Tektronix FCA3120 Frequency Counter

Tektronix FCA3120 Frequency Counter

The Tektronix FCA3120 is offering 20 GHz measurements, the Tektronix FCA3000 and FCA3100 Frequency Counter Series pack many different functions into one feature-rich instrument. With unprecedented resolution, you can capture very small frequency and time changes. And with the industry's most comprehensive analysis modes, including measurement statistics, histograms, and trend plots, you have the tools you need to quickly and accurately analyze your signal.

Feature-rich Tools for Precision Measurements

The FCA3000 and FCA3100 Timer/Counter/Analyzer Series pack many different functions into one feature-rich instrument. With industry-leading frequency and time resolution, the FCA Series comes standard with deep internal memory and a fast data transfer rate of 250k Samples/s to internal memory. In addition, the multi-parameter display shows auxiliary measurements alongside your main measurement to provide you with the results you need at a glance. With the industry's most comprehensive analysis modes, including measurement statistics, histograms, and trend plots, you have the tools you need to quickly and accurately analyze your signal.

Industry-leading Performance for Demanding Designs

High-resolution is critical for R&D and production testing on today's demanding designs. The FCA Series delivers 12-digit/s frequency resolution and for time measurements, single-shot resolution of 50 ps (FCA3100 Series) or 100 ps (FCA3000 Series) is available with measurement values displayed up to 14 digits. With industry-leading performance, the FCA Series provides you with fast, precise measurements.

Unique Features for Accurate Measurements

To ensure correct measurements of Allan Deviation, the FCA3100 Series offers a zero dead-time measurement technique and continuous time stamping of trigger events. This feature is vital for mechanical and medical measurements where every single cycle must be measured. The FCA3000 Series offers this functionality through the USB/GPIB interfaces with a raw time-stamping function.

For correct calculation of statistical parameters, the FCA Series comes standard with limit-qualifying capability. By setting limits, you can isolate one cluster in your calculation. This is important for applications such as verifying the jitter of digital pulses that appear in discrete clusters in CD players or in HDB3-coded data.

Also available is hysteresis compensation for time interval measurements. By adding hysteresis, you can reduce trigger-level error from the typical 15-20 mV found in most counters on the market today, down to a typical 2.5 mV. This means 6-8 times improved trigger precision in critical time interval measurements.

Fast Throughput Reduces Test Time

The FCA Timer/Counter/Analyzer Series offers industry-best throughput, saving you up to 90% on your testing time compared to other timer/counters on the market. Up to 250,000 measurement results per second can be stored in the internal memory. Alternatively, you can transfer up to 15,000 measurement results per second in Block mode through the GPIB or USB interface. For added flexibility, the FCA3100 Series offers a zero dead-time counter feature to continuously stream measurement data over the GPIB/USB bus during, not after, measurement. This creates a dynamic measurement and analysis system.

Analyze Your Device with the Industry's Only Graphical Display

With the unique display of the FCA Series, you can measure multiple parameters of the same signal from one test connection. To reveal signal quality issues like drift, intermittent transients, and stability, you can view the data as a real-time trend plot or a histogram with the FCA Series graphical display mode, or you can use measurement statistics to track how signal parameters are changing over time. A single-button Analyze mode gives you fast insight into the behavior of your device right on the timer/counter's display.

For more information: Tektronix

Tektronix FCA3120 Frequency Counter

Tektronix FCA3000 + FCA3100 Datasheet