Oscilloscope Triggering Advanced Course: Advanced Trigger Features (.PDF Download)

Welcome to the Oscilloscope Triggering Advanced Course! In this series, I will walk you through the details of every corner of real-time oscilloscope trigger systems, and by the time we’re done, you’ll never need that AutoScale button again! Your co-workers will be stuck in the lab staring at auto-triggers all weekend while your scope is automagically catching glitches and protocol packets and emailing you the results! If you’re just joining us now, do yourself a favor and check out the first four articles in the series as well to learn about advanced trigger modes, protocol triggering, and trigger sequencing.

In this article, we’re going to explore some of the advanced features available in modern scope trigger systems. Rather than the trigger modes we’ve discussed in previous articles (see "Related" at the bottom of the article), the features described herein are more like modifiers and options used in conjunction with those modes to add functionality or convenience. The trigger mode is the cake; these features are the icing. Let’s get started!

Trigger Qualifiers

Trigger qualifiers are fairly common features on modern scopes. While the specifics of these features vary model to model, qualifiers are generally considered additional events outside of the trigger mode that must be true (in addition to the trigger-mode conditions being true) at the instant the trigger-mode condition is evaluated in order for the trigger to fire.