PS40M10 SwordFish Multi-Function Instrument. Getting Started Guide

Transcription

1 PS40M10 SwordFish Multi-Function Instrument Getting Started Guide

2 PS40M10 SwordFish Hand Held USB Oscilloscope The PS40M10 SwordFish is a unique hand held device that combines the functions of Oscilloscope, Data Logger, Spectrum Analyser, Volt Meter and Frequency Meter in a single instrument. SwordFish features a user replaceable precision spring loaded probe tip which can be used to probe even small smd components. The probe tip and cover can be removed, revealing a standard phono ( RCA ) socket. A phono to BNC adapter ( supplied ) allows SwordFish to connect to standard oscilloscope probes or BNC cables if required. Powered from USB, SwordFish needs no external power supply. SwordFish features a 10-bit ADC with a true sampling rate of up to 40M Samples /sec and sophisticated hardware triggering. The over-sampling feature of the EasyScope II software allows repetitive waveforms to be viewed at an effective resolution of up to 1nS ( == 1G Samples / sec ). SwordFish comes complete with EasyScope II ( oscilloscope ) and EasyLogger ( data logging ) software. The supplied Windows DLL s allows 3 rd party applications to easily interface to SwordFish. Example code in several popular programming languages including LabView are provided. Windows CE and Linux drivers are also available on request. Features 10 Bit ADC Resolution 1G S/s sampling rate ( repetitive ) 40M S/s native Maximum input voltage +/- 50V AC / DC Coupling Edge, min/max pulse width and delayed trigger modes Analog Bandwidth 5MHz Self Powered USB Interface ( 250mA ) Precision spring loaded probe tip or BNC connection Hardware upgradeable over USB EasyScope II Features Timebase - 50ns/div to 50ms/div in 19 steps Y-Scale 100mV/div to 10V/div On Screen X and Y measurement cursors FFT Spectrum analyser display XY Mode Meter Displays Min / Max / Mean / True RMS voltage + Frequency Save results to CSV file EasyLogger Features Sampling Rate 20,000 samples / sec to 100 sec / sample Flexible Y axis scaling Export to CSV file Save to Binary File

3 What s In the Box? Please check that the box contains the following items :- 1 x PS40M10 Pen Oscilloscope Spring Loaded Probe ( attached to PS40M10 ) EasyScope II and EasyLogger Software Installation CD Phono to BNC Adapter PS40M10 Instrument Pouch Getting Started Leaflet Getting Started To install the software and drivers please insert the Software Installation CD into the host PC CD-ROM drive before connecting the PS40M10 to a USB Port. After a short delay, the following menu should appear. We suggest at this point to click on one of the View the Installation Manual buttons. This brings up a comprehensive User Guide in electronic book format. Take a few minutes to review the installation guides section which details the procedure more thoroughly than this leaflet. Click on Install Easyscope and EasyLogger Software. There will be a delay of several seconds whilst the setup program loads, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of EasyScope II and Easylogger. With the Software Installation CD still in the drive, plug the PS40M10 into a spare USB Port on the host PC. This should launch the Windows Found New Hardware wizard. Select the CD ROM drive as the source of the drivers and proceed through the driver installation process as outlined in the e-book User Guides.

4 Connecting a BNC Cable To connect a standard BNC cable to your PS40M10, first remove the translucent cap (1) by pulling it away from the instrument. This will reveal a phono ( RCA ) socket (2) which can also be used directly if required. Inserting the adapter supplied (3) into the phono socket provides the required BNC socket to connect oscilloscope probes and other BNC leads. (1) (2) (3) Measuring High Voltages The PS40M10 is rated at +/-50v even with a x10 oscilloscope lead attached. Measuring higher voltages than this directly may damage the instrument and invalidate the warranty. The instrument is not galvanically isolated - i.e. the ground of the internal circuitry connects directly to the ground of the host pc via the USB supply. To measure high voltages such as mains supplies use a high voltage differential probe such as the USB Instruments SI-9001 for your personal safety and to prevent damage to the instrument. Troubleshooting We anticipate you will receive many years of satisfactory service out of your purchase, however, should you experience any problems we will do our best to rectify them. Should you experience problems please check our web site for known issues and software updates. Should this fail, our support department at support@usb-instruments.com. Warning The spring loaded probe tip of the PS40M10 is extremely sharp. To prevent accidental injury, always cover the tip with the soft plastic protection guard ( supplied ) when the PS40M10 is not in use. Replacement caps / probe tips are available for purchase in the event of accidental breakage. Contact Details Web Site : Sales Enquiries : sales@usb-instruments.com Support Enquiries : support@usb-instruments.com

5 EasyScope II for PS40M10 PC Oscilloscope Software User Manual EasyScope User Manual created by USB Instruments, 2004 Contents Copyright (c) 2004, EasySync Ltd

6 I EasyScope User Manual Table of Contents Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Introduction Welcome to EasyScope... II for PS40M EasyScope II Specification... 1 Installing EasyScope II Installing the EasyScope... II Software Installing the USB Drivers... 7 Using EasyScope II EasyScope II Overview Front Panel Functions Run/Stop... and Single Buttons 11 Timebase... Settings 12 Input... Gain Settings 13 GND... Offset 14 Trigger... Settings 15 AC/DC... Coupling 17 Invert Horizontal... Slide Bar 18 Illuminate FFT... Display 20 FFT... Overview 20 Man Averaging Zero... Pad 21 File... Menu 23 FFT... Window Menu 23 Spectrum... Menu 23 Meter... Display 23 Timing... Cursor 25 Y Cursor Auto... Set Menu Functions File... Menu 28 Screen... Menu 28 Cursors... Menu 30 Trigger... Menu 30 Tools... Menu 32 Help... Menu Part 4 Quitting EasyScope... II 34 Appendix 35

7 Contents 4.1 II Error Messages File... Not Found 35 Failed... to Configure PS40M10 35 PS40M10A... B Not Found FT_Write... - General IO Error FT_GetQueueStatus... - General IO Error Uninstalling the Software... and Drivers 37..

