D A X A D D - I N AMPLICON DATA ACQUISITION EXCEL ADD-IN

Transcription

1 D A X A D D - I N AMPLICON DATA ACQUISITION EXCEL ADD-IN This Instruction Manual is supplied with the Data Acquisition Add-in to provide the user with sufficient information to utilise the purchased product in a proper and efficient manner. The information contained has been reviewed and is believed to be accurate and reliable, however MEV Limited and Amplicon Liveline Limited accept no responsibility for any problems caused by errors or omissions. Specifications and instructions are subject to change without notice. MEV Ltd. Manual Part No iss A2 Prepared by H.D. Elcock.

2 DAX Add-In LIST OF CONTENTS SECTION SUBJECT PAGE 1 INTRODUCTION Installing DAX Uninstalling DAX Disabling DAX 1 2 USING DAX Acquire menu Acquire toolbar 3 3 CONFIGURING DATA ACQUISITION Analog input tab Sampling Unipolar/bipolar Single ended or differential Enable channels tabs Software (Display) Triggering Trigger channel Trigger Window Trigger type Trigger level Destination on spreadsheet Data insertion cell Data arrangement Overwrite or Increment Titles Board properties 9 4 ACQUISITION CONTROLS Start single acquisition Start continuous acquisition Stop acquisition 10 5 EXAMPLES DAXExample Chart configuration Source data range Data series orientation Source data series DAXLog Chart configuration Source data range Data series orientation Source data series Other Examples 13 Page i

3 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE TITLE PAGE Figure 2.1 Macros 2 Figure 2.2 Acquire menu 3 Figure 2.3 Acquire toolbar 3 Figure 3.1 Sampling section of analog input tab 4 Figure 3.2 Unipolar/bipolar section of analog input tab 5 Figure 3.3 Single ended / differential section of analog input tab 5 Figure 3.4 Top of enable channels (0-7) tab 6 Figure 3.5 Trigger channel 6 Figure 3.6 Trigger Window 7 Figure 3.7 Trigger type 7 Figure 3.8 Trigger level 7 Figure 3.9 Destination on spreadsheet 8 Figure 3.10 Cell selection 8 Figure 3.11 Data arrangement 8 Figure 3.12 Overwrite or increment 9 Figure 3.13 Title checkbox 9 Figure 5.1 Chart data range selection 11 Figure 5.2 Chart data orientation 12 Figure 5.3 Chart data range selection 13 Figure 5.4 Chart data orientation 13 Page ii

4 1 INTRODUCTION The Amplicon Excel Data Acquisition Add-In software, DAX, has been developed to provide an easy way to use the data acquisition functions of the Amplicon PCI 230 and PCI 260 boards and the Amplicon PCI 230+ and PCI 260+ boards. It allows the user to control the card, receive acquired data into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and display the data in graph format. This manual is intended to provide the user with a step by step description of how to install the DAX, configure and use an example spreadsheet in Excel. 1.1 Installing DAX From the Start/Run menu browse to the root directory of the Amplicon DAX CD, from the root directory run SETUP.EXE. Follow the on screen instructions Uninstalling DAX To uninstall the driver it is first necessary to remove the add-in from Excel. To uninstall the add-in, open Tools, Add-Ins, uncheck the Amplicon Liveline Analog Acquisition tick box and OK. The Acquire menu and toolbox will disappear. To uninstall DAX software, open Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Select the Amplicon Data Acquisition Excel Add In item and OK. If the DAX is uninstalled before being removed from Excel it may be necessary to manually remove the DAX toolbar and menu from Excel. Select Tools/Customize... from the main menu. Once the customise dialogue is open select Worksheet Menu Bar and press Reset and then scroll down and untick the Acquire data toolbar Disabling DAX To temporarily disable DAX, open Tools, Add-Ins, uncheck the Amplicon Liveline Analog Acquisition tick box and OK. The Acquire menu and toolbox will disappear. To enable DAX again simply recheck the tickbox. Page 1

5 2 USING DAX Go to the Start menu, Programs, Amplicon Data Acquisition, and left-click DAXexample. This starts Excel and opens an example spreadsheet. If Excel is set up with Macro Virus Protection enabled, you should enable macros when asked, as they are required for DAX to work correctly. Figure 2.1 Macros Access to DAX functionality is provided by means of an Acquire menu on the Excel menu bar, and by an Acquire Toolbar. Page 2

