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Another question – how do we turn off the manual TG after use? I can’t seem to find a way of stopping it!
Jim – v3.02 corrects the jpg issue.
I’d like to support Mark in his request for -3dB markers. I often have to measure Q and a quick pair of -3dB markers would be very useful. It can be done by placing markers manually but it is rather a faf.
The Rigol SA has this feature, so I’m sure SPIKE can easily do it!v3.02 installed without fuss and the JPG issue is resolved. Thanks!
Something has just struck me – do we not get to select the TG output level in scalar analysis? The TG level is setable in manual TG controls, but I can’t find any for scalar sweeps.
Thanks Andrew. You guys are really on the job now. Can I just say a big thankyou for finally giving the SH hardware the software it deserves. It really is a pleasure to use (after a steep re-learning curve!), whereas before it became a real drag. (insert thumbs-up smiley here).
BTW, what was wrong with the jpg save? I found that if I did a search for the filename of the missing jpg, it reported that it was right there in the SH directory, but it was not visible!I’m still having trouble saving screen images in JPG format. It works fine if I use .bmp or .png, but .jpg saves nothing, there is no sign of the jpg file in the folder. It’s not a major issue, but I’ve always stored my screen-grabs in jpg format and I don’t really want to change.
Any ideas?It’s installed and working beautifully, no crashes or errors and the sweeps are MUCH quicker. Just to start the day with a stupid question – how do I get it to store an image in JPG format? It defaults to PNG and I can’t find a way to change it.
OK. I’ll just install Spike, as I have drivers from my previous install. I’ll probably leave it ’til tomorrow morning now, as if it doesn’t go to plan I won’t sleep! Thanks for all your hard work.
It’s midnight here in the UK and the new s/w has just popped up. Do we have to install the new USB drivers or will they be downloaded and installed along with Spike? Thanks.
Behave yourself Ockhams, or he won’t come!
Great news. It sounds as though a lot of thought and hard work has gone into this re-write, and judging by what I’ve seen and heard it will be impressive. At last the software will match the hardware capabilities!
Will the new s/w install as a new device ie not dependent on having the old s/w installed? So we will un-install the old 2.18b completely and start from scratch?
And no firmware update, that’s a relief. My friends call me Captain Brickitt, can’t think why….Remove the nut from the front SMA. Remove the sticky trim label from the rear panel (you may have to remove the nuts from the BNC’s) and you will see four cross-head screws. Remove these and then you can slide the pcb backwards out of the case. I found mine was stuck and needed a bit of brute force to free it.
I think the above is correct, but I’m working from memory. I bet Justin or one of the guys will put me right.
In case you’re wondering why I took mine to bits, I had blown up the mixer (still don’t know how…) and wanted a look inside.As soon as I got my Hound I could see the connectors being a weak spot, so I built the two units into a smart instrument case and fitted two ‘sacrificial’ SMA’s to the front panel. These are connected to the Hound’s connectors with short leads. A quick self-sweep up to 4 GHz showed no loss or dips.
Justin – a 100 point sweep would be adequate and 150 Hz BW would be fine for most purposes. A minimum span of 1 KHz and 90dB dynamic range would also do nicely.
In other words, yes to everything. Would manual stepping at 10Hz increments still be available, as the more I think about it the more I like it?
Many thanks.Justin – I often make and sweep filters with widths of a few hundred Hz to 10 KHz for comms purposes. These usually have CF’s in the range 455 KHz to 10 MHz. I also sweep single crystals (to measure their characteristics) which have very sharp and deep curves. If the new SW could handle these it would be great. Manual stepping would be acceptable, but an auto sweep would be nice.
Keep up the good work, it is much appreciated.That sounds great, Cory. One of the most troublesome modes was the ‘slow, high dynamic range’ sweeps, which I use a lot for sweeping narrow filters etc. Very crashy! Is this mode still to be a separate thing like the previous one or will it be fully integrated?
I got the impression that it was (previously) a last-minute bolt-on that didn’t like talking to the rest of the Hound.
Thanks.Hello everyone. I’ve owned an SA44b and the TG44 for a few years and although the hardware has excellent performance (the phase noise is about 20/30 dB better than many budget desktop SA’s), the software has given me ulcers. I won’t go into details, but the poor ergonomics and the instability of some modes is enough to drive a man to drink. So I’m extremely happy to learn of the new software which is currently under development, and the short demo on You Tube looks very impressive. At last we will be able to see what is happening on long, slow sweeps and be able to change or abort sweeps without all that waiting around! Fingers crossed for an early 2015 release.
