Table of Contents

• Specifications for the Tektronix TDS1012B digital oscilloscope
• Programming Syntax
• Detecting and Initializing
• Capturing and Plotting Waveforms

Specifications for the Tektronix TDS1012B digital oscilloscope

• USB client port on the back and a USB host port on the front.
• 100 MHz bandwidth on the vertical amplifiers means that the gain is constant up to 100 MHz. Attenuated signals have been observed at 236 MHz.
• The sampling rate of the 8-bit ADC is 1 GHz. The ADC full range of 0 to 255 runs from just below the bottom of the screen to just above the top.
• The memory stores 2500 values for each channel.

Programming Syntax

• The programming manual for the tds1000/2000 series explains the command sequences. Notice the SCPI compliance.

Detecting and Initializing

• usb_devices_raw.py uses PyVisa to find all the IO devices. Notice the USB list, if the USB instruments have been switched on and connected.
• usb_devices.py searches through all USB devices and returns a handle to the scope with the serial number specified. It also returns a handle to the AFG3021B with the specified serial number. Distinguishing with particular serial numbers enables one to use multiple identical instruments.
• initialize_fg_scope.py initializes both devices to compatible operating conditions. initialize_fg_scope_commands.txt contains the actual commands determined from the programming manual.

Capturing and Plotting Waveforms

• The program scope_waveforms.py will read the scope parameters, capture a specified number of waveforms from each channel and plot the data versus time or in xy mode. The module tek.py must be in the same directory as well as usb_devices.py. Uncomment only the appropriate call to AcquireWaveforms and the associated title and legends definitions.
• A single waveform of 2500 data points can be transferred as ascii-encoded decimal in 4 seconds or as binary in 0.2 seconds. GetWaveform.py demonstrates both methods and shows one way to unpack the binary data into a numpy array of floats. For another approach to unpacking binary blocks of data, read unpacking_integers.txt.