Pico Macom PSW044 User Manual

PicoScope 6.0 PC Oscilloscope Software

User Guide

PSW044-2.0

PicoScope 6 User GuideI

Table of Contents

1 Welcome

2 Version 6.0 update

3 Introduction

4 Using PicoScope for the first time

5 PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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1 Legal statement 2 Contact information 3 How to use this manual 4 System requirements

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1 Oscilloscope basics 2 PCO basics 3 PicoScope basics 4 Capture window 5 Custom probes 6 Frequency legend 7 Measurements table 8 Oversampling 9 Post-trigger arrow 10 Ruler legend 11 Scope view 12 Cursor position tool tip 13 Time rulers 14 Trigger marker 15 Signal rulers 16 Windows, views and viewports

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6 Menus

7 Toolbars

PSW044-2.0

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1 File menu 2 Edit menu 3 Help menu 4 Measurements menu 5 Tools menu 6 Toolbar menu 7 Window menu

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1 Buffer Navigation toolbar 2 Capture Windows toolbar

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Contents

II

8 How to...

9 Reference

3 Channel Setup toolbar 4 Customization dialog 5 Help toolbar 6 Measurements toolbar 7 Scope Setup toolbar 8 Signal Generator toolbar 9 Start / Stop toolbar 10 Triggering toolbar 11 Zooming and Scrolling toolbar 12 Demo Signals toolbar

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1 How to change to a different scope device 2 How to use rulers to measure a signal 3 How to measure a time difference 4 How to move a view

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1 Measurement types 2 Trigger timing (part 1) 3 Trigger timing (part 2) 4 Keyboard shortcuts 5 Glossary

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Index

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PSW044-2.0

1

PicoScope 6 User Guide

1

Welcome

Welcome to PicoScope, the PC Oscilloscope software from Pico Technology Limited. With a scope device from Pico Technology, PicoScope turns your PC into a powerful

PC Oscilloscope with all the features and performance of a bench-top oscilloscope

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at a fraction of the cost.

How to use this manual What's new in this version?

Software version: PicoScope 6.0 beta v0.8.0.0

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Version 6.0 update

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Version 6.0 update

PicoScope 6.0 is a major new release of PicoScope, Pico Technology's software for PC Oscilloscopes.

Higher performance

• Faster capture rates, making it easier to see fast-moving signals

• Faster data processing

• Better support for the latest PicoScope USB oscilloscopes

Improved usability and appearance

• Clearer graphics and text

• Tooltips and help messages to explain all features

• Easy point-and-click tools for panning and zooming

• User-configurable toolbars - you can put all the controls where you want them

New features

• The latest Windows .NET technology helps us get new features to you quicker

• New digital low-pass filtering

• Custom probes manager to make it easy for you to use your own probes and sensors with PicoScope

• Multiple views of the same data, with individual zoom, pan and filter settings for each view

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

3

Introduction

PicoScope is a comprehensive software application for Pico Technology PC Oscilloscopes. Used with a scope device from Pico Technology, it creates a virtual oscilloscope, spectrum analyser and multimeter on your PC.

PicoScope 6.0 supports the following scope devices:

PicoScope 2000 Series PicoScope 3000 Series ADC-212 variants

PicoScope 6.0 runs on any 32-bit computer with Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP. (See

System requirements for further recommendations.)

Legal statement Contact information How to use this manual

How to use PicoScope 6.0

Getting started: see using PicoScope for the first time , and PicoScope's Features.

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For further information: see descriptions of Menus and Toolbars , and the

Reference section.

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For step-by-step tutorials, see the "How to " section.

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60

Introduction

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3.1

Legal statement

The material contained in this release is licensed, not sold. Pico Technology Limited grants a licence to the person who installs this software, subject to the conditions listed below.

Access

The licensee agrees to allow access to this software only to persons who have been informed of these conditions and agree to abide by them.

Usage

The software in this release is for use only with Pico products or with data collected using Pico products.

Copyright

Pico Technology Limited claims the copyright of, and retains the rights to, all material (software, documents etc) contained in this release. You may copy and distribute the entire release in its original state, but must not copy individual items within the release other than for backup purposes.

