Digital Storage Oscilloscopes
Choosing a Digital Oscilloscope
The Big Three: BANDWIDTH-SAMPLE RATE-MEMORY DEPTH
The three most important specifications to consider when purchasing a digital storage oscilloscope.
1: Bandwidth:
All oscilloscopes include a low pass frequency response which will roll off at higher frequencies. The bandwidth of an oscilloscope may be defined as being the frequency at which a sinusoidal input is attenuated to 70% of the signals actual amplitude-the-3 dB point. A digital oscilloscope should have sufficient bandwidth to capture the higher frequency elements of your input signal. This would allow the oscilloscope display to show signal transitions accurately. Since the edge speed ( also known as the rise time) of a digital signal can carry much higher frequency components that its repetition rate may imply, the user should choose a bandwidth greater than the 5th harmonic of the signal being measured to insure minimal measurement error.
2: Sample Rate:
Today, it is quite normal to find digital oscilloscopes with real time sampling rates of 1.0 GS/s. This is considered a very fast sample rate yet many models are still produced with half of this sampling rate. The speed that your oscilloscope samples will be reflected in the quality of the displayed waveform. Greater sampling speed results in greater resolution and detail of the waveform. When selecting your oscilloscope look for the real time sampling rate. So called “equivilent sampling rate” specifications are frequently misleading and are essentially useless in determining what your sampling rate will be. Look at the real time sampling rate
3:Memory Depth ( Record Length )
This refers to the number of samples that a digital storage oscilloscope can digitize and store in a single waveform acquisition. Since the amount of samples being stored is finite, the waveform duration or length of time captured is going to be inversely proportional to the digital oscilloscopes sample rate. A deeper record length allows for a longer time window to be captured with higher resolution than an oscilloscope with less memory depth. Look carefully at this capability when choosing a digital oscilloscope. 1M points of memory depth is recommended. Be careful as this specification is often overlooked and some high cost oscilloscopes can be found with much less memory depth
Certainly there are other features that someone may wish to consider. The size of the display, the available triggers, waveform search tools, automated measurements etc. But the three characteristics described above are the most critical to consider.
With a number of oscilloscopes to choose from it is important to take the time to browse through the assorted inventory. Each device offers different functionality and characteristics. Circuit Specialists carries a number of assorted test instruments from digital multimeters to frequency counters.
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