Features and Functions 2
34980A User’s Guide 47
Scan Trigger Source
You can configure the event or action that controls the onset of each
sweep through the scan list (a sweep is one pass through the scan list):
• You can set the instrument’s internal timer to automatically scan at a
specific interval. You can also program a time delay between channels
in the scan list (see “Channel Delay” on page 56).
• You can manually control a scan by repeatedly pressing the
Scan (Measure) key from the front panel.
• You can start a scan by sending a software command from the remote
interface (
MEASure? or INITiate command).
• You can start a scan when an external TTL trigger pulse is received.
• You can start a scan when an alarm event is logged on the channel
being monitored.
Interval Scanning
In this configuration, you control the frequency of scan sweeps by
selecting a wait period from the start of one trigger to the start of the
next trigger (called the trigger- to- trigger interval). If the scan interval
is less than the time required to measure all channels in the scan list, the
instrument will scan continuously, as fast as possible (no error is generated).
• You can set the scan interval to any value between 0 seconds and
99:59:59 hours (359,999 seconds), with 1 ms resolution.
• Once you have initiated the scan, the instrument will continue scanning
until you stop it or until the trigger count is reached. See “Trigger
Count” on page 52 for more information.
• Mx+B scaling and alarm limits are applied to measurements during a
scan and all data is stored in volatile memory.
Trigger-to-trigger interval
t
Sweep 1
Trigger 1
Sweep 2
Sweep n
Trigger 2
. . .
Trigger Timer
(0 to 359,999 seconds)