Triggers and Sync

This tab brings up the Triggers and Synchronization menu. Synchronization is used when you need repeatable coherent phase and triggering across the channels in a multi-channel configuration. Global Trigger is used as the trigger source when channels must be synchronized.

Global Trigger

Global Trigger is used for repeatable triggering of channels in the instrument and multi-instrument systems. For the channels you want to trigger synchronously, the individual Signals’ Trigger Source must be set to Global Trigger. See Trigger Source in the Signal Block topic.

Instrument to instrument synchronization requires Option SNC on all instruments and requires proper cabling. See the Multi-Instrument topic.

Global Trigger Source

For all channels that are set to Global Trigger, this selection sets the source of the trigger. This is used to trigger all signals’ triggers with "Global Trigger" input in a synchronous fashion.

When Global Trigger Source is set to EXTernal, the STrig In connector is used to supply the trigger.

When Global Trigger Source is set to BUS, use the *TRG command to initiate the trigger.

Global Trigger source of Immediate initiates an internal triggering of the vector modulation when:

Edit STrig In

This button is displayed only when the Global Trigger Source is set to EXTernal. Clicking this button takes you to the Connectors > Strig screen. There is one STrig In connector used as the External Trigger input for Global Trigger.

Synchronization

You can use this tab to configure synchronization across the channels of an instrument with more than one channel or across multiple instruments (with Option SNC).

Synchronization On

Enables synchronization across the channels of instruments with more than one channel. In addition, with Option SNC, it enables synchronization across multiple instruments. Synchronization is achieved with the instrument operating at the same conditions as the last Synchronization Alignment. Synchronization is used in conjunction with the Global Trigger. When Synchronization is on, annunciation is provided to indicate the Synchronization Status.

Synchronization Alignment

Perform Alignment

Runs an internal alignment to synchronize the channels of the instrument, and with Option SNC across multiple instruments, establishing a repeatable Global Trigger and coherent phase.

This alignment may take several minutes to perform. It must be run after power-up once the instrument is at a stable temperature. It also must be run if the frequency reference is changed between internal and external or has recovered from an unlock condition. There are situations where the alignment must be cleared before it is performed, see Clear Alignment.

Last Synchronization Alignment Data Collection Time

Synchronization Alignment Data collection occurs when a successful alignment is completed after a Clear Alignment has been performed. When this occurs a time stamp is displayed on the Synchronization screen and available with a SCPI query. If no successful alignment has occurred ‘Jan 1, 2022 1:1:1 AM‘ is displayed.

Clear Alignment

Clears the internal data of the synchronization alignment. This operation must be performed if the synchronization cabling is modified or the stable operating temperature is different from the last alignment. Clearing the alignment sets the status to Synchronization Alignment Needed.

Synchronization Status

Timer Trigger

For M9484C: You can use this tab to configure the Timer trigger period for channels. This tab is also accessible from various screens in the GUI that have the Edit Timer Trigger button.

RF Channel

GUI option only

Select the channel for which you want to set the time interval of the timer trigger source.

GUI Location

System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Timer Trigger > RF Channel

Timer Trigger Period

Sets the time interval of the timer trigger source for the specified channel. There is only one timer trigger source for each RF channel. Therefore, the value remains the same in all trigger source selections for the channel.

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Timer Trigger > Timer Trigger Period
SCPI Command	[:SOURce][:RF<channel>]:TIMer <time> [:SOURce][:RF<channel>]:TIMer?
SCPI Example	TIM 3 ms TIM?
Preset	1 ms
State Saved	Yes
Min	100 ns
Max	42 s
Resolution	3.333… ns
Backwards Compatibility SCPI	For N51xxB: :TRIGger[:SEQuence]:TIMer
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

Date/Time Trigger

For M9484C with Option PCH

Date/Time triggering is used in conjunction with the Global Trigger (through the selection of the Global Trigger Source option- Date/Time Trigger). There is one Date/Time trigger for the instrument. Therefore, any channels in a multi-channel instrument that needs to be triggered via date/time will need to use Global Trigger.

