Test and Measurement Forum

Dear all,

I like to record and analyse transient signals, a burst, of about 100 kHz. Typical an IR signal, ... I curious to know, what is the maximum recording time with a PicoScope 2003, in mili seconds, ms? I am sorry, but the 1000 Waveform in the description do not tell me anyting.

Can I do ongoing recordings and store these continously on my hard disk? At what max. frequency.

Appreciating some answers, to decide on bying.

Best Regards,
Olaf

Hi and thank you for your post.

This is not a straight forward question as it depends on your sample rate.

There are two modes of operation, streaming and block mode.

With streaming mode you can continuous sample uninterrupted to your PC at 1MS/s, 2MS/s or even more, this is all dependant on how powerful your PC is and if it has any overheads. This is generally only achievable if you write your own software. In PicoScope6 you can get the device to stream however there is a cap put on how many sample points you can have across your screen and there is a time base limit.

In block mode you can sample up to the maximum sample rate, 40MS/s in your case. You can do this up to what the memory dictates. So in the 2203 you have 8k of memory which will give you approximately 0.2ms in time for a sample rate of 40MS/s. So depending on the sample rate you choose your time will vary.

So I suppose the question is, what sample rate are you looking for and for how many channels?

Kind regards

Thank you very much for your reply. This helps.

So going for 0,1 MS/s I can record 8000/0,1*10^6 = 0,08 s, right? What about using 2 channels at the same time, do they share the 8KSof memory?

In streaming mode, using a IBM T60 notebook and USB, can you provide a feeling for maximum sampling rate in continous mode?

Thank you for an additional answer. Appreciating having you around.

Olaf

Hi olaf,

Sorry for the delay, just been very busy lately. I deleted that other forum post.

The 2203 has 8k of memory which equates to 8192 bits, however not all of them will be used as there is a small space reserved for overheads. (just a few bytes).

So your calculations will be more or less correct.

We have not done many tests to see what sample rates you can achieve in streaming mode and as such cannot comment on what you will get on your PC. One of my colleagues did a quick test and got 500kS/s on his desktop PC.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards