HP 54600A Manual

User and
Service
Guide
HP 54600A
and
HP 54601A
Oscilloscopes

General Purpose 100-MHz Oscilloscopes
The HP 54600A and HP 54601A offer exceptional waveform
viewing and measurements in a small lightweight oscilloscope.
The two channel
HP 54600A is suited for production, field service,
and education applications. The four channel
HP 54601A is best
suited for research and design labs, and applications involving
digital circuit test and troubleshooting.
• 100 MHz bandwidth, 2 ns/div main and delay~d time bases
• Auto setup of the front panel
• Automatic and cursor measurements of frequency, time, and
voltage
• Waveform storage
• Save and recall of 16 front-panel setups
• Peak detect
These oscilloscopes are easy to use with familiar controls and high
display update rate,
but with none of the viewing problems that
are associated with analog oscilloscopes. A bright crisp display
is
obtained at all sweep speeds and delayed sweep magnifications.
Storage is as simple as pressing a button. Negative time allows
the viewing ofevents
that occur before the trigger event. Cursors
and automatic measurements greatly simplify the analysis of these
events.
You can upgrade both of the oscilloscopes to print to a
printer
or to plot to a plotter, or remote control by either HP-IB or
RS-232. The HP 54653A software is a set of MS® -DOS utilities
that simplifies the transfer of waveforms, data, and setups to a
personal computer for analysis and documentation.
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Accessories supplied
• Two 1.5 meter, 10:1 Probes, HP 10071A
• Power cord for country of destination
• This User and Service Guide
Accessories available
• HP 54650A HP-IB Interface Module
• HP 54651A RS-232 Interface Module
• HP 54652A Parallel Interface Module
• HP 54653A Software for Simple PC Operation
• HP 5041-9409 Carrying Case
•
HP 5062-7345 Rackmount Kit
• HP 54654A Operator's Training Kit
• HP 10079A Camera
•
HP 10070A 1.5 meter, 1:1 Probe
• HP 10100C 50 0 Termination
Options available
• Option 101 Accessory Pouch and Front-panel Cover
• Option 102 Two Additional10:1 Probes,
HP 10071A
• Option 001 RS03 Magnetic Interference Shielding Added to
CRT
• Option 002 RE02 Display Shield Added to CRT
• Option 103 Operator's Training Kit, HP 54654A
• Option 104 Carrying Case, HP 5041-9409
• Option 105, Software for Simple PC Operation HP 54653A
• Option 090 Delete Probes
• Option 908 Rackmount Kit
• Option 910 Additional Copy of the ll<:t.rrr n.nd Servir..e Guide
• Power Cords, see "Replaceable Parts", Table 15 on page 112
3

In This Book
This book is the operating and service manual for the HP 54600A
and HP 54601A Oscilloscopes, and contains four chapters.
Beginners Chapter 1 is a quick start guide that gives you a brief
overview of the oscilloscope.
Advanced users Chapter 2 is a series of exercises that guide you
through the operation of the oscilloscope.
Service technicians Chapter 3 contains the service infonnation for
the oscilloscope. There are procedures for verifying perfonnance,
adjusting, troubleshooting, and replacing assemblies in the
oscilloscope.
Reference information Chapter 4 lists the characteristics of the
oscilloscope.
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Contents
1 The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To connect a signal to the oscilloscope 9
To display a signal automatically 11
To set up the vertical window 12
To set up the time base 14
To trigger the oscilloscope 16
2 Operating Your Oscilloscope
To use delayed sweep 21
To use storage oscilloscope operation 24
To capture a single event 26
To capture glitches or narrow pulses 28
To trigger on a complex waveform 30
To make frequency measurements automatically 32
To make time measurements automatically 34
To make voltage measurements automatically 37
To make cursor measurements 41
To view asynchronous noise on a signal 45
To reduce the random noise on a signal 47
To analyze video waveforms 50
To save or recall traces 54
To use the XY display mode 56
To save or recall front-panel setups 60
3 Service
To return the oscilloscope to Hewlett-Packard 64
Verifying Oscilloscope Performance 65
To check the output of the DC CALIBRATOR 66
To verify voltage measurement accuracy 67
To verify bandwidth 70
To verify bandwidth (alternate method) 72
To verify horizontal.:lt and 1/.:lt accuracy 76
To verify trigger sensitivity 79
5

