DC coupling problem is back

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Steven Brown
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DC coupling problem is back

Post by Steven Brown »

Regarding my previous post, "PicoScope 6.11.10.1608 bug report," the no DC coupling problem is back, even with the older version of PicoScope 6. The DC coupling worked as expected only once, but after closing the software and starting it again, there is no DC coupling. All signals appear to be AC coupled, even with DC coupling selected.

Martyn
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Martyn »

First I would look at the connections :-

Do you have a good connection from the negative terminal of the battery to the ground clip of the probe ?
Are you using a laptop ? If so is it connected to the mains ? and does the mains plug have a plastic or metal earth pin ?
Martyn
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Steven Brown
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Steven Brown »

Martyn wrote:Do you have a good connection from the negative terminal of the battery to the ground clip of the probe ?
Yes. I tried it several times, reconnecting to the battery each time.
Martyn wrote: Are you using a laptop ? If so is it connected to the mains ? and does the mains plug have a plastic or metal earth pin ?
No, it's a Dell Inspiron 660s desktop with a Pentium G2030 CPU running at 3 GHz with 4 gigabytes of RAM installed. The OS is Windows 10, 64-bit. It is plugged into the mains with a 3-wire, grounded plug.

I will check to verify that the scope still works on my old computer running Windows XP, after I get it set back up with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

Steven Brown
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Steven Brown »

I set up my old Windows XP computer, plugged my Picosope 2105 into a USB port, started the Picoscope 6.7.35.1 software, and the scope reads the DC voltage on a 9 volt battery as expected. I closed the software, started it again, and found that DC coupling still works. So, the problem I am having on my Windows 10 computer is caused by the software. Has Picoscope been tested on Windows 10?

Steven Brown
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Steven Brown »

DC coupling is also working properly on an old laptop computer that has PicoScope 6.4.92.0 installed. I'll probably be using that when I need an oscilloscope, as it's portable.

Martyn
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Martyn »

I am running Windows 10 on a Laptop, and tested with a 2105 yesterday. I didn't have a battery to hand so used a DC level on a circuit board, and all was working fine. Can you send in a psdata file, from the Windows 10 machine, with it reading incorrectly, I will then run this on my setup and see what I can find. Use File->SaveAs and select SaveCurrentWaveform to cut down on the file size.

Are you using the front or rear USB ports on the PC ?
Martyn
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Steven Brown
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Steven Brown »

The problem seems mysteriously to have resolved itself. I plugged the scope into a rear USB port on my Windows 10 computer, started the Picoscope application, connected the probe across a 1.5 volt D cell, and it correctly displayed +1.5 volts on the screen. I closed the application and started it again a few times, and each time, it worked properly. Then I plugged the scope into a front panel USB port, opened the Picoscope application, connected the probe across a 9 volt battery, and it displayed +9 volts on the screen. I verified that one last time before posted this reply.

Steven Brown
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Steven Brown »

Please disregard my previous post. The problem did not mysteriously resolve itself. I forgot that I had uninstalled Picoscope 6.11.10 from my Windows 10 computer and installed Picoscope 6.4.92.0 in order to get the DC coupling working properly. Then, when I went back to it in order to take screenshots of the problem, the problem was no longer there because it's still the old version of the software. Sorry, I am not going to un-install that, re-install the new version in order to take screenshots of the problem, un-install it again, and then re-install the old version. I have too many projects going on that have higher priority. However, I can tell you this. Yesterday, I decided to upgrade Picoscope on my Windows XP laptop computer to version 6.11.10, and after I did that, I had the same problem of no DC coupling. So, I had to un-install that and re-install the old verion to get it working properly. Clearly, there is a problem with the new version Picoscope 6.11.10, independent of the computer hardware and operating system, that occurs with the PicoScope 2105 handheld oscilloscope. It is not credible that I am the only person who has ever experienced this problem. Fortunately, I have on my old desktop Windows XP computer the install files of previous versions of PicoScope that I have downloaded, including version 6.7.35 which works properly on that computer. I can use that on all computers and versions of Windows on which I use my PicoScope 2105.

Martyn
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by Martyn »

I will ask my colleagues to try this on Monday, to see if we can find a combination that shows the same problem.
Martyn
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AndrewA
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Re: DC coupling problem is back

Post by AndrewA »

Hi Steven,

I tried this on a 2105 pen scope and version 6.10.11 but the DC coupling worked fine (I have windows 7 64-bit)

Could you try the following-

Code: Select all

Make a backup copy of the folder-

On Windows 7/8/10-
C:\Users\YOUR_USERACCOUNT\\AppData\Local\Pico Technology\64..............

On Windows XP-
C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_USERACCOUNT\Local Settings\Application Data\Pico Technology\64..............

Then delete the original folder
This will clear out PicoScope's AppData settings, this can cause issues.
Regards Andrew
Technical Specialist

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