ZTEC Instruments Releases a Major Update for its Line of EPICS Oscilloscopes
December 17, 2009 ZTEC Instruments releases a major update to its 8, 12, 13 and 14-bit Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) digital oscilloscopes / digitizers. ZTEC improved its implementation of the embedded EPICS IOC (input/output controller) for its EPICS instruments, making it easier for users to quickly and easily integrate these instruments into their EPICS environment without spending the time and expense of developing their own EPICS instrument drivers.
ZTEC Instruments EPICS oscilloscopes are the only high-performances oscilloscopes available with an embedded EPICS IOC. They are available in five different series; each series includes two and four channel models:
- ZT4610 series: 4GS/s max real-time sampling, 8 bit ADC resolution
- ZT4440 series: 800 MS/s max real-time sampling, 14 bit ADC resolution
- ZT4430 series: 500 MS/s max real-time sampling, 13 bit ADC resolution
- ZT4420 series: 1 GS/s max real-time sampling, 12 bit ADC resolution
- ZT4210 series: 1 GS/s max real-time sampling, 8 bit ADC resolution
ZTECs EPICS oscilloscopes are used at particle accelerators, high energy light sources and other large experiments around the world for a variety of remote waveform monitoring and waveform analysis applications. The instruments are controlled using LAN/Ethernet. They can be controlled and/or monitored from multiple clients located anywhere, provided the clients have access (and permission) to the instruments IP address.
The EPICS IOC has been updated and now supports roughly 900 process variables (PVs). All instrument functionality is accessible via EPICS and the Channel Access (CA) network protocol. EPICS display managers such as Extensible Display Manager (EDM) and Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM) can control and monitor one or more EPICS scopes at a time.
ZTEC provides free EDM and MEDM panels for controlling and monitoring its EPICS scopes. The ZTEC panels can be modified to meet the specific needs of each user in different locations. For example, one user many configure a panel to display the captured waveforms from multiple instruments on a single display, but not include any items for controlling the instruments. Another user may configure a panel such that it exposes key control items (e.g., the ability to change the horizontal capture time and the vertical voltage range) and displays the captured waveforms for only a single instrument.
In addition to embedded EPICS, all M-Class ZTEC oscilloscopes and signal generators come with free programming support tools and instrument drivers for Windows (including Windows 7 and 64-bit) and Linux. Software support is provided for C/C++, IVI-C, LabVIEW, COM, MATLAB and other environments.
ZTEC also provides the free ZFind application for Windows and Linux with its M-Class instruments. VXI-11 discovery was added to ZFind with this release. The VXI-11 discovery feature finds all ZTEC oscilloscopes and signal generators on a network and enables users to quickly connect to the desired instrument(s); all without having to know each instruments IP address. ZFind can also be used to easily generate control scripts using SCPI commands.
ZTEC Instruments Releases a Major Update for its Line of EPICS Oscilloscopes
