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  866   Tue Mar 1 19:03:37 2022 Keita MizukoshiScaler issue to evaluate live time

Hi. I'm trying to evaluate livetime of the evaluation board with the hardware scaler. I'm facing a strange issue.

I took the rate with the function, DRS->GetScaler(int channel).
I guess that channels 0--3 mean the rate for the channel, and channel 4 means the counter of the trigger.
I took the 1,000 pulses generated by a pulse generator with 50 Hz.
The scaler values are ~ 39.83, not 50.
The timestamp difference between the initial event and the final event is 19.98 seconds.
1000/19.98 ~ 50, thus, the evaluation board took the pulses with enough livetime.

Can we believe the scaler value for the livetime evaluation?

  865   Wed Feb 16 14:06:45 2022 Dmitry HitsSliders missing in drsosc

Hi everyone,

Did anyone have a "missing sliders problem" in GUI (see attachment)  accompanied by the following message in the terminal.

(drsosc:4611): Gtk-WARNING **: 14:05:11.249: Negative content width -4 (allocation 20, extents 12x12) while allocating gadget (node scale, owner GtkScale)

(drsosc:4611): Gtk-WARNING **: 14:05:11.249: Negative content width -2 (allocation 0, extents 1x1) while allocating gadget (node trough, owner GtkScale)

 

If yes, how did you solve it?

All ideas are appreciated!

Cheers,

Dmitry

 

  864   Tue Feb 15 12:02:29 2022 Stefan RittCannot trigger on pulses, have to trigger on undershoot

The trigger comparator is a ADCMP601 unit which requires a minimum pulse width of 3-4 ns. I see that your pulses are only 1-2 ns wide. You have to make your pulses wider in order to trigger on them.

Stefan

  863   Tue Feb 15 11:59:22 2022 Alex Myczkoapt install drs4eb

drs4b is now officially on these distributions:

https://repology.org/project/drs4eb/versions

enjoy

  862   Sat Feb 12 13:06:56 2022 Matias SengerCannot trigger on pulses, have to trigger on undershoot

I am using the DRS4 board trying to measure pulses produced by an LGAD. I have no prior experience with this board, have just installed the `drsosc` application and am exploring. I am experiencing some strange trigger behavior. Consider the following screenshot:

 

Here nothing is strange, the board is triggering on the undershoot and it is working fine, I can trigger on rising/falling edge, different levels, etc.

Now, the strange thing is that if I pull the trigger up to trigger on the pulse itself it stops triggering:

I have tried many different setups for the trigger (rising, falling edge, different levels, etc) and nothing works. In the undershoot, everything works.

I have tried with the internal test signal and it works fine:

What could be the problem?

I have run the voltage and time calibrations as suggested in the manual.

  861   Wed Jan 26 06:44:11 2022 student_rikuI want to know about the readout

Dear Stefan

Thanks a lot.

I solved it.

 

Stefan Ritt wrote:
student_riku wrote:

Am I right in thinking that inputting 1 to DMODE (Bit0) in the configuration register will connect the 1024th cell to the 1st cell?

Yes, as desceribed in the manual .

student_riku wrote:

Also, let's assume that after sampling 1024 cells on channel 0, 200 cells are sampled in the second week.
Does the readout of 1024 cells start from cell 0?
Or does it start from the 200th cell?

I don't understand what you mean by "second week". 

Normally, you run the chip continously (DMODE=1) until you receive a trigger. Then, you typically read out the chip from the stop position by using a RSRLOAD pulse (as described unter "REGION-OF-INTEREST READOUT MODE".

Stefan

 

  860   Tue Jan 25 14:44:49 2022 Thomas M.Regarding measuring for a set time

Yes, you've got it exactly right. Thank you, that helps a lot! 

Thomas

Stefan Ritt wrote:

drsosc is a graphical application contiously acquiring data from the board, and drscl is a command line tool for debugging, as written in the manual.

The drsosc application runs indefinitely, but I guess you refer to saving data (by hitting the "Save" button in the drsosc application). Yes the save functionality has a number of events, since you cannot store data indefinitely, since your harddisk does not have indefinite space!

I kind of sense that you want to convert the "number of event to save" into "number of seconds or hours to save". This is not build into the drsosc application. It's all open source, so feel free to change the code. Alternatively, you can use the drs_exam.cpp program coming with the distribution, wich is a simpel C++ program reading the board. It has a for loop over 10 events, but you can change the code easily to run for a predetermined amount of time.

