AN: Open Instrumentation Project Progress

PeterH · 2006-10-04T18:49:20+00:00

The Open Instrumentation Project (OIP) has been formed to supportopen-source software and low cost hardware for electronicinstrumentation.Currently available instruments include an oscilloscope, waveformgeneratorand network analyser. Source code is available at sourceforge/oip.Information on the hardware is available at Recent developments in the project:- The Mac OS-X port appears to be operational, thanks to a contributionbySeneca Cunningham. We hope to have the beta test version up onSourceforgeshortly. (If you'd like to push that along, send me email and we'llmove itup in the queue.) This means that the oscilloscope and waveformgeneratorare now available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS-X operating systems.There are three new papers on the Syscomp web page:- An illustration of oscilloscope single-shot capture operation,documentingcontact bounce in an electromechanical relay.- Notes on BNC adaptors and cables, including a pointer to buildingcablesusing RG-174U (small diameter coax).- Instructions on Downloading and Executing code from Sourceforge.(This isspecific to OIP software, but may be useful for other downloads usingtheTcl/Tk language.)The vector network analyser which uses the oscilloscope and waveformgenerator plus GPLed software, is described in the September issue ofCircuit Cellar magazine.The oscilloscope software has the following new features:- Software Zoom (aka Waveform Browser) captures 32k samples and allowsa zoominto any portion of that data record- Vertical Calibration allows the vertical sensitivity to becalibrated, toyeild improved accuracy over the raw hardware- X-Y Plot displays in the foreground while displaying X vs time and Yvs timein the background. Allows the display of Lissajous figures.The waveform generator software now supports 0.1Hz resolution. (Thehardware always supported that resolution, now the software takesadvantageof that.)Peter HiscocksSyscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto

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Mike Monett 19 years ago

The site map link in the bottom right corner seems to work much better. It is much less confusing, and it gives better feedback to show where you have been and where you may like to go next.

You have all the available links on one page, which helps ensure you haven't missed one that might be interesting.

Unlike the javascript menus on the front page, the site map links change color to indicate which pages you have already visited. So you don't waste time returning to a page you have already seen.

The site map doesn't require javascript. This is a continual source of malware attacks, and although Michael's site doesn't have any problems, you always forget to turn it off when you leave and go somewhere else. You don't need javascript to obscure email addresses - there are many sites such as

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that do an excellent job of keeping your email address from spambots. So there is no need to subject visitors to the security risks presented by javascript.

Simpler really is better.

Regards,

Mike Monett

Antiviral, Antibacterial Silver Solution:

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SPICE Analysis of Crystal Oscillators:

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Noise-Rejecting Wideband Sampler:

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Michael A. Terrell 19 years ago

Try the "Home" button on each page instead of the back button.

Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I\'ve got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida

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Nico Coesel 19 years ago

An I2C controlled TV tuner, some analog stuff to do filtering / level detection and a microcontroller with integrated ADC is all that is needed. The firmware doesn't need to be fancy: set the frequency, read the detected level. Done!

Reply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl

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JeffM 19 years ago

No, thanks.

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Failed validation, 1573 errors (Like that was a surprize).

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Joerg 19 years ago

Hello Nico,

TV tuners don't typically reach below 35MHz and not above 850MHz. Some (but not all) also show a big void between VHF and UHF. And their dynamic range, oh, don't get me started on that one...

Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com

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jasen 19 years ago

how about this:

This driver is for USB parallel port adapters that use the Lucent
Technologies USS-720 chip. These cables are plugged into your USB
port and provide USB compatibility to peripherals designed with
parallel port interfaces.

you'll find it in the linux kernel (kernel.org among other places)

drivers/usb/misc/uss720.c

Bye. Jasen

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pbdelete 19 years ago

Any other "sources" for this than tv's ..?

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Joerg 19 years ago

Not really. Except for scanners but the cheap ones aren't very good.

Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com

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Nico Coesel 19 years ago

You asked for something affordable... An additional mixer can be used to convert the higher frequencies.

Reply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl

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Joerg 19 years ago

Hello Nico,

Sure. I was just mentioning this because the "Done!" statement ain't quite true :-)

Mixing up the

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vasile 19 years ago

I like you, spoiled childs ! :) The initial topic was about a 2MHz analog bandwidth oscilloscope and you've jumped directly to 1Ghz spectrum analyzer !

My opinions: TV tuner is quite nasty for a digitally controled VCO on

46-850MHz (this is the real range for most of the tuners). It require also a VGA because the oscilator amplitude could vary about 10-20dB in the whole frequency range. One tested example is here:

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On ISM band (2400-2500Mhz) there are a few free projects about spectrum analyzers which could be modified (not easily, nor simple) for 300MHz-1Ghz range:

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This kind of spectrum analyzer will be "lazy". As lazy as TEK492 (and who have such old beast knows what I'm talking about). Even the Spectran analyzers are suffering from the same ill:

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(click on english on the left side of the page) This laziness is mostly because of the USB interface which has used the fast standard (12Mbit per second) instead the high speed of 480Mbit/sec. Spectran not able to capture all WLAN "glitches" for example. So... what to do ?

greetings, Vasile

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Joerg 19 years ago

Hello Vasile,

That's engineer thinking. Always looking for better, more, lower cost :-)

Well, what could you really do with a 2MHz scope?

Even my very first scope had 8MHz BW.

That could be calibrated out though, same with the input filter sloping.

Aaronia probably got the closest to a low cost solution but they do not offer a no-display and no-battery version. They should IMHO but they don't.

Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com

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itsneumueller 19 years ago

Hello Vasile,

the problem is not the USB (its 2.0 and fast enough) its the circuit itself. Thats why Aaronia is showing up a NEW unit in some weeks: The SPECTRAN#3. There are lots of rumors on that unit but whats for sure now is thats it will be very! very fast and cant be compared with the "old" Spectran V2. Propably thats what you (and others) are looking for ;-)

vasile schrieb:

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