ELOG DRS4 Forum

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Hi Stefan.

I managed to add the averaging possibility to the oscilloscope program, but it runs too slow, so now I'm tring to add this option to the example file you attached to the program (drs_exam.cpp).
My problem is that when I run the file is not passing the stage of getting the trigger. (it just wait after writing the line "Waiting for trigger...")
When testing the software, I work with a signal of up to 10 MHz, limited in voltage to the DRS Eval 4 ability, and I connect the signal to channel 1,from it by default is supposed to get the trigger. I also tried to change the channel settings to other channels or external trigger, and use them, but it still not working.

I found out that the problem is related to the line "while (b->IsBusy());" in the code, but I have a problem understanding what the function "IsBusy" do and how it's work.

Can you please explain me a bit what this function does?

have a nice day,

Tmiron

The function b->IsBusy() returns true if there has been no trigger. So "while (b->IsBusy());" is simply an endless loop until the board triggered. Please check your signals and trigger configuration. Maybe you have to adjust the trigger level or polarity via b->SetTriggerLevel(). Try signals with lower event rates. Verify that the board triggers with the DRSOsc program, you can then read off the optimal trigger level from there.

/Stefan

Hi satefan,

I did some debug on the DRSOsc program and saw that everywhere you used the function "IsBusy()", you used it with "SoftTrigger()", which (to my understanding) create a software trigger. did you used another function, other than "ISBusy", that check the hardware trigger?

have a nice day,

Tmiron.

279

Thu Jul 25 01:31:29 2013

Andrey Kuznetsov

alonzi wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

alonzi wrote:

Working with the DRS evaluation board we noticed some funny behavior: See attatchment 1. In about 1% of scope traces we see the first and last bin take on a value substantially different from the baseline, note the small spikes on the end of the traces. These spikes occur across all channels and either appear in all channels or in none. Attachment two shows what several thousand scope traces look like. You can clearly see that some of the traces are offset from the normal base line. Has anyone observed this behavior before? Any ideas?

see https://muon.npl.washington.edu/elog/g2/Detectors/550 for full discussion.

Actually the first and last sample are even more off the baseline, so I cut them out in software in the DRSOscilloscope. So actually the chip has only 1022 "usable" cells. It might happen in some rare cases that more cells are affected, although I have not yet seen this (maybe I did not look close enough). So I propose that you cut out one more bin at the beginning and the end, so a total of 1020 cells, and you should be fine.

/Stefan

Thanks for the quick reply. Our quick fix was to do just that.

We've encountered similar issues with board v2.0. Cell #2 across all channels would occasionally go full negative amplitude (0 I guess).

I don't remember if calibration fixed the problem, might have.

278

Tue Jul 23 22:42:31 2013

alonzi

Stefan Ritt wrote:

alonzi wrote:

see https://muon.npl.washington.edu/elog/g2/Detectors/550 for full discussion.

/Stefan

Thanks for the quick reply. Our quick fix was to do just that.

277

Tue Jul 23 22:35:08 2013

alonzi wrote:

see https://muon.npl.washington.edu/elog/g2/Detectors/550 for full discussion.

/Stefan

276

Tue Jul 23 22:31:08 2013

alonzi

see https://muon.npl.washington.edu/elog/g2/Detectors/550 for full discussion.

Attachment 1: Screenshot.png

Attachment 2: data_problem.png

275

Tue Jul 16 16:25:43 2013

tmiron alon wrote:

Hi Stefan.

I found out that the problem is related to the line "while (b->IsBusy());" in the code, but I have a problem understanding what the function "IsBusy" do and how it's work.

Can you please explain me a bit what this function does?

have a nice day,

Tmiron

/Stefan

274

Tue Jul 16 10:02:28 2013

cannot save in binary format

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

My problem is not with wxWidgets itself but with links your program is doing to the wxWidgets. if you can please tell me the wxWidget version you used, I'll use this one instead the version I'm using and I think it will solve the problem.

Tmiron.

I currently use version 2.9.4, but chances are high that it will work with 2.8.12.

/Stefan

but was version 2.9.4 the one you used when you built Version 4.0.0 of the DRS4 oscilloscope program, or was it an erilar version, and if so, do you remeber what version it was?

tmiron.

I used 2.8.12 for Version 4.0.0.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan.

