Anthocyanina

Whatever they're paying you, they should double it. Love your work, thanks heaps! 

Hi @Anthocyanina
Thank you for the feedback.
Instructions for out of warranty teardown of ADP2230:
- You could use heat gun to soften the adhesive under the back sticker (0.7mm tick plastic) and peal it off, or drill/cut in the market places to access the screw holes.
- Unscrew and pull out the board from the front with the help of the BNC connectors. The front and back covers are not glued.
- The front cover is attached to the board by two screws.

 

Hi @Anthocyanina,
Thank you for the feedback; you have been heard. I will be sure to communicate this to the team for future T&M devices.
Please let me know if you have any additional feedback or questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Anthocyanina
To be coupled select 'copy from' for both channels, Channel 1 / Copy from: Channel2 and Channel 2 / Copy from: Channel1
This way, whichever you modify it will applied to the other channel.

 
For 'sweeping modulation' you could use a custom waveform or play more samples from file or for AD3, ADP3X50 AM/FM source can be a Scope input.
For AD3 the first/default device configuration provides 2048 modulation buffer. Select the 6th device configuration to have 8192 AM/FM buffer.

Hi @Anthocyanina
 

Yes

Hi @Anthocyanina
The next software version will add such option:

Hi @Anthocyanina 
The properties can be coupled with a Script like this.
If a disconnected is not called an application restart is required to get rid of the connection.

function doFreq(){Wavegen.Channel2.Simple.Frequency.value = Wavegen.Channel1.Simple.Frequency.value;} function doAmp(){Wavegen.Channel2.Simple.Amplitude.value = Wavegen.Channel1.Simple.Amplitude.value;} Wavegen.Channel1.Simple.Frequency.Sig.connect(doFreq) Wavegen.Channel1.Simple.Amplitude.Sig.connect(doAmp) while(wait()); Wavegen.Channel1.Simple.Frequency.Sig.disconnect(doFreq) Wavegen.Channel1.Simple.Amplitude.Sig.disconnect(doAmp)  

Hello. for the past couple of weeks i've been using the impedance analyzer and waveform generator in synchronised mode a lot, and while using them, i've encountered a few inconveniences, at least for the use case.
 
Waveform generator suggestions:
Having the ability to change the frequency and/or amplitude and/or symmetry of both channels simultaneously while having the channels synchronised is something that can be done with standalone generators which would be a welcome feature in waveforms Having the ability to also couple selected modulation parameters. In this case also being able to either couple or not the phase of the modulating waveform. Having the ability to sweep the modulating waveform, and having this also be a couple-able parameter.  
Impedance analyzer suggestions:
Having the ability of displaying multiple traces on the same plot, and be able to label them and change their color(this would also be great to have in the bode plot instrument) Having the ability to change the start and stop frequencies while on the run without having the plotting restart, keeping the same frequency spacing, just dropping the data points taken at lower frequencies than the new "start" and stopping the measurement and drawing at the new "stop" without having to re-run the previous measurements(also great to have in the bode plot instrument)  
These new features would be great qol improvements to have, but i understand if they may not be reasonable enough to implement. either way, thank you!
       

Hi @Anthocyanina,
Thank you for the feedback; I believe Attila is out of office at the moment to be give any further feedback, so I wanted to clarify that Digilent has seen the feedback.
With regards to displaying multiple traces on the same plot within Impedance, you can run an acquisition, click the green + button to "Add Trace as Reference", then re-set up your circuit to get different data and have the existing reference trace persist on the screen.

Thanks,
JColvin

I use AD2 and Waveforms to check the frequency response of guitars and basses at several settings of e.g. tone controls.
Would really appreciate if there was an option to KEEP the traces on the plot.
I had a cheap Velleman Oscope which had buttons for "Clear Last" and "Clear All", really nice.
Attached sample was created thru cumbersome Excel imports.

Hi @Anthocyanina
I tried to add reference clock output support to AD2, to allow AD2+AD3, but unfortunately the AD2 FPGA is so full that additional logic for such a feature cannot fit.

