Oscilloscope Waveform Digitizer

The instrument presented utilizes an oscilloscope, television camera and control logic to digitize high speed transient or repetitive waveforms displayed on the CRT of an oscilloscope. It allows visual study of signals which would normally be degraded by the cabling used to carry the signal from the source to a remote oscilloscope. The instrument is placed near the source where digital conversion of the waveform takes place. The digital data is stored in local memory and is transmitted to a computer for manipulation and presentation. This allows long term study of transient waveforms. The unit extends the analog to digital conversion speed to 20 samples in 20 ns. Assuming 5 samples per cycle, this would correspond to digitizing transients in the 200 MHz frequency range.