GW Instek GDS-1000-U Series Freewave Installation & User Manual

Digital storage oscilloscope

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User manual (133 pages)

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Page 1 Digital Storage Oscilloscope GDS-1000-U, GDS-1000A-U, GDS-2000A, GDS-3000 Series Freewave Installation & User Guide ISO-9001 CERTIFIED MANUFACTURER...
Page 2 This manual contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this manual may be photocopied, reproduced or translated to another language without prior written consent of Good Will company. The information in this manual was correct at the time of printing. However, Good Will continues to improve products and reserves the rights to change specification, equipment, and maintenance procedures at any time without notice.
Page 3: Table Of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Getting started ..........5 Overview ................6 Types of Operations ............7 Monitoring the Oscilloscope Display ........7 Standard Memory Length Data Capture........ 8 Remote Controlling the Oscilloscope ........11 Long Memory Length Data Capture ........11 Installing Freewave .........
Page 4 Freewave Manual Configuring and Running the Commands ......44 Saving a Command List and its Result ....... 46 Long Memory Data Capture (GDS-2000A/ GDS- 1000A-U Only) ..........47 Viewing Long Memory Oscilloscope Waveforms ....47 Saving Waveform Data ............50 Recalling Waveform Data ...........
Page 5: Getting Started
Getting started ETTING STARTED Freewave supports the GDS-1000-U, GDS-1000A-U, GDS-2000A and GDS-3000 series oscilloscopes and is freely available to all customers. Freewave can transfer full screen images, video, or waveform data from an oscilloscope to a PC via a USB connection. The software display is updated in real-time from the host oscilloscope.
Page 6: Overview
Freewave Manual Overview GDS-1000-U Applicable  oscilloscope GDS-1000A-U  GDS-2000A  GDS-3000  Windows XP (32 bit) Applicable OS  Windows Vista (32 bit)  Windows 7 (32 bit, 64 bit)  Updates the oscilloscope display in real-time, Main features ...
Page 7: Types Of Operations
Getting started Types of Operations Four types of operations are available in Freewave: Standard memory length display monitoring, data capturing, and remote controlling, long memory length data capturing. Monitoring the Oscilloscope Display The oscilloscope display contents appear in the Freewave screen in real-time.
Page 8: Standard Memory Length Data Capture
Freewave Manual Standard Memory Length Data Capture Standard memory length data can be directly transferred to the Freewave screen. Up to 10 waveforms can be captured at any one time for analysis. All waveforms can be zoomed and panned as well as positioned vertically.
Page 9 Getting started Waveform data as well as the oscilloscope identification can be stored as a Comma Separated Values (*.csv) file which can be opened and edited by a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel.
Page 10 Freewave Manual...
Page 11: Remote Controlling The Oscilloscope
Getting started Remote Controlling the Oscilloscope Freewave automatically categorizes and lists the remote control commands. To run the commands, users only have to pick and place them on the list; no manual typing is required. The result can be stored in CSV format. Long Memory Length Data Capture Freewave can take advantage of the long memory length of the GDS-1000A-U and GDS-2000A series oscilloscopes.
Page 12 Freewave Manual...
Page 13: Installing Freewave
Installing Freewave NSTALLING REEWAVE The installation process includes preparing the necessary equipment, installing the software package to the PC, and confirming the connectivity. Required Equipment The following list shows the necessary hardware and software for installing and running Freewave. Item Requirements GDS-1000-U Oscilloscope...
Page 14: Install Required Software
Freewave Manual Install Required Software Microsoft .Net (full version 4.0 or later) and Microsoft Visual C++  2010 Redistributable Package (x86) are required to use some of the Freewave functions for PCs with a 32 or 64 bit OS Microsoft .Net and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable ...
Page 15: Installation Steps
Installing Freewave Installation Steps Follow these steps to properly install Freewave: Download and install the software package.  Connect the oscilloscope to the PC.  Verify the connection and operation.  Installing the Software Package 1. Unzip the software package into an installation directory. 2.
Page 16 Freewave Manual Next button to proceed. 4. Select the directory in which Freewave is to be installed. Click Next. To change the directory, click on the Browse button and select  another directory from the directory map. To calculate the occupied space, click on the Disk Cost button. A ...
Page 17 Installing Freewave 5. Click on the Next button again to start the installation.
Page 18 Freewave Manual 6. When the installation is completed, click on the Close button to complete the process.
