Accessory PicoScope 2000A/B MSO
5 of 5 Article
Innovative Tools. Excellent Service.
The mixed signal oscilloscope PicoScope 2205A MSO model with 2 analog + 16 digital inputs delivers unbeatable value for money and is ideal for education, hobby and field service use. In the lab the low cost allows one scope per person rather than having to share. With full PicoScope software support, the cost-effective PicoScope 2000A range already offers you the full range of functions as an oscilloscope, spectrum analyser, function generator, arbitrary signal generator and protocol decoder.
| Model | PicoScope 2204A | PicoScope 2205A | PicoScope 2405A | PicoScope 2205A MSO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channels | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 analogue plus 16 digital |
| Bandwidth | 10 MHz | 25 MHz | 25 MHz | 25 MHz |
| Max. sampling rate | 100 MSa/s | 200 MSa/s | 500 MSa/s | 500 MSa/s |
| Buffer memory | 8 kSa | 16 kSa | 48 kSa | 48 kSa |
| AWG bandwidth | 100 kHz | 100 kHz | 1 MHz | 1 MHz |
Special Features
Advanced Display
PicoScope software dedicates almost all of the display area to the waveform. This ensures that the maximum amount of data is seen at once.
With a large display area available, you can also create a customizable split-screen display, and view multiple channels or different views of the same signal at the same time. As the example shows, the software can even show multiple oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer traces at once. Additionally, each waveform shown works with individual zoom, pan, and filter settings for ultimate flexibility.
The PicoScope software can be controlled by mouse, touchscreen or keyboard shortcuts.
Fast capture rate
Oscilloscopes with high waveform capture rates provide better insight into signal behavior and dramatically increase the probability that the oscilloscope will quickly capture transient anomalies such as jitter, runt pulses and glitches.
The PicoScope 2000A models can capture up to 2,000 waveforms per second, whilst the 2000B models use hardware acceleration to boost this to 80,000 waveforms per second.
Deep-memory
Deep memory produces several benefits: fast sampling at long timebases, timebase, zoom, and memory segmentation to let you capture a sequence of events. Deep memory oscilloscopes are also ideal for serial decoding applications as they allow the capture of many thousands of frames of data.
PicoScope 2000B model oscilloscopes have waveform buffer sizes up to 128 million samples – many times larger than competing PC-based scopes.
The lower cost / bandwidth PicoScope 2000A models have smaller internal memories but when sampling at rates of less than 1 MSa/s use USB streaming and PC memory to provide a 100 million sample buffer.
All-inclusive
PicoScopes already include features such as serial decoding, mask limit testing, advanced math channels, segmented memory and a signal generator without additional costs.
Waveform buffer and navigator
Ever spotted a glitch on a waveform, but by the time you’ve stopped the scope it has gone? With PicoScope you no longer need to worry about missing glitches or other transient events. PicoScope can store the last ten thousand oscilloscope or spectrum waveforms in its circular waveform buffer.
The buffer navigator provides an efficient way of navigating and searching through waveforms, effectively letting you turn back time. Tools such as mask limit testing can also be used to scan through each waveform in the buffer looking for mask violations.
Digital triggering
The majority of digital oscilloscopes still use an analog trigger architecture based on comparators. This causes time and amplitude errors that cannot always be calibrated out and often limits the trigger sensitivity at high bandwidths.
In 1991 Pico pioneered the use of fully digital triggering using the actual digitized data. This technique reduces trigger errors and allows our oscilloscopes to trigger on the smallest signals, even at the full bandwidth. Trigger levels and hysteresis can be set with high precision and resolution.
The reduced rearm delay provided by digital triggering, together with segmented memory, allows the capture of events that happen in rapid sequence. On many PicoScopes, rapid triggering can capture a new waveform every microsecond until the buffer is full.
Portable & personal
The PicoScope 2000 series oscilloscopes offer a small, light, modern alternative to benchtop devices. You can now even fit an oscilloscope in the pocket of your shirt!
On the bench a PicoScope saves valuable space and allows the scope to be placed right by the unit under test.
Laptop users benefit even more: with no power supply required you can now carry an oscilloscope with you all the time in your laptop bag. Perfect for the engineer on the move.
FFT spectrum analyzer
The spectrum view plots amplitude against frequency, revealing details that would otherwise be hidden in an oscilloscope view. It is ideal for finding noise, crosstalk or distortion in signals.
You can display multiple spectrum views alongside oscilloscope views of the same data. A comprehensive set of automatic frequency-domain measurements can be added to the display, including THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD and IMD. A mask limit test can be applied to a spectrum and you can even use the AWG and spectrum mode together to perform swept scalar network analysis.
With PicoScope 2000B models FFTs of up to 1 million points can be computed in milliseconds giving superb frequency resolution. Increasing the number of points in a FFT also lowers the noise floor revealing otherwise hidden signals.
Arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) and function generator
All PicoScope 2000 Series oscilloscopes have a built-in function generator and arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) which output signals on a front panel BNC.
