| Operating System: | Win95, Win98, or Win NT 4.0 |
| Processor : | Pentium Class (Any speed) |
| Ram: | 32 Mega-Bytes |
| Monitor: | VGA, Or Higher Resolution |
| Video Card: | Supports VGA, 256 Color, 800 x 600 Resolution (Minimum) |
| CommPort: | 4800 Baud, 8 Databits, 1 Stop, No Parity. |
| CD-ROM: | Any Speed |
| Hard Drive: | 10 Mega-Bytes Availiable Space (For Installation Only) |
Please follow this installation procedure to install IR_TEMPSOFT:
1. Place the supplied CD disk into your CD-ROM drive. Make certain that you are not running any other applications at this time. Running other applications while trying to install IR_TEMPSOFT may cause installation errors.
2. Click on the "Start" button on your desktop and the "Run" pop-up panel will appear.
3. Click on the browse button and "Browse" pop-up will appear.
4. Navigate to your CD-ROM drive directory and locate "Setup.exe".
5. Double click on this file and the "Run" pop-up will appear with the "Setup.exe" file name in the "Open" text - box.
6. Click on the "OK" button, and the setup executable file will now begin the installation of IR_TEMPSOFT on your machine.
7. Follow the installation instructions as they appear on your screen. For example, you will be asked in which directory would you like to install the IR_TEMPSOFT program. You may accept the default location provided, ("C:\Program Files\IR_TEMPSOFT\") or specify your own location.
8. During the process of installation, the installer program will notify you if it is about to overwrite an existing file with one that is older. Should this occur, it is advisable to keep your newer files and do not overwrite them with the supplied older files.
9. After a successful installation, the installer program will notify you with a pop-up which states "IR_TEMPSOFT from Omega Engineering Setup was completed successfully." Just click on the "OK" button.
If you have any trouble with the installation of this program please contact technical support at Omega Engineering Inc:
Once IR_TEMPSOFT has been successfully installed, the program automatically defaults to implementing Comm-Port 1 as it's communications port. If this is the port that you will be connecting your IR device to no further action will be required by you to establish communications. The correct baud rate of 4800 Baud, 8 databits, 1 Stop bit, and no-parity is configured automatically by the program.
Should you desire to use Comm-Port 2 as your communications port, you must select it in the program. Use the following procedure to do so:
1. From the program main panel, click on "SETTINGS" on the main menu bar. A "PROGRAM PARAMETERS" pop-up will appear.
2. In the "COMMUNICATIONS" section, select "COM 2".
3. Close this pop-up by clicking on the upper right hand corner "X".
Upon exiting the IR_TEMPSOFT software, the last Comm-Port utilized will be automatically recorded and re-used during the next program startup for user convenience.
IR_TEMPSOFT will automatically switch to Comm-Port 1 if a communications error, (such as selecting a non-existing "Com 2"), should occur during program operation.
The following procedure will serve to quickly acclimatize the user to the IR_TEMPSOFT software and it's operation, while simultaneously begin the process of temperature data acquisition from the IR device.
In these procedures, the user will connect the IR device to the personal computer, start up the IR_TEMPSOFT software, and begin receiving real-time temperature data points. The Temperature Bar Graph, and basic chart operations will be reviewed. The procedures will also demonstrate how to view the received data points, and store them to a text file or export them into MS Excel.
Make certain that your IR device is powered down before you attempt to make any connections to the personal computer. Making connections between powered devices and a powered PC can cause damage to communications ports, or other electronic circuitry in your device or computer.
1. With the IR device powered down, connect the enclosed serial communications cable to the IR device.
2. Connect the other end of the serial cable to the desired communications port of the personal computer. Usually, it is located in the back of the unit.
3. Turn the IR device power on. Point the device to your target, and make certain that you are reading a temperature. Do not set the IR device to begin printing data at this time.
1. From your desktop, click on the "Start" Button.
2. Locate, and click on the "Programs" selection. A side menu will appear listing all application programs that can be run on the computer.
