ScopeLab Help

ScopeLab reads waveforms from your oscilloscope or spectrum analyser, measures them, and saves or exports the result. This page covers everything you need to get started.

Getting started without an instrument

Click "Try the Demo Scope" on the start screen, or select "Demo Scope" in the sidebar under "Without an instrument". It provides a simulated two-channel capture, so you can try every feature before connecting real hardware.

Finding your instrument

Network (LAN)
ScopeLab searches your local network automatically when it starts. To search again, click Scan in the sidebar or press Cmd-R. The first time, macOS asks whether ScopeLab may access your local network — click Allow, otherwise no instruments can be found.

If your instrument does not appear, type its address into "Add by Address" at the bottom of the sidebar, for example 192.168.1.50 or 192.168.1.50:5025, and click Add.

GPIB

Plug in a GPIB-USB-HS compatible adapter. It appears in the sidebar under "GPIB". Click "Scan Bus" to find the instruments connected to it — this takes about 20 seconds, as ScopeLab checks every address carefully without disturbing the bus.

If you already know the GPIB address, you can also add it directly: type gpib://8 into "Add by Address" for address 8. With more than one adapter attached, use gpib://SERIAL/8, where SERIAL is the adapter name shown in the sidebar.

No driver is needed.

Capturing a waveform

  • Select your instrument in the sidebar.
  • Click Connect in the toolbar.
  • Under Channels, choose which channels to read. "All" and "None" select them all at once.
  • Click Acquire.

ScopeLab reads the full acquisition memory, which can take a few seconds per channel. The Acquisition card shows the instrument's own settings, such as timebase, volts per division and sample rate.

Over GPIB, ScopeLab stops the instrument briefly to read the waveform and then puts it back into the state it was in.

The plot

The plot starts with the same scale and offset the instrument was showing. Use the controls under the plot to change each channel's vertical scale and position, "Fit" to fit a single channel, or "Auto-fit all" to give every channel its own band.

"Plot theme" in the toolbar sets how the plot is coloured — System, Light, Dark or Document — on screen and in exports. Document gives a white page that prints well.

Measurements

The Measurements card shows, for every visible channel: Vpp, Vmax, Vmin, Vtop, Vbase, Vamp, Vavg, Vrms, frequency, period, duty cycle, rise and fall time, overshoot and the number of edges. With two channels it also shows the delay between them.

  • Edge thresholds: choose 10/90% or 20/80% for rise and fall times.
  • Show working for: draws the levels and crossings a channel's numbers came from directly on the plot.
  • On plot: prints the measurements in the plot itself, so they appear in exports too.

A value shown as a dash could not be measured reliably — for example, a sine wave has no settled top and base, so it has no rise time or overshoot.

Markers

Click in the plot to place marker A, and click again to place marker B. Drag a marker to adjust it. ScopeLab shows the values at both markers, the difference between them (Δt, ΔV) and 1/Δt. Markers always snap to a real sample. "Clear markers" removes them.

Spectrum (FFT)

Switch on the Spectrum card to transform the capture to a frequency axis.

  • Window: Hann suits an unknown signal; flat top measures amplitudes most accurately; others are available for special cases.
  • Span: Auto shows the part of the band the signal occupies; Full shows everything up to half the sample rate.
  • Peaks: the strongest frequencies are listed automatically. "Marker to peak" puts the active marker on the strongest one.

For a spectrum analyser, ScopeLab reads the trace directly from the instrument.

Saving and exporting

Everything is in the Export menu in the toolbar:

  • Save Capture… keeps the complete acquisition with all samples, as a .scopelab file. When you reopen it later, you can place new markers and measure again, long after the instrument has moved on.
  • Open Capture… opens a saved capture. You can also double-click it in Finder.
  • CSV… exports the samples for a spreadsheet or your own scripts, with the instrument's settings in the header.
  • PNG… and PDF… export the plot as an image. PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at any size.
  • The Spectrum entries export the FFT in the same three formats.

Trial and full version

ScopeLab is free to download, and every feature works for 14 days. After that, capturing, viewing, measurements, markers and the spectrum stay free. Saving captures and exporting need the full version, a one-time in-app purchase. Opening captures you saved earlier always works, and the Demo Scope can always export.

To buy or restore a purchase, choose ScopeLab > ScopeLab Full Version…, or click the trial button at the top of the sidebar. A purchase works on all your Macs signed in with the same Apple Account, and with Family Sharing.

Supported instruments

  • Siglent SDS series oscilloscopes (LAN)
  • Siglent SSA series spectrum analysers (LAN)
  • Yokogawa DL1540C oscilloscope (GPIB)

Other instruments are listed in the sidebar but marked "Unsupported". Would you like yours supported? Please send us the instrument's model and, if possible, its reply to *IDN?.

Troubleshooting

No instruments found

  • Check that the instrument and your Mac are on the same network.
  • Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network, and make sure ScopeLab is allowed.
  • Add the instrument by its IP address instead.

GPIB instrument not found

  • Check that the instrument's GPIB address matches, and that it is switched on before scanning.
  • Unplug the adapter, plug it in again, and click Scan Bus.

Acquisition fails

  • Click Reconnect and try again.
  • For support, choose File > Record Session Transcript, repeat the problem, and send us the transcript.