Operating
Instructiene
—Type 7A22
GENERAL OPERAFING
INFORMATION
Trace Drift
The
environment
in
which the Type 7A22 is
operoted
ond
the inherent chorocterisiics of the Type 7A22 influence
troce
drift. Iherefore, to determine trace drift for o
specific en-
vironment refer to the Specificotion Section. In
environment
in which the
ambient temperofure does not vory much {such
os on
oir-conditioned building) the trace drift generally
will
not exceed
10
/iV in one hour.
Input Gate Current
When using the ,1 mV/DIV to 10/tV/DIV
ronges for meas-
urement with an AC coupled
input, lor DC measurements
where the source impedance is high
(in excess of
1
Mfl) the
input gote current
should
be
checked ond ollowed tor, or
adjusted to zero.
This is particularly desired at high
tem-
peratures (above
40*C|.
Steps 7 and
8
in the
Performance
Check/Calibration Procedure describe
the check and adjust
procedures
for setting the gote
current
to zero.
Voltage
Measurement
To obtain accurate DC
meosurements ot moximum sensi-
tivity, it is necessary to
ground the input ond DC balance
the amplifier just before
making the measurement. This is
accomplished by adjusting
the STEP ATTEN DC BAL os
described
under operational adjustment number 3.
When
measuring
DC
voltoges, use the largest
deflection
factor (lOV/DIV)
when
first
connecting the Type 7A22
to
an unknown voltage
source. Then, if the deflection is too
small to make
the measurement, switch to a
lower deflec-
tion factor. If the input stage is overdriven, o large
amount
of
current might flow into the input. See
CAUTION ofter
item
6
of First Time Operation.
Where only
the
AC
component of a signal
hoving both
AC
and
DC
components is to be
measured,
use
the AC-
GNO-DC switches to take advantage
of the pre-charging
circuit
incorporated in the unit. The
pre-chorging circuit
permits the coupling capacitor to chorge to the DC source
voltage
when
the
AC-GND-DC
switch Is set
to GNO. Pro-
cedure for using
this circuit is as follows;
a. Before connecting the
Type
7A22
to
o
signal contain-
ing a DC component, set
the AC-GND-DC input
coupling
switch to GND. Then
connect the input to the circuit
under
test.
b. Allow
about one second for the
coupling copocilor to
charge.
b. Set the input coupling
switch
to
AC. The display
will
remain on the screen and
the
AC
component con be
meas-
ured in the usuol
manner.
d. On
completion of the
measurement, set
the
AC-GND-
DC
switch to GND and short the input
connector to ground.
The obove procedure should be
followed whenever an-
other signal with a different DC
level
is
connected.
CAUTION
If
the
Type
7A22 is connected
to
a
large DC volt-
age
source without using
the pre-charge provi-
sion, the
peak charging current
(into
0.1
/cF
capacitor)
will be
limited
only by
the signal
source, ond this source may be
damaged or de-
stroyed.
When a
lorge
DC
voltoge
has
been applied
to
the Type
7A22 with
the input AC coupled,
the input coupling capaci-
tor ocquires a charge due to
dielectric polarization and
acts
os a
low voltage, high impedance voltage
source with a
very slowly decaying output voltage. This can
offset sub-
sequent AC coupled measurements at other DC
voltages
and drive the trace off-screen. A
period of ot least 10 min-
utes, with input set to GND, should be allowed to
assure
reasonable recovery from polarization, and o
longer period
may
be
necessory for criticol meosurements. If the
input
connectors ore shorted to ground the
depolarization proc-
ess will require less time.
Signal Input Connectors
When
connecting signols to the
H
INPUT and INPUT
connectors on
the Type
7A22,
consider the method of cou-
pling thot will be us^.
Ordinary unshielded test leads can
sometimes be used to connect
the Type
7A22 to
a signal
source, porticulorly when o high level,
low-frequency
signol
is monitored ot o
low impedance point. However when any
of
these foctors are missing,
it
becomes increosingly im-
portant
to use shielded
signal cables. In all cases, the signal-
tronsporting
leads
should
be kept as
short as practical.
When making single-ended input
meosurements,
be
sure
to establish a common ground
between the device under
test and
the
Type 7A22. The
shield of a coaxial cable is
normolly used for this
purpose.
In some cases differential
meosurements require no com-
mon ground’, and
therefore
ore less
susceptible to inter-
ference by ground loop
currents. Some problems with
stray magnetic coupling into
the signal transporting leads
can also be minimized by
using
o
differential rather than
single-ended measurement.
These considerations are dis-
cussed
later
in
this section under Differential Operation.
It
is
always important to consider the
signal-source load-
ing and resulting change in the source
operating character-
istics due to the
signal-transporting leads and the input
circuit of the Type 7A22.
The circuit ot the input
connectors
can normolly be
represented
by a 1
megohm resistance to
ground porolled
by 47
pF. A few feet of shielded coble
may increase
the porallel copocitanee to
100
pF or
more.
In many
cases,
the effects of these resistive ond
copocitive
loods moy be
too great and it may be desiroble to
minimize
them
through
the
use
of
an
attenuator probe.
Attenuator probes not only decrease
the resistive and
capacitive loading of a
signal source, but also
extend
the
meosurement range
of the
Type
7A22 to include substonti-
oliy higher voltoges.
Passive attenuator probes having at-
tenuation factors of lOX, lOOX,
ond 1000X, as well as
other
special-purpose types are
available through your Tektronix
Field Engineer or Field
Office.
Some
measurement situotions require a high-resistance in-
put
to the Type 7A22
with
very
little source loading or sig-
'Th«
DC plus paoic AC vellOBat Pr>
Ih* peinit wllh ratpaci
19 tha choith pelantial et lha Typa
7A22 thauld ba Nmllad to
the lavalt liilad in
Saclisn
I
vndar Mexlmum Cemmon-meda
Inptil
Voitoea choradarltlin. Hlehar
lavalt will dagroda lha
cemmen-meda
raiacHati ralie ond
axcaad lha inpwl velloga roling el lha unit.
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