Acquire Data Acquisition Software
Compatible Instruments: Acquire will operate the current SIGNAL RECOVERY Models: 7124, 7225, 7230, 7265, 7270, and 7280
As well as the legacy models: 4161A, 5105, 5113, 5210 and others.
Up to ten instruments can be operated simultaneously.
Acquire is a comprehensive data acquisition package designed to operate most current and many former SIGNAL RECOVERY instruments from a personal computer. It is suitable for use with all our lock-in amplifiers, boxcar averager, and 5113 preamplifier, and operates via Ethernet, USB, RS232, or GPIB (IEEE-488) interfaces. For most users, the software eliminates the need for them to write control software, so that they can concentrate on the task of taking data. It will also prove invaluable for others who simply want to operate an instrument from a remote location or who wish to integrate their instrument with other computer controlled systems. Up to ten instruments can be controlled at the same time.
The package provides two principal modes of operation. First, in remote front panel mode virtually all of the functions of the connected instrument(s) can be controlled from the computer via a series of simple dialogs. The software is instrument sensitive and adjusts the content of these dialogs automatically to reflect the measurement capabilities and functions available in the connected unit. The data outputs to be displayed can be chosen from the range available and these are then clearly shown on-screen.
The second mode, experiment recording, allows selected instrument outputs to be recorded as a function of time, with the additional option of sweeping certain outputs (e.g. oscillator frequency, auxiliary DAC voltage, digital filter frequency, digital delay and/or digital port setting) as the experiment proceeds. When used with a lock-in amplifier, any auxiliary ADC inputs can be configured as trigger inputs, allowing data to be logged as function of external trigger events.
As data is acquired, it is displayed on screen and can be printed, as well as being saved for later use. Displayed plots can use a variety of line formats, while four curve cursors allow direct readout of measured values. However, with the very wide range of applications in which SIGNAL RECOVERY instruments can be used, it is not possible to anticipate every possible format in which the acquired data will be displayed. Hence many users take advantage of the export function to save the data to disk for display and/or further manipulation using other software.
A comprehensive help system is built in and free support is available to registered users.
SRInstComms
SRInstComms is an ActiveX control that allows users of SIGNAL RECOVERY instruments to control them from PC’s running Windows Operating Systems. The requirement is that these programs must be written in a language that supports such controls, which in practice is virtually all modern languages capable of developing Windows applications.
The control takes care of all communication between the user-developed program and the instrument, performing the necessary handshaking and decoding status signals over the selected interface, which can be GPIB, RS232, Ethernet or USB, depending on the type of interface fitted to the instrument being controlled. With the exception of speed, the interface type is essentially transparent to the user, making programs portable between systems with different interfaces.
It includes an automatic search routine which will find any compatible instruments that are connected to the computer. In most cases, this eliminates the need to adjust the communications settings controls on the instrument. The complete “profile” of connected instruments, together with any user-entered descriptive comments, is then securely saved in the system registry. Subsequent data transmissions to and from the instrument use this information to give the fastest possible communication.
Up to ten compatible instruments can be controlled independently or simultaneously, so that for example in a system measuring impedance one lock-in amplifier can measure the sample current while a second measures the voltage. Both instruments can be read via the control and the output readings combined to determine the impedance.
The package includes a full printed instruction manual, as well as on-screen help so that programming information is always easily available. In addition, sample applications in Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual C#, LabVIEW, Excel and VBScript (HTML web page) are supplied. The VB, Visual C++ and Visual C# examples include a working executable as well as a full project workspace with all the corresponding source files. Similarly the LabVIEW, Excel and VBScript demonstration programs are complete with all source code information so that they can be easily edited by the user.