click Save As Save As dh 4x4qrid psdata Ls 46 0 6 2 half trace psdata Desktop Uh five windows psdata My scope spec psdata il sine square psdata 7 4 triangle ramp psdata Mu Document Ny x psdata My Pictures Dave as type Data files pedatal we Data files pedatal Settings files pssethings CSW Comma delimited tiles cs Text Tab delimited files txt Bitmap images brmp GIF images ait PNG images prng Matlab 4 files Type your chosen file name in the File
89. wise with PicoScope stopped the Stop ss button pressed in the view represents data stored in the currently selected page of the waveform buffer When PicoScope is stopped you can use the buffer controls 50 to scroll through the buffer and the spectrum view will be recalculated from the waveform currently selected Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 75 PicoScope 6 User s Guide 9 1 9 1 1 Reference This is where you can find detailed information on the operation of PicoScope Measurement types 75 Measurement types The Edit Measurement dialog 31 allows you to select one of a range of measurements that PicoScope can calculate for the selected view The list of measurements available depends on whether the view is a scope view 131 see scope measurements 75 or a spectrum view 14 see spectrum measurements 76 Scope measurements AC RMS Cycle Time DC Average Duty Cycle Falling Rate Fall Time Frequency High Pulse Width Low Pulse Width Maximum Minimum Peak To Peak Rise Time Rising Rate The root mean square RMS value of the AC component of the waveform This measurement subtracts any DC offset from the waveform It is equivalent to a ripple measurement PicoScope will attempt to find a repeated pattern in the waveform and measure the duration of one cycle The mean va
90. xpect this to be a large number Name length The Name length is the length of the name of the variable as a null terminated l byte per character ASCII string The last null terminating character O is included in the Name length so if the variable name is TStart same as TStart 0 then the name length will be 7 gt The data block The data block begins with the name of the variable such as A Tinterval and you Should read in the number of bytes described by the Name length part of the header not forgetting that the last byte in the string is O if your programming language needs to take account of this The remaining part of the data block is the actual data itself so read in the number of values described in the Number of values part of the header Remember to take account of the size of each value as described in the Data format part of the header Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved psw en 27 PicoScope 6 User s Guide Channel data such as voltages in variables such as A and B are stored as 32 bit Single precision floating point data types Times such as Tstart Tinterval and T are stored as 64 bit double precision floating point data types Tlength is stored as a 32 bit integer 6 1 2 Startup Settings menu The Startup Settings menu allows you to load save and restore the PicoScope 6 startup settings To open it go to t
91. you to use the full resolution of the scope to measure a c signals accurately ignoring any d c offset You cannot measure the signal level with respect to ground in this mode AWG An arbitrary waveform generator AWG is a circuit that can generate a waveform of almost any shape It is programmed with a data file supplied by the user which defines the output voltage at a number of equally spaced points in time The circuit uses this data to reconstruct the waveform with a specified amplitude and frequency Channel A scope device has one or more channels each of which can sample one Signal High speed scope devices typically have one BNC connector per channel psw en Copyright 2007 Pico Technology Limited All rights reserved Reference 82 DC coupling In this mode the scope device measures the signal level relative to signal ground This shows maximum information about the signal including d c and a c components ETS Equivalent Time Sampling A method of increasing the effective sampling rate of the scope by processing multiple captures in software In a scope view the program captures several cycles of a repetitive signal then combines the results to produce a single waveform with higher time resolution than a single capture For accurate results the signal must be perfectly repetitive and the trigger must be stable Graticule The pattern of broken grey lines in every view These help you estimate th

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