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Contacting Tektronix
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14200 SW Karl Braun Drive
P.O. Box 500
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USA
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Table of Contents
General Safety Summaryiii...................................
Review the following safety precautions to avoid injury and prevent damage to
this product or any products connected to it. To avoid potential hazards, use this
product only as specified.
Only qualified personnel should perform service procedures.
While using this product, you may need to access other parts of the system. Read
the General Safety Summary in other system manuals for warnings and cautions
related to operating the system.
ToAvoidFireor
Personal Injury
Connect and Disconnect Properly. Connect the probe output to the measurement
instrument before connecting the probe to the circuit under test. Disconnect the
probe input from the circuit under test before disconnecting the probe from the
measurement instrument.
Observe All Terminal Ratings. To avoid fire or shock hazard, observe all ratings
and markings on the product. Consult the product manual for further ratings
information before making connections to the product.
Do not apply a potential to any terminal, including the common terminal, that
exceeds the maximum rating of that terminal.
Do Not Operat e Without Covers. Do not operate this product with covers or panels
removed.
Avoid Exposed Circuitry. Do not touch exposed connections and components
when power is present.
Do Not Operate With Suspected Failures. If you suspect there is damage to this
product, have it inspected by qualified service personnel.
This section discusses operating considerations and probing techniques. For
more detailed information about differential measurements and common-mode
rejection ratio (CMRR), see the Reference section on page 9.
The P7360 Probe is optimized for high bandwidth; it is not a general purpose
probe. The probe head and tips are miniaturized for electrical characteristics and
access to dense circuitry, and must be handled carefully.
CAUTION. To prevent damage to the probe, use care when handling the probe.
Rough or careless use can damage the probe.
Input Voltage Limits
The P7360 Differential Probe is designed to probe low-voltage circuits. Before
probing a voltage, take into account the limits for maximum input voltage, the
common-mode signal range, and the differential-mode signal range. For specific
limits, refer to page 14.
Maximum Input Voltage
The maximum input voltage is the maximum voltage to ground that the inputs
can withstand without damaging the probe input circuitry.
CAUTION. To avoid damaging the inputs of the P7360 Differential Probe, do not
apply more than ±15 V (DC + peak AC) between each input or between either
probe input and ground.
The operating voltage window defines the maximum voltage that you can apply to
each input, with respect to earth ground, without saturating the probe input circuitry.
See Figure 1. A common-mode voltage that exceeds the operating voltage window
may produce an erroneous output waveform even when the diffe re ntia l-mode
specification is met. For specifications, refer to page 14.
The differential-mode signal range is the maximum voltage difference between
the plus and minus inputs that the probe can accept without distorting the signal.
The distortion from a voltage that is too large can result in a clipped or otherwise
inaccurate measurement. For specifications, refer to page 14.
1.3 V
+4.0 V
5X
25X
Figure 1: Dynamic range
Common-Mode Rejection
The common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) is the ability of a probe to reject
signals that are common to both inputs. More precisely, CMRR is the ratio of the
differential gain to the common-mode gain. The higher the ratio, the greater the
ability to reject common-mode signals. CMRR varies with frequency, usually
decreasing at higher frequencies. F or additional information about CMRR, see
page 15.
Signal fidelity is an indication of how accurately a probe represents the signal
being measured. The signal fidelity of the probe is best when the probe is applied
directly to the circuit with the Short Flex, Small Resistor, Tip-Clip Assembly
shown in Figure 2. This Tip-Clip Assembly achieves high signal fidelity by
minimizing the distance between the probe head and the signal source. This
reduces probe interconnect parasitics which tend to degrade signal fidelity.
However, some probing tasks are made easier using other accessories included
with the probe.
The Tip-Clip specifications starting on page 18 show pulse response illustrations
that give some indication of signal fidelity with different Tip-Clip Assemblies.
Signal fidelity is affected by both the probe interconnect and the speed of the
signal. It is recommended that the longer the Tip-Clip Assembly be used with
somewhat slower speed signals for better signal fidelity.
Theory of Operation
Figure 2: Use the Short Flex, Small Resistor Tip-Clip Assembly
When you connect the probe inputs to a circuit, you are introducing a new
resistance, capacitance, and inductance into the circuit. Each input of the
differential probe has a characteristic input impedance of 50 kΩ to ground.
60 fF
3.12 pF
3.12 pF
60 fF
+
--
Input
Input
38 Ω
38 Ω
37 Ω
20 fF
20 fF
37 Ω
Cpl
Zodd=95
Zeven=190
L=3.7 mm
Kodd ~ Keven ~ 1
140 Ω
50 kΩ
310 Ω
310 Ω
50 kΩ
140 Ω
Figure 3: Typical probe input model
For signals with low source impedance and frequency, the 50 kΩ input impedance on each input is large enough to prevent the inputs from loading the signal
sources. As the signal source impedance on an input increases, the more the
probe loads the source and reduces the signal amplitude. The greater the source
impedances and the higher the signal frequencies, the more you must take these
factors into account. See Figure 3.
The frequency of the signal also affects signal measurement. As the frequency of
the signal increases, the input impedance of the probe decreases. The lower the
impedance of the probe relative to that of the source, the more the probe loads
the circuit under test and reduces the signal amplitude. For a graph of input
impedance versus frequency, refer to Figure 6 on page 15.
The Tip-Clip accessories included with your probe help connect to different
types of components. The Tip-Clip accessories are designed to provide optimum
performance as a system. Each Tip-Clip accessory has distinct characteristics.
While these accessories make connections easier, be aware that the Tip-Clip
accessory you choose affects the signal you are measuring, depending on a
variety of factors, including signal frequency, source impedance, and lead length.
Refer to Specifications on page 13 for more Tip-Clip information.
This section contains important reference information about differential
measurements and how to increase measurement accuracy.
Single-Ended Measurements
A differential probe, for example the P7360 Differential Probe, can be used for
single-ended measurements within the limits of its dynamic and offset voltage
ranges. Single-ended probes such as the P7240 typically have a wider offset
range than corresponding differential probes (see Table 1).
Table 1: Offset ranges
ProbeDC Offset, 5XDynamic
Range, 5X
P7240+/-- 5 V4V
P7360 Differential Probe
+4 V, --3 V1.25 V
PP
PP
DC Offset, 25XDynamic
Range, 25X
-- -- --
+4 V, --3 V5V
-- -- --
PP
Differential probes are ideal for a class of single-ended measurements where the
reference voltage is not ground:
HSSTL_1,2:V
HPECL:V
TT,VREF=VDD
REF=VCC
/2
--1.3
To measure single-ended signals in this class, connect the negative input of the
P7360 Differential Probe to V
REF
.
A differential probe in these applications displays the true signal despite any AC
or DC variation in V
displays the signal plus the variation in V
from its nominal value. While a single-ended probe
REF
.
REF
Differential probes can also be used to make ground referenced single-ended
measurements on either single-ended signals or differential signals like PCI Express or Serial ATA. To measure ground referenced single-ended signals, connect
the negative input of the P7360 Probe to ground.
Single-ended measurement on differential signals are used to measure common
mode voltage and check for differential signal symmetry.