Stefan

Thomas M. wrote:

Am I correct in assuming that drsosc and drscl are functionally equivalent regarding collecting data? We want to run the DRS4-EB for a predefined amount of time. However, the DRS4 scope application seems only to run for a predefined set of measurements. Have I got that right? Is there some reason to avoid running the DRS4-EB for a predefined amount of time that I should be aware of?

 

  859   Tue Jan 25 14:34:42 2022 Stefan RittRegarding measuring for a set time

drsosc is a graphical application contiously acquiring data from the board, and drscl is a command line tool for debugging, as written in the manual.

The drsosc application runs indefinitely, but I guess you refer to saving data (by hitting the "Save" button in the drsosc application). Yes the save functionality has a number of events, since you cannot store data indefinitely, since your harddisk does not have indefinite space!

I kind of sense that you want to convert the "number of event to save" into "number of seconds or hours to save". This is not build into the drsosc application. It's all open source, so feel free to change the code. Alternatively, you can use the drs_exam.cpp program coming with the distribution, wich is a simpel C++ program reading the board. It has a for loop over 10 events, but you can change the code easily to run for a predetermined amount of time.

Stefan

Thomas M. wrote:

Am I correct in assuming that drsosc and drscl are functionally equivalent regarding collecting data? We want to run the DRS4-EB for a predefined amount of time. However, the DRS4 scope application seems only to run for a predefined set of measurements. Have I got that right? Is there some reason to avoid running the DRS4-EB for a predefined amount of time that I should be aware of?

  858   Tue Jan 25 14:15:00 2022 Thomas M.Regarding measuring for a set time

Hello,

I'm working on a project wherein we're looking at photomultipliers. We've already acquired a DRS4 evaluation board with the intent of using it to gather our data.

I've looked at the source code for the software with the intent of maybe writing a patch to add additional functionality. I was hoping you could answer some quick questions in that regard.

Am I correct in assuming that drsosc and drscl are functionally equivalent regarding collecting data? We want to run the DRS4-EB for a predefined amount of time. However, the DRS4 scope application seems only to run for a predefined set of measurements. Have I got that right? Is there some reason to avoid running the DRS4-EB for a predefined amount of time that I should be aware of?

Appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks!

Kind regards,

Thomas

  857   Sat Jan 15 10:50:47 2022 Stefan RittI want to know about the readout
student_riku wrote:

Am I right in thinking that inputting 1 to DMODE (Bit0) in the configuration register will connect the 1024th cell to the 1st cell?

Yes, as desceribed in the manual .

student_riku wrote:

Also, let's assume that after sampling 1024 cells on channel 0, 200 cells are sampled in the second week.
Does the readout of 1024 cells start from cell 0?
Or does it start from the 200th cell?

I don't understand what you mean by "second week". 

Normally, you run the chip continously (DMODE=1) until you receive a trigger. Then, you typically read out the chip from the stop position by using a RSRLOAD pulse (as described unter "REGION-OF-INTEREST READOUT MODE".

Stefan

  856   Sat Jan 15 09:13:42 2022 student_rikuI want to know about the readout

Hello, everyone.
I'm a student in Japan.
Please forgive me if this is a very rudimentary question.

Am I right in thinking that inputting 1 to DMODE (Bit0) in the configuration register will connect the 1024th cell to the 1st cell?

Also, let's assume that after sampling 1024 cells on channel 0, 200 cells are sampled in the second week.
Does the readout of 1024 cells start from cell 0?
Or does it start from the 200th cell?

  855   Mon Jan 3 17:13:41 2022 Stefan RittDRS4 request assistance

1. fDOMINO is defined as fREFCLK * 2048

2. Good values can be derived from the evaluation board schematics: C1=4.7nF, C2=1nF, R=130 Ohm

3. A "1" means a logical high level. See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_level

Lynsey wrote:

Dear Sir or Madam,

      Good morning,I am using drs4 chip, and the measured fDTAP == 1/350ns, that is, fDOMINO == 1 / 350ns * 2048 == 5.8GHz.

