User manual

Series 3700 System Switch/Multimeter Reference Manual Section 5: Range, Digits, Rate, Bandwidth, and Filter
3700S-901-01 Rev. C / July 2008 5-3
Auto ranging over the front panel
To enable auto range, press the AUTO key. The AUTO indicator turns on when
auto ranging is selected. While auto ranging is enabled, the instrument
automatically selects the best range to measure the applied signal. Auto ranging
should not be used when optimum speed is required.
NOTE The AUTO key has no effect on temperature measurements.
Up-ranging occurs at 120% of range. The Series 3700 will down-range when the
reading is <10% of nominal range.
To disable auto ranging, press the AUTO key. This will leave the instrument on
the present range.
You can also disable auto ranging by pressing the ▲ or ▼ key. However, this
may cause a range change.
Scanning
Each channel of scan configuration can be associated with a unique digital
multimeter (DMM) configuration (which includes a range setting). When a scan
completes, the DMM remains in the configuration associated with the last
completed measurement step. For remote programming, the <ch_list>
parameter is used to configure channels for a scan (see dmm.configure.set() (on
page 13-129), dmm.setconfig() (on page 13-168), scan.create() (on page 13-
234), and scan.add() (on page 13-230) commands, and the Scanning (on page
7-1) section for more details, including front panel operation).
Range remote programming (ICL)
Instrument control library (ICL) commands are sent to the Series 3700 when
controlling it over the bus. See Instrument Control Library (ICL) (on page 12-1)
for detailed information.
Selecting a manual range
The range is selected by specifying the expected reading as an absolute value
using the <n> parameter for the dmm.range (on page 13-156) command. The
Series 3700 will then go to the most sensitive range for that expected reading.
For example, if you expect a reading of approximately 3V, let the parameter
(<n>) equal 3 (dmm.range = 3) to select the 10V range.