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4.6 Controlling and Storing Traces and Images
This menu group controls the traces that appear on the screen (as well as the markers that are
used for measurement).
There are three traces: Live (green), View (white) and Reference (purple). Only the Live trace
is updated from the sweep. The View trace is a temporary copy of the live trace created
whenever the View key is pressed. The reference trace is recalled from a trace file stored
within the instrument. Trace files can be saved from either the live trace or the view trace.
Complete images of the screen can also be saved.
4.6.1 Displaying Traces; Controlling the View Trace
enables each of the three trace types to be turned on or off, controls the View trace,
and enables traces and screen images to be stored and recalled. Creates a set of
bottom-row function keys as follows:
enables each of the three trace types to be turned on or off via a pop-up menu.
copies the current Live trace to the View trace, and turns the View trace on if it was
off. The View trace sits behind the live trace and can therefore be partly obscured
by it
.
toggles the View trace off, or back on without creating a new View (this is a shortcut
to the function provided by the pop-up menu on the Show Traces key).
halts the live trace and swaps the order of the traces on the screen. Thus the View
trace (white) sits in front of the halted live trace enabling it to be observed and
analyzed using the markers. When the sweep is restarted with the Sweep Control
key, the traces are swapped back so that the Live trace sits in front again.
4.6.1.1 Understanding the Live, View and Reference Traces
The instrument can display three traces - Live, View and Reference which can be turned on or
off individually using the Show key. Only the Live trace is updated from the sweep.
The Live trace is green and is normally on-top of the other traces. The Live trace can be
“frozen” at any time by pressing the Sweep Control key directly under the graticule (see section
3.4) or the hard key marked Run/Stop. This also stops the sweep.
The Live trace can be duplicated to the View trace by pressing View. This enables an
“instance” of the sweep to be captured without stopping the sweep. The View trace is white
and is normally located behind the Live trace. The View trace is retained when the instrument
is turned off.
The measurement markers normally operate on the Live trace. However, the Live and View
traces can be “swapped” by pressing the Swap key. This stops the sweep and causes the View
trace to be placed in front of the Live trace. When the traces are swapped, the measurement
markers operate on the View trace.
Traces
Control
Trace
Mode
Traces
Stores
Marker
Setup
Marker
Control
Traces/
Markers
Traces
Control
Show
Traces
View
Swap
View
Off/On