I found out that the problem is related to the line "while (b->IsBusy());" in the code, but I have a problem understanding what the function "IsBusy" do and how it's work.

Can you please explain me a bit what this function does?

have a nice day,

Tmiron

273

Tue Jul 9 14:00:49 2013

Dmitry Hits

Stefan Ritt wrote:

Dmitry Hits wrote:

Hi,

I would like to save the waveform in a binary format. When I click Save then change format from xml to dat in the menu. I still get xml format but with dat extension.

what I am missing?

Thank you,

Dmitry.

Version 4.0.1 has a problem there. Please use 4.0.0. If you can compile the program yourself, just change this line:

--- DOFrame.cpp (revision 20656)
+++ DOFrame.cpp (revision 20655)
@@ -517,7 +517,7 @@
if (!filename.empty()) {
m_btSave->SetLabel(_T("Close"));
m_btSave->SetToolTip(_T("Stop saving waveforms"));
- if (filename.Find(_T(".")) != wxNOT_FOUND) {
+ if (filename.Find(_T(".xml")) != wxNOT_FOUND) {
m_WFfd = 0;
m_WFFile = mxml_open_file(filename.char_str());
if (m_WFFile)

Thanks that fixed it!

Dmitry

272

Tue Jul 9 12:23:06 2013

cannot save in binary format

Dmitry Hits wrote:

Hi,

I would like to save the waveform in a binary format. When I click Save then change format from xml to dat in the menu. I still get xml format but with dat extension.

what I am missing?

Thank you,

Dmitry.

Version 4.0.1 has a problem there. Please use 4.0.0. If you can compile the program yourself, just change this line:

271

Tue Jul 9 11:40:00 2013

Dmitry Hits

cannot save in binary format

Hi,

I would like to save the waveform in a binary format. When I click Save then change format from xml to dat in the menu. I still get xml format but with dat extension.

what I am missing?

Thank you,

Dmitry.

270

Sat Jul 6 06:10:38 2013

Missing methods in drs-4.0.1.tar.gz

Hermann-Josef Mathes wrote:

Hi,

while trying to create python bindings for the DRS stuff using SWIG 2.0.4, two undefined methods prevent the python interpreter from loading the generated shared library. These methods are:

int DRSBoard::SetADCActive(unsigned char)
bool ResponseCalibration::Calibrate(unsigned int,unsigned int,float *,float *,float,bool)

Can we safely removed those methods from the DRS header files or (what I have actually done) is it better to fake some empty implementation in the input file to SWIG?

Another minor issue is that the python interpreter always terminates with a SegFault after script termination. I had not yet time to track that down...

Thanks & regards

Hermann-Josef

Thanks for pointing that out. My C++ compiler does not complain about such errors. You can safely remove these functions. I did so as well, so future versions will not contain that any more.

/Stefan

269

Fri Jul 5 12:46:45 2013

Hermann-Josef Mathes

Missing methods in drs-4.0.1.tar.gz

Hi,

while trying to create python bindings for the DRS stuff using SWIG 2.0.4, two undefined methods prevent the python interpreter from loading the generated shared library. These methods are:

int DRSBoard::SetADCActive(unsigned char)
bool ResponseCalibration::Calibrate(unsigned int,unsigned int,float *,float *,float,bool)

Can we safely removed those methods from the DRS header files or (what I have actually done) is it better to fake some empty implementation in the input file to SWIG?

Another minor issue is that the python interpreter always terminates with a SegFault after script termination. I had not yet time to track that down...

Thanks & regards

Hermann-Josef

268

Thu Jul 4 10:14:32 2013

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Tmiron.

I currently use version 2.9.4, but chances are high that it will work with 2.8.12.

/Stefan

but was version 2.9.4 the one you used when you built Version 4.0.0 of the DRS4 oscilloscope program, or was it an erilar version, and if so, do you remeber what version it was?

tmiron.

I used 2.8.12 for Version 4.0.0.

/Stefan

267

Thu Jul 4 10:01:06 2013

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Tmiron.

I currently use version 2.9.4, but chances are high that it will work with 2.8.12.

/Stefan

but was version 2.9.4 the one you used when you built Version 4.0.0 of the DRS4 oscilloscope program, or was it an erilar version, and if so, do you remeber what version it was?

tmiron.

266

Thu Jul 4 09:17:31 2013

tmiron alon wrote:

Tmiron.