Coateats
Adjusting the Oscilloscope 83
To adjust the power supply 84
To calibrate the firmware 86
To adjust the low frequency compensation 88
To adjust the high frequency pulse response 90
To adjust the display 92
Troubleshooting the Oscilloscope 94
To construct your own dummy load 95
To check out the oscilloscope 96
To check the L VPS. 99
To run the internal self tests 100
Replacing Parts in the Oscilloscope 103
To replace an assembly 104
To remove the handle 109
To order a replacement part 109
4 Performance Characteristics
Vertical System 116
Horizontal System 118
Trigger System 119
XY Operation 120
Display System 120
Acquisition System 120
Advanced Functions 121
Power Requirements 121
General 122
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1
The Oscilloscope
at a Glance

The Oscilloscope at a Glance
One of the first things you will want to do with your new
oscilloscope is
to become acquainted with its front panel.
Therefore, we have written the exercises in this chapter to
familiarize you with some of its controls.
The front panel has knobs, grey keys, and white keys. The knobs
are used most often and are similar to the knobs on other
oscilloscopes. The grey
keyl:l bring up softkey menus on the
display that allow you access to many of the oscilloscope features.
The white keys are instant action keys and menus are not
associated with them.
Throughout this book, the front-panel keys are denoted by a box
around the name of the key, and softkeys are denoted
by a change
in the text type. For example, I
source I is the grey front-panel
key labeled source under
the trigger portion of the front panel,
and
Line is a softkey. The word Line is at the bottom of the
display directly above an unlabeled softkey (which
is also grey).
The rear cover of this book
is a fold out reference guide. On this
cover you will fmd a diagram of the front panel, and inside the
cover is another diagram showing which grey keys to press to
bring up the softkey menus.
The status line, located at the top of of the display, lets you
quickly determine the setup of the oscilloscope. In this chapter
you will learn to interpret the setup ofthe oscilloscope from the
status line.
An example of the status line is on the rear cover of
this book.
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The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To COllect a slg1al to tile oscilloscope
To connect a signal to the oscilloscope
The HP 54600A is a two-channel oscilloscope with an external trigger
input, while the
HP 54601A is a four-channel oscilloscope. The
four-r.hannel oscilloscope replaces the external trigger inout with
channels 3 and
4. In this exercise you connect a signal to the channel 1
input.
To avoid damage to your new oscilloscope, make sure that the voltage
level of the signal you are using is less than or equal to 400 V (de plus
the peak ac). For a complete list of the characteristics see chapter
4,
"Performance CharacterisLics," on page 115.
• Use a BNC cable or a probe to connect a signal to channel 1.
If you are using a probe, the oscilloscope allows you to enter the
attenuation factor for the probe. The attenuation factor changes the
vertical scaling of the oscilloscope so that the measurement results
reflect the actual voltage levels at the probe tio.
• To set the probe attenuation factor press QJ . Next toggle
the
Probe softkey to change the attenuation factor to
match the probe you are using.
9