6 2.1 Acquire menu DAX installation creates an Acquire submenu on the Add-Ins ribbon Figure 2.2 Acquire menu On earlier versions of Excel it appears between the Data and Window menus on the Excel Menu bar The Configure, Continuous, One Shot, and Stop options in the Acquire menu are discussed in detail below. 2.2 Acquire toolbar For earlier versions of Excel an acquire toolbar is also created during installation. Configure Single acquisition Continuous acquisition Stop It contains the same options as the Acquire menu. The spanner, running figure, green edged red circle, and stop icons represent Configure, Continuous acquisition, Single acquisition, and Stop respectively. Figure 2.3 Acquire toolbar Page 3

7 3 CONFIGURING DATA ACQUISITION Selecting Configure (the spanner icon on the toolbar) opens a window which allows you to configure the card, data acquisition settings, and the format in which data is written to the spreadsheet. The Configure window has six tabs: 1. Analog input 2. Enable channels (0-7) 3. Enable channels (8-15) 4. Triggering 5. Destination on spreadsheet 6. Board properties and opens with the Analog input tab selected. 3.1 Analog input tab Sampling Figure 3.1 Sampling section of analog input tab There are three sampling parameters which can be changed in this section: 1. The number of samples captured each 'shot' or single acquisition. The maximum figure depends on whether you choose row or column format. See section The sampling rate or the number of samples taken each second. The default (and maximum) is set to 10,000 (10 khz). 3. The third determines how often samples are taken in continuous mode. Here a sample new set is taken every second. Using the default settings you would acquire 255/10,000 seconds or 25.5 milliseconds of data. Choose settings that are appropriate for the duration and resolution you require. Page 4

8 3.1.2 Unipolar/bipolar Figure 3.2 Unipolar/bipolar section of analog input tab This section allows you to choose between unipolar or bipolar interpretation of the data. When you select an option the diagram highlights the relevant curve in magenta. The diagram and text should help you decide which option you should select Single ended or differential Figure 3.3 Single ended / differential section of analog input tab This section provides for sampling a signal: 1. relative to ground (single ended) 2. relative to another sampled signal (differential). Again the diagram changes according to which option you select helping you to make the decision. Note: The PCI card dictates which channels can be paired for differential sampling. The possible pairs are 0 & 1, 2 & 3, 4 & 5, 6 & 7, 8 & 9, 10 & 11, 12 & 13, 14 & 15. This means that from the 16 incoming channels, you will acquire 8 differential pairs and external wiring to the card should be made so that signals intended to be paired are connected to the appropriate adjacent channels. 3.2 Enable channels tabs Figure 3.4, the top portion of the Enable Channels (0-7) tab shows the first channel pair 0 and 1 from the Enable Channels (0-7) tab. Channels 0 to 7 can be enabled on this tab by ensuring the relevant tick box is ticked in the Enable Channel section. If it is not the channel is disabled. If you have chosen Differential operation from the Analog Input tab, channels 1, 3, 5, & 7 will be greyed out. This is because they are automatically chosen as the differential signal pairs for channels 0, 2, 4, & 6 respectively. Page 5

9 Figure 3.4 Top of enable channels (0-7) tab The Input Range section allows you to specify the input voltage limits. In Figure 2.2, bipolar input has been chosen and a range of +/- 10V is selected. If you have selected bipolar operation, voltages between -10 volts and +10 volts will be acquired. If on the other hand you have selected unipolar operation voltages between 0 and 10 volts will be acquired. The Input Range options change reflecting the unipolar/bipolar setting on the Analog Input tab Choose an appropriate range that reflects the levels that you are acquiring. You will get greater absolute resolution at the +/-1.25V than the +/-10V range because both ranges have the same number of voltage level samples. However a range should be selected which avoids "clipping" of the signal where a voltage level lies outside the input range. The same considerations apply to channels 8 to 15 using the options on Enable Channels (8-15) tab as for channels 0 to 7 on the Enable Channels (0-7) tab. 3.3 Software (Display) Triggering In (display) software trigger mode we acquire a trigger window worth of samples. No data will be updated until the trigger window buffer is filled. Software then searches the sample buffer for a trigger event. If one is present within the acquired buffer the samples subsequent to the trigger event are stored. If no trigger event is detected within the buffer, the samples are discarded and the message, NOT Triggered is displayed for the user. The software trigger mode synchronises data displays on successive acquisitions to allow repetitive waveforms to be displayed in a similar fashion to oscilloscopes. It must be stressed however that if no trigger event is found within the buffer the acquisition will be discarded. As it is impossible to acquire continuous buffers, trigger conditions that occur in between acquisitions will be missed Trigger channel Figure 3.5 Trigger channel This allows you to specify which channel will be examined for an event which will trigger data acquisition, providing triggering is enabled. You can only choose a channel as the trigger channel if it has been enabled. Page 6