3. Locate and click on the "IR_TEMPSOFT" folder.
4. Click on "IR_TEMPSOFT" to start the program.
1. After the splash screen is displayed and disappears, you will be left at the main panel of the program.
2. Here you will select the "Command" menu item from the main menu bar, which will cause a drop down menu to appear. Select "Send Data In Real Time" to begin receiving data.
3. A popup will appear showing a computer searching for an IR Device with the caption "Scanning CommPort for IR Transmission".
This is normal, as the program is now waiting for your IR Device to transmit it's data through your RS-232 port. While the program is in this receive mode, should data stop arriving within the IR devices set interval, this popup will appear to inform the user that data is no longer being received.
4. Begin the printing process of your IR device by pressing and holding the "FUNC" key on the IR device until the Print Data Display Mode (PRN) appears.
5. Press the "UP" key to increment the printing interval. Press the "Down" key to decrement the printing interval. The printing interval (from 1 to 1999) is the time between datapoints. The default value is 2 seconds.
6. Press the "LOCK" key on the IR device to begin transmitting data. The "PRN" icon appears on the IR device display.
You should now see the current temperature, the downloaded IR device parameters, and the temperature data being charted.
If instead the "Scanning CommPort for IR Transmission" popup is still visible, then there is a communications error. Check the communications cable, and its connection at both the IR device and computers comm-port. Make certain that you are connected to your configured comm-port.
1. To enable the Temperature Bar Graph, in the main menu bar click on "View -> Temp Bar". The moveable bar graph window will appear.
The chart includes a zoom and a cursor operation to aid in the viewing of obtained data. Only the cursor operation is enabled while the program is in the receiving data mode.
1. After acquiring some temperature data points, click on "Stop" in the main menu Bar to stop receiving data.
2. A popup will appear to ask about saving the current plot data. For now, you can click on no. So long as the chart is not cleared, this plot data can be saved later.
3. In the main menu bar click on "Chart -> Show All Points".
4. The chart will display all points received up until the "Stop" command was given.
5. Click on the "CURSOR OFF" button to enable the cursor and a moveable "Cursor Data" window will appear. Move the mouse across the X axis and note that the "Y Value" and "Time" data in the Cursor Data window is updated at each position.
6. Click on the "CURSOR ON" button to disable the chart cursor.
7. The zoom operation can be performed at any time if the chart has data, and real time data is not being received by the program. To zoom in on an area of interest use the mouse to click on one corner of your intended zoom window and drag the mouse to the opposite corner, then release the mouse. The chart will now zoom into the windowed area of interest.
8. You can continue to zoom in further is so desired, however for now click on the "RESET CHART" button to reinitialize the chart parameters to there default values. The chart data will still be there.
9. Double click on the chart area and the "Graph Settings" window will appear. Here you can make x and y adjustments, and or use the chart scroll buttons to navigate about the chart data. You can also disable or enable the High Alarm and Low Alarm Markers on the graph.
1. On the main menu bar, click on the "View" , and then "Last obtained Data Points".
2. The user will now see the last data points acquired opened in Microsoft's Notepad or Wordpad depending on the size of the file.
3. Note that the name of the file is "Last Obtained Data Pts.dat". Temperature data points are automatically stored in this text file as the program receives data from the IR device. This file is overwritten with new temperature data points, with each new "Send Data in Real Time" command. The user can at this time save this data under another file name by clicking on File->Saveas-> of Notepad or WordPad and giving a new file name and location, so that the current acquired data is not overwritten when the next "Send Data in Real time" command is performed.
There are two methods that can be used to export data into a MS Excel spreadsheet. The method to use depends upon the amount of data points acquired, and the user's computer system resources. Large data files should be saved to a text file first, then imported into Excel from the Excel application. The following procedure will demonstrate this method:
1. If you have not closed the MS Notepad, or Word pad window, then proceed to the next step, else Click on View -> Last Obtained Data Points on the main menu bar.
2. In the Notepad or WordPad application window, click on File -> SaveAs and a "Save As.." popup will appear.
3. The default directory is the IR_TEMPSOFT directory, but you may select a different directory to save your data if so desired. Enter "My Data.dat" in the File name text box and click on save.
4. Close the Notepad or Winword application Window.
5. Minimize the IR_TEMPSOFT application window by clicking on the "-" button in the upper right hand corner of the window.
