Datasheet

RECORD LENGTH

Record length is the number of points in a complete waveform record. A

scope can store only a limited number of samples so, in general, the greater

the record length the better.

Determine what you need

 Time captured = record length/sample rate. So, with a record length of 1 Mpoints and

a sample rate of 250 MS/sec, the oscilloscope will capture 4 ms.

 Today’s scopes allow you to select the record length to optimize the level of detail

needed for your application.

 A good basic scope will store over 2,000 points, which is more than enough for a

stable sine-wave signal (needing perhaps 500 points). But to ﬁnd the causes of timing

anomalies in a complex digital data stream consider 1 Mpoints or more.

 Zoom & Pan allows you to zoom in on an event of interest, and pan the area

backwards and forwards in time.

 Search & Mark lets you search through the entire acquisition and automatically mark

every occurrence of a user-speciﬁed event.

Oscilloscopes with record lengths in the millions of points can show many screens worth

of signal activity, essential for examining complex waveforms.

Since an oscilloscope can store only

a limited number of samples, the

waveform duration (time) will be inversely

proportional to the oscilloscope’s

sample rate. Time Interval =

Record Length / Sample Rate

10 FACTORS IN CHOOSING A BASIC OSCILLOSCOPE

CONTENTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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