Liability

Pico Technology and its agents shall not be liable for any loss, damage or injury, howsoever caused, related to the use of Pico Technology equipment or software, unless excluded by statute.

Fitness for purpose

No two applications are the same: Pico Technology cannot guarantee that its equipment or software is suitable for a given application. It is your responsibility, therefore, to ensure that the product is suitable for your application.

Mission-critical applications

This software is intended for use on a computer that may be running other software products. For this reason, one of the conditions of the licence is that it excludes usage in mission-critical applications, for example life-support systems.

Viruses

This software was continuously monitored for viruses during production, but you are responsible for virus-checking the software once it is installed.

Support

If you are dissatisfied with the performance of this software, please contact our technical support staff, who will try to fix the problem within a reasonable time. If you are still dissatisfied, please return the product and software to your supplier within 14 days of purchase for a full refund.

Upgrades

We provide upgrades, free of charge, from our web site at www.picotech.com. We reserve the right to charge for updates or replacements sent out on physical media.

Trademarks

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Pico Technology Limited and PicoLog are internationally registered trade marks.

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

3.2

3.3

Contact information

Address: Pico Technology Limited

The Mill House Cambridge Street St Neots Cambridgeshire PE19 1QB United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (0)1480 396395 Fax: +44 (0)1480 396296

Office hours: 09:00 to 17:00 Mon-Fri Technical support email: support@picotech.com

Sales email: sales@picotech.com

Web site: www.picotech.com

How to use this manual

You are using a PDF viewer to read this manual. You can turn the pages of the manual as if it were a book, using the back and forward buttons in your viewer. These buttons should look something like this:

3.4

back

forward

You can also print the entire manual for reading away from your computer. Look for a

print button similar to this:

print

For your first introduction to PicoScope, we suggest that you start with these topics:

Using PicoScope for the first time Oscilloscope basics PCO basics PicoScope basics

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System requirements

PicoScope 6.0 runs on any Windows computer with the following specifications.

Operating system Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP

Processor Any 32-bit Intel or Intel-compatible CPU

RAM At least 256 MB

Using PicoScope for the first time

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4

Using PicoScope for the first time

We have designed PicoScope to be as easy as possible to use, even for newcomers to oscilloscopes. Once you have followed the introductory steps listed below, we hope that you will soon become a PicoScope expert.

1. Install the software. Load the CD-ROM that is included with your scope device, then click the "Install Software" link and follow the on-screen instructions.

2. Plug in your scope device. Windows will recognise it and make the necessary changes to allow your computer to work with it. Wait until Windows tells you that the device is ready to use.

3. Click the new PicoScope icon on your Windows desktop.

4. PicoScope will detect your scope device and configure itself, ready to display a waveform. The green Start button will be highlighted to show that PicoScope is ready.

5. Connect a signal to one of the scope device's input channels and see your first waveform!

"It didn't do what I expected!"

Help is at hand! Our technical support staff are always ready to answer your telephone call during office hours (see our Contact Details ). At other times, you can contact our support forum or send us an email.

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

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5.1

PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

This chapter explains the fundamental concepts that you will need to know before working with the PicoScope software. If you have used an oscilloscope before, then most of these ideas will be familiar to you. If not, please take a few minutes to read at least the "Oscilloscope basics " and "PicoScope basics " topics, and then return here to read the more detailed topics in this chapter when you need them.

Oscilloscope basics

An oscilloscope is a measuring instrument that displays a graph of voltage against time. For example, the picture below shows a typical display on an oscilloscope screen when a varying voltage is connected to one of its input channels.

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Oscilloscope displays are always read from left to right. The blue line, called the "trace", begins at point A, where the voltage is 0.0 volts. At point B, 0.25 milliseconds later, the voltage has risen to its positive peak of 0.8 volts. At point C, 0.75 milliseconds after the start, the voltage has dropped to its negative peak of -0.8 volts. After 1 millisecond, the voltage has risen back to 0.0 volts and a new cycle is about to begin. This type of signal is called a sine wave, and is one of a huge number of signal types that you will encounter.