Date/Time

Sets the date and time for a trigger to occur. If the time set is in the past, an error message is reported.

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Date/Timer Trigger > Date/Time
SCPI Command	SYSTem:DTIMe "[YYYY-MM-DD[ \|T]]HH:mm:SS[.fraction][(+\|-)Hoffset:Moffset]" SYSTem:DTIMe?
SCPI Example	SYST:DTIM "2024-03-31 22:12:03.1234-01:10" SYST:DTIM?
Notes	The parameter string specifies the date and time using the RFC3339 local time specifications. [] bracket represents optional fields or characters, \| separates optional selections. YYYY is used to indicate the year: Range is 2024 to 9999. If the year/month/day field is missing, then the current year is used. This is risky near midnight. MM is used to indicate the month: Range is 01 to 12. If the year/month/day field is missing, then the current month is used. This is risky near midnight. DD is used to indicate the day: Range is 01 to 31. If the year/month/day field is missing, then the current day is used. This is risky near midnight. T is just a “T” (or optionally a single space character) HH is used to indicate hours: Range is 00 to 23 mm is used to indicate minutes: Range is 00 to 59 SS is used to indicate seconds: Range is 00 to 59 fraction is fractional time: Range 0 to just short of 1. The resolution is 1.0 / 300e6 ns (3.333333 ns). Hoffset: The offset in hours for the time zone. Specified as per HH above. This field is optional and the current Time Zone Offset settings will be used if it is not supplied. Moffset: the offset in minutes for the time zone. Specified as per mm above. This field is optional and the current Time Zone Offset settings will be used if it is not supplied. Attempting to set a time in the past will generate this error: -224, “Illegal parameter value; Trigger time is in the past.” Invalid date/time parsing will generate this error: -224, “Illegal parameter value; Date or time invalid.”
Preset	The current date/time, guaranteed to be perceived as having already occurred.
Range	See Notes
State Saved	Yes
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

Set to now

GUI option only

For M9484C, sets the date/time of the trigger to the current time. This option can be convenient as a starting point for setting the desired trigger time without entering all data. The trigger will not execute.

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Date/Time Trigger > Set to now
SCPI Command	N/A
Preset	N/A
State Saved	N/A
Notes	No SCPI. GUI only.
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

Set 2 seconds from now

GUI option only

For M9484C, sets the date/time of the trigger to the current time plus two seconds, ignoring fractional time. This option can be used to easily test the Date/Time trigger.

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Date/Time Trigger > Set 2 seconds from now
SCPI Command	N/A
Preset	N/A
State Saved	N/A
Notes	No SCPI. GUI only.
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

Pulse Per Second

For M9484C with Option PCH

Uses an external pulse per second (PPS) signal to provide a very fine correction to the current Date/Time,

For instruments with more than one channel, the external PPS signal must be connected to Channel 1. You can select which Trig connector of Channel 1 is used.

Enable

For M9484C, enables/disables the use of an external PPS signal.

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Date/Time Trigger > Pulse Per Second > Enable
SCPI Command	:SYSTem:TIME:PPS[:STATe] ON\|OFF\|1\|0 :SYSTem:TIME:PPS[:STATe]?
SCPI Example	:SYST:TIME:PPS ON :SYST:TIME:PPS?
Notes	The PPS state set with this command is not affected by a signal generator power-on, preset, or *RST command.
Dependencies	Default value of OFF is set by Restore System Defaults.
State Saved	Persistent Survives preset and power cycle but not saved in the instrument state.
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

PPS Source

For M9484C, sets the source of the external PPS input. This digital input must supply a positive edge every second.

If the signal is not close to the 1 second timing, it is ignored. The PPS Status is reported as "BAD PPS".
If the signal is missing, then the PPS Status is reported as "NO PPS".

