TDS 684A, TDS 744A, & TDS 784A User Manual 3–3
Acquiring and Displaying WaveformsTo use the TDS Oscilloscope to measure or monitor waveforms, you need to
know how to acquire, select, and display those waveforms properly. To help you
do so, this section describes how to do the following tasks:
How to couple waveforms to the oscilloscope channels
How to select channels to turn on and off their display
How to size and position the selected channel on screen
How to use the menus to set vertical (coupling, offset, and bandwidth) and
horizontal (time base, record length, and so on) parameters
This section also describes how to choose the appropriate acquisition mode for
acquiring your waveform, how to customize the display (including selecting the
color of the display elements), and how to use the Zoom, FastFrame, and InstaVu
features.
Coupling Waveforms to the Oscilloscope
Tektronix produces a variety of probes and cables suitable for connecting various
types of signals to the input channels of this product. This subsection covers two
topics important to coupling: Probe Compensation and Input Impedance
Considerations.
Tektronix ships the P6139A passive probe with the TDS 744A Oscilloscope as a
standard accessory. The TDS 684A and TDS 784A Oscilloscopes ship without
standard probes but Tektronix recommends you order the P6245 active probe to
take advantage of the 1 GHz bandwidth of these two oscilloscopes.
Tektronix also offers a variety of BNC cabling and connectors to couple a variety
of signal sources to its input channels. See your Tektronix Sales representative
for the specific items offered for signal coupling.
When using a passive probe with any product, compensate it to ensure maximum
distortion-free input to the oscilloscope and to avoid high frequency amplitude
errors (see Figure 3–1). To compensate your probe, do the following steps:
1. Connect the probe to the probe compensation signal on the front panel.
2. Press AUTOSET.
3. Press VERTICAL MENU ➞ Bandwidth (main) ➞ 20 MHz (side).