Pico squeezes signal generator into compact PC scopes

-- Test & Measurement World, 3/5/2008 9:00:00 AM

Small enough to fit into a laptop travel bag, the palm-sized PicoScope 2200 series from Pico Technology packs an oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, signal generator, and arbitrary waveform generator into a single unit that is just 3.93x5.31 in.  The two-channel scopes provide bandwidths of up to 25 MHz and sampling rates of up to 200 Msamples/s.

The series comprises three models—the 5-MHz 2203, the 10-MHz 2204, and the 25-MHz 2205—each with two BNC input channels, a third BNC connector for signal or arbitrary waveform generator output, and a USB port. Power is derived directly from the PC, and the scopes use the full USB 2.0 bandwidth of 480 Mbps to quickly display updates without compromising accuracy and detail.

All of the oscilloscopes run under PicoScope 6 for Windows, which makes use of the PC’s processing power, storage, graphics, and communications. The software lets you save data in a variety of formats, including CSV text, PNG and BMP images, and MATLAB binary files. Drivers and examples are included for LabView, C, C++, Delphi, and Visual Basic for integration into custom applications.

Pico Technology, www.picotech.com.