My SDG2042X got here, and it's all hooked up, what are some things I should never do, and things to be cautious about ? This is my 1st AGW, I have 2 , basic $5 func. gen's, I fried 1 chip by hooking up it's power backwards.

It sure looks beautiful, and I haven't even turned it on yet.

 

Never do: Don't drink and drive.
Cautious about: Wait until 2AM selecting a pickup at a bar.

Always do:
Read the safety section in the user manual.

 

The paper manual only says

If the state is set to ON, overvoltage protection of CH1 and CH2 will take effect
once any of the following conditions is met. When overvoltage protection
occurs, a message will be displayed and the output is disabled.

	The absolute value of input voltage is higher than 11V±0.5V when the amplitude of the generator is higher than or equal to 3.2Vpp or the DC offset is higher than or equal to |2VDC|. The absolute value of input voltage is higher than 4V±0.5V when the


amplitude of the generator is lower than 3.2Vpp or the DC offset is lower



than |2VDC|

What if I short the output to GND ? What about ground loops, the BNC is main's EG, so practice the same rules as for a scope right?

In general tho, to be clear, I'm not planning to use this on anything on the hot side side of anything, just on isolated DC circuits, at least for now.

What normal operations, are the most stress-full on this? Anyone know ? Like is turning the voltage all the way up, easier for it, than running in the milli-volts ?

 

The paper manual only says

What if I short the output to GND ?

Short circuit protected.

What about ground loops, the BNC is main's EG, so practice the same rules as for a scope right?

Yes.

In general tho, to be clear, I'm not planning to use this on anything on the hot side side of anything, just on isolated DC circuits, at least for now.

Overvoltage protection will still apply if the specs are exceeded.

What normal operations, are the most stress-full on this? Anyone know ? Like is turning the voltage all the way up, easier for it, than running in the milli-volts ?

The higher the output voltage the higher the slew rate asked of the output stages.
Further, these AWG's can support up to 200mA output so slew rate, current and output voltage specs all combine to stress the unit to its capabilities. They're pretty robust however none like being connected to live low impedance circuits.
Between the User manual and the datasheet, get a good handle in their limitations and you're unlikely to have any problems.

Get familiar with the UI and if necessary use caps to decouple the output when injecting signals into live circuits.
Happy wave building and enjoy.

 

Thanks, I'm learning about ADC/DAC stuff, when they say it's 14-bit voltage resolution, is that across the peak to peak range, or is there 1 chip for pos, and 1 for neg ? I watched EEVDave's teardown, I don't remember.

I'm wiring up a SMPS controller chip, to see how much I can trick it into thinking it's in the PSU. I just got an arduino too, so I have it sitting in on all this too LOL

Yeah and so there is no decoupling cap's, so use my own cap's. I figured there would be a button. Why don't they add that ? Do most other's from everyone, have it or not ?

 

Thanks, I'm learning about ADC/DAC stuff, when they say it's 14-bit voltage resolution, is that across the peak to peak range, or is there 1 chip for pos, and 1 for neg ?

Nope, the entire SDG2000X range is 16 bit. The p-p absolute levels are determined by the bias from the waveform offset setting.

I'm wiring up a SMPS controller chip, to see how much I can trick it into thinking it's in the PSU.

Let its datasheet be your guide.

Yeah and so there is no decoupling cap's, so use my own cap's. I figured there would be a button. Why don't they add that ? Do most other's from everyone, have it or not ?

Series Caps will place any waveform centered on 0V and therefore negate any offset setting that might be necessary for the correct operation of a circuit. Also these AWG's can be used as a 200mA DC supply and series caps would prohibit that convenience should you want it.

 

So it does do 200mA DC, nice. I admit I never read the full spec's, the price was right. I got Easywave working, that's great. There's a bunch of National Instruments software installed, no idea what all that is yet. What's all that for, compared to EasyWave ?

Jeez do I ever need more scope probes and acessories. I forget, CABLE TV does not use BNC connectors like on a scope, they are THREADED ...AARRGGHHH. I'll have to mod it, even if I just tape the ground to the BNC. I only have 1 good scope probe, until next month, and 2 crap ones.

Now today I'm going to build w2aew's diode test circuit.

 

Those impedances are not arbitrary. For best results, you need to match impedances. You may find this video from 1959 interesting:

It's a real classic.

 

So it does do 200mA DC, nice. I admit I never read the full spec's, the price was right. I got Easywave working, that's great. There's a bunch of National Instruments software installed, no idea what all that is yet. What's all that for, compared to EasyWave ?

Connectivity driver files to your PC via USB or LAN......and just that !
EasyWaveX is the latest and with a nicer interface than previous but other than that I haven't had a good play with it as all my spare time lately has been painting the house.

Jeez do I ever need more scope probes and acessories.

For LV LF stuff you can just use wires however for sensitive circuits the scopes 1M input impedance can load the circuit down and not allow it to function correctly.
Get some additional P6100 probes off eBay or Aliexpress where you can find pairs of them for less than $15. The crowd that make them has been making probes for donkeys years and they're nowhere as bad as some make out they are.
A set of BNC Crocodile leads will come in hand at some stage too:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/329...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

 

Hmmm, I have some cash after all. I'm getting the sds1104x-e, in 2 weeks, so that comes with 2 probes right? The cheap probes I have, are from those $10-20 DSO's, they have aligator clips. I'll find a guide to test them, vs my good one, (can't say I ever noticed much difference, not at the stuff I was doing, IDK if they are just coax, or actual funny wire in probes, I guess my DMM can tell that.

So what should I get for just the the AWG then?
a 2nd cable like the 1 that came with it
How many T's and terminator's would be reasonable ? I'll have a 4ch scope as my go to scope. I should buy it all from the scope dealer, but IDK, I'd have to wait near a month by the time it gets here.

I'll call a local store, they'll know what I need, thanks.

I'll want some BNC terminals or whatever they're called, to solder onto a few test fixures and RF circuits too.

 

Hmmm, I have some cash after all. I'm getting the sds1104x-e, in 2 weeks, so that comes with 2 probes right?

Nope, 4 probes as it's a 4ch DSO.

The cheap probes I have, are from those $10-20 DSO's, they have aligator clips. I'll find a guide to test them, vs my good one, (can't say I ever noticed much difference, not at the stuff I was doing, IDK if they are just coax, or actual funny wire in probes, I guess my DMM can tell that.

Yeah some use probes for input connections as their grabber hook can be more useful although you can also get BNC to J grabber leads for not much.

So what should I get for just the the AWG then?
a 2nd cable like the 1 that came with it
How many T's and terminator's would be reasonable ?

At least another 1m BNC but probably a couple more, a couple of T's and terminators although you can probably get by with just one termination. Consider getting a feedthrough 50 ohm termination too.

I'll want some BNC terminals or whatever they're called, to solder onto a few test fixures and RF circuits too.

Best are crimp BNC ends but there's an additional cost for a suitable crimper that not likely to get a lot of use.
Sometimes it's just simpler to get premade cables from your fav supplier.