MCA 1400 Documentation

Transcription

1 MCA 1400 Documentation This document is an instruction manual for the MCA 1400 software. Application version Document rev 1.1 Sections Installation... 2 Main window... 7 Setup... 8 Deviation calibration... 9 Define Measure View Passwords The installation password is: The default MCA password is: spell 1

2 Installation Insert the installation CD, after a short time the following window appears Documentation Opens this document. MCA Install MCA application. Explore CD View CD contents. If this window does not appear, open the Choose.exe application located on the CD. When the MCA installation window is open, press the MCA button. Press the Next button. 2

3 Enter the password and press the Next button. Press the Install button. Choose language and press the OK button. Note: This language selection is for the A/D converter software and not for the MCA 1400 software itself, the default language for MCA 1400 is English. 3

4 Read and accept by pressing the I accept button. Press the OK button. Select your Operating system. Select ADC-12 as Product Select the appropriate Port, LPT1 is the default selection for the local printer port Press the OK button 4

5 Press the OK button. Press the OK button. If this window appears, press the Overwrite All button. Press the OK button. 5

6 Press the Finish button to restart your computer. The application and drivers are now installed. This document is opened by pressing the Help button in the applications main window (see Main window) 6

7 Main window The first time the application is launched, the following window will appear. Press Yes to calibrate immediately, you may abort the password window or enter the spell password to access full callibration features. (See Deviation calibration section) Note: The calibration of the scale takes several hours and is best performed during low activity in the lab. Press No to calibrate later. The main window Setup, Define, Measure and View buttons open their respective windows all described in separate sections in this document. Help open this file. Exit closes the application (closing the window has the same effect). 7

8 Setup To access the Setup window press the Setup button in the Main window. Model Serial number Calibration date Port Calibrate Directory Browse Password Save definition data Language OK Cancel Scale model ID (valid after calibration). Scale serial number (valid after calibration). Last scale calibration date number (valid after calibration). Scale com port number. Specifies the com port used for scale communication. See Calibrate section. Current data folder (Press Browse to choose a different folder). See Directory. When checked, the Setup window will be password protected. Save result list after an Automatic define (see Define) Opens a language selection window. Saves changes and closes the Setup window. Discards changes and closes the Setup window. Note: Some changes (such as calibration) are not discarded. 8

9 Deviation calibration To access all the functionality shown here you must enter the administrator password spell To enter the password, check Password in the Setup window, press OK and re-enter Setup. Setup tab Serial number Enter your scale serial number. The serial number is located at the back of the scale. Cycles Choose number of calibration cycles to perform 2-9. The more the better, however choosing a larger number takes longer time. Continue Press to start calibrating. At this time place the Tripod on the scale and press Tare. Select YES to start the calibration sequence, do not disturb the scale during this time! 9

10 Progress tab During calibration progress may be monitored in the progress tab. Status (top) Temperature(c) Weight(g) Rejected cycles Cycle Phase Current calibration status Current scale temperature in Celsius Current scale weight value in grams. Number of rejected cycles. May occur if a cycle s data differs too much from other cycles. Current cycle Current phase. Each cycle passes through a number of phases and sub phases, phase specification is beyond the scope of this documentation. Seconds, Temperature(c), Weight(g) Latest values used by calibration. Graph Examine tab May either show a Weight/Temp or Weight/Time graph depending on phase. After calibration has been performed, the Admin user may examine calibration results and choose to omit cycle data. Calibration is done to counter a scales reaction to temperature change. Scale response is examined in two or more test cycles. Cycle data is saved for the heat-up phase and the heated phase. During the heat-up phase the scale temperature is brought from low to max as fast as possible, weight is examined as a function of temperature (Weight/Temp). During the heated phase, scale temperature held at max for an hour, weight is examined as a function of time 10

11 (Weight/Time). By combining cycle results scale output may be predicted and corrected. Calibration results are saved in the MCA.ini file. Cycle data is saved in the Calib folder (in the c:\fibro\mca folder). Cycle/seconds (list) Load Recalculate Weight/Temp (info) Weight/Time (info) Serial Model Path Selecting a cycle in this list updates the rest of the window to reflect this cycle. To omit a faulty cycle from calibrated data, uncheck it from the list and press the Recalculate button. Advance usage only. Use the Load button to temporarily choose a different cycle data folder. After calibration, cycle data is stored in the Calib folder (in c:\fibro\mca). Before starting a new calibration, the folder may be saved by moving it elsewhere. Use Load to view and use this saved cycle data. Note: The selected folder will not be used as a future cycle data folder. Warning: Pressing Recalculate will update calibration data using the currently viewed cycle data. Calculates and enforces new calibration data using the selected cycles. Shows Uncorrected and Corrected average for the Weight/Temp graph (in milligrams). Shows Uncorrected and Corrected average for the Weight/Time graph (in milligrams). The scale serial number for cycle data. The scale model for cycle data. The current cycle data path is shown to the right of the Cycle/seconds list, above the graphs. 11

