Save & Arb
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On this post I'd like to explore the "Save" user interface and editable arbitrary (Arb) waveforms.
First, let's review the Owon specs and some of Owon's instructions verbatim from the manual:
Frequency Characteristic (specs)
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Arbitrary 1 µHz—10 MHz
Waveform Characteristic, Arbitrary (specs)
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Waveform Length AG1012F 2 – 8k points
AG1022F
AG2052F 2 - 1M points
AG2062F
Sample Rate AG1012F 125 MSa/s
AG1022F
AG2052F 250 MSa/s
AG2062F
Amplitude Accuracy 14 bits
Minimum Rise/Fall Time 35 ns (typical)
Jitter (RMS) 6 ns + 30 ppm
Note: the next line is an additional spec from the OWON AG series product leaflet.
Non-volatile Memory 26 waveforms
Some of the instructions from the manual (here I only listed what I though may not be obvious)
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The storage location is divided into the internal storage (FLASH) and the USB device storage (USBDEVICE). When a USB device is connected, the storage menu will show "USBDEVICE" and "FLASH". Otherwise, the storage menu will show "FLASH" only.
When the system needs the user to input a name, an input keyboard will appear. The length of file name is up to 15 characters.
How to Create a New Waveform:
Set the number of waveform points
Set the interpolation: On, the points will be connected with beelines; otherwise, the voltages between two
consecutive points will not change, and the waveform looks like a step-up one.
Edit the waveform points: set all the points to your needs.
"Store", enter the file system.
enter the desired storage path, choose Save, an input keyboard pops up, input the file name, and then choose
DONE.
How to Edit a Stored Waveform:
Choose Recall suppress.
Some of the instructions from the Owon SDS DSOs manual
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Format U disk
The supported format of the USB disk: FAT32 file system, allocation unit size cannot exceed 4K, mass storage U disk is also supported. Once the USB disk cannot be recognized, you could format it into the supported format and try again.
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With the above in mind let's first review the "Save" user interface. The basic settings and connections are the same as used in previous posts. Other settings can be read from the AG1012F & SDS7102 images.
Attachment #0 - This is the top level of the "Save" user interface. The drive labeled FLASH is the internal storage. If you have a Thumb drive installed you will also see the drive labeled USBDEVICE. I sort of wish they would have labeled these something else since a Thumb drive is also commonly called a Flash drive and once in a while it confuses me, but no biggie, just a small gripe.
As can be seen, there are 2 pages of functions on this screen, however, the only one that does anything is "Next level". Pressing that will take you to a tree view of the highlighted drive. Remember the highlighted drive though, because the tree view doesn't remind you of the root.
The Thumb drive port is close to the function keys and if your drive is of standard physical size it gets in the way. I bought the drive on attachment #1 to get around that issue.
Attachment #1 - Image of Kingston 8GB Micro USB Flash Drive DTMCK/8GB. manufacturer link:
http://www.kingston.com/us/usb/personal_business#dtmcI think it would be a good idea to have a dedicated Thumb drive for your AWG. For one thing You may have to reformat it for it to work properly. The AG1012F manual doesn't mention this, but my new Micro drive was kind of flaky until I changed the allocation size to 4096. Also, if you are going to use the Thumb drive with an Owon SDS DSO, like I do, your Thumb drive must be FAT32 with an allocation size of 4096 or less.
Attachment #2 - #3 - These are images of the tree view of the internal storage of my AG1012F. I would have hoped that at the top of the screen, instead of the little folder, it would identify the drive. Again, no big deal, just another little gripe.
In contrast to #0, all the functions are now active and can be used to navigate the tree, add additional folders, return to #0 (Up one level) if desired, or delete, rename, or copy the highlighted file. One annoying thing is the intense light green Owon uses for the highlight. On the actual unit it almost completely washes out the white letters used for the file name. Mercifully, the bar at the top of the screen also shows the highlighted name, and it is clearly readable.
#2 - Shows the first page of functions.
#3 - Shows the second page of functions.
Attachment #4 - This an image of the tree view of my Micro Thumb drive. Again, the bar at the top of the screen doesn't remind you of this. Notice the scroll bar next to the functions, this appears when the drive contains more files than what fits on the screen. My thumb drive currently has 28 files.
Attachment #5 - This is the AG1012F Manual's figure that explains how to read the display for arbitrary waveforms.
Pressing "Editable Wform" allows you to choose between creating a new waveform, selecting an existing waveform for output, or editing an existing waveform. On this post I want to go over a few examples of creating a waveform. To make things interesting I decided to see what it would take to create a credible sine wave.
Attachment #6 - This is the plan for creating the sine wave. It's based on an article I found on the web that used a script to simulate DDS. So I'm using the voltage levels that the script generated for the sine wave data points. As can be seen the sketch describes a 2Vpp sine wave cycle with 17 data points.
Attachment #7 - Once you choose to create a new waveform you get this screen. Here you enter the number of data points, in our case 17, and choose between interpolation on or off. First I'm going to try with interpolation off. After that you press Edit Points, and on the resulting screen, Attachment #8, you enter each value one by one.
Attachment #8 - This is the screen image after entering the voltage for each one of the 17 data points. Once this is done you can press "Store", navigate to the tree of the drive where you want to store the new waveform, press "Save", enter the desired file name on the pop up keyboard, and finally press "Done". If everything works well you will see a progress bar for a few seconds, and then your new file will be added to the tree.
I have ran into a couple of quirks that result in your file not being saved. When this happens, although you can still see the screen with the edited points, there is no way, at least that I know of, to go back and save your work again. For example, if by mistake you go through all the steps to save your file and press "Done" while at the top level (see Attachment #0) instead of the tree level, you just lost all of your hard work without any warning. The other case happens if you choose a file name that's already in use.
Attachment #9 - This is the equivalent of Attachment #8, but done with interpolation on.
Attachment #10 - This is the SDS7102 image while viewing #8 at 5MHz.
Attachment #11 - This is the SDS7102 image while viewing #9 at 5Mhz.
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I'm not done with Arb yet, .... so, to be continued!