Oscilloscope Basics: Cal Out and Aux Out

Fig. 1: Cal Out and Aux Out 
provide many useful outputs.

Oscilloscopes are generally thought of in terms of the signals that are input to them, but even oscilloscopes that are not equipped with function/signal generators can usually output some useful test signals.

Nearly all oscilloscopes have a Cal Out (calibration output) terminal on the front. Most Teledyne LeCroy oscilloscopes also have an Aux Out (auxiliary output) connector on either the front or back, depending on  model. Both outputs provide configurable signals that can assist you to compensate probes and attenuators, test frequency response, trigger waveform acquisition and coordinate multiple test instruments.

Making Sense of Probe Terminology

As oscilloscope users, we know that the probe is a critical element in getting signals from the device under test into the instrument. The ideal probe would have perfectly flat magnitude response and perfectly linear phase response across its entire frequency range. Unfortunately, that probe, though striven for by all oscilloscope manufacturers, does not exist.