This video provides an update on a previous review of the Leo Bodnar pulse generator, specifically addressing observed ringing artifacts. Initially, the generator was used with a 1 GHz Keysight oscilloscope, yielding a rise time of approximately 420 picoseconds but exhibiting noticeable ringing on the pulse edges. To clarify the source of this ringing, the pulse generator was subsequently tested on an ultra-high-bandwidth Keysight 62.3 GHz real-time oscilloscope. This high-fidelity measurement confirmed the pulse generator's impressive performance, measuring a rise time of roughly 20 picoseconds (well under its 30 ps specification), and crucially, showing no ringing. The findings conclusively demonstrate that the ringing observed on the lower-bandwidth oscilloscope was an artifact of its internal digital sinc/x filtering, validating the high quality of the Leo Bodnar pulse generator.
Exploring the Leo Bodnar Pulse Generator: Rise Time and Digital Filter Artifacts
0:08 Video Update: The speaker provides an update on a previous video about the Leo Bodnar pulse generator, used for oscilloscope rise time and bandwidth measurements.
0:26 Initial Setup & Measurement: The pulse generator is demonstrated with a 1 GHz Keysight oscilloscope, where a rise time of approximately 420 picoseconds is measured, consistent with a 1 GHz bandwidth.
0:57 Oscilloscope Glitch: The Keysight oscilloscope briefly experiences a software crash.
1:35 Observed Ringing: The speaker notes prominent ringing artifacts on both the positive and negative edges of the pulse displayed on the 1 GHz oscilloscope.
1:47 Ringing Source Hypothesis: The speaker questions whether the ringing originates from the pulse generator itself or from the oscilloscope's internal digital filtering, such as sinc/x processing.
2:10 High-End Verification: To resolve the ringing mystery, the pulse generator is tested by a friend on a much higher-performance Keysight oscilloscope (160 GSa/s real-time, 62.3 GHz bandwidth).
2:53 High-End Results (No Ringing): The high-bandwidth oscilloscope measures the pulse generator's rise time at an impressive 20 picoseconds (well below its 30 ps guaranteed spec) and, critically, shows no ringing on the waveform.
3:18 Conclusion on Ringing: This definitively confirms that the ringing observed on the 1 GHz oscilloscope was an artifact of its digital sinc/x filtering, not an issue with the Leo Bodnar pulse generator.
3:35 Fall Time: The fall time was also measured at 21.3 picoseconds on the high-end oscilloscope.
3:47 Key Takeaway: The Leo Bodnar pulse generator is a very accurate and useful tool, confirming its high performance for precise timing measurements.