6. Open MS Excel and in the main menu bar click on File -> Open. Navigate to the IR_TEMPSOFT Directory, or the directory to which you stored "My Data.dat".
7. In the Files Of type box, select "All files (*.*)". "My Data.dat" should now be visible. Double Click on it to open this file.
8. The text import wizard will now be invoked. Follow the prompts being certain that you select "delimited" as the original data type, and the delimiting character as a tab.
9. You should now see the text data imported to the excel spreadsheet.
The second method that can be used to export data into a MS Excel is the direct exporting of the "Last Obtained DataPoints.dat" text file into the Excel spreadsheet. Only the last obtained data points can be exported into MS Excel using this method. Data that has been stored prior under another file name must be imported through the procedure explained in the beginning of this section.
It should be noted that the user's computer system resources and the amount of data points obtained will affect the speed of this operation. Computers with a faster processor, and or more memory will be able to perform the direct exporting of the currently obtained data points file without the user being aware of any delay. Slower machines with less memory will still perform the operation, but the delay will be magnified with large temperature data point files. The user is encouraged to try both methods and decide which is best for the application.
10. To begin the direct exporting of the last obtained data points file into an MS Excel spread click on "File -> Create Excel File With Acquired Points".
11. When the "Create Excel File" popup appears, navigate to the desired directory, (default directory is "IR_TEMPSOFT"), and type in the desired file name in the file name text box. This file can now be opened directly through MS Excel.
1. To download stored temperature data points from your IR device, first make certain that the IR device is not in printing mode.
2. On the main menu bar, click on "Command -> Download Stored Data." The "Stored Data" window will appear.
3. The "Stored Data Points" window will appear.
4. Click on the "START RECEIVING" button to bring the program into receive mode. With power applied to the IR device place the "SLEEP/ON" switch (OS550 Series) to the SLEEP position, or release the trigger (OS520 & OS530 series) .
5. Press and hold the "FUNC" key until you see the Print Display Mode (PRN) appear.
6. Press the "LOCK" key to start downloading the stored data to the Personal Computer. The "PRN" icon appears on the IR device display. When the stored data is completely downloaded, you will hear a beep and the "PRN" icon disappears.
7. When the IR device has completed sending all its memory content a pop-up will appear.
8. From the "STORED DATA" window you can save the displayed data to a text file or directly export it into a MS Excel file.
When the program is receiving data from the IR device, each data point is appended to a text file named "Last Obtained DataPts.dat". This file is overwritten with each new "Send Data in Realtime" command. When the user clicks on the "View -> Last Obtained Data Points" in the main menu bar, it is this very file that is opened with MS Notepad, or Wordpad.
To save this data, in the main menu bar of MS Notepad, or Wordpad, click on "File -> Save as" and navigate to your desired directory. The default directory is "IR_TEMPSOFT". Enter a new file name and click on the save button.
All saved data text files, (or any text files for that matter), can be viewed by clicking on "File -> Load File" in the main menu bar. In the "Load File" popup navigate to the file and click on the "OPEN" button. The program will launch MS Notepad or Wordpad depending on the file size. Here the user can view and or edit the saved data file.
A chart data file or plot data file is a file that is used by the program chart to display graph data. It should not be confused with the stored Temperature Data text files described earlier in this section. After a "STOP" command if there is data displayed in the chart, the program will display a "SAVE PLOTTED DATA TO FILE?" popup.
If yes is selected, the chart data will be saved to the file name given by the user with the extension ".rec". Saving this file does not automatically create a text file with the acquired temperature data points. To see more about the chart data files see the "Temperature Chart" section of this manual.
The program temperature chart is a high performance graphing tool with some useful analysis features. This section will describe some of its inner workings as well as how to use it effectively.
Shown below is the chart menu located on the programs main menu bar.
Menu Item Descriptions
RERESH CHART - Selecting this will instruct the windows operating system to repaint the chart.
SAVE PLOT FILE - Selecting this will save any data currently loaded in the chart to a chart file or plot file.
LOAD PLOT FILE - Selecting this will load the user specified chart data file ("Filename.rec") into the temperature chart for viewing.
