How to synchronize two function generators without phase shifting between two devices?

<br> <br> I want to generate four pulses with each one delaying 1 us from its previous one. I have one Tektronix AFG 31000 and two Siglent SDG 1032X. At first, I tried to synchronize two SDG 1032X, but there was a problem that the phase shift was not fixed between two devices when I turned the output off and on. I called Siglent for support, and they said the SDG 1000 series were not good at sync up two devices. Later, I tried to synchronize AFG 31000 with one SDG 1032X. Still, there was the phase shifting problem. Does anyone know where to set a fix delay between the master device and the slave device? Thank you.<br> &#160;

Hi Carrie,<br> <br> Have you considered using the trigger input on the AFG31000 to synchronize it to another AFG? That should work well for your application.

Hi Afonso,<br> <br> Yes, I connected the master device's trigger out to slave device's trigger in, and connected the master's EXT REF OUT to the slave's EXT REF IN. I did get four channels' signals on a Oscilloscope. My problem is the phase shift&#160; between the signals from two devices kept changing every time I tuned any channel output off then back on. Because I only have one AFG, I used another function generator from Siglent, SDG 1032X. I think there should a place to let me set the delay between the master and the slave. Is there a way to keep the delay between two devices stable?&#160;

<p>Hi Carrie,</p> <p></p> <p>If you use the AFG in basic mode, you can set it to output a Burst and to trigger that burst externally, then you can configure the trigger delay and, from my testing, it should be very stable.</p> <p></p> <p>If your trigger delay isn't stable with this setup, it's probably because of the Siglent function generator that has an unstable trigger output delay (hence why they said it was difficult to synchronize). To fix this you could try triggering the AFG off your output signal instead of the trigger or reverting the setup and having the AFG be the master and the Siglent the slave.</p>

Hi Afonso,<br> <br> Thank you for the reply. During my testing, if I keep the two function generators outputs on, then the trigger delay is stable. But If I turn any output off then back to on, then the trigger delay shift. Please see the attachment, which is the signals I want. Thanks.

<p>Hi Carrie,</p> <p></p> <p>From my experiments, the AFG31000 trigger to output delay is stable even after turning it off and on, so the problem is likely with your Siglent.</p>

Hi Afonso,<br> <br> I agree with you that the problem is mostly with my Siglent. I'm trying to find other way to generate four signals in a sequence. Thanks for all of your help!

<p>Hi Carrie,</p> <p></p> <p>Since youre signal is just a squarewave, you could try connecting one of the output channels of the Siglent function generator to the trigger input of the AFG31000, avoiding the inconsistent trigger output issue of the SIglent.</p>