Afonso Teles

Hi Howard,

Indeed, that is an interesting implementation. I don't have a BASIC environment setup to try it out, but here are my guesses, in rough order of likelihood:

1) It's sending the array out as bytes but they are being read by the AFG as 16 bit words. This would result in a waveform that is half the number of points expected.
2) It's writing the array as bytes and they are being read as bytes (for a reason I do not fully understand). This would result in a correct number of points.
3) It's (for some other hidden reason) writing the array as 16 bit words (upscaled bytes) and so they are read in properly.

All of these depend on intricacies of the BASIC language, with which I am not familiar with.

Hi Howard,

Both the AFG3000 and AFG31000 have 14 bits of resolution.

Waveform data is often stored as 2 bytes per point, i.e. a 130k point .tfwx file will take up about 260k bytes.

Hi,

The feature for transferring waveforms over 131,072 points is currently under development, but should be coming out soon.
Until then, there is a workaround which involves breaking up your waveform into chunks smaller than 131k points, transferring them over and then stitching them together in the sequencer. This can be automated through a remote control script, if needed.
Loading a file over 131k points from a flash drive also works.

Bonus round:
There isn't a command to remove the waveform loaded in edit memory (EMemory), as far as I know. You could set it to an empty waveform (1000 points of all zeros is the default).
There's also MMEMory:DELete, which deletes a file in mass memory (MMemory).

Some wonderful work there Giovanni! I appreciate your personal stories of how you came in contact with some of these instruments too.

Any plans to get this in print? Would make a great coffee table piece!

Hi,

It's unclear what model of oscilloscope you're using.

If it's a 4, 5 or 6 series then please try this guide: https://www.tek.com/en/support/faqs/how-do-i-set-network-drive-my-5-series-mso-or-6-series-mso

If it's an MDO3000 or MDO4000C, please try this guide: https://www.tek.com/en/support/faqs/how-do-i-mount-network-drive-my-mdo3000-or-mdo4000c-oscilloscope

Hi Andy,

This is a known issue and our engineering team has been informed about it.
The current fix is to do just like you did, disconnect and reconnect the probe so it's recognized by the scope.

Hi,

According to the manual page 1-2, the TDS 600Cs can only be programmed through the GPIB port, but they can use the other 2 ports to download screenshots.

So as long as you're okay with pressing the front panel Hardcopy button, a simple RS-232 adapter should work well. Otherwise you will need the more expensive GPIB to USB converter.