8 channel PC scope has dual 5Gsample/s ADCs

Called PicoScope 6824E, it has 500MHz bandwidth analogue inputs and 16 digital channels that record pulses down to 1ns – so ~500MHz signals.

The ADCs have 8, 10 or 12 bit adjustable resolution – something that has been dubbed FlexRes.

“FlexRes architecture allows the hardware to be configured by the user to optimise either the sampling rate, to 5Gsample/s at 8bit resolution, or up to 12bit resolution with 1.25Gsample/s sampling,” according to the firm, which added:”Eight plus 16 channels address challenges faced by engineers when debugging complex IoT and embedded systems that have mixed analog and digital elements, such as serial and parallel communications with high-speed low-voltage signaling.”

One ADC is connected to the left hand four inputs and the other to the right-hand four (see photo), and a converter’s bandwidth can be concentrated on one input. or split between two or four inputs. .

For those content with fixed 8bit resolution, the other member of the 6000E family is the PicoScope 6804E, and other, as yet undisclosed, models are planned.

Four inputs, two per ADC, also include an ‘intelligent probe interface’ for smart probes that are under development at Pico – the details of which are also under-wraps for the moment.

Harmonic distortion on both models is said to be better than -50dB at 1MHz on all models, and the top model has over 60dB SFDR (spurious-free dynamic range). Baseline noise is <150μVrms on the most sensitive range.

Both models include an integrated 200Msample/s arbitrary waveform generator  and a 50MHz function generator with built-in sine, square, triangle, DC voltage, ramp up, ramp down, Gaussian and half-sine.

The scopes work with the firm’s PicoScope application software for the host computer, currently at version 6 (with 22 language options).

With a 4Gsample memory, the 6824Ecan capture a 200ms signal at a sampling rate of 5Gsample/s, equating to 200ps resolution – a ratio of 1:1,000,000,000, according to Pico Tech. Deep captures can be explored through PicoScope using its waveform buffer navigator, and zoomed in by up to a million times using the zoom-pan controls.

Mask limit testing and user-defined alarms are included in the software, as well as capture memory segmentation from 1 to 10,000.

There are decoders for 21 serial protocols, as well as parallel bus decoding for the digital channels. The latest protocol additions are BroadR-Reach (100BASE-T1) Automotive Ethernet, Manchester and DALI. More protocols are in development and will become free-of-charge updates.

Hands free probe holding

Pico is also introducing the ‘Pico probe holder system’, which uses flexible ‘gooseneck’ wands to support Pico 2.5mm passive probes with spring tips for any PicoScope 6000 series scope.

The holders are mounted on a mirror-finished steel base plate, equipped with magnetic PCB posts with insulation washers to hold the device under test “to address the perennial problem of how to make reliable multiple probe connections to a device under test”, according to the firm.

Pico Technology designs and manufactures its products in the UK.