This is Newsletter #8 of the Open Instrumentation Project.
The OIP makes open-source software and economical high-technology instrumentation hardware for students, hobbiests, engineers and scientists. Current instruments include oscilloscope (with spectrum analysis), arbitrary/function waveform generator and Bode Plot network analyser.
Details of the project, hardware and software are at
Our contact email is: snipped-for-privacy@magma.ca
- CircuitGear
----------- We have just launched CircuitGear, a combination Oscilloscope, Waveform Generator and Digital I/O. This is a 20MS/sec dual channel scope, 2MHz arbitrary waveform generator, 2MHz hardware random noise generator and
8 bit digital input-output port, all fitted into the same pocket-sized package as the DSO-101 oscilloscope.
CircuitGear is currently shipping with basic functionality in the software including spiffy new screen readout displays. We're porting spectrum analysis, Bode plots (vector-network analyser), XY plots and all the other features of the DSO-101 scope and WGM-101 waveform generator to CircuitGear and expect to post that software by the end of this month.
As usual for the Open Instrumentation Project, the software is Open Source, licenced under the GPL, and runs on the Windows, Linux and Mac platforms.
With CircuitGear, now possible for students and hobbiests to own - and carry around with them - a complete electronics lab.
- Laplace Cookbook
---------------- The Laplace Cookbook is a new paper in the Application Notes section of the Syscomp web page. The paper is a mix of theory and practice, showing how to determine the sine-wave frequency response and transient pulse response of an electrical network. The paper shows how to use Maxima, an Open Software Computer Algebra system, to generate theoretical results -- and how to confirm these results with measurements using the Syscomp WGM-101 waveform generator, DSO-101 oscilloscope and Bode Plot software.
- National Instruments Labview
-------------------------------- At the request of one of our university clients, we created Labview software that can talk to the Syscomp DSO-101 oscilloscope and WGM-101 waveform generator. It's been tested under Labview running on Windows and Linux platforms. If you're interested, contact us and we'll send you the software.
------------- Peter Hiscocks September 2008