:CALibrate Subsystem

:CALibrate Commands

The Calibrate subsystem lets you calibrate a real-time oscilloscope. These commands do not apply when using Infiniium offline on a PC.

Instrument calibrations enhance measurement precision by establishing calibration factors which compensate for imperfections in the measurement system, such as variations due to the ambient temperature.

The :CALibrate:CANCel, :CALibrate:CONTinue, and :CALibrate:SDONe? commands control the flow of a calibration that is in process. These commands are equivalent to the Cancel, Continue, and Done? buttons that are displayed in the calibration dialog boxes.

Recommended Calibration Conditions

A calibration is recommended whenever any of the following conditions are true:

  • Oscilloscope power has been cycled
  • Instrument has been removed and then reinserted since the last calibration
  • Oscilloscope temperature change exceeds 5°C compared to the temperature of the last instrument calibration ( ΔT > 5°C)
  • Time since the last calibration has exceeded 10 hours

Always remove or disable all inputs to the instrument. However, inputs do not have to be removed from 83496A instruments.

Example Command Sequence

The following commands are used for a typical vertical calibration. The :SDONe? query is used to detect when a portion of the calibration has completed. The :CONTinue command is used to dismiss dialog boxes that are displayed during a calibration. CONNection3 identifies an instrument that is installed in the right module bay.

The following commands are used for a typical vertical calibration.

:CALibrate:CONNection3:VERTical ENABled
:CALibrate:CONNection3:STARt
:CALibrate:SDONe?
:CALibrate:CONTinue    //  Dismiss the begin notice calibration dialog box
:CALibrate:SDONe?
:CALibrate:CONTinue    //  Dismiss the disconnect notice dialog box
:CALibrate:SDONe?
:CALibrate:CONTinue    //  Dismiss calibration complete dialog box
*OPC?
:CALibrate:CONNection:VERTical:STATus?