AUTO-SCALE Y AXIS - Selecting this will enable the Y axis auto-scaling feature of the chart.
SHOW ALL POINTS - Selecting this will cause the chart to draw all data points currently loaded in the chart.
PARAMETERS - Selecting this will open the "Graph Settings" window, in which chart scaling values, and scrolling buttons can be used.
CLEAR CHART - Selecting this will clear all data from the chart and reset its initial parameters.
APPEARANCE SELECT - Selecting this will cause a drop down menu to appear in which the user may change the appearance of the chart. See the "Chart Appearance" Section.
COPY CHART TO CLIPBOARD - Selecting this will copy the image of the chart as it is currently configured to the Window's clipboard for pasting into other applications.
It is important to first understand the relationship between data points and the time domain of the temperature chart. The program uses the printing interval parameter that is stored in your IR device to chart each data point in relation to time. You can use the following formula to calculate the amount of acquired data points for a given time frame.
Data Points = (Recording Time in Seconds) / (Print Interval Of IR Device in Seconds)
For example, if your IR device has its printing interval parameter set to 10 seconds, and you want to record 8 hours of temperature data, you will acquire 2880 data points total.
While the only limit on the total amount of data points that you can acquire is dictated by the amount of memory space on your computer, it is suggested that for long periods of recording (many hours etc.) use the largest interval possible for your application.
Each data point that is drawn in the temperature chart is in fact a value stored in the computer's memory. This allows for fast manipulation of chart scaling. Depending on the user's computer system resources, (memory , processor speed, etc.), the amount of data points viewable on the chart will effect the speed at which the chart can draw these points as well as the speed at which the program can respond to the user's requests.
Program performance has been optimized, by limiting the maximum viewable data points to 200 under normal operating conditions. To see all the data points drawn at once, in the main menu bar click on "CHARTS -> SHOW ALL POINTS". Depending on your computer system, it is possible to view a plot of many thousands of points with no noticeable effect on program performance.
The temperature chart's time domain
can be set to display the chart data in time units of seconds, minutes, hours, or days.
This selection can only be made before the beginning of a new "Send Data in Real Time"
command.
Once the chart is plotting data the time units cannot be changed. To change the time units of the chart double click in the chart area, or on the main menu bar click on "CHART -> PARAMETERS" to open the "Graph Settings" window. Select the desired time units from the time units box.
It is important to follow this procedure when attempting to begin acquiring data in real time.
1. Turn on the IR device and point it at the target. Make certain that you are reading a temperature from the IR device.
2. Make certain that the IR device is not in printing mode.
3. On the main menu bar , click on "Command -> Send Data In Real Time".
4. You should see the "Scanning Commport for IR Transmission" popup.
5. Place the IR device into printing mode.
6. You should see real time data being plotted in the chart.
The IR device only sends the printing Interval parameter when you first put it into printing mode. Without this parameter value the chart wont plot any data. If after a few seconds you don't see any data being plotted, then take the IR device out of printing mode, and on the main menu bar click on "STOP". Restart this procedure from step 2 of this procedure.
7. To stop acquiring data on the main menu click on "STOP". Then take your IR device out of printing mode.
The chart can only be cleared when the program is not receiving data. Once the program is in idle mode, you can clear the chart by clicking on "CHART -> CLEAR CHART" on the main menu. You can also clear the chart from the "Graph Settings" window by clicking on the "CLEAR CHART" button.
The chart is automatically cleared with each "SEND DATA IN REAL TIME" command.
To adjust the chart axis parameters double click in the chart area, or on the
main menu bar click on "CHART -> PARAMETERS" to bring up
the "GRAPH SETTINGS" window.
This moveable window can be opened while receiving data in real time. Here you can make you adjustments to the X and Y axis of the chart. Buttons are also provided for scrolling along each axis. Numerical values cannot be entered while the program is acquiring data, however, all up and down buttons will still be enabled. You can also change the title of the Y axis.
Negative numbers cannot be entered as parameters for the X axis. Also it should be noted that the Min. and Max. spin buttons utilize a variable increment / decrement scheme as opposed to a fixed increment / decrement scheme. For example, if you want to increment the Y axis maximum value, and 218 is the current value, when you click on the up arrow, the value will be incremented by 20% resulting in a new value of 261.6.
