Hello Ron,

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Will you try installing one more video driver for the onboard video?

Here is the Dell driver page for your PC. http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/optiplex-9020-desktop/drivers

Under the video tab, the second driver is for the Intel HD 4600 Graphics driver. Try installing this driver and then running the software with your monitor connected to the onboard video again.

Let me know if this changes anything.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Ron,

Both your integrated GPU and dedicated GPU are more than capable of running our software. Because the error is happening in the OpenGL DLL, it still looks like a graphics issue. At this point I’m not entirely certain the best course of action. There are a couple ideas I have.

You could try to install the latest drivers for your dedicated card direct from AMD, I found the one for your card and OS here http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows%208.1%20-%2064
Feel free to go through the process of finding the driver on the AMD site to ensure I linked the right one.

Do you have any backed up updates through the Windows update utility? It might be worth fully updating just in case.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you disable/pullout the dedicated card and just use the integrated graphics. If the integrated card works then we have narrowed the problem down to incompatibility with the dedicated GPU.

This is the first time I have seen a capable PC fail in this way.

Additionally, can you send a screen shot of the software as it crashes? Does the UI even appear before crashing? A tell-tale sign of graphics incompatibility is when the center of the application is blank or filled with junk, otherwise, in a normal application, you would see the rendered graticule (grid).

Regards,
A.J.

[Andrew]

Hi Alex,

Try using the Windows+Left, Windows+Right keys to re-position the window. Whatever windows has focus can be moved around this way. You will have to find a way to ensure the Spike window has focus, you could probably select it with the alt-tab method.

Or… Check this link out as well, I think this applies to you
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/bring-misplaced-off-screen-windows-back-to-your-desktop-keyboard-trick/

If these do not work, read on, otherwise ignore the rest of this message.

What I think this comes down to, is that Spike remembers where it was last placed, and with your multi-monitor setup it is re-opening in a place that no longer exists or is off screen. You can force Spike to re-open in the middle again with a small amount of work.

Navigate to this directory
C:/Users/YourName/AppData/Roaming/SignalHound/
AppData is a hidden folder, you will need to show hidden folders.
In this folder you should see a file called Layout.ini, you can either delete this file, or edit it in notepad and remove all the info under the [MainWindow] and save the file. The Geometry value is what is storing your window size and location. Launching the application with that deleted should restore the defaults which is centered and full screen on the main display. (If the other screen is still what Windows considers the main display, it will probably still open on the other window).

Regards,
A.J.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Andrew.

Hello Ivan,

The 20dB store through is just being used internally to calibrate high gain measurements. You will not see the effect you mentioned. It will only affect measurements below -45dB.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi RonTer,

This error makes me think the PC you are using does not have sufficient graphics capabilities. The Spike software requires OpenGL 2.0 support from your GPU, which sometimes is not available on tablets or netbooks, or maybe even a PC that is >5 years old.

Email me at aj@signalhound.com or reply here. Let me know your PC model, be as specific as you can. If you want, in the device manager, find your CPU and graphics card. Let me know what you see. Sometimes updating a graphics driver can resolve the issue.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Ivan,

Thanks for the heads up. I was able to quickly find the issue with the low frequency network analyzer sweeps. I am planning on releasing an update to the software within the next couple weeks. I can have this fix included. Is this adequate for you?

Regarding your other question, the 20dB store through enables more accurate measurements below -45 dB. Without the 20dB store through, we can only calibrate 0 -> -45dB. Check out the user manual, section 4.4 for more information.
https://signalhound.com/sigdownloads/Spike/Spike-User-Manual.pdf

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Khatana,

Here at Signal Hound we use C++ almost exclusively so we do not have very much experience with C# or any of its available libraries. We do all of the plotting ourselves for our applications.

The best way to find plotting libraries for C# would be to use a search engine. There are likely many free C# graph/plotting libraries available, you will just have to find them.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi JuiceKing,

Thank you for pointing this out. We were unaware of this issue. This is because the harmonic viewer is using a 200kHz span for each patch and at 100kHz center frequency, the previous harmonic is visible in each step. I can look into resolving this for a future update. A viable alternative for now would be to utilize the step entry, and use the arrow keys to step to each harmonic. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello JuiceKing,

See our SA44B hardware manual.
https://signalhound.com/sigdownloads/SA44B/SA44B-User-Manual.pdf
This information is in section 3.1.1 but I realize now there are better places to put this information. I will add this information to the RBW limitations for the future.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Ivan,

Thank you very much for the feedback. These are very good suggestions. We log all customer requests and implement them as we have time. Regarding point #2, in the lower left corner of the graticule you will see an uncalibrated message when the store through is not active. I realize this is not as convenient as a pressed button, but still serves a similar purpose and will hopefully help you determine when you need to perform another store-thru. Thank you again.

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Andy,

In Spike version 3.0.11 we released the ability to drag the active marker around with the mouse. This will hopefully make some of your measurements easier until we implement the full -ndB markers. It is still on our list of feature requests.

Regards,
A.J.

Hey Mike,

OK, so the functionality is purely aesthetic? Basically just so you can visualize the channels easier. It is an interesting idea and I could see the usefulness in it. Thank you for the suggestion. I do keep track of all users suggestions.

Regards,
A.J.

Yes, it is just a basic limit line.

On the topic of custom mask utilities, are there any implementations you have used on other equipment you like that you can point me to? Maybe you can describe the type of functionality you expect from a custom mask utility? I can’t guarantee that we would build it but I always like collecting ideas from customers.

Regards,
A.J.

Does it always show passed?
What version of Spike did you download, see the Help -> About menu.
So I just gave you an example file, you will need to populate it with values for the channels you are interested in, following the same format. See attached image for what I am seeing.

A.J.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

Hey Mike,

I apologize, try file contents like this instead.

904.0, -250, -60
905.0, -250, -60
905.0, -250, -40
907.0, -250, -40
907.0, -250, -60
908.0, -250, -60

This specifies a minimum as well for each frequency. This displays correctly for me. It appears the two value line is not being parsed properly. This should resolve the issue and allow you to use limit lines.

Let me know your results.

Regards,
A.J.

Hey Mike,

You could load a custom limit line which would in effect create a mask. Create a file in a text editor or in excel like so

904.0, -60
905.0, -60
905.0, -40
907.0, -40
907.0, -60
908.0, -60

(The format is [MHz, dBm] on each line)

and name it MyFileName.csv. Then in the software, File->Import->LimitLines and find and select your file.

If you create a list of points that outline the channels you are interested in observing, the software will create a max value limit line that will be drawn over the graticle. It would also let you know when a signal exceeds the limit line as well.

Is this type of functionality what you are looking for?

Regards,
A.J.

Hi Mike,

The SA44 and SA124 only have an analysis bandwidth of 250kHz which limits you to symbol rates of ~150kS/s or less (most signals). Our software sets the device bandwidth to 2*samplerate when looking at a signal. This does limit you to certain signals for the SA44/SA124. Our BB60C spectrum analyzer has an analysis bandwidth of 27MHz, and is much better suited for wideband signal measurements.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
A.J.

Mike,

Thank you for clarifying, I read that incorrectly. That is a good idea, and I think we contemplated sending out a mass email at one time, not sure if we ever committed to it.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello Thomas,

The TG44 does not need the SA to generate calibrated outputs.

Regards,
A.J.

Hello MikeH,

As of Spike version 3.0.10, the software now tells you when there is a new version available and provides a link to the download page. You will see the notification on the right hand side of the status bar (lower right). For this to work, your PC must be connected to the internet on program startup.

I think a Spike sub-forum would be a good idea.

Regards,
A.J.

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