Pico Technology

Here is your monthly Test and Measurement update from Pico Technology.

1.  Tech Tip: Using Scopes as Data Loggers

Even if you don’t own a purpose-built Data Logger, you can still use your Pico PC Oscilloscope with our PicoLog software to log data. Since PicoLog running in real-time continuous mode can log up to 1 million samples direct to the computer’s memory, you are not limited by the scope’s internal record length. For newer scopes, streaming mode lets you log even more samples at up to 1,000 per second. For example, the PicoScope 2104 handheld scope has a record length of 24 k samples, but you can still use it to collect millions of samples with PicoLog. At 1,000 samples per second, a million samples would give you a recording time of over 16 minutes.

• Learn more about PicoLog
• View more technical tips

2.  PicoScope 5000 Series News

The new PicoScope 5000 Series scopes will be on show at SciChem World, the scientific and chemical exhibition at Haydock Park, UK this month. See the 'Exhibitions' section below for details and dates.

The PicoScope 5204 has the world’s fastest sampling rate for a USB PC Oscilloscope: 1 gigasample per second. We haven’t compromised on the other specifications either, giving the scope a huge 128 MB memory and a 250 MHz probe-tip bandwidth.

PicoScope 5000 Series owners: the new PicoScope 6 software is evolving all the time. It’s now at version 6.0.5, which includes lots of bug fixes and improvements.

Features added to PicoScope 6 recently:

• Waveform buffer adjustment. The waveform buffers store recently captured waveforms, which you can revisit by using the 'forward' and 'backward' scroll buttons on the toolbar. Now you can specify the number of waveform buffers PicoScope uses: go to 'Tools / Preferences / General' and enter a number. The software adjusts the size of the buffers to fit the specified number of them in the available memory.
• ETS. PicoScope 6 now supports the ETS (Equivalent Time Sampling) feature of the 5000 Series scopes. This mode combines multiple cycles of a repetitive waveform to give effective sampling rates up to 20 GS/s, twenty times the maximum real-time sampling rate. With ETS, you can select timebases as short as 500 picoseconds per division. To enable ETS, select 'ETS' in the trigger mode control on the triggering toolbar.

Download the latest free update to PicoScope 6

3.  Vista Support

The current software for most of our products works with Windows Vista as long you use Vista’s “Run as administrator” right-click option. Products that are not yet Vista-compatible include the PicoScope 2202, 3223, 3224, 3423 and 3424. Our online help files are not yet Vista-compatible but you can download PDF versions, which are Vista-compatible, from our website.

In the next software release, due this month, all products will be Vista-compatible without needing to be run as administrator. Help files for PicoLog and PicoScope will be compatible, but not EnviroMon and product-specific help, which will be updated in future software releases.

4.  Automotive News

New Product Catalogue

Our first dedicated automotive product catalogue is now available. All our latest products are there, including the award-winning Universal Breakout Leads, Mixmaster ignition signal mixer, coil-on-plug probe, and numerous new software packages and training resources. Request your free copy today using the contact addresses at the end of this newsletter, or download the new product catalogue from our website

New Application Note: One Bit at a Time

Dedicated diagnostician Nick Hibberd of Hibtech has kindly sent us another application story, this time about a vehicle with both a drivability problem and a non-working OBD connector. Could the two problems be linked? Read how Nick tracked down and solved the fault, and learn a lot about OBD signals on the way.

View this and other automotive tutorials

PicoScope Automotive now available in Spanish

We have just finished translating PicoScope Automotive, our PC Oscilloscope Diagnostics software, into Spanish. If you select 'Spanish' during the installation process, the menus, dialogs, online help, automotive menus and reference topics will all be in Spanish. PicoScope Automotive is also available in English, French and German.

Choosing your preferred language is easy: just download PicoScope Automotive from our website, run it, and select a language from the list that appears.

If you would like to suggest improvements to any of our translated automotive reference pages, please contact us at: documentation@picotech.com

5.  Exhibitions this Month

SciChem World Science Training Event
Haydock Park Racecourse, Merseyside, UK
19 - 21 March 2007

SciChem World is the biggest Science Technician Training Event in 2007. Over two hundred delegates have registered, but there are still places left. Backed by 46 of SciChem’s main suppliers, the event will include professionally run training seminars and a supplier exhibition.

6.  Forthcoming Exhibitions and Training Dates

Full details of upcoming exhibitions and training dates can be found on the exhibitions page.

7.  Employment Opportunities

Due to our continuing growth, we have vacancies for the following positions:

• Development Engineer - Analogue Hardware
• Development Engineer - Hardware
• Development Engineer - Windows Desktop Application Software
• Development Engineer - Windows Device Driver Software
• Marketing Coordinators
• New Product Introduction Engineer
• Technical Support Engineer

Find more details of these positions and complete an online application form

8.  Latest Software Releases

As soon as we release new software, it is made available for FREE download from our website. To check which version you are using, start the software (PicoScope, PicoLog or EnviroMon) and select HELP | ABOUT.

The current releases are:

• PicoScope R5.15.6
• PicoScope Automotive R5.15.6
• PicoScope Automotive R6.0.5 (beta)
• PicoLog R5.15.6
• EnviroMon R5.15.7

To download the latest software please visit the software downloads page

(Note: the above web page also contains a link to our 'what’s new' page which describes recent changes and additions to the software.)

9.  Back Issues of this Newsletter

Back issues of this newsletter are available online at http://www.picotech.com/maillist.html

10.  Subscribe / Unsubscribe Information

As this is an opt-in email list, we add names only on request. Pico Technology will not pass your name to any third party.

• To join the email mailing list send an email to mailist@picotech.com with ‘join mail list’ as the subject
• To leave the email mailing list send an email to mailist@picotech.com with ‘leave mail list’ as the subject
• Recommend this newsletter to a friend

To make sure that your Pico newsletter reaches your inbox every month, please add mailist@picotech.com to your email Address Book or Safe List.

Contact details