The function generator can produce sine, square, triangle and DC level waveforms, and many more besides, while the AWG allows you to import custom waveforms from data files or create and modify them using the built-in graphical AWG editor.
As well as level, offset and frequency controls, advanced options allow you to sweep over a range of frequencies. Combined with the advanced spectrum mode, with options including peak hold, averaging and linear/log axes, this creates a powerful tool for testing amplifier and filter responses.
PicoScope 2000B models have trigger options that allow one or more cycles of a waveform to be output when various conditions are met, such as the scope triggering or a mask limit test failing.
Download new features or write your own
The software development kit (SDK) allows you to write your own software and includes drivers for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac (OS X) and Linux (including Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone).
Example code shows how to interface to third-party software packages such as Microsoft Excel, National Instruments LabVIEW and MathWorks MATLAB.
There is also an active community of PicoScope users who share code and applications on the Pico forum and PicoApps section of the picotech.com web site.
Example code, hosted on the Pico Technology GitHub pages, shows how to interface to third-party software packages such as Microsoft Excel, National Instruments LabVIEW and MathWorks MATLAB and programming languages including:
- C
- C++
- C#
- Visual Basic .NET The drivers support USB data streaming, a mode that captures gap-free continuous data over USB direct to the PC’s RAM or hard disk at rates of up to 156.25 MS/s for USB 3.0 devices. Capture size is limited only by available PC storage. Sampling rates in streaming mode are subject to PC specifications, product specifications and application loading.
Math channels and filters
On many oscilloscopes waveform math just means simple calculations such as A + B. With a PicoScope it means much, much more.
With PicoScope software you can select simple functions such as addition and inversion, or open the equation editor to create complex functions involving filters (lowpass, highpass, bandpass and bandstop filters), trigonometry, exponentials, logarithms, statistics, integrals and derivatives.
Waveform math also allows you to plot live signals alongside historic peak, averaged or filtered waveforms.
You can also use math channels to reveal new details in complex signals. An example would be to graph the changing duty cycle or frequency of your signal over time.
Downloads
Datasheet
PicoScope 2000 series, data sheet
Language: English
Version: MM071.en-7
File Size: 5.15 MiB
Release Date: 23.05.2021
functions and specifications
PicoScope 2000 series, data sheet
Language: German
Version: MM071.de-7
File Size: 5.15 MiB
Release Date: 23.05.2021
functions and specifications
Manual
PicoScope 2000 series, A API programmers guide
Language: English
Version: ps2000apg.en-12
File Size: 2.83 MiB
Release Date: 11.01.2023
This manual explains how to develop your own programs for collecting and analyzing data from the PicoScope 2000 Series oscilloscopes. It applies to all devices supported by the ps2000a application programming interface (API)
PicoScope 2000 series, programmers guide
Language: English
Version: ps2000pg.en-12
File Size: 1.53 MiB
Release Date: 11.01.2022
This manual explains how to develop your own programs for collecting and analyzing data from the PicoScope 2000 Series oscilloscopes. This manual describes the application programming interface (API)
PicoScope 2000 series, quick start guide
Language: German, English, Spain
Version: DO231-11
File Size: 4.37 MiB
Release Date: 11.01.2023
This guide explains how to install the PicoScope software and connect the oscilloscope to your computer. It also contains important safety information and advice on accessing user manuals and technical support. This guide covers the PicoScope 2204A, 2205A, 2205A MSO, 2206B, 2206B MSO, 2207B, 2207B MSO, 2208B, 2208B MSO, 2405A, 2406B, 2407B and 2408B.
PicoScope 6 Software beginners guide
Language: English
Version: MM048.en-1
File Size: 1.48 MiB
Release Date: 24.05.2023
PicoScope 6 is the oscilloscope software supplied with all PicoScope® oscilloscopes. All the advertised features are included in the purchase price of your oscilloscope, so there are no expensive add-on software modules to buy later.
PicoScope 6 Software FAQ
Language: English
Version: AR332-4
File Size: 917.75 KiB
Release Date: 06.03.2022
PicoScope 6 is the oscilloscope software supplied with all PicoScope® oscilloscopes. All the advertised features are included in the purchase price of your oscilloscope, so there are no expensive add-on software modules to buy later.
PicoScope 6 Software training manual
Language: English
Version: DO226-3
File Size: 7.19 MiB
Release Date: 06.03.2022
PicoScope 6 is the oscilloscope software supplied with all PicoScope® oscilloscopes. All the advertised features are included in the purchase price of your oscilloscope, so there are no expensive add-on software modules to buy later.
PicoScope 6 Software users guide
Language: English
Version: psw.en r50
File Size: 9.34 MiB
Release Date: 28.01.2020
PicoScope 6 is the oscilloscope software supplied with all PicoScope® oscilloscopes. All the advertised features are included in the purchase price of your oscilloscope, so there are no expensive add-on software modules to buy later.