Hi
Can I use 53132A counter when I calibrate a rise and fall time?
One of my coworker said to me he uses counter when he calibrate.
Are there any problem or not?
I don't remember the specifications, but there are some occasions when you can use a counter to measure rise or fall time. I don't always trust it, and the readings often aren't the best resolution. I prefer a proper oscilloscope. But yes, sometimes.
Depends here's some examples. Generator is an Agilent 33250A, 100 hz pulse variable edge.
Edge setting/53132 reading/Tek TDS (500 MHz) rise time msmt.
10nsec/12.3 nsec/10.11 nsec
50nS/51.8nS/50.3nS
100nS/102.8nS/100.3nS
500nS/511.8nS/496nS
1uS/1.032uS/0.996uS
5uS/5.1583uS/5.155uS
It's my conclusion the scope is superior but the counter is OK for ramps. Your milage may vary.
Yes, Yes you can use a frequency counter to measure Risetime and it can make very accurate measurements. But you have to keep it in your head how the measurement errors are calculated.
The largest error in a Risetime measurement on a frequency counter is the conversion of voltage to time hidden in the trigger level accuracy spec. Internally you are making a Start and Stop count measurement on two different channels. Risetime is the time between trigger level on channel 1 the 10% point and trigger level 2 then 90% point. Because of this trigger level to time converstion counters are far less accurate at making slow slopping Risetime measurements than fast one like on a square wave. They are far more accurate in their timebase accuracy and can be tied to the house 10 MHz Ref.
You can minimize the Error in your measurement by inverting the signal and averaging the Rising and inverted falling signal levels. This will minimize the trigger error between channel 1 and 2.
Ringing may also be an issue, on a scope you can see the pre-shoot and ringing and manually set your measurement markers to 10% and 90%. But on a counter you care not able to see how much the overshoot and undershoot are effecting the auto trigger level settings.
Also remember that a counters frequency range is usually less than 250 MHz.. Meaning that making Risetime measurements faster than 1.4nS is impossible. (.35/Frequency)
But in the end you can use a counter to make an accurate Risetime measurement.
yes you can, but I prefer to use the oscilloscope, the accuracy of a counter is better than the oscilloscope, but getting the proper trigger level on the counter is a pain in the butt and sometimes impossible