8 EasyScope User Manual 1 1 Introduction 1.1 Welcome to EasyScope II for PS40M10 EasyScope II is the easy to use but powerful Digital Sampling Oscilloscope application program for the USB Instruments PS40M10. It runs on any USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 equipped PC using Windows 98, 2000 or XP. Drivers and an instrument interface DLL for Linux systems are also provided on the CD. 1.2 EasyScope II Specification EasyScope II Features Attractive, easy to use visual display F.F.T. (Fast Fourier Transform) display Advanced trigger settings including edge and pulse triggering

9 Introduction Delayed timebase function Integrated digital Volt meter Auto Set function Timebase from 50 ns/div to 50 ms/div Input ranges from 0.1 V/div to 10 V/div Integrated switch to halt data capture through hardware O.S.D. markers for voltage measurement O.S.D. markers for time / frequency measurement Save oscilloscope screens to Windows BMP files Export oscilloscope traces to CSV files Screen printout facility AC / DC coupling support Support for x1 and x10 probes User-defined oscilloscope display colour themes 2

10 3 EasyScope User Manual 2 Installing EasyScope II 2.1 Installing the EasyScope II Software Before connecting the instrument to the PC, insert the supplied installation disk into the CD-ROM drive of your PC. The following menu will appear after a few seconds. Click on the "Install EasyScope II Oscilloscope Application" button to launch the EasyScope installation program. The following screen will appear:

11 Installing EasyScope II Click on the "Next" button to bring up the License Agreement Screen. If you agree with the terms and conditions of the License Agreement, check the "I agree" box and click on the "Next" button to continue the installation process else click on the "Exit" button. The 4

12 5 EasyScope User Manual "Next" button is disabled if you do not agree to the terms and conditions. Agreeing to the terms and clicking on the "Next" button brings up the following screen. Select the directory you wish to install the EasyScope software into. A default directory is shown on the screen. Unless you have good reason to change it we suggest you use the default suggested by the installation program. Click on the "Start" button to commence copying the files to the EasyScope program directory.

13 Installing EasyScope II A progress screen (shown above) will appear as the files are installed. After a few seconds you should see the "Installation was completed successfully" message. Click on the "OK" button to complete the final stage of the installation process. 6

14 7 EasyScope User Manual The installation process is now complete. You can launch the EasyScope program from the desktop by double-clicking on the EasyScope icon (pictured below). You can also launch the EasyScope program from the Start -> Programs -> EasyScope II for PS40M10 menu on the Windows Toolbar. As shown above, you also have access to the EasyScope Help files and Program Uninstaller from there. Before using EasyScope, the USB drivers need to be installed. This is done by plugging the instrument into a spare USB port on the PC. The instrument should be plugged into a USB hub port of your PC or alternatively, a self-powered USB hub (one that has it's own power supply). If this is the first time that the instrument has been plugged in, Windows will then request the USB drivers for your product. See Installing the USB Drivers for further details. 2.2 Installing the USB Drivers Before using EasyScope the USB drivers need to be installed. This is done by plugging the instrument into a spare USB port on the PC. The instrument should be plugged into a USB hub port of your PC or alternatively, a self-powered USB hub (one that has it's own power supply). In the case of Linux systems, please follow the installation instructions in the ReadMe.dat file located in the Linux Drivers folder on the PS40M10 CD. In the case of Windows based systems, please follow the instructions below. If this is the first time that the instrument has been plugged in, Windows will request the USB drivers for your product and will display an Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box. The example below is for Windows 2000 but the procedure is very similar for other Windows versions. Connect the instrument to a spare USB port on the PC or self-powered hub. The following screen will appear to begin guiding you through the driver installation.

15 Installing EasyScope II Click "Next" to proceed with the installation. The following screen will appear: 8

16 9 EasyScope User Manual Select the option box for "Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended)" and click "Next". Check the box for "CD-ROM drives" and un-check all others. NOTE: If the CD is not available and the EasyScope software has already been installed, then check the "Specify a location" box and use the Browse button to select the "Drivers\Windows Drivers" sub-directory of the EasyScope Program Files directory instead. Keep Clicking on "Next" until the installation is finished as per the screen below.

17 Installing EasyScope II Click "Finish" to complete the installation of the first device. If using Windows 2000, the second device will be installed automatically. For other versions of Windows, the above process may need to be repeated to complete the instrument installation. 10

18 11 EasyScope User Manual 3 Using EasyScope II 3.1 EasyScope II Overview The EasyScope screen is split into several functional areas as shown in the picture below. The sections that follow illustrate how to use the settings to control the functions of the instrument. 3.2 Front Panel Functions Run/Stop and Single Buttons On starting EasyScope, the program is in idle mode and displays two buttons on the bottom toolbar with the captions "Single" and "Run". In order to display a trace on the oscilloscope you need to click on either of the "Run" or "Single" buttons.

19 Using EasyScope II 12 On clicking the "Run" or "Single" buttons captured data will be displayed on the screen providing that the trigger conditions are met or auto trigger is enabled. The "Run" button is used to continuously capture and display data. When the "Run" button is clicked, the capture / display begins and the caption of the button changes to "Stop". The "Single" button is "greyed-out" as the two functions are mutually exclusive. To stop the capture, click on the "Stop" button and the oscilloscope will change back into idle mode. The "Single" button captures one screen's worth of data then returns the program to idle mode. When the "Single" button is clicked, the instrument waits on the trigger conditions being met before updating the display with a single buffer of data and the caption of the "Run" button changes to "Stop". The "Single" button is "greyed-out" as the function is currently running. If the instrument does not trigger, it can be returned to idle mode by clicking the "Stop" button. The last captured data buffer will remain displayed on the screen as long as the user does not change any of the oscilloscope settings. If desired, the screen display can be saved to a Windows Bitmap (.bmp) format file, exported to a comma separated values (.csv) file for analysis using third party programs or can be printed by any printer connected to the P.C. These subjects are dealt with in later topics. An alternative to the Run / Stop button is provided through the File Menu at the top of the application screen. Click on "File" to select the drop down menu shown below. Click on "Run" or "Stop" as desired. Clicking on "Exit" will quit the EasyScope application. A further way to stop data capture is to click the button on the PenScope casing while EasyScope is collecting data Timebase Settings The timebase settings are adjusted by clicking on the rotary switch in the Timebase Panel. There are 19 possible settings ranging from 50 ns/division (fastest) to 50 ms/division (lowest). Please note, at the lower speed settings there will be a noticeable delay between clicking on the "Run" button and the trace appearing on the oscilloscope screen. This is because the sampling (conversion) rate is low and it takes more time to capture a buffers worth of data.

