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7.7.3

Arbitrary waveform files

Some PicoScope PC Oscilloscopes have an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG),

which is enabled using the Signal Generator dialog . PicoScope can program the

AWG with a standard waveform, such as a sine or square wave, or an arbitrary

waveform that you create or import from a text file.

A text file for PicoScope 6 is a list of decimal floating-point values, as in this example:

0.0

0.3

0.9

0.6

0.0

-0.3

0.0

The file may have between 10 and 8,192 values, as many it needs to define the

waveform. Each line may have more than one value, in which case the values must be

separated by tabs or commas.

The values are samples between -1.0 and +1.0 and must be equally spaced in time.

The output is scaled to the amplitude selected in the Signal Generator dialog. and

the selected offset is added if necessary. For example, if the signal generator

amplitude is set to "1 V" and the offset to "0 V", then a sample value of -1.0

corresponds to an output of -1.0 V and a sample of +1.0 corresponds to an output of

+1.0 V.

The file should contain exactly one cycle of the waveform, which will then be played

back at the speed specified in the Signal Generator dialog . In the example above,

the signal generator was set to 1 kHz, so one cycle of the waveform lasts for 1 ms.

There are 10 samples in the waveform, so each sample lasts for 0.1 ms.

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