How to choose the best passive and active oscilloscope probes for your tasks
By Jae-yong Chang and Kenny Johnson. Digital Evidence Division. Agilent Technologies
Selecting the right probe for your application is the first step in obtaining reliable measurements with an oscilloscope. The offer available in oscilloscope probes is wide and varied; however, they can be classified into two main categories: passive probes and active probes. There is a simple difference between these two types: active probes need external power to drive active probe components such as transistors and amplifiers. In addition, they offer a higher bandwidth capacity than passive probes, which do not require external power. Each category encompasses many different types of probes, each with a particularly prominent feature.