10 3.3.2 Trigger Window Figure 3.6 Trigger Window The trigger window allows you to define the time window over which a trigger is searched. For example if you want to trigger on a rising edge and acquire 10 ms of data. If you feed in a repetitive wave that cycles every 300 ms, you would want the trigger window to be at least 300 ms to ensure the trigger point could be detected reliably. The 310ms of data is acquired and the software searches through the acquired data looking for the required trigger event Trigger type Figure 3.7 Trigger type The trigger type section allows you to define what kind of event will trigger an acquisition. None is self-evident although it should be pointed out that no trigger means that ANY data will be captured and written to the spreadsheet. If Trigger on Positive going edge is selected, the acquisition will start as soon as a rising voltage level passes the trigger threshold value. If Trigger on negative going edge is selected, the acquisition will start as soon as a decreasing voltage level passes the trigger threshold value. Selection of the any of the three options changes the diagram to illustrate the trigger Trigger level Figure 3.8 Trigger level Page 7

11 You can use the slide control to select the trigger voltage level in steps of 1 volt between -10 and +10 volts. Alternatively you can enter more accurate values, for example 3.95 volts, directly into the text box. To be effective the trigger voltage should be within the voltage input range specified for the triggering channel on the appropriate Enable Channels tab. 3.4 Destination on spreadsheet Data insertion cell Figure 3.9 Destination on spreadsheet This section allows you to select the address in the spreadsheet where the first value of the acquired data will be inserted. In Figure 3.9 the first value of the first set of data would be written to cell A6 of Sheet1. This is the default on opening the example. There are two ways of changing the cell address. 1. Left clicking on a spreadsheet cell will automatically update the cell address in the Where do you want the data to be put? textbox. If the Configure window is obscuring your view, left-clicking on the minimize button adjacent to the text box reduces the Configure window to display only the current cell address and a return button. Figure 3.10 Cell selection The cursor changes to a plus sign and Left-clicking on a cell selects that cell as the data insertion cell. Left clicking on the button to the right of the address box, or pressing return, causes the window to revert to the Configure window. 2. You can enter the data destination cell address directly into the textbox Data arrangement Figure 3.11 Data arrangement Page 8

12 The middle section allows you to specify whether the data will be inserted in row or column format. Figure 3.11 shows the By Columns option selected (default) and the diagram illustrates the layout. If the By Rows option is chosen the diagram changes reflecting your choice. NOTE: The choice of row or column format influences the amount of data you can write to the sheet. If you select the rows option, you can store 255 samples. If you select columns this figure rises to Overwrite or Increment Figure 3.12 Overwrite or increment This option allows you to specify whether the data acquired on successive acquisitions over writes the previous data or is appended after it. If you are only interested in the current state of the data you should use the overwrite option as per the default DAXExample. If you want to build a history of how the data changes with time you should use the increment option as per the DAXLog example Titles Figure 3.13 Title checkbox If you check the Do you want row titles? tickbox (Figure 3.13), blue titles will be added to the head of the row or column indicating the channel from which the data was acquired (Figure 3.11). You can enter your own title text in the area to the right of the channel number. The first title will be entered in the destination cell specified Board properties This tab of the Configuration window displays card and driver details, ActiveX control and driver information, and Amplicon technical support contact details. Page 9