20 13 EasyScope User Manual The button for 1GHz OverSampling will become checked for timebase settings of 0.5ms or less. The timebase setting changes the sampling rate of the oscilloscope. The sampling rate is displayed on the bottom right of the oscilloscope panel shown below Input Gain Settings The input gain is adjusted by clicking on the Volts/Div rotary switch on the main panel shown below. There are 7 gain settings available. Please note that if a gain setting is too high for the input signal, clipping will occur. To avoid clipping, select a larger voltage scale. In addition, the settings depend on if the oscilloscope probe used is a x1 (1MW input impedance) or a x10 (10MW input impedance). If a x10 oscilloscope probe is used then enable the X10 setting by clicking on the X10 button located below the rotary switch. This will re-scale the switch and display

21 Using EasyScope II 14 cursor settings by a factor of 10. In the picture above, the oscilloscope is setup for a x1 probe. The panel below shows the oscilloscope setup for a x10 probe. The current gain setting is also displayed on the bottom right of the oscilloscope panel alongside the sampling rate GND Offset The ground (0V) reference for is shown by a small arrow on the left hand side of the screen. The colour of the arrow is the same as the trace, the default for which is yellow. To adjust the ground reference setting, drag the Up/Down "GND Offset" slider on the main control panel. Small changes can be made by clicking. The offset can be changed both in idle mode and in run mode.

22 EasyScope User Manual Trigger Settings Basic trigger settings are configured using the controls on the main control panel. The default trigger mode is for edge triggering. Other trigger modes are explained in the Trigger Menu section. Selecting "Auto" will allow the scope to free-run and constantly collect data without waiting for a trigger event. Selecting "CHA" will force the scope to wait on a trigger event defined by the other trigger controls before the display is updated. Select a rising or falling edge event to trigger on by selecting "+ve" (rising edge)

23 Using EasyScope II or "-ve" (falling edge). 16

24 17 EasyScope User Manual Use the "Trigger Level" slide bar to set the desired trigger level voltage. The trigger level is shown as an arrow with a "T" to the right of the oscilloscope screen and is displayed numerically above the plot AC/DC Coupling AC/DC coupling is controlled by miniature relays inside the oscilloscope. To select AC or DC coupling click on the AC/DC selector switch on the main control panel. This will instruct the oscilloscope to change the coupling from AC to DC or vice-versa. The current selection is highlighted in green to the right of the switch. The above picture shows AC coupling selected.

25 Using EasyScope II Invert The invert button is located on the main control panel. Clicking the invert button has the effect of flipping the captured data about the ground reference value Horizontal Slide Bar The horizontal slide bar beneath the plot area may be used to scroll forward and backward through the data buffer. The trigger point is in the middle of the buffer. To operate the slide bar, click on the slider (positioned in the centre by default) and drag it to the desired position. The display will update as this is done Illuminate The illuminate button controls the brightness of the grid on the scope display. With the grid illuminated, it is a bright green colour.

26 19 EasyScope User Manual When the grid is not illuminated, it is a dark green. These colours are the default and may be customised through the Screen Menu options.

27 Using EasyScope II FFT Display FFT Overview A fast Fourier transform (FFT) window may be accessed by clicking the FFT Display button. The FFT window will appear and is shown below. 20

28 EasyScope User Manual 21 There are two cursors which may be used to measure differences in frequency. To the top of the cursors are marker blocks 1 and 2. To move a cursor, place the mouse pointer over the marker block you wish to move, and holding down the left mouse button drag the cursor to the point you wish to measure. The units for the vertical scale may be changed between linear and logarithmic units by clicking on the blue areas at the vertical scale itself or beneath the chart next to the word "Amplitude". When the zoom function is active, the scroll bar at the bottom of the plot area may be used to scan through the FFT data Man Clicking the "Man" button in the FFT window enables the up/down buttons and changes the button caption to "Auto". This allows the vertical scale of the plot to be changed manually. Clicking on "Auto" will enable autoscaling for the vertical axis Averaging The averaging option may be used to help eliminate noise from measurements. The averaging options available are none, 5, 10, 20 and 50 sweeps Zero Pad Zero padding may be used to artificially increase the number of data points included in the FFT. The default is no zero padding and using the 1024 points obtained from the data buffer. Zero padding will allow the use of either the standard 1K buffer or zero padded 2K, 4K, 8K or 16K data sets. Increasing the zero padding has the effect of stretching the frequency axis which will allow more

29 Using EasyScope II accurate measurement with the cursors. The picture below shows the FFT of a 3V 150KHz square wave with no zero padding. The picture below shows the same input signal with x4 zero padding. 22

30 EasyScope User Manual File Menu The File menu (shown below) allows access to the two features described below: Save As This allows the FFT screen to be saved as a Windows Bitmap (.bmp) file. When selected, a Save As dialog box appears and prompts the user for a filename. Print The print option allows the user to send the FFT screen directly to an installed printer FFT Window Menu The FFT screen display can changed to use a number of different windowing algorithms. The available windows are displayed when the FFT Window menu is selected (shown below). The default window is Rectangle Spectrum Menu The FFT screen display can be changed to use a number of different ways of scaling the Y-axis through the spectrum menu. The available scaling options are Power (V2), Magnitude (mv) and Phase (Rad). As indicated in the FFT Overview section, by clicking the blue area on the axis of the FFT plot, the units can be changed between linear and logarithmic for each of these settings. The default spectrum is Magnitude Meter Display The Meter Display button function displays a small panel (shown below) showing 3 measurements of the data displayed at that time. The default measurements are mean Voltage, peak-to-peak Voltage and frequency.

