General
Initial Operation
This section is a general introduction to the organisation of the instrument and is intended to be
read before using the generator for the first time. Detailed operation is covered in later sections
starting with Standard Waveform Operation.
In this manual front panel keys and sockets are shown in capitals, e.g. CREATE, SYNC OUT; all
soft-key labels, entry fields and messages displayed on the LCD are shown in a different type-
font, e.g.
STANDARD WAVEFORMS
,
sine
.
Switching On
The power switch is located at the bottom left of the front panel.
At power up the generator displays the installed software revision whilst loading its waveform
RAM; if an error is encountered the message
SYSTEM RAM ERROR, CHECK BATTERY
will be
displayed, see the Warnings and Error Messages section.
Loading takes a few seconds, after which the STATUS screen is displayed, showing the
generator parameters set to their default values, with the MAIN OUT set off. Refer to the Utility
screen section for how to change the power up settings to either those at power down or to any
one of the stored settings. Recall the STATUS screen at any time with the STATUS key; a second
press returns the display to the previous screen.
Change the basic generator parameters as described in the Standard Waveform Operation
section and switch the output on with the MAIN OUT key; the ON lamp will light to show that
output is on.
Display Contrast
All parameter settings are displayed on the 20 character x 4 row backlit liquid crystal display
(LCD). The contrast may vary a little with changes of ambient temperature or viewing angle but
can be optimised for a particular environment by using the front panel contrast control. Insert a
small screwdriver or trimmer tool through the adjustment aperture marked LCD and rotate the
control for optimum contrast.
Keyboard
Pressing the front panel keys displays screens which list parameters or choices relative to the
key pressed. Selections are then made using the display soft-keys and numeric values are
changed using the numeric keys or rotary control, see the Principles of Editing section.
The keys are grouped as follows:
•
WAVE SELECT keys call screens from which all standard or already defined arbitrary
waveforms can be selected and from which sweep parameters can be set.
•
WAVE EDIT keys call screens from which arbitrary waveforms can be created and modified
and output filter selected.
•
FREQuency, AMPLitude, OFFSET and MODE keys display screens which permit their
respective parameters to be edited either from the numeric keypad or using the rotary
control/cursor keys.
•
NUMERIC keys permit direct entry of a value for the parameter currently selected. Values are
accepted in three formats: integer (20), floating point (20·0) and exponential (2 exp 1). For
example, to set a new frequency of 50kHz press FREQ followed by 50000 ENTER or
5 EXP 4
ENTER. ENTER confirms the numeric entry and changes the generator setting to
the new value.
CE (Clear Entry) undoes a numeric entry digit by digit. ESCAPE returns a setting being edited
to its last value.
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