13 4 ACQUISITION CONTROLS 4.1 Start single acquisition The Start Single Acquisition button, or One Shot option on the Acquire menu, initiates a single acquisition from the card. Any titles are written to the appropriate cells followed by the data written by channel in columns or rows depending on the format you have chosen. 4.2 Start continuous acquisition Pressing the Start Continuous Acquisition button, or Continuous option on the Acquire menu, begins the process of acquiring data and writing it to the specified spreadsheet destination cells. This is the same process as for single acquisition but further acquisitions are made at an interval which you can define on the trigger tab of the Configure window, see for further details. New acquisitions for each enabled channel will overwrite any data previously acquired from that channel contained in the relevant spreadsheet cells. 4.3 Stop acquisition The Stop Acquisition button, or Stop option on the Acquire menu, terminates a current acquisition process. If stop is pressed while an acquisition is in progress, the acquisition is terminated AFTER all channel data has been acquired for that acquisition. Page 10

14 5 EXAMPLES The example spreadsheets are installed on to your system in the Amplicon Data Acquisition program group. The default install directory is C:\Amplicom\Ampdio\Excel. The examples can be edited and saved as another name so that custom spreadsheets can be developed. 5.1 DAXExample An Excel chart is included in the example that displays the acquired channel data in a simple oscilloscope format The chart is set up by default to display Channel 0 data Chart configuration The default chart is set to display data from the range cell A6 to A261. This is correct for the default 255 samples per channel setting. However if you have enabled other channels or changed the number of samples per channel you will need to change the range of cells which the chart uses as source data. To change the chart settings, right click on the white chart area (avoiding the grey plot area). A menu appears which allows you to change The Chart properties Source data range Select the Source Data option. The source Data window opens on the Data range tab allowing you to specify the cell range which the chart displays. There are two basic ways to select the range of cells. 1. Left click and dragging on a spreadsheet cell will automatically update the cell address range in the Data range textbox. If the Configure window is obscuring your view, left-clicking on the minimize button adjacent to the text box reduces the Source Data window to display only the current cell address range and a return button. Figure 5.1 Chart data range selection The cursor changes to a plus sign Left click and drag to define the range of cells displayed by the chart Left clicking on the button to the right of the address box, or pressing return, causes the window to revert to the Configure window. 2. You can enter the data destination cell address directly into the textbox. Page 11

15 5.1.3 Data series orientation Figure 5.2 Chart data orientation The choice of series orientation, rows or columns, available here should be the same as that which has been specified on the Configuration window Destination on Spreadsheet tab (see 3.4.2) Source data series If you run an acquisition with the correctly defined data source range of cells including titles, the data series will automatically be updated on the chart including relevant channel numbers. If no titles have been specified on the Configuration window Destination on Spreadsheet tab, the first channel of data will be referred to as Series 1, the second as Series 2, etc. 5.2 DAXLog An Excel chart is included in the example that acquires and logs data over time so that trends in the data can be analysed. The chart is set up by default to take one sample from Channel 0 every 10 seconds and display it on a chart Chart configuration The default chart is set to display data from the range cell A6 to B261. This is correct for the default example settings. However if you have enabled other channels or changed the number of samples per channel you will need to change the range of cells which the chart uses as source data. To change the chart settings, right click on the white chart area (avoiding the grey plot area). A menu appears which allows you to change The Chart properties Source data range Select the Source Data option. The source Data window opens on the Data range tab allowing you to specify the cell range which the chart displays. There are two basic ways to select the range of cells. 1. Left click and dragging on a spreadsheet cell will automatically update the cell address range in the Data range textbox. If the Configure window is obscuring your view, left-clicking on the minimize button adjacent to the text box reduces the Source Data window to display only the current cell address range and a return button. Page 12

16 Figure 5.3 Chart data range selection The cursor changes to a plus sign Left click and drag to define the range of cells displayed by the chart Left clicking on the button to the right of the address box, or pressing return, causes the window to revert to the Configure window. 2. You can enter the data destination cell address directly into the textbox Data series orientation Figure 5.4 Chart data orientation The choice of series orientation, rows or columns, available here should be the same as that which has been specified on the Configuration window Destination on Spreadsheet tab (see 3.4.2) Source data series If you run an acquisition with the correctly defined data source range of cells including titles, the data series will automatically be updated on the chart including relevant channel numbers. If no titles have been specified on the Configuration window Destination on Spreadsheet tab, the first channel of data will be referred to as Series 1, the second as Series 2, etc. The data will gradually build up over time with a new sample being taken every 10 seconds 5.3 Other Examples Other examples are included on the CD in the examples sub directory. 1. DAXfft shows how to produce an FFT of the acquired data. 2. DAXpower shows how to calculate power factor Page 13