Probe Compensation - Tektronix TDS1000B Series Operator's Manual

2
Getting Started with the TDS1000B and TDS2000B Series Oscilloscopes

Probe Compensation

When you attach a passive voltage attenuation probe to an
oscilloscope, the capacitances of both the probe cable and
the oscilloscope's input combine. This combined
capacitance must match the capacitance of the input
attenuation circuit of the probe. You must balance these
capacitive effects between the probe and the oscilloscope to
get a flat step response.
Probes are designed to match the inputs of specific
oscilloscope models. However, there are slight variations
between oscilloscopes and even between different input
channels in an oscilloscope. To minimize these variations,
attenuating passive probes (10X and 100X probes) have
built-in compensation networks. You need to adjust the
network to compensate the probe for the oscilloscope
channel that you are using.
You must compensate a passive voltage attenuation
probe every time you change a probe/channel connection
of your oscilloscope. This ensures that the probe
accurately transfers the signal from a signal source to the
oscilloscope.
2-20 TDS1000B and TDS2000B Series Oscilloscopes – Operator Training Kit