PicoScope 7 Software
Available on Windows, Mac and Linux
Rapid block mode trigger functionality
Rapid block mode trigger functionality
I have a problem with the rapid block mode on a pico 5000 series.
I wated to use an external trigger to tell the oscilloscope when acquire datas. i want the pico to acquire data only during the high time of the trigger and ignore everything when the trigger is on low level.
As far as i saw this functionality should be already implemented with the rapid block mode, but the pico completly ignore the trigger and acquire data continuosly regardless the trigger i use.
Some info:
- I use a microcontroller for generating the trigger,but also generating it with a waveform generator does not change the outcome.
-The signal trigger is present, in fact if i send the trigger signal to both ext trig port and to another channel, then the trigger is perfectly visible on the oscilloscope.
-i try the same with the basic example provided by pico and still does not work.
-i use labview as software for controlling pico, but also activating the rapid mode and the trigger directly on the picoscope software does not works either.
Thanks to everyone that will try to help me!
I wated to use an external trigger to tell the oscilloscope when acquire datas. i want the pico to acquire data only during the high time of the trigger and ignore everything when the trigger is on low level.
As far as i saw this functionality should be already implemented with the rapid block mode, but the pico completly ignore the trigger and acquire data continuosly regardless the trigger i use.
Some info:
- I use a microcontroller for generating the trigger,but also generating it with a waveform generator does not change the outcome.
-The signal trigger is present, in fact if i send the trigger signal to both ext trig port and to another channel, then the trigger is perfectly visible on the oscilloscope.
-i try the same with the basic example provided by pico and still does not work.
-i use labview as software for controlling pico, but also activating the rapid mode and the trigger directly on the picoscope software does not works either.
Thanks to everyone that will try to help me!
Re: Rapid block mode trigger functionality
Hi LModica,
Sorry for the late response. If you haven't already resolved this then the answer is as follows:
Unfortunately, what you are describing is not the way that Rapid Block Mode works. Yes, for Standard Block Mode, you can use a Level (Logic) Trigger to force the Hardware PicoScope to Trigger, every time the Trigger is armed, and the Voltage on the Trigger Channel is above the Threshold Value, which means that no more Triggers can fire, once the Voltage on the trigger Channel has dropped below the Threshold for the Level Trigger.
However, Rapid Block Mode is not supposed to be used with Logic Triggering, to determine when it does not Trigger, as this will work differently. In the PicoScope 5000 series Programmers Guide you can go to the section on 'Using Rapid Block Mode', on Page 18, where it states:
'5. Use the trigger setup function ps5000aSetSimpleTrigger to set up the trigger if required. You have to specify the number of Rapid Triggers that will be performed.'
Rapid Block mode will always perform the number of Triggered Captures that you specify, as long as there are enough Trigger conditions for it to Trigger on. So, for instance you could set the number of Rapid Block mode Triggers to 6, apply a suitable Trigger source 5 times, then wait a day, and finally apply one more Trigger source, and the Rapid Block mode Trigger session will only complete on the 6th Trigger, i.e. 1 day after the previous 5 Triggers (not a very Rapid Block mode capture in this case, which is why it's important to be confident that the Number of Triggers you are requesting, for Rapid Block mode, will occur, rapidly).
Having said that, if you have fixed short periods separated by fixed long periods, during which you want to perform Rapid Block Mode Captures (you could, for example specify 100 Triggers, which you want to capture as 10 Triggered Rapid Captures every hour, for 10 hours). This would work with a Simple Trigger if the source of the Trigger has long gaps, but I'm not sure that this would work if you are attempting to use Logic Triggering to generate the long gaps, as I haven't actually tried it. However, this is not a good method of capturing the data anyway, as there will be no data transferred until the very end of the Triggers, which means that if, for whatever reason, the capture session is interrupted, you will have no data at all (or if your missing a Triggered Capture, you will have no data after 10 hours). It would be far better to perform 10 individual Rapid Block Mode Captures.
Regards,
Gerry
Gerry
Sorry for the late response. If you haven't already resolved this then the answer is as follows:
Unfortunately, what you are describing is not the way that Rapid Block Mode works. Yes, for Standard Block Mode, you can use a Level (Logic) Trigger to force the Hardware PicoScope to Trigger, every time the Trigger is armed, and the Voltage on the Trigger Channel is above the Threshold Value, which means that no more Triggers can fire, once the Voltage on the trigger Channel has dropped below the Threshold for the Level Trigger.
However, Rapid Block Mode is not supposed to be used with Logic Triggering, to determine when it does not Trigger, as this will work differently. In the PicoScope 5000 series Programmers Guide you can go to the section on 'Using Rapid Block Mode', on Page 18, where it states:
'5. Use the trigger setup function ps5000aSetSimpleTrigger to set up the trigger if required. You have to specify the number of Rapid Triggers that will be performed.'
Rapid Block mode will always perform the number of Triggered Captures that you specify, as long as there are enough Trigger conditions for it to Trigger on. So, for instance you could set the number of Rapid Block mode Triggers to 6, apply a suitable Trigger source 5 times, then wait a day, and finally apply one more Trigger source, and the Rapid Block mode Trigger session will only complete on the 6th Trigger, i.e. 1 day after the previous 5 Triggers (not a very Rapid Block mode capture in this case, which is why it's important to be confident that the Number of Triggers you are requesting, for Rapid Block mode, will occur, rapidly).
Having said that, if you have fixed short periods separated by fixed long periods, during which you want to perform Rapid Block Mode Captures (you could, for example specify 100 Triggers, which you want to capture as 10 Triggered Rapid Captures every hour, for 10 hours). This would work with a Simple Trigger if the source of the Trigger has long gaps, but I'm not sure that this would work if you are attempting to use Logic Triggering to generate the long gaps, as I haven't actually tried it. However, this is not a good method of capturing the data anyway, as there will be no data transferred until the very end of the Triggers, which means that if, for whatever reason, the capture session is interrupted, you will have no data at all (or if your missing a Triggered Capture, you will have no data after 10 hours). It would be far better to perform 10 individual Rapid Block Mode Captures.
Regards,
Gerry
Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist
Technical Specialist