All oscilloscopes allow you to adjust the vertical and horizontal scales of the display. The vertical scale is called the voltage range (in the most common case, when the signal is measured in volts). The horizontal scale is called the time base and is measured in seconds or, as in this example, fractions of a second.

PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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5.2

5.3

PCO basics

A PC Oscilloscope (PCO) is an oscilloscope that consists of a scope device and a PC running a special software program. Oscilloscopes were introduced long before digital computers existed, and were self-contained electronic instruments with limited abilities. Later, oscilloscopes began to use the new digital technology to introduce more functions, but they remained highly specialised and expensive instruments. PC Oscilloscopes are the latest step in the evolution of oscilloscopes, combining the measuring power of Pico Technology's scope devices with the convenience of the PC that's already on your desk.

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+ =

PC scope device PCO

PicoScope basics

PicoScope can simple waveforms such as the example we saw in the "Oscilloscope

basics " topic, but also has many advanced features. The screen shot below shows

the main window of PicoScope, which in this case contains two capture windows . Click on any of the underlined labels to learn more. Also, please see "Windows, views

and viewports" for an explanation of these important concepts.

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

5.4

Capture window

A capture window shows a block of data captured from a single scope device . When you first open a capture window it contains one scope view , but you can add

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more views by clicking Add view in the Views menu. The screen shot below shows all the main features of a capture window. Click on the underlined labels for more information.

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To open a new capture window

Click the capture window button in the capture window toolbar , or select the Create New Scope Window command in the File menu. PicoScope can

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display many capture windows, but only one window can be "in focus " at any time.

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Any commands you issue — by clicking on buttons, for example — will affect only this window. To bring a window into focus, just click on it.

To arrange the scope views within the capture window

If the capture window contains more than one scope view , then PicoScope will

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arrange them in a grid. This is laid out automatically, but you can customize it if you wish. Each location in the grid is called a viewport . You can move a view to a different viewport by dragging its name tab (show me ), but you cannot move it

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outside the capture window that it belongs to. You can also put more than one view in a viewport, by dragging a view and dropping it on top of another.

For further options, right-click on a view to obtain the View menu, or select View from the Menu bar , then select one of the menu options to arrange the views.

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PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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5.5

5.6

Custom probes

A probe is any connector, transducer or measuring device that you connect to the input channel of your scope device . PicoScope has a built-in library of common

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probe types, such as the x1 and x10 voltage probes used with most oscilloscopes, but if your probe is not included in this list you can use the Custom Probes dialog to

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define a new one. Custom probes can have any voltage range within the capabilities of the oscilloscope, display in any units, and have either linear or nonlinear characteristics.

Custom probe definitions are particularly useful when you wish to display the probe's output in units other than volts, or to apply linear or nonlinear corrections to the data.

Frequency legend

The frequency legend appears when you have placed two time rulers on a scope

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view . It shows 1/D in hertz, where D is the time difference between the two rulers.

You can use this to estimate the frequency of a periodic waveform, but you will get more accurate results by creating a frequency measurement using the Add Measurements button on the Measurements toolbar .

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

5.7

Measurements table

A measurements table contains the automatic measurements that you have instructed PicoScope to make on a particular view. You can add, delete or edit measurements from this table.

To add a measurement

Click the Add Measurement button on the measurements toolbar . To delete a measurement

Select a measurement in the table by clicking once on it, and then click the Delete Measurement button on the measurements toolbar . If you delete the only

measurement in the table, the table will be removed.

To edit a measurement

If the measurement you wish to edit is selected, click the Edit Measurement button on the measurements toolbar . Otherwise, double-click on the

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measurement.

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To change the width of a measurement column

Drag the column's border to create the column width you need. The cursor will change to a column resize symbol as shown here.

PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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5.8

Oversampling

Oversampling is a technique of capturing samples n times faster than the requested sampling rate, then replacing each group of n adjacent samples with the average of that group. If the signal contains a small amount of noise, the result of oversampling is a waveform with increased effective resolution. The amount of oversampling available depends on how fast your scope device can sample.

