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Application Notes
It is important to choose the right oscilloscope for your application. With today’s tight budgets, it is even more critical that you purchase exactly the capabilities you need. There are two main types of oscilloscopes, real-time (RT) oscilloscopes and equivalent-time (ET) oscilloscopes. For each type of oscilloscope there are many different specifications you need to consider. One of the most important specifications is bandwidth. If your scope doesn’t have enough bandwidth to satisfy the Nyquist criterion, you will see significant aliasing in your signal.
There is no simple way to decide how much oscilloscope bandwidth you will need. Scope vendors promote a “fifth harmonic” rule of thumb. They suggest you purchase a scope with sufficient bandwidth to capture the fifth harmonic of your signals. However, under typical conditions, even if the oscilloscope has enough bandwidth to theoretically capture the fifth harmonic, it is possible the oscilloscope will not capture any fifth harmonic content at all. Given today’s economy, it may not be wise to purchase an oscilloscope to capture the fifth harmonic based on a rule of thumb, when despite its higher price, it can only capture to the third harmonic.
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