Tenma multimeter RS-232 software FUBAR

I purchased a Tenma 72-6870 multimeter from MCM (an inone company) because it was cheap and it included an RS-232 output for recording measurements.

My laptop is running Windows 98.

I installed the Windows 98 software from the CD included with the multimeter.

The installation went well and I can start the application.

However, when I click on the on-screen "begin" button, I get a very un-infoprmative error message "File is corrupt!" and nothing else.

The manual that came with the multimeter makes no mention of ANY error conditions much less what to do about them. The manual appears to be an English translation of an Estonian translation from the original Egyptian hieroglyphics that it was written in.

The Tenma web site was of no help.

The MCM web site also has no customer support for technical problems.

Has anyone here used that multimeter with the RS-232 link?

Jim

Reply to
James Meyer
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I was made in Thailand in that case. ;-)

Graham

p.s. I *nearly* pissed myself but my bladder isn't yet that weak !

Reply to
Pooh Bear

Roll your own software with the data in this thread:

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or just search for "Tenma 72-6870" in Google Groups.

Matt Roberds

Reply to
mroberds

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 04:58:09 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@worldnet.att.net wroth:

I did the "Google Groups" thing just after I posted here. Maybe I should e-mail John Smith to see if he's already put something together.

My first guess is that an RS-232 "keyboard stuffer" feeding Excel would do all I need to do. I used Hyperterminal to look at the raw stuff the meter is sending. The data rate of 2400 baud at about 4 samples per second should leave plenty of time to do everything.

Jim

Reply to
James Meyer

I have a Uni-Trends UT60E dvm that I got from Marlin Jones. On the off-chance that the software protocols are similar or that they all are really made at the same plant in China, you could try downloading their software. Of course, right now the UT60E version seems to be missing, but there are several other models so maybe you could find one with a similar list of features to your Tenma. Anyway, go to

formatting link
and browse if you want to try this. Each program is 3-8 MB.

-- Regards, Carl Ijames carl.ijames at verizon.net

Reply to
Carl Ijames

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 23:31:21 GMT, James Meyer wroth:

More info....

While the setup program was doing its thing, I got a couple of messages that said "Files being installed are older than files already on your computer. Keep your files?"

Of course, I answered to keep my newer versions of the files in question. They appeared to be Windows system files. I always opt to keep newer files with every other software installation I've done, and never had a problem.

When I un-installed Tenma's software and re-installed it and answered "Yes" to replace new versions with older versions, the resulting installation started working.

God knows what other previously installed software I've screwed up by replacing newer system files with older ones. The good news is that the computer I'm playing with isn't my main one and I can always format the HD and reinstall everything.

Oh, and now that Tenma's software is working, I can see that the serial link is dropping data about one time out of every six or eight samples. The link on sci.electronics.equipment that Matt Roberds and I found about the same time mentioned that little "feature". I'll have to go back and see if there was any resolution to that.

Jim

Reply to
James Meyer

In article , James Meyer wrote: [...]

Do you have any fancy CD writing software installed? On my Win98, the serial port lost characters when I installed such software. It seems it goes to look for a CD from time to time *WITH THE BLOODY INTERRUPTS OFF*

Also: Try bringing up a DOS window and running some DOS com program with a source of serial data connected. Write a file and then create a software kludge to look of missed characters. This will tell you if the problem is really their software.

Laptops tend to be the worst about having Windows take long naps with the interrupts disabled.

--
--
kensmith@rahul.net   forging knowledge
Reply to
Ken Smith

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