     I have three questions:

                              1. Is fDOMINO determined by the chip itself?

                              2. C1, C2 and R2 are TBD. I don't know how many to choose. Is there an algorithm?

                              3."Configure Write Shift Register to contain all 1's",What, pray, is the meaning of “1's"?

                                                                                                                                                          Truely yours.

 

 

  854   Fri Dec 24 03:13:32 2021 LynseyTrouble getting PLL to lock

I also design the circuit myself. Our problem is the same. Can we communicate?

Stefan Ritt wrote:

I guess you mean "1 MHz clock at REFCLK+", and not CLKIN, there is no CLKIN, just a SRCLK, but that is someting else!

There could be many reasons why this is not working. It's hard for me to debug your board without actually having it in hands. So just some ideas:

- Supply a clean differential REFCLK, I never tried one end tied to VDD/2

- Is /RESET high?

- Is BIAS at roughly 0.7V?

- Is A0-A3 different from 1111, which puts the chip in standby

- Did you double check your loop filter?

The easiest usually is to start from a running evaluation board, then compare all pins 1:1 with your board.

Stefan

Tom Schneider wrote:

Hello,

I am working on a custom PCB design with the DRS4 chip, and I can't get the PLL to lock.  I'm feeding CLKIN with a 1MHz CMOS clock (REFCLK- tied to VDD/2), and I'm using the same loop filter as the eval board.  I see from the datasheet that the PLL is enabled by default, so I'm not writing anything to the config register on startup.  I am just driving DENABLE high approx. 100ms after startup and looking for the PLL lock bit to go high.  When I look at DTAP, I see a 3MHz signal.  Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

-Tom

 

 

  853   Thu Dec 23 03:42:26 2021 LynseyDRS4 request assistance

Dear Sir or Madam,

      Good morning,I am using drs4 chip, and the measured fDTAP == 1/350ns, that is, fDOMINO == 1 / 350ns * 2048 == 5.8GHz.

     I have three questions:

                              1. Is fDOMINO determined by the chip itself?

                              2. C1, C2 and R2 are TBD. I don't know how many to choose. Is there an algorithm?

                              3."Configure Write Shift Register to contain all 1's",What, pray, is the meaning of “1's"?

                                                                                                                                                          Truely yours.

 

  852   Tue Nov 16 08:51:14 2021 Stefan RittV3 board, only one channel works, all components at each channel input working

A V3 boards is already 10 years old and out of warranty. The software has no configuration to turn channels off except the channel buttons on the main page on top of the sliders. I presume the channels are broked due to some overvoltage applied to them (the V5 board is better protected against over voltage). You can send it the board for repair, but it will cost almost the same amount of money than buying a new boards.

Regards,
Stefan

Jacquelynne Vaughan wrote:

Hi everyone,

I'm still looking through the forum for an answer to this question, but thought I'd go ahead and post anyway just in case it hasn't been answered yet. If it has I can take this post down.

I have a V3 board, and as far as I can tell only channel 2 gives an output. If I enable other channels using the DRS Oscilloscope software, they do show static but will not show a signal if I connect one to them (e.g. a series of subsequent square waves). A technician and I took the board out and tested all the components leading up to the microcontrollers for each channel, and everything seemed to be working fine. I thought maybe it was configured to only have one channel read an output, but I looked through the Config panel in the software and nothing seemed to indicate that.

I am a novice, and maybe I'm missing something that I didn't see in the manual. I can post screenshots if needed!

Thank you for your help!

 

  851   Tue Nov 16 01:27:51 2021 Jacquelynne VaughanV3 board, only one channel works, all components at each channel input working

Hi everyone,

I'm still looking through the forum for an answer to this question, but thought I'd go ahead and post anyway just in case it hasn't been answered yet. If it has I can take this post down.

I have a V3 board, and as far as I can tell only channel 2 gives an output. If I enable other channels using the DRS Oscilloscope software, they do show static but will not show a signal if I connect one to them (e.g. a series of subsequent square waves). A technician and I took the board out and tested all the components leading up to the microcontrollers for each channel, and everything seemed to be working fine. I thought maybe it was configured to only have one channel read an output, but I looked through the Config panel in the software and nothing seemed to indicate that.

I am a novice, and maybe I'm missing something that I didn't see in the manual. I can post screenshots if needed!

Thank you for your help!

