B+K precision 2552 User manual

Model: 2552, 2553, 2554, 2555, 2556,
2557, 2558, 2559
4CH/2CH Digital Storage
Oscilloscopes
USER MANUAL

3
Safety Summary
The following safety precautions apply to both operating and
maintenance personnel and must be observed during all phases of
operation, service, and repair of this instrument. Before applying
power, follow the installation instructions and become familiar
with the operating instructions for this instrument.
If this device is damaged or something is missing, contact the
place of purchase immediately.
This manual contains information and warnings must be followed
to ensure safe operation as well as to maintain the oscilloscope in a
safe condition.
GROUND THE INSTRUMENT
To minimize shock hazard, the instrument chassis and cabinet
must be connected to an electrical ground. This instrument is
grounded through the ground conductor of the supplied, three-
conductor ac power cable. The power cable must be plugged into
an approved three-conductor electrical outlet. Do not alter the
ground connection. Without the protective ground connection, all
accessible conductive parts (including control knobs) can render
an electric shock. The power jack and mating plug of the power
cable meet IEC safety standards.
DO NOT OPERATE IN AN EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERE
Do not operate the instrument in the presence of flammable gases
or fumes. Operation of any electrical instrument in such an
environment constitutes a definite safety hazard.
KEEP AWAY FROM LIVE CIRCUITS
Instrument covers must not be removed by operating personnel.
Component replacement and internal adjustments must be made
by qualified maintenance personnel. Disconnect the power cord
before removing the instrument covers and replacing components.
Under certain conditions, even with the power cable removed,
dangerous voltages may exist. To avoid injuries, always
disconnect power and discharge circuits before touching them.
DO NOT SERVICE OR ADJUST ALONE

4
Do not attempt any internal service or adjustment unless another
person, capable of rendering first aid and resuscitation, is present.
DO NOT SUBSTITUTE PARTS OR MODIFY THE INSTRUMENT
Do not install substitute parts or perform any unauthorized
modifications to this instrument. Return the instrument to B&K
Precision for service and repair to ensure that safety features are
maintained.
WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS
WARNING and CAUTION statements, such as the following
examples, denote a hazard and appear throughout this manual.
Follow all instructions contained in these statements.
A WARNING statement calls attention to an operating procedure,
practice, or condition, which, if not followed correctly, could
result in injury or death to personnel.
A CAUTION statement calls attention to an operating procedure,
practice, or condition, which, if not followed correctly, could
result in damage to or destruction of part or all of the product.
WARNING:
Do not alter the ground connection. Without the
protective ground connection, all accessible
conductive parts (including control knobs) can
render an electric shock. The power jack and
mating plug of the power cable meet IEC safety
standards.
WARNING:
To avoid electrical shock hazard, disconnect power
cord before removing covers. Refer servicing to
qualified personnel.
CAUTION:
Before connecting the line cord to the AC mains,
check the rear panel AC line voltage indicator.
Applying a line voltage other than the indicated
voltage can destroy the AC line fuses. For
continued fire protection, replace fuses only with
those of the specified voltage and current ratings.
CAUTION:
This product uses components which can be
damaged by
electro-
static discharge (ESD). To
avoid damage, be sure to follow proper procedures
for handling, storing and transporting parts and
subassemblies which contain ESD
-
sensitive
components.

5
Compliance Statements
Disposal of Old Electrical & Electronic Equipment (Applicable in the
European
Union and other European countries with separate collection systems)
This product is subject to Directive
2002/96/EC of the European
Parliament and the Council of the
European Union on waste
electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE) , and in jurisdictions
adopting that Directive, is marked as
being put on the market after August
13, 2005, and should not be disposed
of as unsorted
municipal waste. Please utilize your
local WEEE collection
facilities in the disposition of this
product and otherwise observe all
applicable requirements.
Safety Symbols
This symbol is used to denote the measurement ground
connection.
This symbol on an instrument indicates caution. For details,
the user should refer to the operating instructions in the
manual.
Electrical Shock hazard.

