Serial Control of RF Explorer

[siko...@clarkson.edu]

Hello all.

I'm trying to use the python API for serial control of the RF explorer with the RS232 interface.  I'm an RF guy, not so much a programmer, so maybe I'm missing something here.  I know that I can control the mode of the calculator to input an average using the #<size>C+<mode>, but is there any method to control the number of iterations?

For instance, if I want an average over 5 iterations, what command would I use to get the RF Explorer to only average over 5 iterations and then write to the file?


Thanks,


Paul

[siko...@clarkson.edu]

On a related note, is there any way to set the DSP mode via the RS232 interface as well?  

What I'm trying to do is to be able to configure all of the parameters of the sweep remotely, since I'm going to be installing the RF Explorer in a place that's not easily accessible.

Thanks,


Paul

[Ariel Rocholl]

Hi Paul, 

 

Good questions. 

The number of iterations is not available in RS232, but note it won’t make any difference for the remote client. The reason is the RF Explorer device use iterations for local LCD display but, for serial communication, data is transmitted realtime in all cases (i.e. calculator:Normal). It is responsibility of the receiving client to average or calculate data among samples. 

The only exception to this rule is MaxHold calculator: when selected, the internal DSP will help on detecting fast transient signals due to capture buffer mode special for this mode. Data is still transmitted in realtime, but transient signals have much higher changes to be captured.

Regarding DSP mode this is under development and will be available in next BETA firmware.

Regards

Ariel

On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 7:09:18 PM UTC+2, 

[siko...@clarkson.edu]

Hi Ariel,

Thanks for the information.  Just to clarify, if I have it set to send over the data using the AVG mode and saving it to a .csv file, it will still only send the data for whatever run it is on, rather than running for whatever number of iterations is set via the local LCD display?  Obviously this can be fixed by issuing a pause command in the python code somewhere to allow it to sweep over a few seconds as needed, but that will eat up a lot of time over the course of multiple measurements.


Thanks,

Paul

[siko...@clarkson.edu]

Okay, I think I get it now after thinking about it some. 

It will always send the RT data, which may or may not coincide with the data on the screen.  However will the data being sent over have been put through the DSP filtering or not?

[Ariel Rocholl]

In all cases, the DSP filtering is the same in the unit and data being sent. In other words:

* Data sent over USB is always realtime, regardless calculator settings inside the unit. You can average or produce any calculations you need in the client-side.

* DSP filtering is same in the unit and data being transmitted over USB.

On Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 1:43:00 PM UTC+2,:

[siko...@clarkson.edu]

Alright!  

Thanks for the help.