Five Tips to Improve Dynamic Range

Dynamic range is the ratio of the maximum signal level to the smallest signal level achievable in a measurement.  Tools with good dynamic range are especially helpful for analyzing wide dynamic range signals in which a full-scale signal must be acquired, while at the same time, very small amplitude signal details must be visible. Here are five tips for improving the dynamic range of your measurement instrument.

Going From FFTs to Spectrum Analysis

Figure 1: Spectrum Analyzer software for the HDO series
oscilloscopes provides an intuitive user interface

In earlier posts, we looked at a) the basics of fast-Fourier transforms (FFTs) and b) how to set up an FFT on a modern digital oscilloscope. In this post, we'll take a brief look at what that modern scope can do with an FFT, provided that scope is outfitted with software that will let it take full advantage. After all, the object of an FFT is to transform a time-domain waveform into the frequency domain. Sounds kind of like a spectrum analyzer, no?