6
This symbol shows that the switch is a power switch located
at the top of the oscilloscope. Pressing this button toggles the
oscilloscope’s state between operation and power off mode.
CAT I
(400V)
IEC Measurement Category I.
Inputs may be connected to
mains (up to 400 VAC) under
Category I overvoltage conditions.
NOTES:
All references and functionality related to CH3 (channel 3) and CH4
(channel 4) in this manual are available on 4CH models 2553, 2555, 2557,
and 2559. They are not available for 2CH models 2552, 2554, 2556 and
2558.

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Table of Contents
SAFETY SUMMARY...................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION....................................................... 10
PANEL AND DISPLAY INFORMATION .................................................... 11
Front Panel........................................................................................11
Back Panel......................................................................................... 12
Display Information .......................................................................... 13
PACKAGE CONTENTS ........................................................................ 15
CHECKING FUNCTIONS ..................................................................... 15
PROBE SAFETY ................................................................................ 17
PROBE ATTENUATION ...................................................................... 18
PROBE COMPENSATION.................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 2 FUNCTIONS AND OPERATING DESCRIPTIONS ........... 20
MENU AND CONTROL BUTTON.......................................................... 21
CONNECTORS ................................................................................. 23
AUTO SETUP................................................................................... 24
DEFAULT SETUP .............................................................................. 26
UNIVERSAL KNOB ............................................................................ 27
VERTICAL SYSTEM............................................................................ 28
CHANNEL FUNCTION MENU .............................................................. 29
Setting Up Channels.......................................................................... 32
USING VERTICAL POSITION KNOB AND VOLTS/DIV KNOB ....................... 36
MATH FUNCTIONS........................................................................... 37
FFT Function......................................................................................38
Displaying the FFT Spectrum............................................................. 40
Select FFT Window............................................................................ 41
Magnifying the FFT Spectrum ..........................................................42
Measuring an FFT Spectrum Using Cursors ......................................42
USING REF..................................................................................... 45
HORIZONTAL SYSTEM....................................................................... 47
Horizontal Control Knob.................................................................... 47
Window Zone ....................................................................................48
TRIGGER SYSTEM............................................................................. 49

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Signal Source.....................................................................................50
Trigger Type ...................................................................................... 50
Coupling ............................................................................................68
Position ............................................................................................. 68
Slope and Level ................................................................................. 68
Trigger Holdoff.................................................................................. 69
SIGNAL ACQUISITION SYSTEM............................................................ 70
DISPLAY SYSTEM ............................................................................. 75
X-Y Format ........................................................................................ 79
MEASURE SYSTEM........................................................................... 80
Scale Measurement .......................................................................... 80
Cursor Measurement ........................................................................81
Auto Measurement ...........................................................................86
STORAGE SYSTEM............................................................................ 93
UTILITY SYSTEM ............................................................................ 107
System Status.................................................................................. 111
Language ........................................................................................111
Self Calibration................................................................................ 112
Self Test...........................................................................................113
Updating Firmware.........................................................................116
Pass/Fail.......................................................................................... 117
Waveform Recorder........................................................................121
Record .............................................................................................126
HELP MENU ................................................................................. 129
CHAPTER 3 REMOTE CONTROL ................................................ 131
CHAPTER 4 APPLICATION EXAMPLES ....................................... 132
TAKING SIMPLE MEASUREMENTS..................................................... 133
MEASURING RING FREQUENCY ........................................................ 134
Measuring Ring Amplitude .............................................................135
CAPTURING A SINGLE EVENT ............................................................ 135
ANALYZING SIGNAL DETAILS............................................................ 136
Looking at a Noisy Signal ................................................................136
Separating the Signal from Noise ...................................................137
TRIGGERING ON A VIDEO SIGNAL ..................................................... 137
Triggering on Video Field ................................................................137
Triggering on Video Lines................................................................137

