USB DrDAQ User's Guide
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Glossary
Analog bandwidth.
The range of input frequencies over which the measured signal
amplitude is within 3 dB of the true signal amplitude.
Buffer size.
The size of the oscilloscope buffer memory, measured in samples. The
buffer allows the oscilloscope to sample data faster than it can transfer it to the
computer.
Device Manager.
Device Manager is a Windows program that displays the current
hardware configuration of your computer. On Windows, go to
My Computer
, select
Properties
, and then click the
Device Manager
button. (This is found under the
Hardware
tab on Windows XP and Vista).
Driver.
A program that controls a piece of hardware. The driver for the oscilloscopes
is supplied in the form of a 32-bit Windows DLL,
usbdrdaq.dll.
This is used by the
PicoScope software, and by user-designed applications, to control the unit.
Maximum sampling rate.
A figure indicating the maximum number of samples the
oscilloscope can acquire per second. The higher the sampling rate of the oscilloscope,
the more accurate the representation of the high-frequency details in a fast signal.
Oversampling.
Oversampling is taking measurements more frequently than the
requested sample rate, and then combining them to produce the required number of
samples. If, as is usually the case, the signal contains a small amount of noise, this
technique can increase the effective
of the oscilloscope.
PC Oscilloscope.
A virtual instrument formed by connecting a PicoScope oscilloscope
to a computer running the PicoScope software.
PicoScope software.
A software product that accompanies all PicoScope
oscilloscopes. It turns your PC into an oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer.
Redox potential.
A measure in volts of the affinity of a substance for electrons.
Timebase.
The timebase controls the time interval that each horizontal division of an
oscilloscope view represents. There are ten divisions across the oscilloscope view, so
the total time across the view is ten times the timebase per division.
USB.
Universal Serial Bus. This is a standard port used to connect external devices to
PCs. The port supports a data transfer rate of up to 12 Mbps with USB DrDAQ.
Vertical resolution.
A value, in bits, indicating the number of unique values that the
oscilloscope can generate when converting input voltages to digital values.
(see above) can improve the effective vertical resolution.
Voltage range.
The range of input voltages that the oscilloscope can measure. For
example, a voltage range of ±100 mV means that the oscilloscope can measure
voltages between -100 mV and +100 mV. Input voltages outside this range will not
damage the instrument as long as they remain within the protection limits stated in
the
table.
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