Section 2: General operation Model 2461 Interactive SourceMeter® Instrument Reference Manual2-100 2461-901-01 A/November 2015Make sure you select functions before you make changes to other instrument settings. The optionsthat you have for settings depend on the functions that are active when you make the changes. Ifyou make a change that is not compatible with the active functions, you may get unexpected resultsor you may receive an event message. Also note that when you select a different function, theinstrument clears the buffer.When you are making measurements, you can set the measurement range to a specific range or toautomatic ranging. If you select a specific range, for the best accuracy, use the lowest possible range.When Auto is selected, the instrument selects the most sensitive range to make a measurement orwill change automatically as the measured value of the device changes.The operating boundaries for the source-measure operations are provided in Operating boundaries(on page 4-4).Hazardous voltages may be present on all output and guard terminals. To prevent electricalshock that could cause injury or death, never make or break connections to the Model 2461while the instrument is powered on. Turn off the equipment from the front panel ordisconnect the main power cord from the rear of the Model 2461 before handling cables.Putting the equipment into an output-off state does not guarantee that the outputs arepowered off if a hardware or software fault occurs.Source and measure orderWhen you are using a remote interface, you should set the measure function first, then set the sourcefunction, because setting the measure function may change the source function. This is notnecessary when you use the front-panel FUNCTION key to set the source and measure functions.Once you have set the source and measure functions, you can change other measure and sourcesettings as needed.When setting range, you should first set the limit (compliance) to a value higher than the measurerange you intend to set.Source and measure through the front panelYou can source, digitize, and measure through the options available on the front panel.
