Choosing the Instruments

You can choose from various instruments based on the kind of measurement you want to take.

Oscilloscope vs Data Logger

Refer to the following table to determine which instrument you want to use to measure analog signals.

Oscilloscope Data Logger
Use cases
  • Acquire, display, analyze, and record waveforms.
  • Perform fast Fourier transform or mathematical operations on the signal.
  • Compare the acquired signal with the signal on a reference channel.
 Acquire, display, record, and store analog signals to a file.
Hardware terminals Instrumentation I/O Control I/O
Number of channels 4 24 (single-ended mode and differential mode)
Input range ±50 V ±10 V, ±5 V, ±2 V, ±1 V
Accuracy 2% of input + 1% of full scale
  • Typical condition (25 °C ± 5 °C): 0.064% of reading + 0.004% of range
  • Maximum (10 °C to 35 °C): 0.397% of reading + 0.054% of range
Trigger types Two types of hardware triggers:
  • Analog edge
  • Digital edge
 Various types of software triggers:
  • Start trigger: Immediate, Delay, Level, and Range.
  • Stop trigger: No trigger, Duration, Level, Range, and Number of samples.
Maximum sample rate
  • 400 MS/s with repetitive sampling enabled
  • 100 MS/s without repetitive sampling enabled
  • Single channel: 100 kS/s
  • Multichannel: 100 kS/s (aggregate)
Continuously acquire data? No Yes
Automatically save data to the local computer? No Yes
Export data? Yes Yes

Function and Arbitrary Waveform Generator vs Data Generator

Refer to the following table to determine which instrument you want to use to generate analog signals.

Function and Arbitrary Waveform Generator Data Generator
Use cases Generate standard or arbitrary waveforms. Generate standard waveforms.
Hardware terminals Instrumentation I/O Control I/O
Number of channels 2 4
Maximum frequency 15 MHz 50 kHz
Channel mode Static, Sweep, and Custom Static
Can generate a phase shift? Yes Yes