Procedure

First make sure that the Oversampling control is displayed on the Scope Setup

toolbar . If it is not, add this control to the toolbar as explained in the "Toolbars

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" topic. Use the Oversampling control to adjust the oversampling factor (n). PicoScope allows oversampling factors in the range 1 (no oversampling) to 256.

How to choose the oversampling factor

To obtain an increase in effective resolution of n bits, you should choose an oversampling factor of 4n. Conversely, an oversampling factor of f will give an increase in effective resolution of log(f) / n log(4).

For example, if a scope device has a stated resolution of 8 bits, then an oversampling factor of 4 will, under ideal conditions, increase this to 9 bits. An oversampling factor of 16 will increase the effective resolution to 10 bits, and a factor of 256 will increase it to 12 bits.

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These calculations assume that the noise is Gaussian (follows a normal distribution). This is approximately true for noise from natural sources, such as thermal noise in resistors and sensors, but not be true for man-made noise such as radio interference and mains (line) hum. The scope device itself often produces enough low-amplitude noise to make oversampling successful.

The benefit of oversampling comes at the cost of having to increase the sampling rate. If your scope device is already running at its maximum sampling rate in order to capture high-frequency details in the signal, then it will not be able to oversample.

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

5.9

Post-trigger arrow

The post-trigger arrow appears temporarily while you are setting up a post-trigger delay, or dragging the trigger marker after setting up a post-trigger delay. (What is a

post-trigger delay? )

The left-hand end of the arrow indicates the trigger point, and is aligned with zero on the time axis. If zero on the time axis is outside the scope view, then the left-hand end of the post-trigger arrow appears like this:

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5.10

The right-hand end of the arrow (temporarily replacing the trigger marker )

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indicates the trigger reference point. Use the buttons on the Triggering toolbar to set up a post-trigger delay.

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Ruler legend

The ruler legend displays the positions of all the rulers you have placed on the

scope view . It appears automatically whenever there is a ruler on the screen.

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For a reminder of which row refers to which signal, point using the mouse to one of the colour-coded boxes in the left-hand margin and a label will appear, like this:

.

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You can drag the legend around the scope view, resize it by dragging one of its edges, or minimise it by clicking the minimise button in the top right-hand corner.

See also: frequency legend (which shows 1/D, where D is the time difference).

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PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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5.11

Scope view

A scope view is one view of the data belonging to a capture window . Each capture window opens with a single view, but you can add more views by using the views menu. Similar to the screen of a conventional oscilloscope, a scope view shows you one or more waveforms with a common time axis. A waveform is a diagram of signal level on a vertical axis plotted against time on the horizontal axis. Each view can have as many waveforms as the scope device has channels. Click on one of the labels below to learn more about a feature.

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5.12

Cursor position tool tip

The cursor position tool tip is a box that displays the signal and time values at the cursor. It appears temporarily when you click the background of a scope view .

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

5.13

Time rulers

The time rulers measure time on a scope view or frequency on a spectrum view (if available).

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In the scope view above, the two white squares on the time axis are the time ruler

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handles. You can drag these from the bottom left corner to the positions on the time axis you want to measure. The two vertical dashed lines are the time rulers.

Ruler tool tip

If you point to one of the rulers, as we have done in the example above, PicoScope displays a tool tip with the ruler number and the time value of the ruler.

Ruler legend

The table at the top of the view is the ruler legend. In this example, the table shows that time ruler 1 is at 148.0 microseconds, ruler 2 is at 349.0 microseconds and the difference between them is 201.0 microseconds.

Frequency legend

The frequency legend in the bottom right-hand corner shows 1/D, where D is the time difference between the two rulers. 1/D is 4.975 kilohertz in this example. The accuracy of this calculation depends on the accuracy with which you have positioned the time rulers. For greater accuracy with periodic signals, use the frequency

measurement function built in to PicoScope.

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PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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5.14

Trigger marker

The trigger marker shows the level and timing of the trigger point.

The height of the marker on the Y axis shows the level at which the trigger is set, and its position on the X axis shows the time at which it occurs.

You can move the trigger marker by dragging it with the mouse or, for numerical control, use the buttons on the Triggering toolbar .