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APPLICATION OF X-Y FUNCTION....................................................... 138
ANALYZING A DIFFERENTIAL COMMUNICATION SIGNAL ....................... 139
CHAPTER 5 MESSAGE PROMPTS AND TROUBLESHOOTING....... 141
MESSAGE PROMPTS ...................................................................... 141
TROUBLESHOOTING ....................................................................... 142
CHAPTER 6 SPECIFICATIONS .................................................... 144
SPECIFICATIONS............................................................................. 144
CERTIFICATION.............................................................................. 151
APPENDIX A DEFAULT SETUP................................................... 152
APPENDIX B INDEX ................................................................. 155
APPENDIX C DISABLING AUTO FUNCTION................................ 156
SERVICE INFORMATION .......................................................... 157
LIMITED THREE-YEAR WARRANTY ........................................... 158

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Chapter 1 Introduction
The 2550 series digital storage oscilloscopes (DSO) are portable benchtop
instruments used for making measurements of signals and waveforms. This
chapter will highlight information on the following:
•Panel and display information
•Package Contents
•Checking functions
•Probe Attenuation
•Probe Compensation

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Panel and Display Information
Front Panel
The following contents are a brief introduction for the front panel function,
which is useful to become familiar with the operation of the DSO.
2
4
5
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
3
1
15
16
6
17
16
17
Figure 1 - 4 channel (top) and 2 channel (bottom) front panels

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1. Power On/Off button
2. USB Host port (for storage to USB flash drives)
3. LCD display
4. 1 kHz probe compensation terminal
5. Menu On/Off button
6. Function keys
7. Print button
8. Universal knob
9. Cursor, Measure, Acquire, Display, Save/Recall, Utility menu
buttons
10. Help and default setup button
11. Run Controls (Single, Run/Stop)
12. Horizontal Controls (Time/div, horizontal position, Horizontal
menu)
13. Auto set button
14. Trigger Controls (Trigger menu, Set to 50%, Force, Trigger level)
15. External trigger BNC
16. 2CH/4CH BNC inputs
17. Vertical Controls (Volts/div, vertical position, CH1 & CH2 or
CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4, On/Off, Math function, Reference
function)
Back Panel
The following shows the back panel connections of the DSO.
1
2
3
4
10
7
5
6
8
9

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1. Rubber feet
2. Kensington security slot
3. Pass/Fail BNC output
4. LAN interface
5. USB device port (for remote communication)
6. Rear USB host port (for storage to USB flash drives)
7. Main AC power switch
8. Input fuse holder
9. AC line input
10. Carrying handle
Display Information
Figure 5 - Display Screen
1. Trigger status
•Armed - The oscilloscope is acquiring pre-trigger data.
All triggers are ignored in this state.
•Ready - All pre-trigger data has been acquired and the
oscilloscope is ready to accept a trigger.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

14
•Trig’d - The oscilloscope has seen a trigger and is
acquiring the post-trigger data.
•Stop - The oscilloscope has stopped acquiring waveform
data.
•Auto - The oscilloscope is in auto mode and is acquiring
waveforms in the absence of triggers.
•Scan - The oscilloscope is acquiring and displaying
waveform data continuously in scan mode. This mode
occurs when oscilloscope is looking for a signal or when
timebase is set slow enough in which the scope requires
longer time to “scan” in order to acquire the entire signal
on display.
2. Displays position of the present waveform window in internal
memory.
3. Marker shows horizontal trigger position. Turn the
HORIZONTAL POSITION KNOB to adjust the position of the
marker.
4. Print Key – Indicates whether the PRINT KEY option is set to
print picture or save picture.
•“Print Key” option is set to “Save Picture”
5. Back USB – Indicates whether the BACK USB option is set to
Computer/USBTMC or Printer.
•“Back USB” option is set to “Computer”.
•“Back USB” option is set to “Printer” (not available)
6. Waveform channel number tag.
7. On-screen markers show the ground reference points of the
displayed waveforms. If there is no marker, the channel is not
displayed. Display signal source.
8. Signal Coupling Symbol
9. Vertical scale factor of corresponding channels.
10. Indicates whether the bandwidth limiting filter is “On” or “Off”.
The “B” icon indicates the filter is On.
11. Main time base scale setting
12. Horizontal position of main time base waveform.

