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| Picoscope 2204A streaming mode & trigger Holdoff |
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| markone:
I'm assessing the (small) capabilities of Picoscope 2204A and I have some doubts : 1) really there is no Trigger Holdoff mechanism ? 2) really streaming mode is limited to 1MS/s ? 3) why it's impossible to use streaming mode below 100ms/div time base ? About the point 2 it seems to me more due to a marketing decision than technical limitation, the instruments mount an old but good CY7C68013A that is capable to do much more and i do not believe that the FPGA cannot keep up to higher data transfer rate. I've been playing for a few hours with both Picoscope 6 & 7 and now I wonder if there are other programs that address some of the point that i reported. |
| markone:
More I test this thing more I get limits that i do not understand, in example why I'm not free to select the already crippled streaming mode (1MS/s max) for a desired amount of sample and/or time ? Unless I'm completely stoned I cannot set any Picoscope version (6/7) for less than 1s capture time @ 1MS/s, this destroy any hope to use this device to decode low baud rate (i.e 19200bps) medium sized serial messages (200-300 bytes) in segments. IF streaming mode is disabled, you are limited to cold war era 8000 points internal buffer that allows you to correctly decode only a couple of dozens of characters. Second : why limit spectrum function to 10MHz scale @ 25MS/s ? I understand that the scope is declared for 10Mhz BW (actually analog front doubles that number) but it would be nice to allow the user to select full sampling rate and higher spectrum chart frequency axis with the awareness of instrument limits as well as to manage sampling rate and sampling memory at desired values. In my opinion this is an example of a decent HW equipment (for build quality/price ratio) with handbrake engaged, if you consider the HW used inside the box, AD9288 + XC3S250E + CY7C68013A, you understand that the potential is not fully exploited. I also discovered that the model 2205A's board seems to be right the same, I guess the only differentiation between two models could be CY7C68013A E2PROM content. Any help about a possible hack to upgrade 2204A to 2205A will, of course, be appreciated :) |
| _Wim_:
Have a look here, I was able to upgrade my picoscope by modifying the eprom contents: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/picoscope-hack/ And yes, pico does sometimes impose some software limits to differentiate between products. BTW: Trigger hold-off is not available on higher end models also (like for example my 5000-series) |
| _Wim_:
--- Quote from: markone on December 03, 2022, 01:35:58 pm ---I also discovered that the model 2205A's board seems to be right the same, I guess the only differentiation between two models could be CY7C68013A E2PROM content. --- End quote --- The should be an ST 24C02 eprom on your board that contains probably the same data structure as in the above thread. You can verify this by checking the serial number and version info first... https://sigrok.org/wiki/Pico_Technology_PicoScope_2204A |
| markone:
--- Quote from: _Wim_ on December 03, 2022, 04:30:55 pm ---Have a look here, I was able to upgrade my picoscope by modifying the eprom contents: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/picoscope-hack/ And yes, pico does sometimes impose some software limits to differentiate between products. BTW: Trigger hold-off is not available on higher end models also (like for example my 5000-series) --- End quote --- Hi Wim, thank you very much for your reply, I just took a fast glimpse reading first post of your linked 3ad (i'll read all the rest later), I understand that you desoldered from the PCB the E2PROM attached to USB bridge (CY7C68013A ?) and after some data content analysis you have understood where and how the instrument model is specified. In the past I used, under Windows, a Cypress utility to read (and write) the E2PROM attached to an FX2 device without the need to touch the hardware, so I should be able to get the 2204A E2PROM content dumped without opening the box. Have you maybe found any resource / discussion forum (apart Sigrok) about the matter on the web ? |
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