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Date/Time Trigger > Pulse Per Second > PPS Source
SCPI Command	:SYSTem:TIME:PPS:SOURce TRIGger[1]\|TRIGger2\|TRIGger3 :SYSTem:TIME:PPS:SOURce?
SCPI Example	:SYST:TIME:PPS:SOUR TRIG :SYST:TIME:PPS:SOUR?
Notes	For M9484C with Option AN1, only TRIG1 is available. Only Channel 1’s Trigger connectors may be used.
Dependencies	Default value of TRIG is set by Restore System Defaults.
State Saved	Persistent Survives preset and power cycle but not saved in the instrument state.
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

PPS Current Status

Query only

For M9484C, provides the status of the external PPS input.

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Date/Time Trigger > Pulse Per Second > Current Status
SCPI Command	:SYSTem:TIME:PPS:OSTatus?
SCPI Example	:SYST:TIME:PPS:OST?
Notes	Return value is an integer and represents the following: 0 = PPS Off 1 = PPS On (PPS detected) 2 = No PPS (No PPS signal detected for 5 seconds or more. The signal is missing or too low in amplitude.) 3 = Bad PPS (The PPS signal is not running at the rate of 1 Hz +/- 0.1 Hz for at least 5 seconds.)
Initial S/W Revision	A.15.00

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Synchronization > Synchronization On
SCPI Command	SYSTem:SYNChronize[:STATe] ON\|OFF\|1\|0 SYSTem:SYNChronize[:STATe]?
SCPI Example	SYST:SYNC ON SYST:SYNC?
Notes	For M9383B and M9384B attempting to set On raises error 703; "Feature not supported; Synchronization Alignment unavailable on this instrument."
Dependencies	When Sync is off, the annunciator in the status line shows SYNC OFF.
Preset	Not reset by Preset, set to On with Restore System Settings to Defaults
State Saved	Persistent, survives preset and power cycle but not saved in the instrument state.
Choices	OFF \| ON
Initial S/W Revision	A.10.00

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Synchronization > Perform Alignment
SCPI Command	SYSTem:SYNChronize:ALIGn?
SCPI Example	SYST:SYNC:ALIG?
Notes	Returns 0 if successful Returns 1 if failed While performing the alignment, the Aligning bit (bit 0 in the Status Operation register) is set. Completion, or termination, will clear bit 0 in the Status Operation register. This command is sequential; it must complete before further SCPI commands are processed. Interrupting the alignment from remote is accomplished by invoking Device Clear followed by the :ABORt command. This alignment can take a significant amount of time, if running alignments using SCPI, ensure your timeout is set to take this into account.
Status Bits/OPC dependencies	If the alignment fails, bit 4 in the Status Questionable Calibration register is set.
Initial S/W Revision	A.10.00

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Synchronization > Last Synchronization Alignment Data Collection Time
SCPI Command	SYSTem:SYNChronize:ALIGn:TIME?
SCPI Example	:SYST:SYNC:ALIG:TIME?
Notes	Return value is an integer list with the order of YYYY,MM,DD,HH,MM,SS. If there has been no successful Synchronization Alignment return value will be 2022,1,1,1,1,1.
Status Bits/OPC dependencies
Initial S/W Revision	A.10.00

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Synchronization > Clear Alignment
SCPI Command	SYSTem:SYNChronize:ALIGn:CLEar
SCPI Example	:SYST:SYNC:ALIG:CLEar
Notes
Status Bits/OPC dependencies	Sets bit 4 in the Status Questionable Frequency register
Initial S/W Revision	A.10.00

GUI Location	System Menu > Settings (gear icon) > Triggers and Sync > Synchronization > Synchronization Status
SCPI Command	SYSTem:SYNChronize:OSTatus?
SCPI Example	:SYST:SYNC:OST?
Notes	Return value is an integer: 0 = Synchronization Off 1 = Synchronized 2 = Synchronization Alignment needed 3= Synchronized out-of-temp
Status Bits/OPC dependencies	Refer to bits 4 and 5 in the Status Questionable Frequency register
Initial S/W Revision	A.10.00