Hi @Anthocyanina,
Is it realizable? Almost certainly. As a wise Digilent employee has told me on more than one occasion, "it's just typing".
Is it practical? That's a question that I'm not able to give an answer to. My opinion is yes this should be considered, but either option of creating a pseudo reduced mode for the AD3 or changing the architecture of the AD2 so that one of the digital pins is completely isolated from the rest of the design so that it can output a stable clock to another device is not a trivial amount of work (particularly the second option).
I do know that the more customer interest there is in a particular feature, the more likely it will be implemented. I know there was a decent amount of interest and multiple questions about this feature after the blog post on Dual Mode was called out in the newsletter (or at least I presume that's what prompted your question to begin with), so Digilent is aware of the customer interest.
But Digilent also needs to have some sort of boundary so we aren't constantly asking Attila to add other new device combinations as Digilent will, of course, continue to make Test and Measurement products so the number of possible combinations will just continue to increase, adding more feature and size to the software that only a small number of users would realistically be able to benefit from. Where this metaphorical line in the sand is, I don't know.
I'll stop musing for now.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Anthocyanina,
Digilent will be updating (edit: did update) the blog post with some additional information that I typed up regarding the possibility of mix and matching devices. What I had recommended to be added is the following:
 
As for JColvin's personal, yet slightly vague, perspective on the (since I don't have budgetary or decision making powers in any sense) the AD3 with AD2 or double AD2 combo for Dual Mode to help add value / make it so the AD2 is not forced to live forgotten on a shelf collecting dust. I think this could be a useful addition to have, but this comes with a couple caveats that I'll reiterate below.
- AD2 does not support an external clock input (whether solely due to the FPGA logic being full, the Spartan 6 architecture not allowing it in the same way, lack of dedicated PLL that accepts external clocks, some or all of the above, I do not have insight on). Regardless, this ultimately means that while you can pass the trigger signal between two AD2's, because the Analog Discovery 2, whether paired with a second AD2 or a different T&M device, will be working on its own independent oscillator with its own jitter, so you will experience drift on the samples between it and whatever other device. You can potentially mitigate this by stopping and restarting both devices periodically, but that doesn't actually resolve the problem.
- This is a bit more esoteric, but there's also the question of how much additional combinations should be supported natively within the application; the more combinations, the larger the installation size for a feature that fewer and fewer people will be able to take advantage of. I personally think there is a big enough market segment for an AD3 & AD2 combo, but I don't know where that metaphorical line in the sand might be. Plus you can (and have always been able to, at least as far as I know) be able to synchronize different devices to have them collect data together through WaveForms SDK but this is of course a software timed solution.
So in an unhelpful conclusion, is AD3 & AD2 Dual Mode available? No, but technically yes, but no it's not available in the GUI. Will that change? I do not know.
Thanks,
JColvin

Vivado doesn't convert projects from later tool versions for a variety of reasons. That doesn't mean that you can't manually recreate the project in an older version. Projects created with older versions of tools can often, but not always, and usually with considerable effort be made to work in more recent tool versions.
For someone just getting started it might be nice to be able to replicate a demo project without a lot of hassle.

Like zygot mentioned, older versions of the software suite are going to be your best bet in terms of reducing install size, though your mileage may vary depending on your intended workflow.
After unchecking everything I don't need during the install process (I sometimes check and then uncheck boxes just to visually confirm the install size goes down), I also tend to go into <xilinx install path>/Xilinx/<version number>/data/parts/xilinx/ and delete the part families I don't need, and within the familes I do plan on using, go into their nested devint folder to delete the specific parts I don't need (such as the automotive versions of the parts, usually with an 'a' prefix such as aartix7) or go into the artix7 folder itself and delete the parts I don't plan to use (such as xc7a12t and cx7a12ti). This same approach can be done for the Vitis folder as well. If you do end up needing a part later for whatever reason, it's usually straightforward enough to download the part family you need by editing the install through Xilinx Information Center.
This is all after the downloading process though, so it doesn't really help anybody without broadband connections, and you quickly get diminishing returns with relatively small part families like Artix 7 (as opposed to the much bigger files from various Zynq Ultrascale parts).
Thanks,
JColvin
I am hoping one day I'll be allowed to optionally exclude Vivado/Vitis HLS from the initial install as I don't plan on using it, but I'm also not holding my breath.

First of all, Vivado ML or any recent version of Vivado is NOT the only choice. All versions of Vivado support Artix devices, though not necessarily all Artix devices.
Early versions of Vivado for installation on Windows or Linux hosts were distributed on a DVD. You might find that something like VIvado 2015.4 works just fine... perhaps even includes more free IP than current versions. A good way to figure out a version is to look at the Basys3 supporting demos provided by Digilent.
Lately, it's been a bit harder to get older, *archived*, versions of the tools, but you can browse the AMD/Xilinx website to see what's available. How easy installing one of these older tools on a current OS depends on what you are using. Windows might be easier than Linux. Tools that have 32-bit dependencies might be problematic.
You can reduce the amount of stuff that the installer downloads by selecting support for only the device on your board, but it's still going to be a lot more than any Vivado version that existed when the Basys3 was introduced.
How you intend to use your board and the tools is something to consider. If you want to learn the VHDL or Verilog design flow, then any version is good. If you want to put a MicroBlaze in all of your designs and use Vivado IP in a board design flow, then still any version is fine, though there might be an advantage to using a current tool version.
For a long time now Xilinx assumes that users have a broadband connection and almost unlimited resources. The way that they package and install the tools reflect this.

