# Gate Interval

## What is a gate interval?

A gate interval is the amount of time the QCM200 will use in order to acquire a frequency measurement. The longer the interval, the more accurate the frequency measurement.
Note that the gate interval has nothing to do with the resistance measurement, but the software always shows both frequency and resistance. This means the resistance measurement rate will also be slowed by a longer gate interval.

## Why would I want to change the gate interval?

Longer intervals give higher frequency accuracy, but if you are interested in acquiring data on transients, you may need to shorten the gate interval.
Always select a gate interval that is short relative to the time scale of your data. If you are looking at data that take place over a period of several hours, use the longest gate interval.
Since the resistance measurement has no dependance on gate time, if you are only interested in resistance data, choose the shortest interval.

## How do I change the gate interval?

Simply click on the Gate Interval menu item, the select the new interval from the drop-down list.