Digilent Analog Discovery Pro ADP5250

ADP5250 status and operating system support

Digilent’s store lists the ADP5250 as retired and no longer for sale, with the ADP5470 suggested instead. Its reference page states that the ADP5250 is Windows only. WaveForms and the WaveForms SDK support it on Windows, and the macOS and Linux builds of WaveForms do not. A Digilent engineer on the forum also excluded it from Windows on ARM64. DAQAtlas, which is in development, reads Digilent hardware through the WaveForms SDK, so the ADP5250 works only with the Windows build of DAQAtlas.

ADP5250 instruments and specs

The oscilloscope has two single-ended, non-isolated BNC inputs with 8-bit resolution, 1 GS/s on one channel or 500 MS/s each on two, 100 MHz bandwidth and nine hardware ranges from 100 mV to 40 V peak-to-peak. Record length is 1 MS per channel, so it is a capture instrument for short, fast events. The logic analyzer adds 34 inputs at 1 GS/s with a typical 1 MS record. The AWG is one 14-bit, 125 MS/s channel, ±12 V into high impedance or ±6 V into 50 Ω. The 5½-digit DMM measures DC and AC voltage up to 300 V DC, current up to 10 A and resistance, at 5 readings per second. The supplies are 0 to 6 V at 1 A plus isolated 0 to +25 V and 0 to -25 V rails at 500 mA. There are 8 general digital I/O lines on a terminal block. It connects over USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (the ADP5250 has no Ethernet port) and runs from AC mains.

An 8-bit converter gives 256 levels across the selected range, so for slow, precise measurements the DMM or a higher-resolution DAQ is the better tool. The ADC resolution vs accuracy article explains the trade.