Figure 1
OVercompensation
causes pulse peaking.
Figure 2
Correct compensation
with a flat pulse top.
Figure 3
Undercompensation
causes pulse rolloff.
The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To co11ect a s1g111 to tile oscilloscope
You should compensate 10:1 probes to match their characteristics to the
oscilloscope. A poorly compensated probe can introduce measurement
errors.
To compensate a probe, follow these steps.
1 Connect the
10:1 probe from channel 1 to the front-panel probe
adjust signal on the oscilloscope.
2 Press I Autoscale I.
3 Use a nonmetallic tool to adjust the trimmer capacitor on the
probe
for the flattest pulse possible as displayed on the
oscilloscope.
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The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To dlsplar a slg1al auto•atll:allr
To display a signal automatically
The oscilloscope has an Autoscale feature that automatically sets up the
oscilloscope to best display the input signal. Using Autoscale requires
signals with a frequency greater than or equal to
50 Hz and a duty cycle
greater than
1%.
When you press the Autoscale key, the oscilloscope turns on and scales
all channels that have signals applied, and it selects a time base range
based on the trigger source. The trigger source selected is the highest
numbered input that has a signal applied.
(If a signal is connected to
the external trigger input on the
HP 54600A, then it is selected as the
trigger source.)
1 Connect a signal to the oscilloscope.
2
Press I Autoscale I•
When you press the Autoscale key, the oscilloscope changes the
front-panel setup to display the signal. However, if you pressed the
Autoscale key unintentionally, you can use the Undo Autoscale feature.
To use this feature, perfonn the following step.
• Press I setup 1. Next, press the undo Autoscale softkey.
The oscilloscope returns to the configuration in effect before you
pressed the Autoscale key.
11

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The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To set up tile vertlcalwladow
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The following exercise guides you through the vertical keys, knobs, and
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1 Center
the signal on the display with the Position knob.
The Position knob moves the signal vertically, and it is calibrated. v
Notice that as you turn the Position knob, a voltage value is displayed
for a short time indicating how far the ground reference is located from
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right side of the display moves in conjunction with the Position knob.
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If the channel is de coupled, you can quickly measure the de component of the
signal by simply noting its distance from the ground symbol.
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The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To 1et up tile vertical wladow
2 Change the vertical setup and notice that each change affects
the status line differently.
You can quickly determine the vertical setup from the status line in the
display.
• Change the venical sensitivity with the VoltstDiv knob and notice
that it causes the status line to change. For channels 3 and 4 on the
HP 54601A, press QJ or [JJ. Then use the softkeys to change
the vertical sensitivity.
• Press [I].
A softkey menu appears on the display, and the channel turns on
(or remains on if it was already turned on).
• Toggle each of the softkeys and notice which keys cause the status
line to change.
Channels 1 and 2 have a vernier softkey that allows the Volt/Div
knob to change the vertical step size in smaller increments.
These smaller increments are ealibrated, which results in accurate
measurements even with the vernier turned on.
• To turn the channel off, either press [I] a second time or press
the left-most softkey.
lavert operatlag lllat
When you are triggered on the signal you are inverting, the inversion also applies to
the trigger signal (what was a rising edge now Is a falling edge). If the signal has a
50% duty cycle (square wave or sin wave) the displayed waveform appears not to
invert. However, for signals with a duty cycle other that 50%, the displayed
waveform does invert as you would exPect
13

The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To set up t•e tl•e base
To set up the time base
The following exercise guides you tbrough the time base keys, knobs,
and status line.
1 Tum the Time/Div knob and notice the change it makes to the
status line.
The Time/Div knob changes the sweep speed from 2 ns to 5 sin a 1-2-5
step sequence, and the value is displayed in the status line.
2 Change the horizontal setup and notice that each change
affects the status line differently.
• Press I Main/Delayed I.
A softkey menu appears on the display with five softkey choices.
• Toggle each of the softkeys and notice which keys cause the status
line to change.
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The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To set up tile tl•e base
There is also a horizontal vernier softkey that allows the Time/Div
knob to change the sweep speed in smaller increments. These
smaller increments are calibrated, which results in accurate
measurements even with the vernier turned on.
• Turn the Delay knob and notice that its value is displayed in the
status line.
The Delay knob moves the main sweep horizontally, and it pauses
at 0.00 s, mimicking a mechanical detent.
At the top of the
graticule is a solid triangle ( T ) symbol and an open triangle
( V ) symbol. The T symbol indicates the trigger point and it
moves in conjunction with the Delay knob. The V symbol
indicates the time reference point.
If the time reference softkey is
set to left, the V is located one graticule in from the left side of
the display. If the time reference softkey is set to center, the
Vis
located at the center of the display. The delay number tells you
how far the reference point V
is located from the trigger point T.
All events displayed left of the trigger point T happened before
the trigger occurred, and these events are called pretrigger
information.
You will :find this feature very useful because you
can now see the events that led up to the trigger point.
Everything to the right of the trigger point T is called posttrigger
information. The amount of delay range (pretrigger and
posttrigger information) available is dependent on the sweep
speed selected. See "Horizontal System,• on page
118.
15

