Output Configuration
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Frequency Limitations: Changing functions may change the frequency to meet the new function's frequency lim-
its.
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Burst Limitation: For internally-triggered bursts, the minimum frequency is 126 µHz.
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Duty Cycle Limitations: For Square and Pulse, Duty Cycle is limited by the 16-ns minimum pulse width spec-
ification. For example, at 1 kHz, Duty Cycle may be set as low as 0.01%, because that would result in a pulse width
of 100 ns. At 1 MHz, the minimum Duty Cycle is 1.6%, and at 10 MHz it is 16%. Changing to a frequency that can-
not produce the current duty cycle will adjust the duty cycle to meet the minimum pulse width specification.
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Front Panel:
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You can also toggle to the setting to Period.
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SCPI:
The
command configures a waveform with one command.
Output Amplitude
The default amplitude is 100 mVpp (into 50 Ω) for all functions.
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Offset Voltage Limitations: The relationship between amplitude and offset is shown below. Vmax is ±5 V for a 50 Ω
load or ±10 V for a high-impedance load).
Vpp < 2(Vmax – |Voffset|)
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Limits Due to Output Termination: If the amplitude is 10 Vpp and you change the output termination setting from
50 Ω to "high impedance" (
), the displayed amplitude doubles to 20 Vpp. Changing from
"high impedance" to 50 Ω halves the displayed amplitude. The output termination setting does not affect the
actual output voltage; it only changes the values displayed and queried from the remote interface. Actual output
voltage depends on the connected load.
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Limits Due to Units Selection:
Amplitude limits are sometimes determined by the output units selected. This may
occur when the units are Vrms or dBm due to the differences in various functions' crest factors. For example, if
you change a 5 Vrms square wave (into 50 Ω) to a sine wave, the instrument will adjust the amplitude to 3.536
Vrms (the upper limit for sine in Vrms). The remote interface will also generate a "Settings conflict" error.
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You can set the output amplitude in Vpp, Vrms, or dBm. You cannot specify output amplitude in dBm if output ter-
mination is set to high impedance. See
for details.
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Arbitrary Waveform Limitations:
For arbitrary waveforms, amplitude is limited if the waveform data points do not
span the full range of the output DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter). For example, the built-in "Sinc" waveform
does not use the full range of values between ±1, so its maximum amplitude is limited to 6.087 Vpp (into 50 Ω).
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Changing amplitude may briefly disrupt output at certain voltages due to output attenuator switching. The ampli-
tude is controlled, however, so the output voltage will never exceed the current setting while switching ranges. To
prevent this disruption, disable voltage autoranging using
. The
command auto-
matically enables autoranging.
58
Agilent 33500 Series Operating and Service Guide