12 Weight/Temp (graph) Shows scale weight variation in correspondence to temperature during the heat-up phase. Sec. offset is Weight/Temp graph intersection with Weight/Time graph. See Graph contents below for more info. Temp/Time (graph) Weight/Time (graph) Graph contents Exiting the window Shows scale temperature over time during the Weight/Temp phase. See Graph contents below for more info. Shows scale weight variation over time during the heated phase. See Graph contents below for more info. Red markers are scale values, green are corrected values. The blue line represents the scale trend, its function is the first equation under the graph. The second equation Average is the average trend for all checked cycles (not drawn in graph). Note: While checking/unchecking cycles or loading previous cycle data, remember to Recalculate to update corrected values. If changes have been made, an option to revert will be presented. 12

13 Define To access the Define window press the Define button in the Main window. The Define window manages calibration curves. Calibration curves are used when measuring (see Measure). A Calibration curve allows the MCA voltage output to be adjusted to a specific specimen. List (top half of window) Descriptor %MC Calibration curve list Calibration curve name Percent moisture content A, B, C, D Function coefficients Max(mV), Min(mV) Max/min millivolt boundaries. Graph (lower half of window) Shows the calibration curve function in graph form. Up to six calibration curves may be shown simultaneously by checking them in the list. Arrow (icon) Print (icon) Clear Properties Remove Calc average Done Enable graph scroll using right mouse button Prints graph Un-checks all Replaces the list area with edit fields for the currently selected list item. Items may be modified and saved or duplicated using save as. Removes the currently selected list item. Calculates an average for checked list items. The average may saved as a list item. Closes this window 13

14 New Starts the process of entering a new list item. Automatic define Input coefficients Manual define A specimen is heated and it s weight loss monitored over time to determine the calibration curve. See below Define calibration curve by entering function coefficients. See below Define calibration curve by entering function coefficients. See below 14

15 Automatic define Settings Temp(C) Hold time(s) S.W. time(s) Interval(%) Start Save List (top left) Time Weight(g) Voltage Temperature Corrected Status Target temp Temperature(C) Weight(g) MCA output(v) Measurement settings Measurement temperature Time to wait between turning heater off and measurement If no weight change occurs during this amount of seconds, the measurement ends. A measurement occurs when the specimen looses a % amount of initial weight. Start measurement Save calibration curve The list is updated for each measurement. Measurement time Weight in grams Voltage Temperature in Celsius Grams corrected for Weight(g) Measurement status, available during measurement. Temperature as set in Settings Actual temperature in Celsius Current weight in grams Current MCA output in volts 15

16 Graph (bottom left) %MC Weight(g) Temperature(C) MCA output(v) Help Done Measurement graph, available during measurement. Percent moisture content Weight in grams Temperature in Celsius MCA output in Volts Open this document Close window Input coefficients Define calibration curve by entering function coefficients. Name Calibration curve descriptor A, B, C, D Function coefficients Min/Max(mV) Min/max millivolt %MC Initial moisture content 16

17 Manual define Define calibration curve by entering %MC, mv pairs. %MC Enter moisture content value mv Enter millivolt value Add Add %MC, mv entries to list. Del Delete the selected list item. List (under entry fields) List of %MC, mv pairs. Method Function method, availability depending on the amount of list pairs. Function (under list) Resulting function Name Calibration curve descriptor Quality Function quality 0 100% Previous Previous window Finish Save entry and close window. Cancel Discard entry and close window. 17

18 Measure To access the Measure window press the Measure button in the Main window. This window is used to measure specimen moisture content. Sample type (top left list) This the calibration curve list (see Define) Choose the specimen to be measured. Value (top center) mv Speed Fast Slow %MC Meter Recorder File Tag Alarm Sampling interval(s) Min/Max% Beep Shows current percent moisture content (or MCA output in millivolts). Check to view Value in millivolt Select for fast Value updates Select for Value updates using Moving average, select number of seconds. Graphic representation of Value. Use the recorder to register measurements over time. Destination file Allows an operator to inset a tag during a recording. Enter some text in the Tag field and press the button to the right to enter the tag. Time between measurements. Min/max percent moisture content values. Audible signal when min or max is reached 18

19 View To access the View window press the View button in the Main window. Use this window to view recordings saved in the Measure window. List (top left) Time %MC MCA output(v) Comment File (top right) List Open Delete Chart %MC/MCA Auto scale Show tags Done Recording event list Event time in seconds Percent moisture content MCA output in Volts Tag comments Recording file Open selected recording file Delete selected recording file Choose percent moisture content or MCA output. When checked, chart will adjust to minimum and maximum recording values. Show or hide tags. Close window 19