The max voltage on the inputs to the 54855A Infinium scope is +/- 5V (100mA.) Since obviously nothings arcing at 5V I assume it's a matter of too much current overheating and killing the input amplifier. How does this limit vary with pulse width. I have a pulse width of about 15nsec from a current probe & I'm worried about transients in the tens of volts killing our $65,000 scope.
Thanks
Thanks
1) Average power over time - You can go overvoltage, to 10 or 12 volts, for short periods of time, recognizing the power is the square of the voltage, and you don't go over the average power equivalent of 5 volts into 50 Ohms. If you went to 10 volts, for example, then if the duty cycle is less than 25%, then you're probably OK.
2) Transients - This is a whole separate issue. The inputs to the scope are protected to 30V, and are ESD protected to >8kV. Most transients will be very narrow and won't have much HF energy behind them. If you really think that you'll have those kinds of transients, then you shouldn't be using that scope. There are many very low-cost scopes that will work much better, and be better protected.
Algoss