Function generator trigger out not working in AWG mode

[Spazza1337]

Hello,

I am using a VB-8034 and I want to have an output trigger sent out at the start of my AWG waveform in order to trigger an external piece of equipment.  This works fine in Sinewave, square ,and triangle wave mode however this does not seem to work in AWG mode.  My AWG is 1000 samples, and I am running it at 100MS/s, in this case the trigger goes high and stays there.  As an experiment when I lowered the sample rate to 100kS/s the trigger does go low, but it goes high every 20uS, which does not match with the start of my waveform.  It seems random.

Any help would be appreciated.  

[DLarsen · Accepted solution]

Spazza1337,

Unfortunately this is a situation where I don't think there's anything wrong with how you've configured the instrument. The output trigger behavior is different for AWG mode vs. all other modes of waveform generation. The reason for this difference is that the trigger is based on an internal buffer, and AWG mode involves streaming the waveform from the host to that internal buffer. For this reason, you will be able to reliably see a trigger when the waveform is started, but you will also see extra pulses during operation.