2606B System SourceMeter® Instrument Reference Manual
Section 3: Functions and features
2606B-901-01 Rev. B / May 2018
3-41
Timers
A timer is a trigger object that performs a delay when triggered. Timers can be used to create delays
and to start measurements and step the source value at timed intervals. When a delay expires, the
timer generates a trigger event. The 2606B has eight independent timers available for each module.
Timer attributes
Each timer has attributes that you can configure. These attributes are described in the following
sections.
Count
The count sets the number of events to generate each time the timer generates a trigger event. Each
event is separated by the delay set by the
trigger.timer[
N
].delay
command.
To configure the count, use the command
trigger.timer[
N
].count
Set the count number to 0 (zero) to cause the timer to generate trigger events
indefinitely.
Timer delays
Timers can be configured to perform the same delay each time or configured with a delay list that
allows the timer to sequence through an array of delay values. All delay values are specified in
seconds.
A delay is the period of time after the timer is triggered and before the timer generates a trigger event.
The programming example below illustrates how to configure timer 3 for a 10 s delay:
trigger.timer[3].delay = 10
You can configure a custom delay list to allow the timer to use a different interval each time it
performs a delay. Each time the timer generates a trigger event, it uses the next delay in the list. The
timer repeats the delay list after all of the elements in the delay list have been used. The
programming example below illustrates how to configure timer 3 for delays of 2, 10, 15, and 7 s:
-- Configure timer 3 to complete delays of 2 s, 10 s,
-- 15 s, and 7 s.
trigger.timer[3].delaylist = {2, 10, 15, 7}
Assigning a value to the delay attribute is the same as configuring it with a one-element delay list.
Pass-through mode
When enabled, the timer generates a trigger event immediately when it is triggered. The timer
generates additional trigger events each time a delay expires. If the pass-through attribute is
disabled, the timer does not generate a trigger event until after the first delay elapses. The
programming example below illustrates how to configure timer 3 by enabling pass-through mode:
trigger.timer[3].passthrough = true