Products > Test Equipment
FeelTech FY6600 60MHz 2-Ch VCO Function Arbitrary Waveform Signal Generator
fremen67:
--- Quote from: DaveR on October 05, 2019, 03:16:10 am ---Well, I've given Fremen's control software a good thrashing over the last two weeks and, functionally, it has stood up very well. Bugs were very few:
1. Run-time error 384 followed by crash if you try to minimise the window to the taskbar.
2. Run-time error 380 when trying to start software when FY6600 is already running (not every time, but persistent when it happens). Program starts, but fails to open COM port and shows extreme values in parameter boxes. Only cure is to close both program and FY600, then restart program followed by startup of FY6600 and manual instigation of comms. *** SEE BELOW ***
3. Run-time error 6 in Calibration, if out of range number is entered into "Ch1 L:0.5 Min" box (eg accidentally enter a +ve number). The value is saved, but the program shuts down when the message box is closed.
Every feature was tested for operation and works as it should (as far as I can tell, anyway); the only shortcut I took was to only partially test Ch2 with some random settings. Sweeps using VCO input were tested using an FY6800 feeding the VCO of the FY6600 (and kept me amused for hours watching the results on the scope).
The main improvements needed are now to the usability of the control software, some cosmetic, and some to the data entry method.
1. After seeing that popup box appear a thousand times when entering a new parameter, I would just love to see direct entry into the value boxes enabled! If the popup has to stay, then a bigger, bolder font is required to ease eyestrain.
2. Can a shortcut method of number entry be implemented, eg 50m instead of 50000000, 10.7m instead of 10700000, and 455k instead of 455000? Besides being difficult to read and decipher long strings of zeros, I think I'm getting RSI from bashing the zero key!
3. Remove all Chinglish from labels and popups, such as "Forth&Back" in the Sweep - Direction label (which strangely changes to the more usual Back&Forth once the Source has been changed to VCO and back to Time). As Forth, Back, and Back&Forth are not really descriptive of what happens in most of the sweep modes, "Increasing", "Decreasing" and "Alternating" may be better general terms. (Or Rising, Falling, Alternating ?) In the Waveform Window, the "Reset Waveform" button doesn't really describe what it does, ie "Clear Waveform" or "Erase Waveform", and the popup it opens is a good example of Chinglish gobbledegook, when it really means "Are you sure? Unsaved data will be lost."
4. Calibration window - it would be preferable if the first data entry popup opens as soon as the item buttons are pressed, as it's too easy to look away from the screen after clicking on a button and enter the first value from the DVM, only to then find that the popup window hasn't been open... Again, direct entry would be preferable to the popup.
5. Move the Waveform and Text windows to the RHS, so that the most used windows (Control and Configuration) are in their "natural" positions at the left?
6. Provision for naming uploaded waveform slots something other than "RandomXX" would be very good to have. How do you know what you put in Slot 51 a couple of weeks after the upload, let alone six months later?
*** This actually happened again while I was writing this tome, but this time it wasn't recoverable after an hour of trying different things. The only way back this time was a full bluepill erase and reprogram. The full error message showed "Invalid parameter value", and was there even after a simple reprogramming without erasure, so the problem appears to be corruption of the data storage area in the STM32 chip. The first time it happened was after I'd closed the software and turned off the boxes, although they were still connected to the PC which was left running overnight doing other things; the problem occurred the next day, for no apparent reason, when I turned the boxes and software back on again for another session but, as stated earlier, I managed to get everything up again pretty quickly and worked for several more hours without a hitch. This time I'd pressed "Send Data" in the Waveform Window when there was only a blank waveform on screen; wondering if I'd accidentally overwritten the factory sine wave in Slot 1, I went back to the Control Window to check, and error 380 appeared again. (Which reminds me - that "Send Data" button needs a confirmation popup along the lines of "Ensure selected Loading Area is correct. Send / Cancel" to stop accidental overwriting of uploaded waveforms.)
I think soundtec said he'd been struck by the same, or similar, error just a few days ago, but I don't know if he's overcome it yet. I'll keep playing with the software to see if I can find any clues as to what might be happening.
Regards,
Dave
--- End quote ---
Thank you Dave for the feedback.
As you may have guessed, there are 2 projects in development: the front end or bluepill project and the PC Software modification project. The first one was the main goal, the second one was of course induced by the first one. When I started the front end project (without LCD display), I had to find a way to send commands to the MCU, hence the use of the Feeltech PC software for which they published sources and the protocol. I did not realized that this second project will consume so much time. In fact module after module, I rewrote about 80% of the original code.
The code that has yet to be improved/rewrite is the code behind the 2 left tabs (wave management, in which I just added a new protocol for wave transfer with new FP) and the code related to the COM port handling (which I started to simplify before releasing v0.8 but which is still in progress).
The main problem I see with this PC Software is that it is written in VB6, which is obsolete for years now. It won't run on linux platforms and regarding GUI possibilities, the less that can be said is that it looks quite old and limited now).
So at some point, a new PC interface will have to be written with another tool. That should not be a problem with the current project as a starting point plus the extended protocol description. So my goal with this modified PC Software is to have a tool that works with all the new FP functionalities, which won't crach, but I won't have time to improve a lot the GUI.
I will investigate the 3 crash problems you reported.
The only problem related to the bluepill firmware seems to be linked to the data storage in the STM32 MCU. In fact there are no real eeprom in the MCU and the data that needs to be stored is stored in code pages. This happens when you save a specific configuration but also in case of a power off to save the current configuration. When the voltage drops under a limit, an interrupt is triggered which calls a backup procedure.