I currently use version 2.9.4, but chances are high that it will work with 2.8.12.

/Stefan

265

Thu Jul 4 09:07:24 2013

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Hallo,
I'm using DRS4 Evaluation Board Rev 4.0 and I'm trying to change the output of the samples to be an average of # measurements (1000 or even more)
during the process I have encountered some difficulties I hope you will be able to help me with:

1. the DRS chip have 8 channels but the Evaluation board have only 4 channels. does the default mode of the DRS in the Evaluation Board is 1024 bins for each channel or 2048?

2. in the readout mode, does it samples all the 1024 bins waveform from a channel and then move to the next one, or after each bin it move to the next channel?

3. In the file "drs4_eval4_app.vhd", I have a problem finding the names of the signals that represents the registers bits which tell me what is the number of the bin (1-1024) the ADC is reading from the DRS, and the signals

that represents registers A0-A3. can you send me their names?

4. In another matter- is the -0.5V to 0.5V is the upper and lower limit of the input (or just a working range), and if not what is the limit for AC? is there a fuse on the board in case of overload from the input? (I didn't see it in the User's Manual, but I didn't know if you will mention it there in case there is one).

thanks in advance and have a nice day,

Tmiron

1. All 8 channels are read out, but only 4 are displayed in the oscilloscope.

2. It reads all 1024 bins from a channel, then switch to the next channel.

3. The ADC readout happens in lines 1576+. The register for the sample count is drs_sample_count, and the signal for the address is drs_addr.

4. The evaluation board manual explicitly mentions the maximum allowed input range on page 5.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan,

I'm trying to add the averaging feature to the oscilloscope instead. I have a basic knowledge in C++ so I'm having problem finding the initial place (places) of the data acquisition. furthermore, I saw you already made an averaging possibility for some of the features in the program at the measure window.
Can you please tell we in which of the programs of the Scope (and in what line if possible) can I find the initial\main data acquisition so I could follow it from there, and where is the location of the averaging function you already made?

have a nice week,

Tmiron

The averaging possibility in the measure window is just a "place holder" for future extensions, which are not yet implemented.

A good point to implement averaging is in the function Osci::ReadWaveforms() in Osci.cpp.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan,

I have been trying to compile my changes to the program, but have a problem with the "wxWidgets". can you tell me which version of the wxWidgets and which c++ program did you use to built the drs4's scope program?

I'm using "microsoft visual c++ 2010 express", and the closest I got to compile something was with the wxWidgets 2.8.12 version (It's tell me I'm missing the file "wxmsw28d_core.lib" although I built it).

have a nice day,

Tmiron.

I guess it should work with 2.8.12. Try to compile their examples, and consult their documentation if it does not work. I cannot give support for a package I have not written.

/Stefan

Tmiron.

264

Thu Jul 4 08:54:25 2013

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

1. the DRS chip have 8 channels but the Evaluation board have only 4 channels. does the default mode of the DRS in the Evaluation Board is 1024 bins for each channel or 2048?

2. in the readout mode, does it samples all the 1024 bins waveform from a channel and then move to the next one, or after each bin it move to the next channel?

that represents registers A0-A3. can you send me their names?

thanks in advance and have a nice day,

Tmiron

1. All 8 channels are read out, but only 4 are displayed in the oscilloscope.

2. It reads all 1024 bins from a channel, then switch to the next channel.

3. The ADC readout happens in lines 1576+. The register for the sample count is drs_sample_count, and the signal for the address is drs_addr.

4. The evaluation board manual explicitly mentions the maximum allowed input range on page 5.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan,

The averaging possibility in the measure window is just a "place holder" for future extensions, which are not yet implemented.

A good point to implement averaging is in the function Osci::ReadWaveforms() in Osci.cpp.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan,

have a nice day,

Tmiron.

I guess it should work with 2.8.12. Try to compile their examples, and consult their documentation if it does not work. I cannot give support for a package I have not written.

/Stefan

263

Thu Jul 4 08:32:11 2013

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

Stefan Ritt wrote:

tmiron alon wrote:

1. the DRS chip have 8 channels but the Evaluation board have only 4 channels. does the default mode of the DRS in the Evaluation Board is 1024 bins for each channel or 2048?