31 Using EasyScope II 24 The measurements displayed can be changed by clicking the Configure button at the bottom of the Meters panel which brings up the following window. Available measurements are: Mean Voltage True RMS Voltage Peak to Peak Voltage Minimum Voltage Maximum Voltage Frequency

32 25 EasyScope User Manual Timing Cursor The "Timing Cursor" button is used to enable or disable the horizontal cursors. The horizontal cursors may be used to measure the duration of a section of a waveform as shown below. The values of the two cursor positions are displayed at the bottom left of the plot area, along with the difference between them. The difference has a blue background and the units may be changed by clicking on it. If the display shows time units and the user clicks on it, the units will change to frequency units.

33 Using EasyScope II 26 Similarly, if the display shows frequency units a click on the blue area will change the units to time units Y Cursor The "Y Cursor" button is used to enable or disable the vertical cursors. The vertical cursors can be used to measure the voltage difference between two points of a trace as shown below.

34 27 EasyScope User Manual The values of the two cursor positions are displayed at the bottom of the plot area, along with the difference between them Auto Set Clicking the "Auto Set" button will launch the auto set function. The button caption will read "Cancel" while the auto set function is running. The auto set function attempts to home in on a signal and display it clearly on the plot area by optimising the timebase and gain settings for the detected signal. If no signal is detected, the auto set function will terminate. The auto set function may be cancelled by clicking "Cancel".

35 Using EasyScope II 3.3 Menu Functions File Menu The File menu (shown below) allows alternative access to the Run and Stop functions (also accessible through the Run/Stop button on the front panel). The Exit option allows the user to quit the application and has the same function as the Windows Close button Screen Menu The screen menu (shown below) allows access to options for customising the appearance of the EasyScope interface and exporting data or images to files. The menu items have the following functions: Illuminate This option has the same effect as the Illuminate button on the front panel. Save Screen Image to File This allows the plot area to be saved to a Windows Bitmap (.bmp) file. A Save As dialog box appears and prompts the user to provide a filename for the image. Setup Printer Allows configuration of a printer that is already installed. Options include paper size and 28

36 29 EasyScope User Manual orientation. Print Screen Image Sends the plot area of the EasyScope window to the printer. Print Oscilloscope Send the whole EasyScope window image to the printer. Load Background from file Allows the user to load a bitmap image as the background for the plot area. Save background to File Allows the user to save the current background to a file as a bitmap image. Customise Screen Colours This brings up a sub-menu (shown below) that allows full customisation of the colours, fonts and backgrounds used. Colours can be reset to the original scheme by selecting "Restore Default Colors". Save To CSV Text File This option exports the data buffer to a comma separated values (.csv) file. This can be used with 3rd party programs (for example Microsoft Excel) to manipulate and re-plot the data. The plot below was obtained from Excel using an exported.csv file.

37 Using EasyScope II Cursors Menu The options in the Cursors menu (shown below) have the same functions as the Timing Cursor and Y Cursor buttons respectively Trigger Menu In addition to the basic trigger settings available on the front panel, this menu (shown below) allows advanced triggering options to be configured. The default mode is edge triggering which can be set to trigger on a +ve (rising) or -ve (falling) edge using the front panel controls. Pulse

38 31 EasyScope User Manual Selecting Pulse from this menu disables edge triggering and enables pulse triggering. The user must select either Negative or Positive pulse from a sub menu (see below) and is then provided with an Advanced Trigger window (also below). The example shown is for a negative pulse. The user can then select options to trigger on a pulse of length greater than or less than the time indicated by the top slide bar. The value of the slide bar is displayed in the box to the right and may be changed by clicking on and dragging the slider. This triggering method can be an extremely useful tool for finding "glitches". The following screen shot which shows triggering on a TV vertical synchronisation signal using the pulse triggering feature of the PS40M10.

39 Using EasyScope II 32 Delay From Trigger The Delay From Trigger option also displays the Advanced Trigger and Delayed TimeBase Options window. This allows the data capture to be delayed from the trigger point by a specified time by using the slide bar at the bottom of the window Tools Menu Two functions are available through the Tools menu (shown below) Meters The Meters option provides the same functionality as the Meter Display button. This makes the Meters window visible. Test Mode In test mode the EasyScope does not acquire real data but provides simulated data from a counter.

40 33 EasyScope User Manual This allows the communication with the PC to be verified. The display observed in test mode should always be a saw tooth type wave with clipping occurring (see picture below). The wave is at a frequency of Hz. Test mode must be disabled to acquire real data Help Menu The following options are available through the Help menu (shown below). HTML Help Selecting HTML Help from the menu will launch this help file.

41 Using EasyScope II 34 About... The About... option displays version information and release dates. USB-Instruments Web Site This will connect to the Internet and take the user directly to the USB Instruments web site where information can be found on products and updates. On-Line User Manual This option will take the user to the EasyScope II manual section of the USB Instruments web site. On-Line F.A.Q. This link will open the frequently asked questions (F.A.Q.) section of the USB Instruments web site. 3.4 Quitting EasyScope II EasyScope can be exited by either accessing the Exit option of the File menu or clicking the Windows Close button in the top right-hand corner of the window.

42 35 EasyScope User Manual 4 Appendix 4.1 Error Messages File Not Found This error occurs when EasyScope II cannot find the file to program the PS40M10 hardware. To resolve this problem click "OK", quit the EasyScope application and check that the file PS40M10.rbf exists in the same directory as the EasyScope application program. If the file is there, try to re-launch the EasyScope application ensuring that the instrument is connected to the PC. If the file is not there, it may be retrieved by re-installing from the installation CD Failed to Configure PS40M10 This error occurs when the EasyScope II application cannot detect any PS40M10 instruments connected to the PC when it is launched. Ensure that the instrument is connected to the PC and that the correct drivers are installed, then re-launch the EasyScope II application.