  850   Fri Nov 5 01:12:10 2021 Jiaolonghow to acquire the stop channel with 2x4096 cascading

Thanks for your advice. The problem has been solved by setting the srin again while reading out from srout.

Stefan Ritt wrote:

The problem must be on your side, since the Write Shift Register readout works in other applications with the DRS4 chip. So I can only speculate what could be wrong:

  • Do you really properly set the WSR? When you program it with 00010001b, add 8 more clock cycles and you should see the 00010001b pattern at WSROUT.
  • Do all tests with an oscilloscope, to avoid potential problems in your FPGA firmware (like an input configures as an output by mistake).
  • DWRITE must be high to see the contents of the WSR at the WSROUT pin, maybe that’s your mistake, see datasheet p 5 of 16.
  • To see the contents of the WSR at SROUT, A0-3 must be 1101b, please check with your oscilloscope
  • The addresses A0-A3 are simply connected to a multiplexer, so no clock is necessary after the addresses change

Stefan

Jiaolong wrote:

Hi Steffan,

    I have a question about how to acquire the stop channel: 

    Process:   Configure the Write Shift Register with 00010001b to achieve 4-channel cascading, then after a trigger, set A3-A0 to 1101, sclk keeps 0.

    Result:   the WSROUT pin keeps 0, the SROUT pin has no clock pulse as written in datasheet, but keeps always 1 or 0. It can be seen the stop channel is channel 0 or channel 1, but no situation to represtent channel 3 or channel 4. And if set sclk with 8 pulses, the  WSROUT and SROUT both keep 0.

    What should I pay attention to? Looking forward to your reply.

Jiaolong 

 

 

  Draft   Fri Nov 5 01:10:25 2021 Jiaolonghow to acquire the stop channel with 2x4096 cascading

 

Jiaolong wrote:

Hi Steffan,

    I have a question about how to acquire the stop channel: 

    Process:   Configure the Write Shift Register with 00010001b to achieve 4-channel cascading, then after a trigger, set A3-A0 to 1101, sclk keeps 0.

    Result:   the WSROUT pin keeps 0, the SROUT pin has no clock pulse as written in datasheet, but keeps always 1 or 0. It can be seen the stop channel is channel 0 or channel 1, but no situation to represtent channel 3 or channel 4. And if set sclk with 8 pulses, the  WSROUT and SROUT both keep 0.

    What should I pay attention to? Looking forward to your reply.

Jiaolong 

 

  848   Wed Oct 27 08:11:42 2021 Stefan RittTrigger multiple boards independently

I'm not sure if the rate would go up to 2 kHz (not 2 GHz!). Depends how the USB hub is designed. What you can do however is to buy 4 RaspberryPis (total cost 150$) and run everythign in parallel. The evaluation boards works nicely with the Pi's.

Javier Caravaca wrote:

A related question is: if the 4 boards are triggering at max rate (500Hz), would the total data throughtput (of the four boards together) be 2GHz (500Hz x 4)? Or is the limitation on the readout, rather than the triggering?

  847   Tue Oct 26 23:18:32 2021 Javier CaravacaTrigger multiple boards independently

Thank you Stefan. Actually I noticed that the source code of drs_exam was available after I started this thread, and that was the solution that occurred to me too. I'll give that a try.

A related question is: if the 4 boards are triggering at max rate (500Hz), would the total data throughtput (of the four boards together) be 2GHz (500Hz x 4)? Or is the limitation on the readout, rather than the triggering?

Best,

Javier.

Stefan Ritt wrote:

Unfortunately an independent operation from a single computer is not supported by the software. You can try to modify the drs_exam program and extend it. You can poll all boards in sequence and just read out that one which got a trigger, then start the loop again. But I don't know how good you are in programming. I needs a bit of experience to do that.

Stefan

Javier Caravaca wrote:

Hello,

I recently acquired 4 DRS4 boards and I wanted to ask if it was possible to trigger them independently from the same computer.

I know that you can daisy-chain boards and trigger them all at the same time, but in my case, each of my boards record independent events, so I want them to trigger when trigger conditions are met in each board. I currently use the provided DRSOSC software, that can trigger on only the board that is being displayed at that moment. I tried opening several instances of DRSOSC to associate each to each board, but that is not possible since the second instance already does not find the boards. I wonder if there is a way of triggering from each board independently without having to use four computers.

Thank you,

Javier.

 

 

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