@attila
oh, yeah, but when you short it it brings up a message about it stopping because of over-current

Hi @Anthocyanina
The instrument windows and views can be reorganized, stacked, docked side by side, above/under, taken out to floating window, set to full screen...

I'm pretty sure that I've added a line of code for Tracer default stacking and also tested it... but after this I may have accidentally pressed undo...

Hi @Anthocyanina
Hope in this latest version the auto scaling works better. The Tracer is now by default stacked with Scope, Logic...
The automatic options cannot be perfect and neither can the default positions, there are many tools, views... and combinations/use case with these. 
You can save workspaces with preferred settings and positions, use 'without acquisition' option for faster save/load.

you can remove the hook and plug the probe directly into the center of the bnc connector for the AWG, and connect the ground with the ground clip

Hi @bean
USB SS (3) would probably have increased the price.
AD3 pros vs AD2
- USB-C, more power
- adjustable system frequency between 50-125MHz
- reference clock IO
- high precision trigger position, Scope and Logic Analyzer
- 2X and shared scope buffer, with one channel enabled provides 64Ki samples (4X)
- 2-4X buffer for the other instruments
- higher record rate, up to 10MHz with one channel
- 16 bit averaged scope sampling
- more Scope channels: Wavegen 'digital' output readback and FIR filter on scope inputs
- Wavegen: FM or phase modulation and AM or signal summing
- Scope to Wavegen in device routing, signal, AM/PM, FM/SUM
- DIO/Trig drive/slew adjustment
- more power for adjustable supplies
- supply voltage readback
- supplies can be used as 'slow' Wavegen channels from all configurations

We can't speak to everything yet, but here are a couple of pieces from the specs, and please let us know if you have more questions:
Sample memory is improved by about 2x over the AD2, max 32 KiS internal storage per channel in various instruments, and the Scope can use 64 KiS with a single channel. Buffers can still be traded around between instruments depending on the device configuration, so the actual size depends on the selected configuration. There's a 7-series Xilinx FPGA inside instead of a Spartan 6. The maximum sample rate can be increased to 125 MS/s from a default of 100. Connectivity is USB 2.0 over a USB-C® connector, so don't necessarily expect a drastic change in record mode maximum rates - it is still improved, I believe some folks internally have hit 10 MS/s on one channel to PC RAM with the scope. Voltage ranges are the same 5 V peak-to-peak low range and 50 V peak-to-peak high range as the AD2, selected in the app depending on the range setting of the channel. Thanks,
Arthur

I only have an AD2, and my experience with it, and the support on the forum (including your team listening to user suggestions, which I don't know of any other company that does this, much less as fast as it's been here), has been absolutely amazing, and that has led me to consider Digilent's products for the future, but there are a few things which make the pro series hard to justify, so i'll comment about the last 2 questions
What sampling rate and analog bandwidth do you typically need for your current and future measurements? (Open Text)
The bandwidth of the pro series currently offered is really ok, the sampling rate however could be higher. for a 14 bit oscilloscope, of course faster AD converters would of course be significantly more expensive, but a 200MSPS sampling rate would be a good match for the 55MHz bandwidth.
What features or improvements would you like to see in future products? (Open Text) 
A big thing would be more voltage ranges than the current two. It being 14 bit makes it liveable, but it would be a really good improvement if more ranges were added, and in that form factor, I would think it wouldn't be impossible to accomplish.
I don't know about the acquisition rate of the pro series, but the AD2 seems to be about a few dozen waveforms per second. If the pro series is in that ballpark, it would also be a very welcome improvement if it could do at least a few hundred waveforms per second, and perhaps if this was accompanied with intensity graded display, it would make for some nice qol improvements, as it would allow us to find rare events more quickly and without having to resort to the persistence view. This, again, from having no experience with the pro series, so I don't know if it already works this way, but from video reviews i've seen, it doesn't.
Buffer size, while 16k points in the AD2 are still useful, and so 32k in the pro series would as well, having at leat 1M points for repeated acquisition would be really good as it would allow for a faster sample rate at slower time bases, and some times that is really important. I use my AD2 for most of what i do, but there are cases in which i have to use one of my bench scopes because of the buffer size(or when i need more bandwidth), so having one of Digilent's instruments with a larger amount of memory, with how incredibly good the waveforms software is, it would, at least in my case, result in me pretty much never again needing my bench scopes.
Input impedance would also be a nice qol improvement, if it had a switchable 50 ohm/1Meg input impedance, but this isn't super critical, at least for my uses, just something that would be really nice to have, and i think would make sense under the "pro" label :)