Pico Technology

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

1. New 5-Year Warranty

We now cover our most popular products with a five-year warranty against manufacturing defects. Many companies offer just a one or two-year warranty, but we are so confident in the quality of our products that we have decided to give away this valuable extra guarantee at no additional cost to you.

The new 5-year warranty covers the following products bought on or after 7th October 2009:

• PicoScope 2000 Series USB Oscilloscopes
• PicoScope 3000 Series USB Oscilloscopes (non-automotive models)
• PicoScope 4000 Series USB Oscilloscopes (non-automotive models)
• PicoScope 5000 Series USB Oscilloscopes
• USB TC-08 Thermocouple Data Logger
• ADC-20 and ADC-24 High-Resolution USB Data Loggers
• PicoLog 1000 Series Multi-Channel USB Data Loggers

With the added reassurance of the new 5-year warranty, Pico oscilloscopes and data loggers now offer unbeatable value for money. Visit our website to download datasheets, find your local distributor or order online.

2.  Software Update: PicoScope R6.2.14

We have released an update to PicoScope 6 with improved reliability under the next edition of Windows, Windows 7, which is due for release this month. This is in addition to the existing support for Windows XP and Vista.

Download PicoScope R6.2.14

3.  New Terminal Board for USB TC-08

The USB TC-08 8-channel thermocouple data logger has always been able to measure small voltages as well as temperatures, but until now there was no off-the-shelf product allowing easy connection of signal wires. We have solved that problem with the USB TC-08 single-channel terminal board.

The new board has a number of screw terminals for voltage ranges of 0 to ±50 mV, 0 to ±500 mV and 0 to ±5 V, and plugs into any thermocouple socket on the USB TC-08. On-board resistors divide the input voltage to a level suitable for the USB TC-08. There is another selectable range for measuring 4 to 20 mA loop currents. You can plug in up to 8 of these boards into a single USB TC-08.

The USB TC-08 single-channel terminal board (order code PP624) is available now on our website and from our worldwide distributor network.

4.  Tech Tip: Auto-Arrange Axes

“Auto-arrange axes” is a feature that was recently introduced into PicoScope 6. If you have a large number of traces on the screen, perhaps including math channels and reference waveforms as well as live inputs, then you can sometimes spend a lot of time scaling and shifting them so that they don’t overlap. “Auto-arrange axes” takes the hard work out of this process. Just right-click on a scope or spectrum view and you will find this command in the context menu. It adjusts the scale factors and offsets so that all the enabled channels are neatly arranged on the screen.

Make sure that you have the latest version of PicoScope 6

5.  Questions and Answers

Here is a selection of the questions that have cropped up recently on our support forum and elsewhere:

Q. I have a flowmeter connected to a PicoScope 2203. With PicoScope 6 I am able to get a graph, but it’s just pulses (digital) at a certain frequency. How can I get a (realtime) graph of that frequency (with time on the x-axis)?

A. You can use PicoLog Recorder to record pulse frequency. In the Recording dialog, set the Recording method to Real time continuous. When you add a measurement, you will then get the option to set Measurement to Frequency. This works with AC signals, so your pulses have to pass through zero volts. If, for example, your pulses go from 0 to 1 V then you will have to offset the signal by -0.5 V.

Q. Is there a way to display 32 channels in a PicoLog graph while using 4 TC-08 data loggers?

A. We limit the display to 20 channels at a time, but you can log many more channels by placing them in groups and switching between them. Click the Select Parameters button in the graph window and look for the Groups control.

6.  Events

For the latest information about upcoming exhibitions, please see our “Training and Exhibitions” page.

7.  Employment Opportunities

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

• Development Engineer - Analogue Hardware
• Development Engineer - Hardware

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

We look forward to hearing from you if you want to be part of a growing company at the leading edge of test equipment design.

8.  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:

To download the latest software please visit the software downloads page

See Software Releases - New Features for a list of recent changes and additions to the software.

9.  About this Newsletter

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

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10.  Contact Details

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