Advanced measurements: A postgraduate tutorial Part 1 - Instrument selection and programming

This multi-part tutorial article covers electrical measurement techniques you probably didn't learn in an engineering undergraduate course. It is intended for those concerned not only with accurate measurements of low-level signals, but also with maximizing test system throughput, particularly in a production environment. The information presented in the at-ride goes beyond the usual admonitions about careful attention to cabling and connections. Instead, it emphasizes what a test engineer or technician can do in terms of instrument selection, programming and setting up test configurations to optimize throughput and accuracy tradeoffs. The topics covered will be pertinent to many types of data acquisition systems and benchtop instruments.