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Chapter 2 Operating Your Frequency Counter
Setting the Number of Averages
Operating Guide 2-17
2
Setting the Number of Averages
You can set the Counter to take a variable number of frequency, power,
or voltage measurements and average them mathematically before
displaying the result. You can use this feature to determine the effective
measurement of a signal that is fluctuating. When measuring the
frequency of a fluctuating signal, you can also use averaging to retain
some of the precision of a maximum-resolution measurement.
The default number of averages is 1, which means that no averages are
performed, and the maximum setting is 99. Note that the tens position
(10 through 90) and the units position (0 through 9) are adjusted
separately, and that it is not possible to set the number of averages to 0.
NOTE When a large number of averages is selected for a frequency measurement
in combination with a high resolution setting (e.g., 1 Hz), it takes a
considerable amount of time for the Counter to take the measurements,
compute the averages, and display an initial reading. For example, when
the number of averages is set to 60, and the resolution is set to 1 Hz, the
first reading is displayed after 60 seconds (approximately). Subsequent
computations do not require as much time, since the averaging function
computes a running average. However, the rate at which the display is
updated after the initial average computation is also slower than at lower
resolution settings.
Averages Setting Example
1 Press the Avg key to enter the averages-setting mode.
The current averages setting is displayed (the current value and the
indicator between the arrow keys are flashing to indicate that you can use
the up- and down-arrow keys to change the setting).
2 Press the up-arrow or down-arrow key to decrease or increase the
value for the units position of the number of averages.
Pwr
Offset
+/–
Avg