43 Appendix PS40M10A B Not Found... This error can occur when trying to run the EasyScope application with no PS40M10 hardware connected to the PC. To resolve this, connect a PS40M10 to the PC and run the application again. If this has no effect, check that the drivers are installed correctly FT_Write - General IO Error... This error may occur if the PS40M10 is unexpectedly disconnected from the PC while the program is running. A message box with this error may appear several times but will clear and run as normal after clicking "OK" on each message box that appears FT_GetQueueStatus - General IO Error... This error may occur if the PS40M10 is unexpectedly disconnected from the PC while the program is running. A message box with this error may appear several times but will clear and run as normal after clicking "OK" on each message box that appears.

44 EasyScope User Manual Uninstalling the Software and Drivers From the Start -> Programs -> EasyScope II for PS40M10 menu on the Windows Toolbar, select the Uninstall EasyScope for PS40M10 Option and click on it. This will start the uninstaller program. The following confirmation screen will appear. If you are sure you want to uninstall the EasyScope Program, click on "Next". If not, click on "Cancel" to abort the Uninstall process. Clicking on "Next" starts the uninstall sequence. When the EasyScope Software is run for the first time, it automatically creates an INI file (easyscope.ini) to store program settings and two BMP files (DSBright.bmp and DSNormal.bmp) containing the images of the Normal and Bright screen themes. It is safe to delete these if asked by the uninstaller. In the course of using EasyScope the user may have saved some screen images and should decide if they want to keep these or not.

45 Appendix Click on "Finish". 38

46 39 EasyScope User Manual Index AC coupling csv 28 Cur 25, 26, cursor 17 acquire 11, 28 15, 27, 30 automatic 27 automatically average averaging 20, 25, 26, 30 customise 28 customize Ddata 18, 21 db 23 DC 17 delay 15, 30 detect background difference display Blackman buffer 15, 30 delayed -B Ccapture CHA divisions driver 12, 13 3, 7, 37 15, 30 color 13, 32 18, 28 colour 18, 28 control 27, 30 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, controls 23 3, 7, 37 duration 11, 28 clipping 25, 26, drivers cos 25, auto bar 17 Cur Horiz 33 adjust 23 Cur A -Aabout cos , 30 -Eeasyscope 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 easysopce 11 edge 15, 30 error 35, 36 exit 11, 28, 34

47 Index Horiz horizontal -Ffailed HTML 35 20, 21, 23 fast Fourier transform features FFT file 20, 21, 23 1, input 35, 36 frequency FT_GetQueueStatus 36 20, 21, , 7, installing 3, 7, 37 3, 7, 37 instrument 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 introduction inverse installation 20, 21, 23, 25, 30, 32 functions 18, install 20, 21, 23 function -Iimpedance file not found FT_Write image 28, 35 Fourier 33 illuminate 20, 21, 23 found 18, 25, 30 HTML help failed to program penscope hardware fast 25, invert IO Ggain Gauss 23 General IO Error GND grid -L- 13, 27 log 18 Hamming 23 hardware 35 hide M- -H33 15, 30 logarithmic 14 help level linear 14 ground 36 magnitude manual max maximum 32 40

48 41 mean EasyScope User Manual 32 measure program 25, PS40M10.rbf 35 menu 28 ps40m10b meter 32 ps40m10b not found meters min 32 mode 32 14, 15, 30 15, 30 rectangle 23 reference 14 RMS 14 on-line 34 remove -Ooffset quit -R- negative 33 overview 32 root 32 run 11, 28 -Ssave 21 padding 37 1, 11 -Ppeak 15, 30 -Q- 32 -N- pad minimum mv pulse 36 23, 28 save as peak-to-peak 32 23, 28 scale 12, 13, 14, 21 scroll 18 seek 27 penscope 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, set 27 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 show 18 phase 23 single 11, 28 picture 28 size 21 points 21 slide 18 positive 15, 30 software 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, power 23 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 print 23, 28 specification 1

49 Index spectrum 23 square stop volt voltage 11, 28 13, 26, 30, 32 volts -T- 13, 26, 30, 32 -W- t/div 12 web test 32 web site time 12, 25, 30 width timebase timing 12, 27 transform 20, 21, 23 zero uninstallation 37 un-installation uninstalling un-installing usb instruments user manual 33 -Vvertical 26 -Z- un-install v/div 26 Y Cursor 15, 30 uninstall user 7 -YY -U- USB 20, trigger 15, 30 wizard 32 triangle 33 window 25 Timing Cursor tools , 26, 30 14, 21 42

50 EasyLogger for PS40M10 PC Data Logging Software User Manual EasyLogger User Manual created by USB Instruments, 2004 Contents Copyright (c) 2004, EasySync Ltd

51 I EasyScope User Manual Table of Contents Part 1 Introduction Welcome to EasyLogger... for PS40M EasyLogger Specification... 1 Part 2 Installing EasyLogger Installing the EasyLogger... Software Installing the USB Drivers... 7 Part 3 Using EasyLogger for PS40M EasyLogger Overview Front Panel Functions Start... Button 12 Stop... Button 12 Sample... Interval 12 Slide... Bar 12 Scale... Panel Toolbar Buttons Open... Chart 13 Save... Chart 13 Print... Chart 14 Copy... Chart to Clipboard 14 Zoom... In/Out 14 Zoom... Full 15 Cursors TestMode... Waveform 17 Memo... Window 17 Info... Window 17 X-Control... Window 17 Y-Control... Window Sub Panel Functions Memo... Window 18 Info... Window 20 X-Control... Window 20 Y-Control... Window Menu Functions File... Menu 22 Run... Menu 23 Edit... Menu 24 View... Menu 27 Window... Menu 28 Help... Menu Quitting EasyLogger... 29

52 Contents II Part 4 Appendix Error Messages File... Not Found 30 Failed... to program Pen Scope Hardware 30 PS40M10A... B Not Found 31 FT_Write... - General IO Error 31 FT_GetQueueStatus... - General IO Error Uninstalling the Software... and Drivers 32..

