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ELAB-080 Five virtual instruments in one! This portable unit combines five measurement and stimulus tools to form a highly integrated electronics lab instrument. It connects to your PC via the USB port and features easy-to-use Windows software. W ITH THE RAPID advances in personal computer performance, their marriage to digital instrumentation seems a given. Add a PC with some clever software to a data acquisition “front end”, and you get a high performance oscilloscope or other instrument, which could equal the specs of the more traditional standalone units at a fraction of the cost. While there are several hurdles to be overcome before PC-based scopes hit gigasample territory for less than a few hundred dollars, an ever-increasing number of companies are nonetheless producing highly functional, low-cost units. A good example is to be found in the new ELAB-080 from US-based company Dynon Instruments. This unit incorporates five virtual instruments in one: a 2-channel digital storage oscilloscope, 16-channel logic analyser, analog/digital arbitrary waveform generator, two programmable power supplies and two programmable clocks. ELAB-080 At A Glance • • Digital storage oscilloscope: 80MS/s, 2-channel, 32k samples per channel. Logic analyser: 16-channel with DSO-synchronous sampling & triggering, 3.3V logic (5V tolerant). • Arbitrary waveform generator: 100MS/s, 1 analog & five digital outputs, 64k samples. • Programmable power supplies: two outputs, ±10V, 100mV increments, ±60mA current. • Programmable clocks: 2 outputs, 1kHz-150MHz, 3.3V logic. The DSO’s vertical “sensitivity” is 10mV/div to 50mV/div using x1 probes. Horizontal scaling is adjustable from 2ns/div to 5s/div. Maximum measurable voltage is 4Vp-p with x1 probes and 50Vp-p with x10 probes, and triggering can be rising or falling with programmable level select. 30  Silicon Chip Fig.1: all instruments are controlled from this main window. You certainly can’t get lost using this simple tabbed menu layout! It’s unusual to find this many instruments in one package, which explains why it’s referred to as a “PC-hosted electronics lab”! Also unusual at this price is the oscilloscope’s maximum sampling rate of 80MS/s (80 million samples/sec), which is shared with the logic analyser (they operate synchronously). Conversely, the arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) has an independent clock and can operate at up to 100MS/s. The unit is supplied in a folded steel case measuring 184 x 125 x 42mm and weighing only 635g. Power is provided by a hefty (by comparison) external AC adapter, which generates ±16V and 5V outputs. Three BNC connectors are provided on the front panel; two for the oscilloscope inputs and one for the AWG’s analog output. Two conventional 60MHz probe kits are included in the package. All remaining I/O, including the logic analyser inputs, digital outputs, clocks and power supplies are made available via rows of 0.63mm square header pins, spaced 2.54mm apart. These are recessed below the surface of the front panel for protection. The package includes a plug-in wiring harness terminated with individual female push-on receptacles that will mate with Pomona 5360 SMD clips (not included) or similar. Software All five instruments are driven by one software application, which runs on Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 or XP. A main control window (see Fig.1) allows you to configure each instrument. siliconchip.com.au Fig.2: basic settings like horizontal/vertical zoom & trigger level can be changed in the oscilloscope window. Fig.4: roll your own waveforms directly in the AWG window by clicking and dragging the trace. Up to 65,536 points can be defined at 0.15Hz playback, but only 10 points at 10MHz. For example, the probe gain, coupling type, X-axis zoom and Y-axis position are all set on the “DSO” tab. As well, options are available to show or hide each instrument’s display window. Several instrument functions can be controlled from directly within the individual display windows. In the case of the oscilloscope, the horizontal and vertical axis displays, timing cursors and trigger voltage level can all be changed by right-clicking in the window (Fig.2). Similar functionality is available in the logic analyser’s window (Fig.3). Traces for individual channels can be shown or hidden, as can the two timing cursors. Like the ‘scope, the siliconchip.com.au Fig.3: the colour for each logic analyser trace can be altered to taste and you can zoom right in with two mouse clicks if needed. Channels can also be grouped into buses, making interpretation easier. Fig.5: the most recent version of the software includes a spectrum analyser display. horizontal zoom level can be set from 2ns/div to 5s/div. Also of note is the ability to create or edit a waveform directly in the AWG’s display window (Fig.4). Basic waveforms (sine, square, etc.) can be used as a starting point, or you can import a waveform captured from the DSO. Naturally, all instrument settings can be saved to a file for later retrieval; so multiple setups are easily accommodated. Oscilloscope/logic analyser and AWG data can also be saved and loaded from disk, making later analysis possible. Summary The ELAB-080 combines a number of general-purpose instruments into one portable, low-cost package. The product will be of interest to small companies and individuals who cannot afford the high prices of standalone instruments. For all of the technical details, point your browser to www.dynoninstruments.com. The ELAB software includes a “demo” mode with sample data, so you can download and try it yourself to get a feel for the product. The ELAB-080 is available from Australian distributor Digital Graphics, also on the web at www.digitalgraphics.com.au or phone (02) 4567 8999. Price at time of publication was SC $740 plus GST. May 2006  31