The Y axis of the temperature chart has an auto-ranging feature which can be enabled from the main menu bar, or by checking the "Auto Scale" box in the "Graph Settings" window. To enable from the main menu bar, click on "CHART -> AUTO SCALE Y AXIS". A check mark will indicate that the feature is enabled.
If the temperature chart contains plotted data, and the program is not receiving data from the IR device, the zooming feature of the chart is automatically enabled. To zoom in on an area of interest move the mouse to the first corner of your target window. While pressing down on the left mouse key, drag the mouse to the opposite corner of your target window and release the mouse key. The chart will display your zoom window. You can perform multiple zooms until you are satisfied with the window. Notice that after a zoom operation is done a "RESET CHART" button appears on the lower right hand corner of the chart. Click on this button to reset the chart axis parameters to there initial values. The chart data will not be cleared.
As demonstrated in the "QUICK START" Section of this manual, a cursor may be used to read the chart data more accurately. Keep in mind that in between data points the values given are based on interpolation. To enable the cursor click on the "CURSOR OFF" button. The button's caption will change to "CURSOR ON". A moveable cursor data window will appear. As you move the mouse across the X - axis the cursor will track the mouse movement. The X and Y values are automatically updated in the cursor data window. You can disable the cursor by closing the cursor data window, or by clicking on the "CURSOR ON" button, which will change it's caption to "CURSOR OFF".
Charts can be saved for later viewing and analysis. To save a chart, in the main menu click on "CHARTS -> SAVE PLOT TO FILE". In the "Save Plot to File" popup specify a directory and file name. Notice that the extension is ".rec". This file extension is used to denote a chart file. Chart files are used to graph chart data and are stored in a specific file format. Chart files are not to be confused with the temperature data files that can be created in MS Notepad or Wordpad. It should also be noted that creating a chart file does not automatically create a temperature data file.
Chart files that have been created by using the "Save Plot To File" command can be loaded into the chart. To load a prior saved chart file, on the main menu bar click on "CHARTS -> LOAD PLOT FILE". In the "LOAD FILE" popup navigate to the file and click on the "OPEN FILE" button. You should now see the chart data graph with the units and printing interval displayed.
Note that the chart will start at time 0. If the entire chart data is below 200 data points then the whole graph will appear. If the entire chart data exceeds 200 data points, then the max time of the chart window will reflect the max time at 200 data points. You can see the whole chart by clicking on "CHARTS -SHOW ALL POINTS", or you can scroll along the time domain by double clicking on the chart area to bring up the "GRAPH SETTINGS window and using the X or Y scroll buttons.
The chart can be copied to the MS Windows Clipboard to be pasted into other applications for reports etc. To copy the chart to the clipboard, first configure the chart to your desired min and max time, and temperature. Once you are satisfied with the displayed data, then on the main menu click on "CHARTS -> COPY CHART TO CLIPBOARD". The image of the chart will copied to the clipboard. Open your desired application such as MS Word, or Excel if it is not already opened. On the main menu bar of the application click on "EDIT ->PASTE SPECIAL". From here you can follow the normal procedure for pasting and resizing images. For best results always paste as "PICTURE".
To change the chart appearance, on the main menu bar click on "CHART -> APPEARANCE SELECT". You can choose from one of the three selections:
1. STANDARD
2. OSCILLISCOPE
3. PLAIN
The chart appearance can be used when pasting the chart into other applications for printing purposes, etc. For example, when using non-color printers it may be advantageous to change the chart appearance to "PLAIN" before copying it to the clipboard and pasting it into your application.
High and low alarm markers can be enabled on the graph for better data range visualization. To enable the markers, bring up the "Graph Settings" window by double clicking in the graph area, then click on the "Display Alarm Limits" checkbox. The red line shows the High Alarm Limit, and the blue line shows the Low Alarm Limit.
If the markers are not visible, adjust the minimum or maximum Y axis parameters until you can see the markers. The alarm markers are determined by the High and Low Alarm Limits set for the Temperature Bar. See the "Temperature Bar - Range And Visible Alarm Settings" Section of this manual for further details.
