Pulse Analyzer Measurement Guide : Pulse Analyzer (Option 421) : Setting Trace Parameters
 
Setting Trace Parameters
Field Master Series instrument can display up to six traces simultaneously. Traces can be enabled from the TRACE menu by selecting the trace from the available selections, or you can select a trace in the Status panel to make it active. Each trace can have a separate trace type, mode, and detector. When working with traces, refer to TRACE Menu.
Traces in Pulse Mode (Pulse Analyzer View)
The screenshot below shows the Pulse Analyzer view with all six traces enabled on a signal, each with a different trace or detector type setting. The left side status panel shows a trace setup summary table. Touching one of the trace rows in the table will enable the trace and open the TRACE menu. In Pulse Viewer mode, the pulse instant and transition indicators are not shown.
Traces in Pulse View (Pulse Analyzer View)
1. Clear/Write and Peak Detection: This is the default trace setting. The trace is cleared during each sweep and the largest measurement point is used for each display point.
2. Max Hold and Peak Detection: Each trace point retains its maximum value and the largest measurement point is used for each display point.
3. Min Hold and Negative Detection: Each trace point retains its minimum value and the smallest measurement point is used for each display point.
4. Clear/Write and Negative Detection: Trace points are cleared during each sweep and the smallest measurement point is used for each display point.
5. Average and Sample Detection: The trace points are an average of the previous N sweeps, where N is the AVERAGES setting. RMS/Average detection depends on the video bandwidth type setting (BANDWIDTH > VBW TYPE): When VBW/AVERAGE type is set to Linear, this method detects the average power of measurement points that go into the display point. When VBW/AVERAGE type is set to Logarithmic, the traditional average of log (power) is displayed.
6. Rolling Average: The rolling average of the last N traces, where N is the AVERAGES setting.
TRACE Menu
TRACE Menu
SELECT
Selects traces 1 through 6. Selecting a trace that is off turns the trace on. The trace type will be Clear/Write, the trace mode will be Active, and the detector type will be Peak. Selecting a trace will draw the trace on top of all other traces. This feature is not available in the spectrogram measurement view because all spectrogram data is created from a single trace.
TYPE
Selects one of the following types of traces:
• Clear/Write: Clears the trace after each sweep is complete and writes a new trace.
• Average: The exponential average of all N traces, where N is the AVERAGES number set below. The number of sweeps is displayed in the status panel TRACES table.
• Max Hold: Represents the maximum value since sweeping began. The number of sweeps is displayed in the status panel TRACES table.
• Min Hold: Represents the minimum value since sweeping began. The number of sweeps is displayed in the status panel TRACES table.
• Rolling Average: Is the rolling average of the last N traces, where N is the AVERAGES number set below. The number of sweeps is displayed in the status panel TRACES table.
• Rolling Max Hold: Is the maximum rolling average value of the last N traces, where N is the AVERAGES number set below. The number of sweeps is displayed in the status panel TRACES table.
• Rolling Min Hold: Is the minimum value of the last N traces, where N is the AVERAGES number set below. The number of sweeps is displayed in the status panel TRACES table.
TRACE MODE
Selects one of the following trace modes:
• Active: Displays the selected trace as it is updating.
• Hold/View: Displays the trace and it is not updating. It displays the last sweep from when the trace mode was set to hold/view. If the frequency or bandwidth settings are changed while a trace is in hold/view mode, the data will be blanked from the screen. In order to see data again, set the trace mode to active.
Blank: Does not display the trace and is not updating. It is the same as if the trace was off.DETECTOR TYPE
Selects one of the available detector types. Several detection methods tailor the function of the instrument to meet specific measurement requirements. There are often more measurement points across the screen than display points. The various detection methods are different ways of showing each display point (see Trace Detector Types).
• Peak: Shows the maximum amplitude of sampled data for each display point, assuring that a narrow peak is not missed.
• Sample: Shows the transient amplitude of the center of sampled data for each display point. This method is useful when measuring low-level signals and noise measurements.
• Negative: Shows the minimum amplitude of sampled data for each display point. This method is also useful when measuring modulated signals to see if some frequencies are not being used.
CLEAR
Clears the currently active trace data.
AVERAGES
Sets the number of trace sweeps (N) to average. Available when the trace type is set to one of the averaging modes.
PRESET DETECTORS
Sets all trace detectors to Peak.
PRESET TRACES
Presets cursor and trace setup to Clear/Write, Active, with Peak Detector.
Trace Detector Types
The figure below shows the available detector types:
Trace Detector Types (Pulse Analyzer View)
1. Green trace set to Peak detection.
2. Yellow trace set to Sample detection.
3. Blue trace set to Negative detection.