DSO Reference Position Appreciation ;-)

[TomKatt]

Growing up with analog CRO gear, most gear defaulted to horizontal triggering at the left side of the screen.  While I do appreciate the modern default of triggering at the center of the screen to see any pre-triggering signal, sometimes it's handy to see the entire waveform by triggering at the left side - especially if you want to zoom in/out by changing the timebase, or make it easier to measure the length or period of a signal. Enter what I suspect may be the lessor used Reference Position settings in many modern scopes (including my Siglent SDS804X HD).  Now my signal fits on the screen and remains left justified as the time base is changed.

Example - verifying my vector display signal remains under 20ms for a 50Hz refresh rate (aka Flux Capacitance vs Gigawatts  ):

[CJSouthern]

From the "for what it's worth" department, I like the delay to stay in the same relative place on the screen as well. For those who don't know, on the Siglent 800X HD family (and probably others too), this setting can be found under Utility -> Menu -> System Settings -> Reference Pos -> Horizontal Ref: (set to) Position.


Fun fact: If one sets Utility -> Menu -> System Settings -> Reference Pos -> Horizontal Ref: (set to) Delay, one can change not only the trigger delay marker, but also the reference position marker eg:



Of course, adding it to my Control Panel means I can get to it in 1 click - and I get a warning when it's not at my usual preferred setting    <-- Shameless plug

[tautech]

From the "for what it's worth" department, I like the delay to stay in the same relative place on the screen as well. For those who don't know, on the Siglent 800X HD family (and probably others too), this setting can be found under Utility -> Menu -> System Settings -> Reference Pos -> Horizontal Ref: (set to) Position.


Fun fact: If one sets Utility -> Menu -> System Settings -> Reference Pos -> Horizontal Ref: (set to) Delay, one can change not only the trigger delay marker, but also the reference position marker eg:

Yes this is our preferred pre-delivery setting and just 1 of a few changes we make to Siglent DSO's before shipping them out.
However, not being a Factory Default setting, any time you default the scope this setting will be lost unless you save it to a User Default.....something we also do before dispatch.
As SDS800X HD models don't have probe sensing like the 10+" models do we also set input attenuation to the most commonly used 10:1 settings too.

Alternatively, a user can save preferred Setup files to the scope and USB if necessary and name them for preferred tasks to have the DSO setup in an instant to your prefered settings for the task at hand.

[TomKatt]

Given the multitude of features and options on even 'budget' scopes, I suspect that simple things like setting custom user defaults is an often overlooked improvement to the user experience.  Just a few minutes of setup can make daily use so much more enjoyable ;-)

I actually have about 6-7 setups saved for different scenarios.  And I should probably get my SDS804X on the network to try out the dashboard app    Too bad Siglent dropped the WiFi option for those of us who don't have wired networks nearby.

[TimFox]

As I understand it, the "trigger" command within a DSO is really a "stop collecting after a bit" command, since the ADC is continuously converting.
The analog CRO usually contains an analog delay line, so that the events just before the trigger circuit operates get onto the screen, having been delayed.

[CJSouthern]

From the "for what it's worth" department, I like the delay to stay in the same relative place on the screen as well. For those who don't know, on the Siglent 800X HD family (and probably others too), this setting can be found under Utility -> Menu -> System Settings -> Reference Pos -> Horizontal Ref: (set to) Position.


Fun fact: If one sets Utility -> Menu -> System Settings -> Reference Pos -> Horizontal Ref: (set to) Delay, one can change not only the trigger delay marker, but also the reference position marker eg:

Alternatively, a user can save preferred Setup files to the scope and USB if necessary and name them for preferred tasks to have the DSO setup in an instant to your prefered settings for the task at hand.

Or directly to the PC with my Control Panel (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

[CJSouthern]

Given the multitude of features and options on even 'budget' scopes, I suspect that simple things like setting custom user defaults is an often overlooked improvement to the user experience.  Just a few minutes of setup can make daily use so much more enjoyable ;-)

I actually have about 6-7 setups saved for different scenarios.  And I should probably get my SDS804X on the network to try out the dashboard app    Too bad Siglent dropped the WiFi option for those of us who don't have wired networks nearby.

Let me know if you'd like the latest build.

WFIW, I saw a video where someone had a Wi-Fi USB Dongle that they got to work in the scope - so looks like it can be done. Personally, I've always found cabled connections pretty much bullet proof - and unmanaged ethernet switches are dirt cheap.

[CJSouthern]

As I understand it, the "trigger" command within a DSO is really a "stop collecting after a bit" command, since the ADC is continuously converting.
The analog CRO usually contains an analog delay line, so that the events just before the trigger circuit operates get onto the screen, having been delayed.

There will be others who can explain it far better then me, but my understanding is that they, in essence, have 2 circular buffers; 1 for pre-trigger and 1 for post trigger (probably just markers in the same physical memory). The pre-trigger buffer just cycles until a trigger event - at which point it displays what it had prior to the event - and then, obviously, the post-trigger portion is displayed after the trigger event.

Absolutely mind-blowing the speed at which all this goes on in a digital scope - billions of time per second.

[TomKatt]

Seems like a good sticky would be something like 'Trigger Tips' or something like that...   Because I suspect many less experienced users simply use the default trigger setup and adjust the level.  Things like holdoff can be very helpful to stabilize signals that have multiple peaks that can cause re-triggering.  Not to mention the plethora of trigger options DSO gear has that old school scopes couldn't have dreamed of (at least anything not top tier lab grade).

[CJSouthern]

Seems like a good sticky would be something like 'Trigger Tips' or something like that...   Because I suspect many less experienced users simply use the default trigger setup and adjust the level.  Things like holdoff can be very helpful to stabilize signals that have multiple peaks that can cause re-triggering.  Not to mention the plethora of trigger options DSO gear has that old school scopes couldn't have dreamed of (at least anything not top tier lab grade).

I agree 100%

FWIW, sometimes I find noise rejection is enough for me to holdoff using the holdoff control. Other times (like with a FM modulation from my Sig Gen) I had to use a carefully measured slope because the trig/sync output from the sig gen appears to be doing naughty things.

And some are even trickier blighters!