3206 Ext Trigger

Forum for discussing PicoScope (version 5)
Post Reply
BLBuck

3206 Ext Trigger

Post by BLBuck »

Hello,

I have been using the Picoscope s/w ver. 5.12.3 with Windows 2000. The ext. trigger worked great with that version, however, the meter mode did not work.

I downloaded the new ver. 5.12.6 and that seems to have corrected the meter mode but, now the Ext trigger does not work. Just thought I would let you know.

Thanks,
BLBuck

Sarah

Post by Sarah »

Hi

Thank you for your post.

When you say that the external trigger does not work, what voltage are you using to trigger from? The Ext channel needs a minimum voltage in order to trigger so I would recommend trying an ascending voltage to see if it will trigger at any point.

Let me know how you get on.

Best Regards

BLBuck
User
User
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:46 pm
Location: USA

Post by BLBuck »

As I did with the previous version of picoscope, I was inputing a 0V to 5V square wave from the sync signal of an Agilent Waveform generator to the EXT input of the 3206 and with a sine wave on Ch A of the 3206. I set the trigger level to 2000mV (2V). With the previous version (5.12.3) os picoscope, the sinewave was steady while using the EXT trigger, however, with the new version (5.12.6), the sinewave rolls rapidly as if no triggering is occuring.

Thanks,
BLBuck

ylo58
User
User
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 6:05 pm

Post by ylo58 »

Hello

I just upgraded my 3206 to 5.12.6, and Ext. trigger seems to work as before.
However, you could try to change the triggering settings via the Settings->Trigger menu. In 5.12.3 I did observe some strange changes in the triggering levels, when switching trigger settings from the toolbar. The toolbar would display e.g. 200 mV, while in the menu it was 2000 mV, or 0.2 mV.
For some reason, under the Settings->Trigger menu, the level window is greyed out when on Ext. Trigger, so you may need to change it to A or B before, and then back to Ext.

In order to put the oscilloscope to full use, it would be really nice to know exactly how it is expected to behave. Unfortunately, this would take the circuit diagram and the essential parts of the software/firmware algorithms.
I wonder, what would be the most detailed specifications that Picotech would be able to release? The idea is, that the oscilloscope is supposed to be the known device in the chain, and not a DUT.

Best regards, and thanks.

Ulo.

Sarah

Post by Sarah »

Hi

Thank you for your posts.

We produce detailed specifications of our products on our website. If you have further questions above what these answer then you are welcome to email then to us and we will seek to give answers where possible.

With regards the trigger, I will look into this and see whether there is an issue with the new software and the external trigger.

Best Regards

BLBuck
User
User
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:46 pm
Location: USA

Post by BLBuck »

Sarah,

Thanks for your help!

I also tryed using the ext trig with my laptop using Windows XP and got the same results ( not working with 5.12.6, works with 5.12.3). It certainly appears to be a software problem and not a hardware problem.

BTW, does not matter if I set trigger from front panel or from menu, I still get the same results.

Thanks again,
BLBuck

Post Reply