2. in the readout mode, does it samples all the 1024 bins waveform from a channel and then move to the next one, or after each bin it move to the next channel?

that represents registers A0-A3. can you send me their names?

thanks in advance and have a nice day,

Tmiron

1. All 8 channels are read out, but only 4 are displayed in the oscilloscope.

2. It reads all 1024 bins from a channel, then switch to the next channel.

3. The ADC readout happens in lines 1576+. The register for the sample count is drs_sample_count, and the signal for the address is drs_addr.

4. The evaluation board manual explicitly mentions the maximum allowed input range on page 5.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan,

The averaging possibility in the measure window is just a "place holder" for future extensions, which are not yet implemented.

A good point to implement averaging is in the function Osci::ReadWaveforms() in Osci.cpp.

/Stefan

Hi Stefan,

have a nice day,

Tmiron.

262

Tue Jun 18 14:19:39 2013

ROOT program to decode binary data from DRSOsc

Please find attached a simple ROOT based program (http://root.cern.ch) to decode binary data from the DRSOsc program. It assumes that all four channels were recorded. If this is not the case, the program can be adjusted accordingly.

To use it, simply type (assuming that you have written a data file "test.dat" with DRSOsc):

root [0] .L decode.C+Info in <TUnixSystem::ACLiC>: creating shared library /tmp/./decode_C.soroot [1] decode("test");Info in <TCanvas::MakeDefCanvas>: created default TCanvas with name c11927 events processed"test.root" writtenroot [2]

If you have turned on the clock on channel4 of the DRS4 evaluation board, it will produce a plot like this:

/Stefan

Attachment 1: decode.C

#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include "TFile.h"
#include "TTree.h"
#include "TString.h"
#include <iostream>

struct Header_t {
   char           event_header[4];
   unsigned int   serial_number;
   unsigned short year;
   unsigned short month;
   unsigned short day;
   unsigned short hour;
   unsigned short minute;
   unsigned short second;
   unsigned short millisecond;
   unsigned short reserved1;
   float time[1024];
};

struct Waveform_t {
   char           chn1_header[4];
   unsigned short chn1[1024];
   char           chn2_header[4];
   unsigned short chn2[1024];
   char           chn3_header[4];
   unsigned short chn3[1024];
   char           chn4_header[4];
   unsigned short chn4[1024];
};

void decode(char *filename) {
   Header_t header;
   Waveform_t waveform;
   Double_t t[1024], chn1[1024], chn2[1024], chn3[1024], chn4[1024];
   Int_t n;

   // open the binary waveform file
   FILE *f = fopen(Form("%s.dat", filename), "r");

   //open the root file
   TFile *outfile = new TFile(Form("%s.root", filename), "RECREATE");
   
   // define the rec tree
   TTree *rec = new TTree("rec","rec");
   rec->Branch("t", &t   ,"t[1024]/D");  
   rec->Branch("chn1", &chn1 ,"chn1[1024]/D");
   rec->Branch("chn2", &chn2 ,"chn2[1024]/D");
   rec->Branch("chn3", &chn3 ,"chn3[1024]/D");
   rec->Branch("chn4", &chn4 ,"chn4[1024]/D");
  
   // loop over all events in data file
   for (n=0 ; fread(&header, sizeof(header), 1, f) > 0; n++) {

      // decode time      
      for (Int_t i=0; i<1024; i++)
         t[i] = (Double_t) header.time[i];
      
      fread(&waveform, sizeof(waveform), 1, f);
      
      // decode amplitudes in mV
      for (Int_t i=0; i<1024; i++) {
         chn1[i] = (Double_t) ((waveform.chn1[i]) / 65535. - 0.5) * 1000;   
         chn2[i] = (Double_t) ((waveform.chn2[i]) / 65535. - 0.5) * 1000;   
         chn3[i] = (Double_t) ((waveform.chn3[i]) / 65535. - 0.5) * 1000;   
         chn4[i] = (Double_t) ((waveform.chn4[i]) / 65535. - 0.5) * 1000;   
      }
      rec->Fill();
   }
   
   // draw channel #4
   rec->Draw("chn4:t");
   
   // print number of events
   cout<<n<<" events processed"<<endl;
   cout<<"\""<<Form("%s.root", filename)<<"\" written"<<endl;
   
   // save and close root file
   rec->Write();
   outfile->Close();
}

261

Mon Jun 10 16:24:21 2013