Run Signal Path Compensation (SPC)
Run SPC when you first receive an instrument, and at regular intervals, for best measurement accuracy. You should run SPC whenever
the ambient (room) temperature has changed by more than 5 °C (9 °F), or once a week if you use vertical scale settings of 5 mV per
division or less.
About this task
Signal Path Compensation (SPC) corrects for DC level inaccuracies in the internal signal path, caused by temperature variations and/or
long-term signal path drift. Failure to run SPC on a regular basis may result in the instrument not meeting warranted performance levels at
low volts per division settings.
Before you begin
Disconnect all probes and cables from the front-panel channel inputs and rear-panel signal connectors.
Procedure
1. Power on and warm up the instrument for at least 20 minutes.
2. Tap Utility > Calibration.
3. Tap Run SPC. The SPC Status readout shows Running while SPC is running. SPC can take three minutes approximately per channel
to run, so wait until the SPC Status message changes to Pass before reconnecting probes or cables and using the instrument.
CAUTION: You can abort the SPC calibration by tapping Abort SPC. This may leave some channels uncompensated,
resulting in possible inaccurate measurements. If you do abort the SPC, make sure to run the SPC procedure completely
before using the instrument to take measurements.
4. Close the Calibration configuration dialog when SPC has completed.
If the SPC fails, write down any error message text. Make sure that all probes and cables are disconnected and run the SPC again. If
the SPC still fails, contact Tektronix Customer Support.
Compensate the TPP Series probes
Probe compensation adjusts the high frequency response of a probe for best waveform capture and measurement accuracy. The
oscilloscope can automatically test and store compensation values for an unlimited number of probe/channel combinations.
About this task
The oscilloscope stores the compensation values for each probe/channel combination, and automatically recalls the compensation values
when you plug in the probe. Probe compensation status is shown in the Probe Setup panel of the Channel configuration menu.
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If the Probe Compensation Status field displays Pass, the probe is compensated and ready for use.
If the Probe Compensation Status field displays Default, the attached probe has not been compensated and needs to have this probe
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compensation procedure run.
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If the Probe Compensation Status field displays Fail, the attached probe has failed the probe compensation procedure. Reconnect the
probe and run probe compensation again.
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If there is no probe compensation status field shown in the panel, the oscilloscope cannot store compensation values for that probe.
See the oscilloscope Help for how to manually compensate passive probes not supported by the probe compensation function.
Before you begin
The oscilloscope must be powered on for at least 20 minutes before compensating a probe.
4 Series B Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes MSO44B and MSO48B Quick Start Manual
Configure the instrument
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