Tektronix P6042 PROBE User manual

INSTRUCTION
MANUAL
Serial Number
P6042
PROBE
Tektronix, Inc.
S.W. Millikan Way • P. O. Box 500 • Beaverton, Oregon 97005 • Phone 44-01 1 • Cables: Tektronix
070-0629-00
967

All Tektronix instruments are warrante
against efective materials an workman 
ship for one year. Tektronix transformers,
manufacture in our own plant, are war 
rante for the life of the instrument.
Any questions with respect to the war 
ranty mentione above shoul be taken
up with your Tektronix Fiel Engineer.
Tektronix repair an replacement-part
service is geare irectly to the fiel ,
therefore all requests for repairs an re 
placement parts shoul be irecte to
the Tektronix Fiel Office or representative
in your area. This proce ure will assure
you the fastest possible service. Please
inclu e the instrument Type an Serial or
Mo el Number with all requests for parts
or service.
Specifications an price change privi 
leges reserve .
Copyright ® 1967 by Tektronix, Inc.,
Beaverton, Oregon. Printe in the Unite
States of America. All rights reserve .
Contents of this publication may not be
repro uce in any form without permission
of the copyright owner-
WARRANTY

Characteristics — Type P6042
Fig. 1-1. P6042 Current Probe an accessories.

Type P6042
SECTION 1
CHARACTERISTICS
Change information, if any, affecting this section is found at the rear of the manual.
Intro uction
The Tektronix P 042 Current Probe is designed for use with
oscilloscope systems having either 50-ohm or high-impedance
inputs. DC and low-frequency current waveforms, as well
as measurements to 50 MHz, can be made accurately and
quickly with the probe. To achieve tilt-free display of the cur 
rent waveform, a Hall Voltage device is used in the probe to
supply the DC and low-frequency information to the P 042
amplifier. In the amplifier, low-frequency information is
combined with the high-frequency component of the signal
and the resultant is developed at the output.
The P 042 is powered by a regulated power supply con 
tained within the instrument, independent of associated test
equipment.
Electrical Characteristics
The electrical characteristics given in Table 1-1 apply over
an ambient temperature range from 0° to + 50°C, after the
probe has been calibrated at + 25°C ±5%. Warmup time
is 5 minutes. Under these conditions, the P 042 Current Probe
will meet or exceed the requirements given in the Performance
Requirement column of the table when the instrument is used
with a 100 MHz oscilloscope (such as the Type 47A with
10A2A and 11B2A plug-in units). The specifications listed in
the table include only the performance of the P 042 Current
Probe. Any error introduced by the test equipment must be
added to the applicable performance requirements. Per 
formance of the probe is checked to these requirments in the
Performance Check section of this manual. If the need for
calibration is indicated, a step-by-step procedure is provided
in the Calibration section.
The Supplemental Information column of Table 1-1 provides
additional information about the probe and describes cer 
tain conditions that pertain to the performance requirements.
Any characteristics given in the Supplemental Information
column are not requirements in themselves, and are not
necessarily checked in the manual procedures.
Environmental Characteristics
The environmental performance of the P 042 Current Probe,
a laboratory instrument, is checked at the factory and found
to meet the requirements described in Table 1-2.
TABLE 1-1
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristic
Bandwidth
Performance Requirement
DC to 50 MHz.
Supplemental Information
3 dB down.
Transient Response
Risetime
<7 ns. Calculated from bandwidth.
Aberrations
≤ 3% from 1 mA/DIV to 50 mA/DIV.
±5% from .1 A/DIV to 1 A/DIV before
first 100 ns.
Noise
Periodic and Random Deviations ≤ 0.5 mA + 0.2 div, tangentially measured.
Random Trace Shift
≤ 1.5 mA. 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz (on selectable bandwidth
system).
Dynamic Range
+500 mV to — 500 mV at probe amplifier
output.
+ond — 10 div with oscilloscope set to
50 mV/div.
Compression at limits of
5% or less.
dynamic range.
Positioning Range
+300 mV to — 300 mV at probe amplifier
+ and - — div with oscilloscope set to 50
output.
mV/div.
Attenuator Accuracy
Within ±3%.
Insertion Impedance
Typically 0.1  at 5 MHz. See Fig, V2 for impedance vs. frequency
curve.
Maximum Input Current
1 A to 5 mA: 10 A (DC + peak AC). See
Fig. 1-3 for derating curve. 2 mA and 1
mA: 0.5 A (DC + peak AC).
Thermal Drift (Probe only)
≤ 2mA/°C from 15°C to +35°C with
amplifier temperature constant.
Thermal Drift (Amplifier only)
≤ 0.2 div/ °C with probe temperature con 
stant.
1-1

