Sark Plots doesn't connect to SARK-110 under Windows XP
Dimitri
Hi, Melchor Varela!
First of all, thank you for this great
device! I really like it. The SARK-110 is a very nice piece of
equipment, especially for enthusiasts who are unable to get access to
expensive
network analyzers (although it would be great to have 3 GHz upper frequency on SARK someday ((: )
But
I have a problem. For me it is much more convenient to have an access
to measured S11 parameter through software, rather than constantly
download CSVs from SARK as USB drive.
I tried to use the SARK plots software and it constantly fails to connect with the device.
Ok,
it installs pretty much successfully, it runs, but there is no
connection and "Connect" button just don't do anything. The software
window looks pretty normal though and all control elements seems to be working
When I press "Disconnect", the error window pops up, saying that "Cannot load DLL "SARK110_DLL.dll"" Exception 0x800736B1
The error window looks like this (russian windows here)
The Device Managers shows that the device is present at Allocation 0 (STM32 Composite MSC+HID)
and says it works properly.
The system is Windows XP 32 SP3
The .NET frameworks installed: 2, 3.5, 4
The SARK-110 firmware is 0.8.0.18a
The SARK Plots version is 1.0.0.13
Any help is appreciated!
Thank you!
Melchor Varela
Hi Dimitri,
It looks like in some PCs with Win XP, the communications DLL “SARK110_DLL.dll” is not loaded correctly.
I do not know the reason yet, but I will try to find a solution.
In the interim, I recommend you uninstall the program and install the version v1.0.0.9. You can find at:
http://sark110.ea4frb.eu/files/sark-plots/archive
This version is not using the DLL and I think it should work in your PC. Please confirm.
73,
Melchor EA4FRB
Dimitri
The 1.0.0.9 version is working!
Although strange thing - the sweep time is substantially larger with connection to PC. It seems like it turns on the averaging and(or)
double sampling mode when controlled from SARK Plots.
Thanks for help!
Will study the device further.
Melchor Varela
Hi Dimitri,
In SARK Plots versions up to 1.0.0.9, the communications with the SARK-110 were implemented in .NET and performances were not so good (averaging or double sampling are not activated from SARK Plots)
Therefore, I decided writing a DLL in C++ for improving sweep time.
I have an old laptop with Win XP and program versions with the DLL works. However, I tested in another PC with Win7 and installing it on Virtual XP mode and it has the same problem as yours.
Therefore, I have an environment were I can reproduce the issue and hopefully find a solution.
73
Melchor EA4FRB
Dimitri
it says Error: no captured data to save, although there is clearly some data on screen.
Same thing happens sometimes (but I can not reproduce it confidently) in the device SARK-110 itself -
I try to save CSV and it gives a popup little window "no data to save, press [■] button"
This is somehow related to averaging mode - when I turned it off, it started to save normally, even
after I turned averaging on again. Also when it stuck with saving, the bitmap record button started to
drop the sweep, so I press the circle button and instead of saving BMP image it dropeed the captured image.
After averaging mode OFF-ON cycle everything get back to normal.
If I will find the exact algoritm how to put the SARK-110 into its "do not want to save" state I will post it here.
Best regards!
Melchor Varela
Hi Dimitri,
There is indeed a problem with saving CSV files in average mode.
If the analyzer starts working in average mode, it will not save the files. However, if the average mode is turned off and then on, it will save the files.
I found the issue and I will post the fix during this weekend.
Thank you very much for catching the issue!
73,
Melchor EA4FRB