-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 100 www.windmill.co.uk November 2006 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- Welcome to the hundredth edition of Monitor. We launched in August of 1998, sending the newsletter to just 140 people. We now have over 32000 subscribers. Our first article discussed things to think about when monitoring transducers, followed in Issue 2 by ways of connecting data acquisition equipment to a PC. These are two themes we keep returning to - see below for more tips on using USB-to-Serial converters. All previous newsletters are archived on our web site at https://www.windmill.co.uk/. If you have any suggestions for the newsletter please fill in this form. Thank you very much for subscribing: should you wish to cancel your subscription you can do so at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * USB-Serial Converters: Part 2 * Excel Corner * DAQ News Roundup * Data Acquisition and Control Exhibitions ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ USB-to-Serial Converters: Part 2 ________________________________________________________ As we discussed in last month's article, USB-to-Serial converters are simple to use but need careful setting up if they are to work properly. One of our readers, John Hinckley of BioTek Instruments Inc., told us that he had tried many USB-to-serial converters. He found 15 to 20 could be made to work some of the time but only one worked all of the time. (This was made by Saelig.) He offers these tips for getting the best out of your converter. 1. Make sure to install the driver correctly. If one is not included then check with the manufacturer. 2. From the computer's perspective, the adapter is an active USB device. What this means is that it will only be available, or listed as an option, if it's plugged in. While this may sound obvious, I have seen a few folks (at first including myself), fooled by this. 3. Once an adapter is installed, Windows assigns it a COM port number. You can view this number by starting Windows Control Panel, choosing System then opening the "Device manager/hardware" window under "Ports(Com & LPT)". It will look something like "USB serial port(Com X", where "X" is the port number assigned. You may find that Windows assigns a COM port number that is higher than your software can handle. If so, use Device Manager to reassign the COM port to a lower number. Select your adaptor and click Properties. Choose Port Settings then Advanced. Here too, Windows can be confusing as some lower COM port numbers will be listed as "In Use". This is not always so and by examining the computer's actual COM ports physically available, you may find you can use lower COM port number. More Information ================ For more tips on using your USB-to-Serial converter see https://www.windmill.co.uk/usb-serial.html To download free serial driver software just subscribe to this newsletter at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html We also offer an updated serial driver, COMIML. Details of this are at windmillsoft.com/daqshop/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Excel Corner: How can I paste an Excel chart as a Picture in a Report? ________________________________________________________ We were recently asked how to paste a chart into a report but without the links to the original data. 1. Create the Chart as normal. 2. Delete the Chart by selecting Cut from Excel's Edit menu. 3. From the Edit menu select Paste Special. 4. Choose to paste as a picture. That's it. For more tips on using Excel for data acquisition and analysis see https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/ https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/excel-charting.html ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ Welcome to our roundup of the latest data acquisition and control news. If you would like to receive more timely DAQ news updates then grab our RSS newsfeed at https://www.windmillsoft.com/monitor.xml. Read https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsfeed.php for notes on how to display the news on your own web site, read it via e-mail or through a newsfeed viewer. New Porousity Measurement Guide In industries from textiles to automobiles and from pharmaceuticals to semiconductors, accurately measuring empty spaces - porousity - is a substantial matter, important to efforts to ensure high product quality and low scrap rates. A new Recommended Practice Guide from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides useful advice and instruction on how to analyse the size, distribution and total volume of tiny pores. Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology https://www.nist.gov/ Wireless and battery-free tyre monitoring Michelin has launched a wireless and battery-free tyre monitoring system. Designed for use on trucks and other commercial vehicles, the eTire II sensor patch monitors the pressure and temperature of tyres via surface acoustic wave technology licensed from Transense Technologies. The system takes continuous measurements and transmits the readings via an integrated radio frequency identification tag. Source: Transense Technologies http://www.hemscott.com/ IEEE to Revise Laptop Battery Standard Following Sony's blazing laptop batteries, the IEEE is to revise its laptop battery standard, IEEE 1625(TM), IEEE Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Portable Computing. http://standards.ieee.org/announcements/ Firefighters get Help from Above A team led by NASA and US Forest Service scientists collected real-time visible and infrared data from sensors onboard a remotely piloted aircraft over the recent Esperanza Fire in Southern California. From 13000m, the wildfire sensor collected 100 images and more than 20 data files showing the location of the fire perimeter over a 16-hour period. Source: Earth Observatory http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Data Acquisition Exhibitions and Conferences ________________________________________________________ Continuing our quarterly list of exhibitions around the world related to data acquisition and control. IEEE Sensors Applications Symposium San Diego California USA 6-8 February 2007 Forum for sensor users and developers to meet and exchange information about novel and emergent applications in smart sensors, homeland security, biology, system health management, and related areas. http://www.sensorapps.org/ Automaticon Warsaw Poland 13-16 March 2007 International faire for measurement and control. http://www.automaticon.pl/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ * Copyright Windmill Software Ltd * Reprinting permitted with this notice included * For more articles see https://www.windmill.co.uk We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and use extracts from it on your own web site or publication, providing the above notice is included and a link back to our website is in place. An archive of previous issues is at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html and an index of articles at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html Windmill Software Ltd, PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK Telephone: +44 (0)161 834 6688 Facsimile: +44 (0)161 833 2190 E-mail: monitor@windmillsoft.com https://www.windmill.co.uk/ https://www.windmillsoft.com/ Do you have a question, comment or suggestion on this newsletter? Fill in this form to contact the editor.
27 November 2006
