Pico Technical Support and Discussion Forum

Markr

Up until very recently we have had the DOS version of Pico scope running on a Hewlet Packard Omni book while connected to an ADC100
We predominantly use it to capture and measure a 50Hz AC mains wave shape generated during the triggering of a circuit breaker and compare the event time to that registered on the circuit testers that we manufacture during the calibration process.

Unfortunately the old Omni book has passed on and we have transferred the program to a newer HP Compaq Nx 6120 Notebook with a Pentium M 1.73 GHz processor and 1 G of ram running Windows XP Pro - Service pack 2

This machine has one parallel port and this has been set to “Standard” in the BIOS ( other options were ECP, EPP or Bidirectional )
We are plugging the ADC100 into this port via a non-standard Parallel Port Adaptor and have added the following entry to the Win.ini file;
[ADC100]
UseAdaptor=Yes

When we run Pico scope it recognises the adapter.

We have downloaded the latest versions of Pico Scope from your site ( both Windows and DOS ) and have installed them without a problem.

We have generated setup files in both versions to match the settings that we were using successfully on the old machine. These are;

Channels A and B set to plus or minus 20V with a multiplies of x1.
Time interval set to 100 Ms with 10Ms divisions.
Trigger set to repeat, rising on Channel B at 60%

We have two problems that are not allowing us to use this program on the new setup:

· The DOS version registers no signal at all. ( YES. We have tried without the adapter with the same result )

· The windows version registers a signal and generates a wave shape of the type that we are expecting but the shape is not stable – sometimes only part of the wave is displayed – and we have not been able to retain it on the screen for longer than a few seconds despite trying a number of other possible trigger combinations ( the best result we got was when we set trigger to "None" but still could not retain the shape long enough to get any significant measurement).

We would like, preferably to get the DOS version running on this machine ( the techie responsible for performing the calibrations is used to this version and feels more comfortable using it ) but, failing that, to get the Windows version functioning so that we can freeze the waveform on the screen to measure it and use that measurement to calibrate the equipment.

Can you help us with any of this please?

Sarah · Guest

Hi

Thank you for your post.

I would not recommend using the DOS version as this may not work on a newer Windows machine despite using a DOS emulator. Unfortunately we are no longer able to provide support for the DOS version anymore.

With regards the windows version, are you seeing any trace across the screen? Is the signal AC/DC coupled correctly? Does the screen just appear to have no trace at all, or a flat line? The best trigger setting to use with an ADC-100 is usually Auto (if you want a trigger that is). You are also able to take measurements using the controls under Settings, Measurements.

If this persists then please send me a file showing what you are seeing to tech@picotech.com mark the email for my attention and provide a link to this post for background information.

Best Regards

Pico Technology

Pico Technical Support and Discussion Forum