SFRA 5.2 Marketing Release Note Doble Engineering Company 85 Walnut Street Watertown, Massachusetts 02472-4037 (USA) www.doble.com 72A-2604-01 Rev. D 07/2011
Limitation in Liability The limitations on liability and copyright notices contained in the Doble Sweep Frequency Response Analyzer (SFRA) User Guide shall apply to the use of this marketing release notice and are hereby incorporated by reference. 2011 by Doble Engineering Company All Rights Reserved
Introducing SFRA 5.2 Downloading SFRA 5.2 Version 5.2 of the Sweep Frequency Response Analysis (SFRA) software application is now available from www.doble.com. Used with the M5200 and M5400 test instruments, SFRA 5.2 adds compatibility with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, minor enhancements, and general maintenance updates and bug fixes. The Windows 7 operating system is not supported on M5300 instruments. However, in order to benefit from the improvements provided by SFRA 5.2, you can install it on M5300 instruments. To download SFRA 5.2: 1. Open www.doble.com in your browser. 2. Open the Support menu and select the Downloads option. 3. On the Downloads page, click the M5000: SFRA link. 4. Find the M5200/M5300/M5400 SFRA Software Version 5.2 section. 5. Click the SFRAV52.exe link and follow the prompts. Operating System Compatibility Backward Compatibility SFRA Version 5.2 is intended for use with Microsoft Windows XP and Windows 7. Version 5.2 of SFRA can open files that were created with any previous version of SFRA. 72A-2604-01 Rev. D 07/2011 1
SFRA 5.2 Marketing Release Note Before Installing SFRA 5.2:.NET Requirements USB Drivers Before you can install SFRA 5.2, you must have installed Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5, Service Pack 1 or later on the PC. (.NET 3.5 SP1 is included with Windows 7 and need not be installed again unless it has been removed.) An installer for.net Framework 3.5 SP1 is included in the DotNet folder on the SFRA 5.2 CD-ROM or download. You must install a driver in order to use the USB port on the M5200 and M5400 instruments. The drivers are stored in the USB Drivers folder included on the SFRA CD-ROM and in the download package available on www.doble.com. Read the readme file located in the USB Drivers folder to identify the driver to install for your instrument. Installing SFRA 5.2 under Microsoft Windows 7* You must have administrator privileges to install SFRA 5.2 under Microsoft Windows 7 and you must install SFRA 5.2 to run as an administrator. To install SFRA 5.2 under Windows 7: 1. Right-click setup.exe and select Run as administrator. 2. Accept all defaults. 3. If you are installing on a general-use PC, select For everyone. * You can follow these steps to install SFRA 5.2 under MS Windows Vista, but SFRA software is not tested under Vista and compatibility is not assured. Installing SFRA 5.2 under Windows XP You must have administrator privileges to install SFRA 5.2 on PCs running the Windows XP Operating System. To install under Windows XP: 1. Double-click setup.exe. 2. Accept all defaults. 3. If you are installing on a general-use PC, select the For everyone option. 2 72A-2604-01 Rev. D 07/2011
Introducing SFRA 5.2 Ethernet Communication with an M5000 Instrument SFRA includes two executables that require network access to discover and operate an Ethernet-connected M5000 instrument. Depending on your PC software configuration, they may need to be granted a firewall exception. The locations of the executables for Windows XP and Windows 7 are as follows: Windows XP Windows 7 C:\Program Files\Doble Engineering\SFRA 5.2\SfraApp.exe C:\Program Files\Doble Engineering\SFRA 5.2\discover.exe C:\Program Files (x86)\doble Engineering\SFRA 5.2\SfraApp.exe C:\Program Files (x86)\doble Engineering\SFRA 5.2\discover.exe Changes Included in Version 5.2 New Features and Improvements Added compatibility with Windows 7 operating system (32- and 64-bit). Removed USB driver installation from the SFRA setup and made it a manual step to avoid installer conflicts. Added new international test templates. Added a prompt that requires you to select a default test template. This prompt appears only once (the first time the software is run after installation). Added a prompt that requires you to indicate whether you are using an M5300 instrument. Your answer enables SFRA to create instrument-specific files. This prompt appears only once (the first time the software is run after installation). Improved reporting options. Added ability to run 21 tests without having to clear any. Improved folder and results management on Data Management tab. Clarified descriptive text in some error dialogs. 72A-2604-01 Rev. D 07/2011 3
SFRA 5.2 Marketing Release Note Fixed Problems The threshold for detecting excessive ground resistance (Error 952) is now consistent for all communication methods. The Error 953 dialog box now prevents continuation of the test. Known Problems and Limitations in SFRA 5.2 When sub-band plots are printed or print-previewed, the third sub-band is replaced with a duplicate of the second sub-band. The actual third sub-band is not printed. Results listed in the Data Grid cannot be removed from the grid using the Delete key. Previous versions allowed results to be removed temporarily from the grid view using Delete, and restored by refreshing the grid. The Phase plot y-axis is incorrectly labeled in decibels (should be degrees) when printed in a report. After communication is established between the M5200 or M5400 instrument and SFRA, if you cycle the power to the M5200 or M5400 instrument, you must restart SFRA to re-establish communication. Known Problems and Limitations: M5000 Series Damage to measurement input circuitry: Note that in most cases this damage is avoidable! Under extreme circumstances during a test sweep, enough energy from the test environment can be imposed on the measurement circuitry to cause damage to components, resulting in performance deterioration ranging from negligible to total loss of capability. Typically, as a result of this type of damage, an Error 953 message is generated when the next test is performed. To avoid this problem in most cases, follow proper grounding, hookup, and test practices. For detailed grounding instructions, please see the SFRA_Grounding_AppNote in the Documentation folder of your SFRA 5.2 CD or download. 4 72A-2604-01 Rev. D 07/2011
Introducing SFRA 5.2 Known Problems and Limitations: M5200 Contact Us Some M5200 instruments have older USB technology: A few older M5200 instruments have never been upgraded to full USB serial port technology and require a custom Doble driver on your PC to simulate a USB connection. This legacy driver is included on the SFRA 5.2 CD and download, but Windows 7 compatibility testing has not been completed and compatibility with Windows 7 is not assured. When compatibility testing is completed, Doble will post information on the Support/Downloads page of www.doble.com. If the driver does not work with Windows 7, and if you cannot use the Ethernet connection option, you will have to return the instrument to Doble for USB upgrade. Should you have any questions regarding this software release or any other Doble Engineering Company SFRA product, please contact Doble: Phone: +1-617-926-4900 Fax: +1-617-926-0528 Email: SFRAinfo@doble.com 72A-2604-01 Rev. D 07/2011 5
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