53 1 EasyScope User Manual 1 Introduction 1.1 Welcome to EasyLogger for PS40M10 EasyLogger is the easy to use but powerful data logging application program for the USB Instruments PS40M10. It runs on any USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 equipped PC using Windows 98, 2000 or XP. Drivers and an instrument interface DLL are provided for Linux systems. 1.2 EasyLogger Specification EasyLogger Features Attractive, easy to use visual display 40MHz digital sampling rate Input saturation ranges from 1 V to 100 V

54 Introduction 2 Integrated switch to halt data capture through hardware User-defined sampling rate O.S.D. markers for voltage measurement O.S.D. markers for time measurement Save screens to Windows BMP files Export data to CSV and text files Load saved traces for display and export to other formats Screen printout facility Memo functions to comment data AC / DC coupling support Support for x1 and x10 probes User-defined display colour themes

55 3 EasyScope User Manual 2 Installing EasyLogger 2.1 Installing the EasyLogger Software Before connecting the instrument to the PC, insert the supplied installation disk into the CD-ROM drive of your PC. The following menu will appear after a few seconds. The EasyLogger program is installed with the EasyScope II program. Before connecting the instrument to the PC, insert the supplied installation disk into the CD-ROM drive of your PC. The following menu will appear after a few seconds. Click on the "Install EasyLogger Data Logger Application" button to launch the EasyLogger installation program. The following screen will appear:

56 Installing EasyLogger 4 Click on the "Next" button to bring up the License Agreement Screen. If you agree with the terms and conditions of the License Agreement, check the "I agree" box and click on the "Next" button to continue the installation process else click on the "Exit" button. The

57 5 EasyScope User Manual "Next" button is disabled if you do not agree to the terms and conditions. Agreeing to the terms and clicking on the "Next" button brings up the following screen. Select the directory you wish to install the EasyScope software into. A default directory is shown on the screen. Unless you have good reason to change it we suggest you use the default suggested by the installation program. Click on the "Start" button to commence copying the files to the EasyScope program directory.

58 Installing EasyLogger 6 A progress screen (shown above) will appear as the files are installed. After a few seconds you should see the "Installation was completed successfully" message. Click on the "OK" button to complete the final stage of the installation process.

59 7 EasyScope User Manual The installation process is now complete. You can launch the EasyLogger program from the desktop by double-clicking on the EasyScope icon (pictured below). You can also launch the EasyLogger program from the Start -> Programs -> EasyLogger for PS40M10 menu on the Windows Toolbar. As shown above, you also have access to the EasyScope Help files and Program Uninstaller from there. Before using EasyScope, the USB drivers need to be installed. This is done by plugging the instrument into a spare USB port on the PC. The instrument should be plugged into a USB hub port of your PC or alternatively, a self-powered USB hub (one that has it's own power supply). If this is the first time that the instrument has been plugged in, Windows will then request the USB drivers for your product. See Installing the USB Drivers for further details. 2.2 Installing the USB Drivers Before using EasyLogger the USB drivers need to be installed. This is done by plugging the instrument into a spare USB port on the PC. The instrument should be plugged into a USB hub port of your PC or alternatively, a self-powered USB hub (one that has it's own power supply). In the case of Linux systems, please follow the installation instructions in the ReadMe.dat file located in the Linux Drivers folder on the PS40M10 CD. In the case of Windows based systems, please follow the instructions below. If this is the first time that the instrument has been plugged in, Windows will request the USB drivers for your product and will display an Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box. The example below is for Windows 2000 but the procedure is very similar for other Windows versions. Connect the instrument to a spare USB port on the PC or self-powered hub. The following screen will appear to begin guiding you through the driver installation.

60 Installing EasyLogger 8 Click "Next" to proceed with the installation. The following screen will appear:

61 9 EasyScope User Manual Select the option box for "Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended)" and click "Next". Check the box for "CD-ROM drives" and un-check all others. NOTE: If the CD is not available and the EasyLogger software has already been installed, then check the "Specify a location" box and use the Browse button to select the "drivers" sub-directory of the EasyLogger Program Files directory instead. Keep Clicking on "Next" until the installation is finished as per the screen below.

62 Installing EasyLogger 10 Click "Finish" to complete the installation of the first device. If using Windows 2000, the second device will be installed automatically. For other versions of Windows, the above process may need to be repeated to complete the instrument installation.

63 11 EasyScope User Manual 3 Using EasyLogger for PS40M EasyLogger Overview The EasyLogger has a simple layout with easy to use controls. The main controls and features are highlighted below. A full explanation of each feature is provided in the sections that follow.

64 Using EasyLogger for PS40M Front Panel Functions Start Button Clicking the Start Data Logger button will commence data capture. Please note that the controls for altering the sampling rate and vertical scales are disabled while the data logger is running. When running, a caption appears at the top right of the data window which says "Running" Stop Button Clicking the Stop button will halt data capture. The sampling rate and vertical scale controls will be enabled after the stop button has been clicked. When stopped, a caption appears at the top right of the data window saying "Stopped" Sample Interval Use the Sample Interval control to specify the logging rate before starting to log data. Any rate between 50ms and 100s may be specified, but invalid sampling rates will be rounded to the nearest multiple of 25ns when logging starts. Data points may be missed at fast sampling rates on slower PC systems. Missed data points are indicated with a red cross Slide Bar The slide bar allows scrolling through the logged data. The chart display is updated as the scroll bar is moved. If tracking is enabled, the scroll bar is disabled while running. The slide bar can be operated by dragging the handle or by clicking the triangular buttons at each end of the bar.

65 13 EasyScope User Manual Scale Panel The scale panel indicates the area of the chart currently visible. The default values before logging are shown below. These values are updated when data is logged or if scaling values are changed. 3.3 Toolbar Buttons Open Chart Clicking on the Open Chart button will display an open dialog box. The user can then browse to a file of type.dlog (data logger format) which can then be imported back into the data logger for viewing. Please note that files of type.dlog cannot be viewed as text. To export data as text for analysis in 3rd party applications please export the data as text or comma separated values (.csv) Save Chart Clicking the Save Chart button produces a save dialog box that allows the user to save the current data chart in a variety of formats. Either the data chart or load chart (selectable through the Window menu) may be saved. Bitmap (*.bmp) Selecting the bitmap option saves the area of the data chart which is currently visible to a bitmap picture file. This option will not allow access to the actual data for analysis or the data to be reloaded to the data logger for display. Comma Separated Values (*.csv) Selecting to export as.csv exports all of the chart data to a.csv file complete with start and stop markers which can then be analysed in 3rd party packages. Information on missed or clipped points is also included..csv files are automatically associated with Microsoft Excel if it is installed.