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13. Shows the icon for the trigger type
14. Displays real time and date
15. Shows the trigger voltage
16. Trigger signal frequency
Package Contents
The digital storage oscilloscopes are shipped with the following contents:
•2550 series Digital Storage Oscilloscope
•User Manual
•USB (Type A to B) communication cable
•AC Power Cord
•Four 10:1 passive oscilloscope probes for 4 channel models, two
probes for 2 channel models
•Certificate of Calibration
Please locate each item from the original packaging and contact B&K
Precision immediately if something is missing.
Checking Functions
Please follow the steps below when checking the oscilloscope’s
functionality.
1. Power on the oscilloscope.
Press “DEFAULT SETUP” to set to factory default settings. The
probe default attenuation is 1X.

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Figure 6 - Scope Layout
2. Set the switch to 1X on the probe and connect the probe to channel
1 on the oscilloscope. To do this, align the slot in the probe
connector with the key on the CH 1 BNC, push to connect, and
twist to the right to lock the probe in place. Connect the probe tip
and reference lead to the PROBE COMP connectors.
Figure 7 - Probe Compensation
3. Press “AUTO” to show the 1 kHz frequency and about 3V peak-
peak square wave in couple seconds.

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Figure 8 - 3Vpp Square Wave
4. Press “CH1” two times to cancel the channel 1, Press“CH2” to
change screen into channel 2, reset the channel 2 as step 2 and step
3. Do the same for 4CH models by pressing “CH3” and “CH4”
for channel 3 and channel 4 respectively.
Probe Safety
A guard around the probe body provides a finger barrier for protection from
electric shock.
Figure 9 - Probe
Connect the probe to the oscilloscope and connect the ground terminal to
ground before you take any measurements.

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Probe Attenuation
Probes are available with various attenuation factors which affect the
vertical scale of the signal. The Probe Check function verifies that the
Probe attenuation option matches the attenuation of the probe.
You can push a vertical menu button (such as the CH 1 MENU button), and
select the Probe option that matches the attenuation factor of your probe.
Be sure that the attenuation switch on the probe matches the Probe option
in the oscilloscope. Switch settings are 1X and 10X.
Note
：
To avoid electric shock when using the probe, keep fingers behind
the guard on the probe body.
To avoid electric shock while using the probe, do not touch metallic
portions of the probe head while it is connected to a voltage source.
Connect the probe to the oscilloscope and connect the ground
terminal to ground before you take any measurements.
Note. The default setting for the Probe option is 1X.
Note. When the attenuation switch is set to 1X, the probe limits the
bandwidth of the oscilloscope to 10 MHz (according to Probe spec). To use
the full bandwidth of the oscilloscope, be sure to set the switch to 10X.

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Probe Compensation
As an alternative method to Probe Check, you can manually perform this
adjustment to match your probe to the input channel.
Figure 10 - Probe Compensation Setup
1. Set the Probe option attenuation in the channel menu to 10X. Do
so by pressing CH1 button and selecting “Probe” from menu.
Select 10X. Set the switch to 10X on the probe and connect the
probe to channel 1 on the oscilloscope. If you use the probe hook-
tip, ensure a proper connection by firmly inserting the tip onto the
probe.
2. Attach the probe tip to the PROBE COMP 3V connector and the
reference lead to the PROBE COMP Ground connector. Display
the channel and then push the “AUTO” button.
3. Check the shape of the displayed waveform.
4. If necessary, adjust your probes compensation trimmer pot. Repeat
as necessary.
Overcompensated
Compensated Correctly
Undercompensated

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Chapter 2 Functions and
Operating Descriptions
This chapter will cover all the functions and operations of the oscilloscope:
•Menu and control button
•Connector
•Auto Setup
•Default Setup
•Universal knob
•Vertical System
•Horizontal System
•Trigger System
•Acquiring signals System
•Display System
•Measuring waveforms System
•Utility System
•Storage System
•Online Help function