Tektronix P6106A User manual

Instruction Manual
P6106A
250 MHz 10X Passive Probe
070-5517-03
*P070551703*
070551703
Warning
The servicing instructions are for use by qualified
personnel only. To avoid personal injury, do not
perform any servicing unless you are qualified to
do so. Refer to all safety summaries prior to
performing service.
www.tektronix.com

Copyright ©Tektronix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tektronix products are covered by U.S. and foreign patents, issued and pending. Information in this publication supercedes
that in all previously published material. Specifications and price change privileges reserved.
Tektronix, Inc., P.O. Box 500, Beaverton, OR 97077
TEKTRONIX and TEK are registered trademarks of Tektronix, Inc.

WARRANTY
Tektronix warrants that the products that it manufactures and sells will be free from defects in materials and workmanship
for a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase from an authorized Tektronix distributor. If any such product proves
defective during this warranty period, Tektronix, at its option, either will repair the defective product without charge for
parts and labor, or will provide a replacement in exchange for the defective product. Batteries are excluded from this
warranty.
In order to obtain service under this warranty, Customer must notify Tektronix of the defect before the expiration of the
warranty period and make suitable arrangements for the performance of service. Customer shall be responsible for
packaging and shipping the defective product to the service center designated by Tektronix, shipping charges prepaid, and
with a copy of customer proof of purchase. Tektronix shall pay for the return of the product to Customer if the shipment is
to a location within the country in which the Tektronix service center is located. Customer shall be responsible for paying
all shipping charges, duties, taxes, and any other charges for products returned to any other locations.
This warranty shall not apply to any defect, failure or damage caused by improper use or improper or inadequate
maintenance and care. Tektronix shall not be obligated to furnish service under this warranty a) to repair damage resulting
from attempts by personnel other than Tektronix representatives to install, repair or service the product; b) to repair
damage resulting from improper use or connection to incompatible equipment; c) to repair any damage or malfunction
caused by the use of non-Tektronix supplies; or d) to service a product that has been modified or integrated with other
products when the effect of such modification or integration increases the time or difficulty of servicing the product.
THIS WARRANTY IS GIVEN BY TEKTRONIX WITH RESPECT TO THE LISTED PRODUCTS IN LIEU OF
ANY OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TEKTRONIX AND ITS VENDORS DISCLAIM ANY
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
TEKTRONIX’ RESPONSIBILITY TO REPAIR OR REPLACE DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS IS THE SOLE AND
EXCLUSIVE REMEDY PROVIDED TO THE CUSTOMER FOR BREACH OF THIS WARRANTY. TEKTRONIX
AND ITS VENDORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER TEKTRONIX OR THE VENDOR HAS
ADVANCE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Contacting Tektronix
Product
support For questions about using Tektronix measurement products, call toll free in North America:
1-800-833–9200
6:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific time
Or contact us by e-mail:
[email protected]
For product support outside of North America, contact your local Tektronix distributor
or sales office.
Service
support Tektronix offers extended warranty and calibration programs as options on many products. Contact your local Tektronix distributor or sales office.
For a listing of worldwide service centers, visit our web site.
For other
information In North America: 1-800–833–9200
An operator can direct your call.
To write us
Web site
Tektronix, Inc.
P.O. Box 500
Beaverton, OR 97077-1000
USA
www.tektronix.com

P6106A Instruction Manual i
General Safety Summary
Review the following safety precautions to avoid injury and prevent damage to
this product or any products connected to it. To avoid potential hazards, use this
product only as specified.
Only qualified personnel should perform service procedures.
Connect and Disconnect Properly. Do not connect or disconnect probes or test
leads while they are connected to a voltage source.
Observe All Terminal Ratings. To avoid fire or shock hazard, observe all ratings
and markings on the product. Consult the product manual for further ratings
information before making connections to the product.
The common terminal is at ground potential. Do not connect the common
terminal to elevated voltages.
Do not apply a potential to any terminal, including the common terminal, that
exceeds the maximum rating of that terminal.
Do Not Operate With SuspectedFailures. If you suspect there is damage to this
product, have it inspected by qualified service personnel.
Do Not Operate in Wet/DampConditions.
Do Not Operate in an Explosive Atmosphere.
Keep Product Surfaces Clean and Dry.
Terms in this Manual. The following terms may appear in this manual:
WARNING. Warning statements identify conditions or practices that could result
in injury or loss of life.
To Avoid Fire or
Personal Injury
Symbols and Terms

ii P6106A Instruction Manual
Service Safety Summary
Only qualified personnel should perform service procedures. Read this Service
Safety Summary and the General Safety Summary before performing any service
procedures.
Do Not Service Alone. Do not perform internal service or adjustments to this
product unless another person capable of rendering first aid and resuscitation is
present.

P6106A Instruction Manual 1
P6106A Passive Probe
Thank you for choosing a Tektronix passive probe. This manual provides the
information necessary to begin making measurements with your P6106A probe.
Topics are presented in the following order:
HDescription—A description of the probe and its options.
HSafety—A review of important safety considerations.
HInstallation—Information about attaching the probe to an instrument, and
attaching accessories to the probe.
HOperating Considerations—Information about using the probe.
HMaintenance—Instructions for cleaning the probe and replacing major
assemblies.
HReplaceable Parts—An exploded view of the probe and a list of replaceable
parts.
Description
The P6106A is a miniature, 10X-attenuating passive probe that is compatible
with general purpose oscilloscopes having a 1 MW input impedance.
The P6106A is compatible with Tektronix oscilloscopes that automatically detect
and display the attenuation factor of the attached probe.
The P6106A has a ground-reference push button that momentarily grounds the
probe output. This feature allows you to quickly identify the oscilloscope display
associated with one of several attached probes as well as making ground-refer-
enced measurements easier.
The P6106A is available with the following cable lengths:
Standard 2 meters
Option 01 1 meter
Each probe option is fully compatible with Tektronix accessories for miniature
probes.

