Oscilloscope technology has evolved from electromechanical assistance for hand-plotting to the development of full-featured automated digital instruments. The oscilloscope is an invaluable instrument that provides engineers with a picture of how signals inside their circuits behave. Today, they have evolved from analog versions, where the only option for long-term storage was to take a Polaroid […]
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Four-channel USB oscilloscopes sample at 5 GS/sec
The PicoScope 3000E series has models with analog bandwidths of 350 MHz and 500 MHz. Hitting the “sweet spot” for analog bandwidth, the 3000E Series — 500 MHz (3418E) and 350 MHz (3417E) — USB oscilloscopes from Pico Technology fill a gap in the company’s oscilloscope offerings in terms of bandwidth. Both models feature four […]
What hardware accessories can you attach to a USB oscilloscope?
A wide range of hardware accessories are available for USB oscilloscopes. This FAQ reviews a few of the more popular options including a variety of probes plus wireless synchronization of multiple USB oscilloscopes and chassis that can combine and synchronize USB oscilloscopes with other instruments like arbitrary waveform generators and multimeters. Probes and more probes […]
What are the important specifications of USB oscilloscopes: Part 2?
USB oscilloscopes can be highly useful design, development, and testing tools. Like many tools, they need to be optimized for specific use cases. This second FAQ looks at specifications for triggering, input ranges and probes, zooming, and control software. Part 1 considered specifications for the number and types of channels, bandwidth, sample rate, refresh rate, […]
What specialist software is available for USB oscilloscopes? part 2
This FAQ looks at software that can synchronize multiple oscilloscopes, perform mathematical functions, and transform a basic USB oscilloscope into multiple instruments. A USB oscilloscope consists of signal capture and conditioning electronics, a personal computer (PC) that can be a laptop, tablet, or desktop, plus PC software. The availability of application specialist software is a […]
BNC interface lets piezoelectric sensors hook up to data acquisition gear
A new interface allows the use of IEPE sensors on all data acquisition devices with a 1-MΩ BNC interface. The TA487 IEPE Signal Conditioner is a simple adaptor that allows any PicoScope or oscilloscope to capture and measure signals from a large selection of piezo-electric IEPE sensors, such as the Pico Technology TA095 accelerometer. Integrated […]
Applying PC-based test & measurement instruments
For some features, PC-based scopes sport higher performance than similar benchtop instruments. Trevor Smith, Pico Technology The debugging and validation of electronic systems calls for versatile instruments with wide-ranging functions and easy programmability. An engineer working on high-speed logic signals one day might be called upon to run a long-duration soak test the following day […]
PC-based VNAs get automated E-Cal, TRL/TRM calibration
The PicoVNA 108 8.5 GHz analyzer now includes automated E-Cal calibration and TRL/TRM calibration. The PicoVNA 108 achieves calibration automation through either male SMA or female SMA E-Cal modules. These are USB-powered and controlled to electronically select the various short, open, load and through reference standards as they are needed within the calibration process. You […]
PicoScope software adds SMBus and SBS serial decoders
Pico Technology has added another protocol to both PicoScope 6 (Stable) and PicoScope 7 (Early Access) implementations: MIPI I3C Basic specification waveforms can now be decoded, displayed, and analyzed on any PicoScope with sufficient bandwidth and memory depth. I3C is a medium-speed control and data bus interface for connecting peripherals to an application processor in […]
New protocol decoders for PC-based scopes
Four new protocol decoders/analyzers–MIL-STD-1553, CAN J1939, Quadrature encoded and Parallel bus decoders–are included with the latest PicoScope 6 software (6.14.54) for Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems. The same decoders have also been added to PicoScope 7, the next-generation PicoScope user interface. (PicoScope 7 Early Access program gives users access to the software during the […]
