
PicoScope 3000A Series Prog rammer's Guide
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ps3000abpg.en r9
PC Oscilloscope.
A measuring instrument consisting of a Pico Technology scope
device and the PicoScope software. It provides all the functions of a bench-top
oscilloscope without the cost of a display, hard disk, network adapter and other
components that your PC already has.
PicoScope software.
This is a software product that accompanies all our
oscilloscopes. It turns your PC into an oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, and meter
display.
Signal generator.
This is a feature of some oscilloscopes which allows a signal to be
generated without an external input device being present. The signal generator output
is the BNC socket marked
GEN
or
Gen
on the oscilloscope. If you connect a BNC cable
between this and one of the channel inputs, you can send a signal into one of the
channels. It can generate a sine, square or triangle wave that can be swept back and
forth.
Spectrum analyzer.
An instrument that measures the energy content of a signal in
each of a large number of frequency bands. It displays the result as a graph of energy
(on the vertical axis) against frequency (on the horizontal axis). The PicoScope
software includes a spectrum analyzer.
Streaming mode.
A sampling mode in which the oscilloscope samples data and returns
it to the computer in an unbroken stream. This mode of operation is effective when the
input signal being sampled contains only low frequencies.
Timebase.
The timebase controls the time interval across the scope display. There are
ten divisions across the screen and the timebase is specified in units of time per
division, so the total time interval is ten times the timebase.
USB 1.1.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a standard port that enables you to connect
external devices to PCs. A USB 1.1 port supports a data transfer rate of 12 Mbps (12
megabits per second), much faster than an RS-232 port.
USB 2.0.
A USB 2.0 port supports a data transfer rate of 480 Mbps and is backward-
compatible with USB 1.1.
USB 3.0.
A USB 3.0 port supports a data transfer rate of 5 Gbps and is backwards-
compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1.
Vertical resolution.
A value, in bits, indicating the degree of precision with which the
oscilloscope can turn input voltages into digital values. Calculation techniques can
improve the effective resolution.
Voltage range.
The voltage range is the difference between the maximum and
minimum voltages that can be accurately captured by the oscilloscope.