The temperature bar is bar graph which serves as a visual indicator
of the measured temperature data sent by the IR device.
To display the Temperature bar, on the main menu click on "VIEW ->TEMP BAR".
The min. and max. range values, Audible Alarm, as well as the visible
alarm indicators can be configured on the Temp Bar by clicking on
"CONFIGURE".
In the range settings section you can adjust the min. and max. values for the temperature range. In the alarm settings section you can enable or disable the visibility of the high and low alarm indicators, enable or disable the Audible Alarm, as well as set the high and low alarm values. When the Alarm indicators are enabled, the measured temperature will effect the color of the bar graph for visual indication. It should be noted that these high and low alarm limits are configurable for the Temp Bar only. Adjustments here will not change the high and low alarm limits of your IR device.
The following conditions will cause the following bar graph colors;
Temperature below Low Alarm Limit = yellow bar graph.
Temperature within alarm limits = green bar graph.
Temperature above high alarm limit = red bar graph.
The "CURRENT TEMP" field on the main panel will also follow this color scheme.
When the IR device is first set to printing mode, it sends a block of parameter
information to the computer. The parameters in this block are a snapshot
in time of calculated and stored values from the last time that the IR device
acquired data. These parameters are displayed in the
"DOWNLOADED IR-SYSTEM PARAMETERS" section of the program main
panel. These parameters are read only, and cannot be altered in the program.
Parameters such as EM (emissivity), INT, UNITS, HAL, and LAL can only
be changed on the IR device. The parameters MAX, MIN, DIF, and AVG are
also extracted from the block of information and displayed. The MAX, MIN, DIF,
and AVG parameters do not reflect the current maximum, minimum, difference
or average values.
When a new "SEND DATA IN REALTIME" command is issued in the program, any parameters listed will be cleared and the section will be updated with the new information block.
When a chart has been loaded the "DOWNLOADED IR-SYSTEM PARAMETERS" will display only the temperature units and printing interval of the IR device at the time the chart was saved.
First be certain that you have configured the correct comm-port and that you are connected to that comm-port. See "How to Select Your Communications Port" in the installation section, as well as "Connecting the IR-System to the Personal Computer" in the "Quick Start" section.
If your comm-port is correct, and your connection is valid, then restart the receiving process by first removing the IR device from its printing mode, then on the main menu of the program click on "STOP". Now restart the procedure outlined in "Procedure to Start Charting Real Time Data" in the Temperature section of this manual.
IR System Has Halted Data Transmission
This message will appear if the program is expecting to receive data from the IR device, but the IR device has stopped sending data. To avoid seeing this message, always issue the "STOP" program command before you removed the IR device from printing mode.
This message will also appear if the user is downloading stored data, and the IR device has completed sending all of its memory contents and is sending no more data.
Received Stored Data while in Real Time Mode
This message will appear if the user issued a "SEND DATA IN REALTIME" command, but set the IR device to print stored data instead. The program will automatically halt, and remain idle. Remove the IR device from its printing mode, and restart the desired procedure making certain to correctly select the desired command.
Received Stored Data while in Real Time Mode
This message will appear if the user issued a "DOWNLOAD STORED DATA" command, but set the IR device to print real time data instead. The program will automatically halt, and remain idle. Remove the IR device from its printing mode, and restart the desired procedure making certain to correctly select the desired command.
If the program is running sluggishly, it may be because the computer system's resources are not adequate to run the program, or the user may have too many applications running at the same time. Close down any other open applications to see if the program will respond quicker. Also, compare your system hardware with the required hardware in "System Requirements" of the "INSTALLATION" section in this manual. Items such as processor speed, and system memory are definite performance factors for the program.
Another factor that could effect program performance is too many data points are being drawn in the chart window and the user's computer has low resources available. This can happen after the user selects "CHARTS -> SHOW ALL POINTS" for a large chart file. To remedy this, click on the "RESET CHART" button if it is displayed on the lower right hand corner of chart. This will reset the chart time axis parameters so that only 200 data points will be displayed in the chart window.