Characteristics — Type P6042
TABLE 1-1 (cont)
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristic
Performance Requirement Supplemental Information
Voltage-Feedthrough
Susceptibility
≤ 250 µ A/V at 50 MHz.
External Magnetic Field
Susceptibility
≤ 250 µA/Gauss, at 0 Hz.
Required Output Load Impedance
50 .
Line Voltage Regulation
90 to 13 V RMS or 180 to 272 V RMS.
1.3 crest factor; 3 taps available in each
range.
Power Supply Ripple
≤ 2 mV peak to peak.
Input Power
≤ 20 W.
Input Frequency
50 to 400 Hz.
TABLE 1-2
ENVIRNOMENTÂL CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristic Performance Requirement
Supplemental Information
Temperature
Non-operating – 40° C to + 5° C.
Operating 0°C to +50°C Ambient.
Altitude
Non-operating
To 50,000 feet.
Operating
To 15,000 feet.
Humidity (Non-operating) 5 cycles MIL-STD 202C, Method 10 B, omit 
ting freezing and vibration cycles.
Vibration (operating) 15 minutes along each axis at .015 inch
Tested with instrument secured to vibrati
total displacement with frequency varied
from 10-50-10 cycles per second in 1 -minute
cycles. Three minutes at any resonant
point or at 50 cycles per second.
platform.
Shock (Non-operating)
30 g's, ½ sine, 11 ms duration, 2 shocks
Guillotine-type shocks.
per axis.
Transportation
Package Vibration
1 hour at 1 g.
Package just leaves vibration surface.
Package Drop
30 inches on 1 corner, all edges radiating
from that corner, and all flat edges.
1-2

Characteristics — Type P6042
®ï
1-3

Characteristics — Type P6042
1-4

Type P6042
SECTION 2
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
Change information, if any, affecting this section is found at the rear of the manual.
General
The P 042 Current Probe is designed to work into either a
50-ohm system or a high impedance oscilloscope using a
50-ohm termination. This section of the manual describes the
use of the P 042 Current Probe. Information in this section
is given to aid in making accurate measurements with the
probe.
Han ling
The P 042 is designed to be as rugged as possible,
consistent with good high-frequency response and size. How 
ever, as with all precision devices, the probe and cable
should be handled with care to avoid damage. Special care
should be taken that the cable not be crushed, kinked, or
pulled. Avoid dropping the probe, as some of the most sen 
sitive circuitry is located within the probe assembly.
Operating Voltage
The P 042 can be powered from either a 115-volt or a 230-
volt nominal line voltage source. The line voltage selector
assembly on the rear panel converts the instrument from
one operating range to the other. In addition, this switch
assembly changes the primary connections of the power
transformer to allow selection of one of three regulating
ranges. The assembly also includes the two line fuses. When
the instrument is converted from 115-volt to 230-volt nominal
operation, or vice versa, the switch assembly connects or
disconnects one of the fuses to provide the correct protec 
tion for the instrument. Use the following procedure to con 
vert this instrument between nominal line voltages or reg 
ulating ranges.
1. Disconnect the instrument from the power source.
2. Loosen the two captive screws which hold the cover
onto the switch assembly; then pull to remove the cover.
3. To convert from 115-volt to 230-volt operation, pull out
the Voltage Selector switch bar (see Fig. 2-1); turn it around
and plug into the remaining holes. Change the power cord
to match the powersource receptacle or use a 11 5-volt to
230-volt plug adapter.
4. To change regulating ranges, pull out the Range Selec 
tor switch bar (see Fig. 2-1); slide it to the desired position
and plug it back in. Select a range which is centered about
the average line voltage to which the instrument will be con 
nected (see Table 2-1).
5. Re-install the cover and tighten the two captive screws.
. Before applying power to the instrument, check that the
indicating tabs on the switch bars are protruding through the
correct holes for the desired nominal line voltage and regulat 
ing range.
Fig. 2-1. Line Voltage Selector assembly on the rear panel (shown
with cover remove ).
CAUTION
The P 042 should not be operated with the Volt 
age Selector and Range Selector switches in the
wrong position for the line voltage applied. Opera 
tion of the instrument with the switches in the
wrong positions will either provide incorrect opera 
tion or damage the instrument.
TABLE 2-1
Regulating Ranges
Range Selector
Switch Position
Regulating Range
115-Volts
Nominal
230-Volts
Nominal
LO (switch bar in left
holes)
90 to 110 volts
180 to 220 volts
M (switch bar in mid 
dle holes)
104 to 12 volts 208 to 252 volts
HI (switch bar in right
holes)
112 to 13 volts
224 to 272 volts
Operating Temperature
The P 042 depends upon convection cooling to maintain
a safe operating temperature. Adequate clearance on all
sides must be provided to allow heat to be dissipated away
from the instrument. Do not block or restrict the air flow
2-1

Operating Instructions — Type P6042
Fig. 2-2. Function of front panel controls an connectors.
2-2