P6106A Passive Probe
2P6106A Instruction Manual
Installation
This section describes both attaching the probe to an oscilloscope and using the
standard accessories with the probe.
The probe uses a BNC connector to attach to an oscilloscope input connector. To
ensure optimum performance from your probe/oscilloscope measurement
system, verify that the probe and oscilloscope are appropriately matched. The
oscilloscope input impedance should be 1 MW. The oscilloscope input capaci-
tance should be between 15 and 35 pF. Refer to “Compensation Range” in
Table 1 on page 8 for more information.
Your P6106A is shipped with the following accessories:
HThis instruction manual—Read these instructions to familiarize yourself
with he features, specifications, and operation of the P6106A passive probe.
HAccessory pouch—(not shown) Use the accessory pouch to store the probe
and its accessories when they are not being used.
HAdjustment tool—Use the insulated adjustment tool to adjust the low
frequency trimmer in the probe compensation box.
HIC protector tip—Use the IC protector tip to keep the metal sleeve of the
probe tip from accidentally shorting together the leads of an IC or other
circuit element. The shape of the protector tip helps you place the tip
accurately onto an IC lead.
HRetractable hook tip—Use the retractable hook tip to make hands-free
measurements. The hook tip attaches to components having leads, such as
resistors, capacitors, and discrete semiconductors. You can also grip stripped
wire, jumpers, busses, and test pins with the retractable hook.
For maximum flexibility with the hook tip, use the twelve-inch ground lead.
For precise measurements at high frequency, however, long ground leads
may have too much inductance. In these cases you should use the five-inch
ground lead.
To remove the hook tip, simply pull it off the probe. Reinstall it by pushing
it firmly onto the probe tip.
HGround cover—Use the protective ground cover to keep the metal sleeve of
the probe tip from accidentally shorting circuit elements to ground. Remove
the ground cover before installing the retractable hook tip.
HMarker rings—Use the marker rings to help you keep track of individual
probes and signal sources when you have a complicated test setup. Use the
marker rings whenever you want to identify a particular probe for any
Attaching the Probe to an
Oscilloscope
Using the Standard
Accessories

P6106A Passive Probe
P6106A Instruction Manual 3
reason.To make probe identification easy, clip matching colored rings onto
the probe cable and tip as shown.
HThree-inch ground lead—Use the Three-inch ground lead to establish a
ground reference for your measurements. Whenever freedom from aberra-
tions and amplitude accuracy are more important than probe reach and
flexibility, use the shortest ground lead possible.
To attach the ground lead to the probe, insert the spring clip into the
receptacle as shown. If the alligator clip is not attached, screw it onto the
threaded end of the lead.
HFive-inch ground lead—Use the long ground lead when a long reach is
important and high-frequency information is not. Because of the high
inductance associated with long ground leads, you should not use them for
precise measurements above approximately 30 MHz (or for pulses with rise
times less than about 11 ns). Long ground leads are ideal for quick trouble-
shooting when you are looking for the presence or absence of a signal and
are not concerned with the precision of the measurement.
The five-inch ground lead attaches in the same manner as the three-inch lead.
HAlligator clip—Use the alligator clip with one of the ground leads. Screw
the alligator clip onto the threaded end of a ground lead.

P6106A Passive Probe
4P6106A Instruction Manual
Operating Considerations
This information in this section will help you make the most effective use of
your P6106A probe.
HReadout pin—The BNC connector of the probe includes a spring-loaded pin
that connects to a mating contact ring on certain oscilloscopes. These
oscilloscopes recognize the attenuation factor of the probe and automatically
correct the oscilloscope indication of scale factor. You can determine if your
oscilloscope supports this feature by watching the oscilloscope vertical scale
factor readout when attaching the probe. If the displayed scale changes by a
factor of 10—for instance, from 10 mV to 100 mV—your oscilloscope
supports this feature.
HGround-reference push button—Press the ground-reference push button to
momentarily short the signal output of the probe to ground (the signal under
test is not affected). Using the ground-reference push button allows you to
quickly note or verify the ground reference of a DC measurement. If your
oscilloscope is displaying several traces, pressing the ground-reference push
button also helps you to identify which trace is associated with the probe.
WARNING. To avoid electric shock when using the probe, keep fingers behind the
guard on the probe body.
In order for an amplitude measurement to be meaningful, you must give the
measurement some point of reference. The ground lead provides access to this
ground reference.
When you subsequently touch your probe tip to a circuit element, you introduce
additional resistance, capacitance, and inductance into the circuit (Figure 1).
Vsource
Source
Resistance
ProbeInput
Resistance Probe Input Capacitance
Ground Lead Inductance
Figure 1: A Probe Adds Resistance, Capacitance, and Inductance
Features and Controls
Readout Pin
Ground-reference
Push Button
Finger guard
Ground Lead Inductance