External trigger failure

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chalkie
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External trigger failure

Post by chalkie »

I'm using Picoscope 6.9.14.16 connected to a Picoscope 5444B.
I'm using Channel A & B, and an external trigger (which is 0V-3.3V digital signal) at 5ms/div
This works fine with the scope set to 14 bits, but when I change it to 15 bits(two channels) then external trigger stops working (i.e. no triggering occurs). Ext is still shown, and can still be selected.

Possibly the hardware is not able to use this combination. If so, then Ext triggering should be disabled in Picoscope 6.

Pico Stuart
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Re: External trigger failure

Post by Pico Stuart »

Hi Chalkie,

Thank you for your post with regard to the external triggering functionality using the 5444B at 15 bit resolution. I tested this through and can confirm your observations.

The external trigger should function with any resolution setting. To this end I have already submitted a bug report and as soon as this is fixed will let you know. The external trigger can be used up to 14 bit resolution for the time being.

In the mean time please do not hesitate to contact us if you require further assistance.

Kindest regards,

Stuart

chalkie
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Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:36 am

Re: External trigger failure

Post by chalkie »

HI Stuart,

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. Interestingly,if you have just channel A then you *can* use 15-bit, but then at 16-bit(single channel) the same thing happens; not ext trigger is detected.

Best regards,
Chalkie

Martyn
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Re: External trigger failure

Post by Martyn »

It looks like it is counting the ext channel as an active channel. Hopefully development will have a resolution soon.
Martyn
Technical Support Manager

chalkie
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Re: External trigger failure

Post by chalkie »

Bugger -

This just tripped me up again!

A slight variation on the theme, but its clarly exactly the same issue...

I had resolution set to "Auto resolution", and I was already using channel A & B for other stuff, so I used channel C as my trigger channel. All was well.
I attached the external trigger probe to the same signal as channel C, and changed my trigger source to "External". All was still well, triggering level set nicely.
Now that everything was pretty much as I wanted, I disabled channel C, but oh no - triggering stopped.
After about half an hour (slightly embarassed about how long this took me) I realised that changing from 2 to 3 channels set the auto resolution to 14 bits, so the external trigger worked ok. When I disabled channel C the auto resolution went to 15 bits, and everything stopped because of the issue described in the original post. If I enable channel D (which I'm not using currently) then triggering starts working again. Obviously if I change the resolution to 14 bit then it works also.

Martyn
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Re: External trigger failure

Post by Martyn »

The driver that comes with the latest version of PicoScope 6 should address this issue. Which version are you using ?
Martyn
Technical Support Manager

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