Did you activated the last startup configuration option before it happens? Should you reproduced the problem, could you back up the whole MCU before erasing it? It should allow me to detect which parameter caused the problem. I suppose that the MCU crashed at started when loading the last configuration parameters. I will also add extra checks to detect potential problems.
All the improvements you are listing on the PC Software would be indeed worth having. I wil try to improve the GUI for the next release. It is just a matter of time ;-)
fremen67:
--- Quote from: soundtec on October 05, 2019, 01:35:03 pm ---Thanks for that Dave ,
Yeah its very similar to the issue Ive had , like you I found it best to run up the software before the machines connected ,then manually select the com after . I did get a couple of lock ups on both software and the Generator ,but a power down and back up of FY and restart of the software cleared the problem .
Without any software connected I find the FY to work fairly well , its putting out the waves or functions its supposed to do.
--- End quote ---
Thank you Soundtec for the feedback. I will spend some time to improve the robustness of the PC Software.
--- Quote from: soundtec on October 05, 2019, 01:35:03 pm ---One thing I found a bit superfluous was the menu within menu , so for instance say you have a choice of two variables , Trig or counter input , instead of source button toggling trig/counter you have to go down another menu level to select between two variables ,
I think multiple presses to cycle through the options is better and easier than another layer of submenu ,
--- End quote ---
You don't have to go into submenus to modify the list values. It is only usefull when you have a lot of choices in the list as it allows you do directly select the one you want.
The intended way of choosing a list value when you are in edit mode is either to use Right or Left Arrow or Encoder + or -. It will show the next or previous possible choice.
With encoder you can go very fast.
Do you also don't like this way too?
--- Quote from: soundtec on October 05, 2019, 01:35:03 pm ---I must reflash my on-board Stm32 , I'll be more carefull this time , Ive a feeling there could have been a grounding issue between the computer and the FY6600 last time ,a ground loop and hum I think could upset the flashing of memory , I'll run the laptop off batteries only this time when I run the update .
Maybe screening both the ST link and the FY6600 in a biscuit tin for the duration of the update might be a plan too .
--- End quote ---
Should you have the problem where the FP don't start, before re-flashing the MCU, could you make a full backup? And also tell me what is shown on the LCD?
fremen67:
--- Quote from: DaveR on October 05, 2019, 03:16:10 am ---3. Remove all Chinglish from labels and popups, such as "Forth&Back" in the Sweep - Direction label (which strangely changes to the more usual Back&Forth once the Source has been changed to VCO and back to Time). As Forth, Back, and Back&Forth are not really descriptive of what happens in most of the sweep modes, "Increasing", "Decreasing" and "Alternating" may be better general terms. (Or Rising, Falling, Alternating ?) In the Waveform Window, the "Reset Waveform" button doesn't really describe what it does, ie "Clear Waveform" or "Erase Waveform", and the popup it opens is a good example of Chinglish gobbledegook, when it really means "Are you sure? Unsaved data will be lost."
--- End quote ---
This should be an easy and quick modification. But what should I use?
There are 3 modes for sweeping:
Mode 1: goes from start value to end value,
Mode 2: goes from end value to start value,
Mode 3: goes from start value to end value then come back from end value to start value
If your start value is lower than your end value, than "increasing" or "Rising" might be confusing for Mode 1 as it will in fact decrease the value…
Other ideas for the 3 modes?
DaveR:
--- Quote from: fremen67 on October 05, 2019, 04:33:14 pm ---Did you activated the last startup configuration option before it happens? Should you reproduced the problem, could you back up the whole MCU before erasing it? It should allow me to detect which parameter caused the problem. I suppose that the MCU crashed at started when loading the last configuration parameters. I will also add extra checks to detect potential problems.
--- End quote ---
Hi Fremen. I'm pretty sure I was running with M1 enabled, and I certainly had another saved config in M2. The problem when error 380 strikes is that the parameters mostly go back to their defaults (or some improbable value such as -1 sec sweep time) or are blank. Although you can change tabs, the screens themselves are completely frozen, so any chance you might have had of correcting an obviously incorrect parameter is gone - one of my first thoughts was to load one of the saved configurations, but there was no way to do it. The Startup configuration on the Config page had also changed back to "Default" and likewise couldn't be changed again. I wish I'd thought to take some screenshots, as they might have been of use to you. After deciding that the nuclear option was the only way left, I unzipped a fresh copy of the 0.8.hex file and did a memory comparison against it before I erased the MCU, and the ST-LINK Utility found no differences, so it was obvious that the program code itself hadn't been damaged. I can't see any option to make a full chip backup, but presumably I could download the pages used for data storage if I knew their start address and size (if ST-Link will allow it)? If you let me know where to look I'll see if I can save the contents next time it happens. (I could have used another bluepill last night and retained all the evidence, as it happens, but it was after 3am and my brain was slowing down!)
Regards,
Dave
DaveR:
--- Quote from: fremen67 on October 05, 2019, 06:19:21 pm ---This should be an easy and quick modification. But what should I use?
There are 3 modes for sweeping:
Mode 1: goes from start value to end value,
Mode 2: goes from end value to start value,
Mode 3: goes from start value to end value then come back from end value to start value
If your start value is lower than your end value, than "increasing" or "Rising" might be confusing for Mode 1 as it will in fact decrease the value…
Other ideas for the 3 modes?
--- End quote ---
Yes, that is a conundrum! Perhaps if the Start and End value boxes were also relabelled "Start (Low) Value" and "End (High) Value", or just "Low Value" and "High Value" that would dissuade perverse-minded users from doing things in an unnatural way? ^-^
Regards,
Dave
Edit: How about "Low Limit" and High Limit" for the value boxes? That should make the intent pretty well foolproof, I'd have thought.
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