Yokogawa launches DL850 ScopeCorder: the third generation of their best-selling combined oscilloscope and data recorder family

The DL850 ScopeCorder is an ideal tool for measuring physical and electrical parameters in application sectors such as the automotive industry, mechatronics, transport, power electronics and alternative energy. A dedicated version for the automotive industry – the DL850V Vehicle Edition – includes a module for monitoring the CAN in-vehicle serial bus.

“Since the launch of the DL750 in 2002, the ScopeCorder has become one of our most successful stand-alone instruments in Europe – to the extent that the word ‘ScopeCorder’ has become a generic term in the industry for the class of product”, comments Terry Marrinan, Sales & Marketing Director for Europe & Africa with Yokogawa’s Test & Measurement Business Unit: “Now, with the launch of the DL850, we are not only offering greatly enhanced performance but also, because of the product’s unique features, expanding its potential market sector to include advanced electrical measurements for today’s energy-saving architectures.”



Compared to earlier ScopeCorder units, the DL850 features higher-speed acquisition over a larger number of channels, the ability to carry out real-time recording, a powerful user interface, and a comprehensive range of PC interfacing capabilities for wider functionality and ease of use. With acquisition speeds up to 100 megasamples per second (MS/s), it achieves ten times the sample rate, display, and memory handling speeds as its predecessor.



A key feature for electrical measurements is the isoPRO 1 kV isolated input module which, when combined with the 100 MS/s acquisition speed and the 12-bit resolution, makes the DL850 ideally suited to measurements on high-speed switching invertors: a core technology in today’s alternative energy sector.



The DL850 ScopeCorder can accommodate up to 128 channels of assorted types including isolated, simultaneously sampled modules. For users who do not require the highest sample rates, a new 16-channel multiplexed module or a choice of three universal voltage input modules allow speed to be traded off against higher 16-bit voltage resolution, better accuracy and wider input ranges.



With its modular architecture, the DL850 ScopeCorder will handle nearly every type of electrical or physical signal. Users can arbitrarily combine eight different modules out of a range of 15 unique module types, supporting direct input of popular sensors like thermocouples, accelerometers, strain gauges, tachometers and more. For electrical measurements, an RMS coupled mode makes it possible to monitor and trigger off changes in RMS levels.



The DL850 incorporates a large (10.4-inch) LCD display, an internal hard disk drive, and a thermal printer. Three USB ports, an Ethernet port, an e-SATA port, a video port, a GPIB port, and a SD-card slot populate the unit’s left side panel. On the right side, the DL850 has room for eight input modules.



As a diagnostic tool, the DL850 ScopeCorder offers all the measurement and analysis tools of a modern digital oscilloscope, including cursors, waveform parameter calculations, mathematics and DSP channels, fast Fourier transforms and more. In most cases, users will be able to analyse data immediately and get results with no need for offline post-processing.



Yokogawa perfected deep memory, and the ScopeCorder has its share of it: up to two billion points of data can be recorded continuously at 100 MS/s on each channel. Regardless of memory size, the ScopeCorder’s GIGAZoom2 engine allows the user to smoothly zoom in and out of a signal, even while acquisition is in progress.



The unique architecture of the DL850 ScopeCorder automatically allocates its memory to best accommodate the user’s test strategy. Once the desired sample rate is set, Yokogawa’s exclusive ‘history’ feature intelligently utilises the remainder of the available memory – allowing the user to view and save previously captured acquisitions.

Another unique function is the ‘dual capture’ feature, which allows both high-speed and low-speed rates to be configured. In this mode, the DL850 continuously logs data at the slow speed until a trigger condition is met. At the higher sample rate, the ScopeCorder acquires a transient waveform, with multiple waveforms for multiple triggers, all while continuously logging at the low speed rate.



Electro-mechanical systems demand a different set of measurement techniques than pure electrical systems, and the DL850 delivers higher vertical resolution, channel count, isolation, filtering, and abundant acquisition memory compared to general-purpose oscilloscopes. This makes it ideal for viewing small changes, even across large dynamic ranges, and monitor more signals simultaneously. It also means that there is no need for external signal conditioning components, and that high sample rates can be maintained for longer observation periods.



The DL850 ScopeCorder uses familiar oscilloscope controls, triggers, and analysis functions, so that the higher performance is achieved without additional complexity.

Yokogawa’s designers originally conceived the ScopeCorder as an oscilloscope that also has the powerful advantages of a recorder including unattended operation, enabled in the DL850 by functions such as ‘action on trigger’ or ‘action on stop’. The DL850 ScopeCorder can also automatically send an e-mail, print captured data, sound an alarm, and save data to a file when it detects a fault condition. Whether observation times are microseconds or months, the ScopeCorder will remain operational and save data until the user is ready for it.