In post-trigger delay mode, the trigger marker is temporarily replaced by the post-

trigger arrow while you adjust the post-trigger delay.

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

5.15

Signal rulers

The signal rulers are to help you measure signal levels with respect to ground, or signal differences, on a scope view .

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In the scope view above, the two coloured squares to the left of the vertical axis

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are the ruler drag-handles. You can drag these from the top-left corner to the positions you want to measure on the waveform. The two horizontal dashed lines are the signal rulers.

Ruler legend

The table at the top of the view is the ruler legend. In this example, the table shows that ruler 1 is at 807 millivolts, ruler 2 is at -811.0 millivolts and the difference between them is -1.618 volts. If you prefer to see the difference as a positive value, swap the positions of the two rulers by dragging them.

Ruler tooltip

If you move the mouse pointer over one of the rulers, PicoScope displays a tooltip

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with the ruler number and the signal level of the ruler. You can see an example of this in the picture above.

PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

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5.16

Windows, views and viewports

PicoScope's display area contains one or more capture windows . Each one corresponds to a block of data captured from a scope device . The simplest case is a single scope device that produces a single capture, with the result shown in a single capture window.

A capture window contains one or more views . When you first open a capture window, it contains a single view. You can zoom and pan this to show various

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different waveforms based on the data that the scope device captured. If you wish, you can add more views to a capture window (how?). Each view is a differently zoomed and panned section of the same capture.

Multiple views in a capture window are always arranged in a grid. Each location in the grid is called a viewport, and can be empty or occupied by one or more views.

Upgrading from PicoScope 5

PicoScope 5 allowed you to have multiple scope views. PicoScope 6.0 retains this ability, although it calls them capture windows. The views feature is new to

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PicoScope 6.0.

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PicoScope 6 User Guide

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Menus

Menus are the quickest way to get to PicoScope's main features. The Menu bar is always present at the top of the PicoScope main window, just below the window's title bar. You can click any of the menu items, or press the Alt key and then navigate to the menu using the cursor keys, or press the Alt key followed by the underlined letter in one of the menu items.

The list of items in the menu bar may vary depending on the windows that you have open within PicoScope.

Menus

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6.1

File menu

Click File on the Menu bar .

Create New Scope Window. This command is equivalent to the New Capture Window button on the Capture Windows toolbar . If PicoScope

has not yet found a scope device, it will first open the Open Device dialog to ask you which scope device to use; otherwise, it will assume that you wish to use the same scope device as was used for the previous capture window. PicoScope will then open a new capture window for the chosen scope device, and will fill the window with a new scope view . You can open up to five capture windows.

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Open. Allows you to select the file you want to open. PicoScope can open

psdata

and

settings, and

files, which contain both waveform data and scope device

*.psd

*.pssettings

and

*.pss

files, which contain only scope device

*.

settings. You can create your own files using the Save and Save As... commands, described below. If the file was saved using a different scope device from the one that is presently connected, PicoScope may need to modify the saved settings to suit the present device.

Opening a new file will close any capture windows that are currently open. Merge. Opens a settings or waveforms file without closing any that are

currently open. You cannot exceed a total of ten capture windows. Save As. Opens the Save As dialog , which allows you to save the settings

and waveforms for all capture windows in various formats.

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Save Default Settings. Saves the current settings so that they become the defaults. The new default settings will then be loaded the next time you start PicoScope.

Print Preview. Opens the Print Preview window, which allows you to see how your workspace will be printed when you select the Print command.

Print. Opens a standard Windows Print dialog, which allows you to choose a printer, set printing options and then print the selected view.

Exit. Close PicoScope without saving any data.

Pico Macom PSW044 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Welcome

Version 6.0 update

Introduction

Legal statement

Contact information

How to use this manual

System requirements

Using PicoScope for the first time

PicoScope and oscilloscope primer

Oscilloscope basics

PCO basics

PicoScope basics

Capture window

Custom probes

Frequency legend

Measurements table

Oversampling

Post-trigger arrow

Ruler legend

Scope view

Cursor position tool tip

Time rulers

Trigger marker

Signal rulers

Windows, views and viewports

Menus

File menu