/> The PX1500-2 can be set up to use either a transformer-coupled front end or an amplifier connection. The transformer connection can only be set for AC-coupled operation and has a frequency capture range of 5 MHz to 2 GHz. The amplifier can be set for either AC-coupled or DC-coupled operation with a frequency range of up to 1 GHz.

“Like the PX1500-4, the PX1500-2 was designed to maximize the quality of captured signals in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and spurious-free dynamic range over a very wide frequency range,” said Anthony Hunt, Chief Technology Officer at Signatec. “However, the PX1500-2 was further designed as an ideal solution to create affordable radar, mass spectroscopy, medical imaging and non-destructive testing systems.”

Precise Sampling Rate Flexibility

Beyond its high-speed, multi-channel performance capabilities, the PX1500-2’s frequency synthesized clock allows the ADC sampling rate to be set to virtually any value from 200 MHz—the minimum allowable ADC clock—up to 1500 MHz, offering maximum flexibility for sampling rate selection. Additional divide-by-2 circuits are provided for sampling at even lower frequencies. This frequency selection flexibility comes at no cost to the acquisition clock quality/performance when locked to either the onboard 10 MHz, 5 PPM reference clock or to an externally provided 10 MHz reference clock. The ADC may also be clocked from an external clock source.

This level of accurate clock tuning without sacrificing performance gives the best integrated onboard ADC clock flexibility in the industry. Users no longer need to settle for fixed clocks or limiting divide-by-2 clocks only. This feature is ideal for undersampling applications, where the Nyquist bands need to be perfectly tuned to optimally place the center frequency of the sampled signal into the middle of the Nyquist zone and to optimize for the total bandwidth or data captured.

Up to three PX1500-2 boards may be interconnected in a Master/Slave configuration via a ribbon cable that connects at the top of the boards. In this configuration, the clock and trigger signals from the Master drive the Slave boards so that data sampling on all boards occurs simultaneously. Up to 18 boards can be set up for fully synchronized operation by utilizing the SYNC1500-6 as the clock and trigger source for six master boards, where all 18 boards can function synchronously even when placed into different PC chassis. This scalability of chassis and system resources allows for increasing the sustained data rate per channel for high speed signal recording and/or real-time processing applications.

“Signatec’s new PX1500-2 is one of the fastest, most affordable data acquisition boards on the market today,” said Tom Wagner, Director of Marketing for Signatec, Inc. “We are excited to deliver such a low price-point solution to ensure all of Signatec’s customers can benefit from this high-speed digitizer’s performance capabilities.”