66 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 14 Please note that Excel can only handle a maximum of lines of data. This limits the amount of logged data that can be viewed from a.csv file. If there are more than lines to write to the.csv file, the later lines are not available. It is possible to get around this by editing the.csv in a text editor (such as notepad), re-saving and then opening in Excel. This file format cannot be reloaded to the data logger for display. Text (*.txt) Exporting as text write all data points and headers to a text file. Unlike.csv files, text files are not limited to data points. This will allow access to the logged data for external analysis, but cannot be loaded into the data logger to display the chart. Data Log Format (*.dlog) The data log format cannot be used externally by other programs. It can however be used to reload previously logged traces to the load chart window. When a.dlog file is loaded, it can be reexported as a bitmap,.csv or.txt file Print Chart Clicking the Print Chart button prints the current chart area of the data logger. The data printed can be changed by using the slide bar, zoom controls or switching between data1 and load windows Copy Chart to Clipboard Clicking the Copy Chart to Clipboard button places a copy of the current chart area on the Windows clipboard. This allows an image of the current plot area to be pasted into a document or spreadsheet Zoom In/Out The Zoom In/Out button allows the user to enlarge areas of the chart. To zoom in, click the button and then click and drag an area on the chart. This will display the selected area stretched to fill the full range of the chart screen. Alternatively, click the Zoom In/Out button and then simply left click on the chart area to zoom in. The minimum number of samples that can be displayed is 10. To zoom out, click the Zoom In/Out button and the right click on the chart area.

67 15 EasyScope User Manual Zoom Full The Zoom Full button scales the x-axis to display all of the data points currently in memory. To change the number of data points stored in memory, see Settings from the Edit menu. The default value is samples Cursors Three cursors are available. These are: Data Cursor Missed Sample Cursor Marker Cursor They have different colours and names to allow them to be distinguished easily.

68 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 16 Each of the cursors can be moved by dragging the name label horizontally. Vertical dragging will have no effect as the cursors automatically track the data line. The x and y coordinates of each active cursor are displayed in the Cursor Panel at the bottom left of the main window. The delta column can be made to display the differences in x and y between two of the cursors. Right click on the word "Delta" and the following menu will appear: Selecting "Data - Missed", "Data - Marker" or "Missed - Marker" will display the differences between those cursors. The delta values can be turned off by selecting "Off". The following example shows the differences in x and y values between the Data and Missed cursors for the trace given above.

69 17 EasyScope User Manual TestMode Waveform Clicking on the TestMode Waveform button activates the EasyLogger test mode. This produces a saw-tooth waveform without any input to the device. Any input to the device will be ignored while test mode is active. The frequency of the waveform is 76.29Hz Memo Window Clicking the Memo Window button shows the Memo window. This allows markers and information to be added to the chart Info Window Clicking the Info Window button shows the Info Window. The Info Window displays information about the current chart X-Control Window Clicking the X-Control Window button shows the X-Control Window. This allows the range and scale of the x axis to be changed.

70 Using EasyLogger for PS40M Y-Control Window Clicking the Y-Control Window button shows the Y-Control Window. This allows the range and scale of the y axis to be changed. 3.4 Sub Panel Functions Memo Window The Memo Window is shown below. This can be used to manually comment the data on the chart. To do this, click "Marker" and click on the chart where the marker is desired. This will add the marker to the chart. Next, type a memo in the memo text box and then click "Add". This will add the text to the memo list.

71 19 EasyScope User Manual This process may be repeated to add multiple markers to the chart. The markers appear as green circles by default. Double-clicking on a memo in the memo window will jump to the corresponding marker on the chart.

72 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 20 To remove markers, simply select the marker from the list in the Memo Window and click "Remove" Info Window The Info Window contains general data for the current chart, such as start date, start time and sample interval. An example is given below. In the event that there are missed samples in the trace, the total number of missed samples is indicated next to "Missed:". The arrows may be used to seek the missed data points. When a missed data point is found using the arrow buttons, the missed cursor is applied at the same point to highlight the location X-Control Window The X-Control window is shown below and provides manual control over the X-axis. The scale unit may be changed between time and number of samples by clicking the "Time" and "Samples" buttons respectively.

73 21 EasyScope User Manual Values for the maximum and minimum scales values may then be entered in the text boxes and the display is updated when the "Apply" button is clicked. The scale units may also be switched between number of samples and time by clicking on the axis label on the chart Y-Control Window The Y-Control window (shown below) allows the chart Y-scale to be customised. The window is divided into three sections. Each is described below: Y-Scale This allows the range of the Y scale to be manually adjusted. Simply enter the desired maximum and minimum values in the text boxes and click "Apply" to change the scale. Y-Scale Parameter This allows the units of the Y-axis to be changed. Volts (V) and milli-volts (mv) are provided by default, but custom units may be created by clicking the "New" button and filling in the form below. Click "OK" to add the new units to the list of available units.