The Oscmoscope at a Glance
To trigger tile OSGIIIDICOpl
To trigger the oscilloscope
The following exercise guides you through the trigger keys, knobs, and
status line.
1 Turn the trigger Level knob and notice the changes it makes to
the display.
On the HP 54601A and on an internally triggered HP 54600A, as you
turn the Level knob or press a trigger menu key, for a short time two
things happen on the display. First, the trigger level is displayed in
inverse video.
If the trigger is de coupled, it is displayed as a voltage. If
the trigger is ac coupled or ifLF reject was selected, it is displayed as a
percentage of the trigger range. Second, if the trigger source is turned
on, a line is displayed showing the location of the trigger level (as long
as ac coupling or low frequency reject are not selected).
2 Change the trigger setup and notice that each change affects
the status line differently.
• Press I source I.
A softkey menu appears on the display showing the trigger source
choices.
• Toggle each of the softkeys and notice that each key causes the status
line to change.
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The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To trigger tile oscilloscope
• Press IMode I.
A softkey menu appears on the display with five trigger mode
choices.
• Toggle the single and TV softkeys and notice that they affect the
status line differently.
(You can only select TV if the trigger source is
either channel 1 or 2.)
When the oscilloscope is triggering properly, the trigger mode
portion of the status line is blank.
Wlllat lllappeas If tile oscilloscope loses trigger?
If Auto Level is the trigger mode, Auto flashes in the status line. If de coupled, the
oscilloscope resets the trigger level to the center of the signal. If ac coupled, the
oscilloscope resets the trigger level to the middle of the screen. (Every time you
press the Auto Level softkey, the oscilloscope resets the trigger level.)
H Auto is the trigger mode, Auto flashes in the status line and the oscilloscope free
runs.
If either Normal or lV is the trigger mode, the trigger setup flashes in the status line.
17

The Oscilloscope at a Glance
To trigger the oscilloscope
• Press I slope/Coupling 1.
A softkey menu appears on the display. If you selected Auto
level, Auto, Normal, or Single as a trigger mode, six softkey
choices are displayed.
If you selected TV as a trigger source, five
other softkey choices are available.
• Toggle each of the softkeys and notice which keys affect the status
line.
On the HP 54600A, external trigger is always de coupled. If you
select
ac coupling or low frequency reject, these functions do not
occur until you change the trigger source to
channel!, channel 2,
or liue.
3 Adjust the Holdoff knob and notice the change it makes to the
display.
Holdoff keeps the trigger from rearming for an amount of time that you
set with the Holdoff knob. Holdoff
is often used to stabilize the complex
waveforms. The Holdoff range is from 200.0
ns to about 13.5 s. It is
displayed, for a short time,
in inverse video near the bottom of the
display.
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2
Operating Your
Oscilloscope

Operating Your Oscilloscope
By now you are familiar with the VERTICAL, HORIZONTAL, and
TRIGGER groups of the front-panel keys. You should also know
how to determine
the setup of the oscilloscope by looking at the
status line. Ifyou are unfamiliar with this information, we
recorrunend you read chapter 1, "The Oscilloscope
at a Glance,"
starting on page 7.
This chapter takes you through two
new groups offront-panel
keys:
STORAGE, and the group of keys that contains the Measure,
Save/Recall, and Display keys.
You will also add to your
knowledge of tlte
HORIZONTAL keys by using delayed sweep.
We recorrunend you perform all of the following exercises so you
become familiar with the powerful measurement capabilities of
the
oscilloscope.
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