Oscilloscope storing data software

[xmat]

Hello to all.

I have a Tektronix TDS 2012 oscilloscope.

It is one of those digital storage oscilloscopes, it allows you to store data and watch signas after their occurence.

However, its storage capacity is only a few KBs, meaning I cannot store data for a long period of time (seconds) or with high resolution..

The manufacturer has a utility that helps you store those data in a computer, yet it is far too primitive..worse than the internal storage.

So, I was wondering if any of you knows about a software utility for such function..
There has to be some programmer that has thought about it,
if is way too usefull (for doing some signal processing circuits) to have been totally ommited.

Hope someone could help, thanx in advance,

xmat.

 

[evandude]

I don't think it's possible to do what you're suggesting with existing technology.

You have to remember, the sampling rate of your scope is very high (hundreds of MHz, if not GHz, for most decent scopes)

To continuously capture, the scope would have to be able to transmit the data to the computer as fast as it was capturing... and there's no communication method for the computer that can handle that. It would require something like connecting the scope's memory access bus directly to a dedicated bus on the computer so it could be communicated with directly by the processor... obviously a specialty application, which would require a completely custom setup... and don't forget, even a fast modern PC processor only operates at a few GHz, which wouldn't be nearly fast enough for fast scopes.

And even if you did get the data to the computer with such a direct memory access connection, you would still have no way to do anything with it! Computer memory operates at a few hundred MHz, and a hard drive is orders of magnitude slower. So you'd again be heavily limited on the scope sampling rate.

In other words, you'd probably have better luck building a new control board for the oscilloscope from scratch with more capture memory :lol:
Or just saving up the tens of thousands of dollars for a commercially available scope with large amounts of capture memory.

If you look here:
https://www.qsl.net/wd1v/scopefaq/open1.html
you'll see that some new scopes are handling up to 100 million sample points per capture, which equates to over 100 miles of consecutive scope screens if you were to scroll the entire waveform... should be enough for just about anything, I think

 

[Optikon]

I don't think it's possible to do what you're suggesting with existing technology.

You have to remember, the sampling rate of your scope is very high (hundreds of MHz, if not GHz, for most decent scopes)

To continuously capture, the scope would have to be able to transmit the data to the computer as fast as it was capturing... and there's no communication method for the computer that can handle that. It would require something like connecting the scope's memory access bus directly to a dedicated bus on the computer so it could be communicated with directly by the processor... obviously a specialty application, which would require a completely custom setup... and don't forget, even a fast modern PC processor only operates at a few GHz, which wouldn't be nearly fast enough for fast scopes.

And even if you did get the data to the computer with such a direct memory access connection, you would still have no way to do anything with it! Computer memory operates at a few hundred MHz, and a hard drive is orders of magnitude slower. So you'd again be heavily limited on the scope sampling rate.

In other words, you'd probably have better luck building a new control board for the oscilloscope from scratch with more capture memory :lol:
Or just saving up the tens of thousands of dollars for a commercially available scope with large amounts of capture memory.

If you look here:
https://www.qsl.net/wd1v/scopefaq/open1.html
you'll see that some new scopes are handling up to 100 million sample points per capture, which equates to over 100 miles of consecutive scope screens if you were to scroll the entire waveform... should be enough for just about anything, I think

I beg to differ... Its not a technology bottleneck. I dont think he's talking about real time! No need to do real time waveform analysis. It's not really real time in the scopes anyways.. I think you hit it on the head with the $$$ cost of expesnive software and/or large amounts of memory.

Problem is most scopes dont come with a high speed interface to the PC. The PC has gobs of storage capability for the data. Gigabit ethernet might be nice. Firewire comes to mind.. these can handle the data rates but I have yet to see this on a scope.

 

[evandude]

I was assuming he meant real-time, continuous capture of a waveform, (obviously still for a finite duration, but much longer than the scope capture buffer) without "breaks" in the data for transmission, since he was complaining of the small (short duration) memory that the scope has... basically a way to "extend" the capture duration of the scope.

if you're trying to capture one long signal (such as a long serial data stream) then having such breaks in it would make the captured data unusable. However if you're dealing with continuous AC signals, then a repeatedly captured signal with breaks for transmission isn't so much of a problem; if you look at the bitscope PC oscilloscopes, that's exactly what happens. when the capture buffer is filled, it transmits it to the PC (in my case, via USB). It's still limited to the length of the capture buffer, but it allows repeated captures (up to around 50 per second) which is great for AC signals.

I guess he'll have to let us know which of these things he's trying to achieve

 

[xmat]

Hi, again.

I am trying to capture/store a vast amount of audio signal info, (hell no in real time!) the problem is the signals are randomly occuring, and are rather diversified in nature..(That does not allow me to loose info due to resolution).

It is for signal processing purposes, I need to "explain" signal behavior at a later point of their occurence; to compare/contrast them..

Althought the oscilloscope is very good, I need to store its info output somewhere..in the form of a (certain degree of detail) graph or something.

Hope I made myself clearer and that someone can help.

PS:And I know that there are expensive oscilloscopes out there with more storage capacity..too expensive).

Thanx again,

xmat.

 

[zevon8]

I am not sure if your model has the ability or not ( I didn't look it up ) but some of that model line can use Compact Flash cards for storage. Would a bigger card help? The cards are fairly cheap.

 

[panic mode]

since this is only audio data, did you consider using PC, without oscilloscope? instead of few kb of memory in scope or even flash card, you could have whole HDD for data storage. good soundcard should do.

 

[xmat]

since this is only audio data, did you consider using PC, without oscilloscope? instead of few kb of memory in scope or even flash card, you could have whole HDD for data storage. good soundcard should do.

Yes, of course I have.

The problem is that with the oscilloscope I can have "trigger" mode and other oscilloscope-like features..I was hoping from a utility that helps me use all these modes while storing data into a pc..and I think 44.1Khz sample rate is not that bad for my analysis..at least at most times.

Many thanx to all of you.

xmat.

 

[xmat]

I am not sure if your model has the ability or not ( I didn't look it up ) but some of that model line can use Compact Flash cards for storage. Would a bigger card help? The cards are fairly cheap.

I have to look up to it..Any idea on where to do that?

xmat

 

[zevon8]

I would try Tektronix themselves for information.

https://www.tek.com/Measurement/cgi...1000_2000/tds2mem.html&FrameSet=oscilloscopes

 

[xmat]

I would try Tektronix themselves for information.

https://www.tek.com/Measurement/cgi...1000_2000/tds2mem.html&FrameSet=oscilloscopes

Great, thanx!

xmat.