74 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 22 Custom units can be removed from the list by selecting them from the combo box and then clicking "Remove". Saturation Voltage (V) This panel provides control over the ADC saturation Voltage limit and coupling. In addition, activating the "x10" button as this will re-scale for a x10 probe as indicated below. If the Voltage saturation level is exceeded, the data will be clipped to the saturation value and displayed in a different colour. The colour for clipped data can be customised through the View menu. If data is clipped, a memo is added in any exported file to indicate that clipping has occurred. 3.5 Menu Functions File Menu The File menu (shown below) provides alternative access to functions available on the main toolbar. Load

75 23 EasyScope User Manual This provides the same functionality as the Open Chart button from the toolbar. An open dialog box is shown for the user to select a.dlog file to load to the load chart. Save This provides the same functionality as the Save Chart button from the main toolbar. A save dialog box is shown that allows the user to save the current data as a bitmap file (*.bmp), a comma separated values file (*.csv), a text file (*.txt) or a data logger format file (*.dlog). Data may be saved from either the data chart or the load chart. Close The close option clears the selected chart. If the Load chart is displayed, the chart is cleared and is no longer selectable from the Window menu. If the Data chart is displayed, the chart is cleared in the same way as Clear Screen from the Edit menu. Print This provides the same functionality as the Print Chart button from the main toolbar. Exit The Exit option allows the user to quit the application and has the same function as the Windows Close button Run Menu The Run menu (shown below) provides access to the following functions: Start This provides the same function as clicking the Start Button. Selecting "Start" begins data logging with the specified sample rate and Voltage saturation limit. Stop This option provides the same functionality as the Stop Button. Selecting "Stop" will terminate data logging. TestMode Selecting TestMode activates the EasyLogger test mode in the same way as the

76 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 24 TestMode Waveform button from the main toolbar. This creates a saw-tooth waveform with a frequency of 76.29Hz. Clear Screen Selecting Clear Screen removes all data from the data chart. This option is disabled if the load chart is selected Edit Menu The Edit menu (shown below) allows access to the following functions: Copy Chart to Clipboard This option provides the same functionality as the Copy Chart to Clipboard button on the main toolbar. This copies an image of the chart area to the Windows clipboard for pasting into documents or spreadsheets. X Scale Selecting X Scale displays the following sub-menu. This allows the units of the X-axis to be changed between time and sample number. The units of the X-axis can also be changed through the X-Control Window or by clicking on the axis label. Y Scale Selecting Y Scale displays the following sub-menu. This allows the units of the Y-axis to be changed between the default units of V (Volts) and mv (milli-volts). The units of the Y-axis can also be changed through the Y-Control Window. To display custom units on the Y-axis, use the Y-Control Window. Settings

77 25 EasyScope User Manual Through the settings option, a window appears which allows access to three tabs: Samples, Chart Labels and Alerts. Samples The samples tab is shown below. This can be used to customise how many data points EasyLogger will hold in memory before writing earlier data points to a backup file. The default value is samples, but this may need to be reduced for systems with small amounts of memory as performance may be reduced. An approximate memory usage is displayed for the current maximum number of samples. If the slide bar is used to scroll backward through the buffer beyond the data in memory, the data points required are read back into memory. Chart Labels The chart labels tab is shown below. This allows customisation of which text labels are visible on the chart at the start and stop markers. Please note that regardless of which options are checked here, all exported data files will contain all of this information.

78 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 26 Alerts The alerts tab is shown below. This can be used to configure up to four alerts to flag when the logged data reaches a critical value. Alert types are pop-up windows, s or both. A valid e- mail address and network connection are required for the alerts. Alerts can be configured for when values are greater than or less than some value.

79 27 EasyScope User Manual View Menu The View menu (shown below) allows the user to change the appearance of the EasyLogger. Customise Screen Colours Selecting Customise Screen Colours shows the following sub-menu: Selecting any of the options available on this sub-menu allows the user to select a new colour for the selected item. Selecting "Restore Defaults" resets all colour settings to the original colours. Text Labels Selecting Text Labels will check or un-check the text labels option. This will toggle whether start and stop marker text labels are shown on the chart or not. Track Data Logger Selecting Track Data Logger will check or un-check the tracking option. This will toggle whether the chart updates constantly to show the newly acquired data or allow the display to remain static. The slide bar is disabled if tracking is enabled and the slide bar is enabled if tracking is disabled. Grid Selecting Grid will check or un-check the grid option. This will toggle whether the grid is shown on the chart or not. Zoom Selecting Zoom from the menu displays the Zoom sub-menu (shown below).

80 Using EasyLogger for PS40M10 28 These functions provide the same functionality as the Zoom In/Out and Zoom Full buttons and can be used to enlarge or shrink an area of the display. Keyboard shortcuts are also indicated in the menu. Windows Selecting Windows from the menu displays the Windows sub-menu (shown below). This provides the same control over which windows are visible as the Memo Window, Info Window, X-Control Window and Y-Control Window buttons on the main toolbar. In addition, there are options to display all windows or to close all windows Window Menu The Window menu allows the user to select whether the data chart or the load chart data is displayed. By default, the load window is not selectable as there is no file loaded. If a.dlog file is loaded using the either the Open Chart button or the Load option from the File menu, the load chart becomes selectable from the window menu. The following example shows the window menu after a.dlog file called Test Data.dlog has been loaded. The window currently displayed is indicated by a.

81 29 EasyScope User Manual Help Menu The following options are available through the Help menu (shown below). HTML Help Selecting HTML Help from the menu will launch this help file. About... The About... option displays version information and release dates. USB-Instruments Web Site This will connect to the Internet and take the user directly to the USB Instruments web site where information can be found on products and updates. On-Line User Manual This option will take the user to the EasyLogger manual section of the USB Instruments web site. 3.6 Quitting EasyLogger EasyLogger can be exited by either accessing the Exit option of the File menu or clicking the Windows Close button in the top right-hand corner of the window.

82 Appendix 30 4 Appendix 4.1 Error Messages File Not Found This error occurs when EasyLogger cannot find the file to program the PS40M10 hardware. To resolve this problem click "OK", quit the EasyLogger application and check that the file PSDLOG.rbf exists in the same directory as the EasyLogger application program. If the file is there, try to re-launch the EasyLogger application ensuring that the instrument is connected to the PC. If the file is not there, it may be retrieved by browsing the installation CD and copying it to the same location as the EasyLogger application Failed to program Pen Scope Hardware This error occurs when the EasyLogger application cannot detect any instruments connected to the PC when it is launched. Ensure that the instrument is connected to the PC and that the correct drivers are installed, then re-launch the EasyLogger application.