Page 19: Connecting The Oscilloscope And Verifying Connectivity
Installing Freewave Connecting the Oscilloscope and Verifying Connectivity 1. Power the oscilloscope up. 2. Select the USB interface by pressing the Utility key, followed by F5 (More). Then, press F4 (USB Port) repeatedly until Computer is selected.(GDS-1000A-U and GDS-1000-U only) Utility USB Port More...
Page 20 Freewave Manual 4. Activate Freewave. If the oscilloscope ID appears on the screen, Freewave is ready for operation. 5. If the oscilloscope ID does not appear in the initial display, click on the Scan (binoculars) icon to manually search for the oscilloscope. If this still fails, follow the instructions in the next section, “Manually Installing the USB Driver”.
Page 21: Manually Installing The Usb Driver
Installing Freewave Manually Installing the USB Driver 1. Open the Control Panel in the PC and activate the System icon. 2. Select Device manager. In Windows XP, select the In Vista, select Device Manager Hardware tab and activate the from the side menu. Device Manager.
Page 22 Freewave Manual 3. Locate the oscilloscope either in the “Port” node (correct) or in the “Other devices” corner (incorrect). Port (correct) Other devices (incorrect) If the oscilloscope is correctly recognized (Port node), repair the  Freewave installation (page25). If the oscilloscope is incorrectly recognized (Other devices node), ...
Page 23 Installing Freewave Vista 6. In the dialog box, select “No, In the “Update Driver not this time” (not connecting software – GDSXXXX”, select to Windows Update) and click the “Browse” dialog. on the Next button. 7. Next, select “Install from a list Click Browse and select the or specific location”...
Page 24 Freewave Manual 8. Select the directory where Freewave is installed and click on the Next button. The USB driver “dso_vpo.inf” will be installed. Click Next. 9. Check the Device Manager again. The oscilloscope should now be recognized in the “Ports” node as DSO.
Page 25: Repairing/Uninstalling Freewave
Installing Freewave Repairing/Uninstalling Freewave After installing Freewave, repairing or uninstalling Freewave is possible using the same setup.exe file used to install the program. Repairs corrupted functions by reinstalling Repair Freewave. Select this function if Freewave starts malfunctioning. Uninstalls Freewave from the PC. Remove 1.
Page 26: Monitoring The Oscilloscope
Freewave Manual ONITORING THE SCILLOSCOPE The oscilloscope display contents appear in the Freewave screen, allowing observing and recording the waveforms in analog form; for capturing digital waveform points, refer to page26 “Monitoring the Oscilloscope”. Here are the available operations. Viewing the oscilloscope’s display contents ...
Page 27: Viewing The Oscilloscope Display Contents
Monitoring the Oscilloscope Viewing the Oscilloscope Display Contents 1. Connect the oscilloscope to the PC and activate Freewave. For details, see page19. 2. Select the Image tab (second from the left). 3. Click on the Play button in the control panel. The oscilloscope’s display contents will appear on-screen.
Page 28 Freewave Manual Note The pause button only applies to the GDS-1000- U/1000A-U To view the display in full-screen Viewing in full- mode, click on the Full-screen screen mode button in the control panel. Note: to go back to the original screen size, press the Space key, or double click anywhere on the screen.
Page 29: Viewing The Oscilloscope Virtual Panel
Monitoring the Oscilloscope Viewing the Oscilloscope Virtual Panel 1. Make sure that the oscilloscope’s display contents appear in the Freewave screen. See “Viewing the Oscilloscope Display Contents”, page 27. 2. Click the View button to toggle the display. Oscilloscope display View button Operation log Control panel...
Page 30 Freewave Manual Use the mouse scroll wheel to scroll the virtual variable knob. To operate a variable knob without Note a scroll wheel, click on the left or right of the variable knob to scroll anticlockwise or clockwise, respectively. To return to the Freewave screen Return to the view, press the View button again.
Page 31: Taking A Snapshot Of Display Contents
Monitoring the Oscilloscope Taking a Snapshot of Display Contents 1. Make sure that the oscilloscope’s display contents appear in the Freewave screen (both Play and Pause mode works fine). 2. Click on the Save button. A file save dialog box will appear.
Page 32: Taking A Video Clip Of The Display Contents(Gds-1000-U And Gds-1000A-U Only)
Freewave Manual Taking a Video Clip of the Display Contents(GDS-1000-U and GDS-1000A-U only) 1. Make sure the oscilloscope’s display contents appear in the Freewave screen, updated in real-time (Play mode). 2. Select the recording area by selecting either “Freewave Screen” or “Oscilloscope Display”...
Page 33: Printing Out Display Contents
Monitoring the Oscilloscope Printing Out Display Contents 1. Make sure the oscilloscope’s display contents appear in the Freewave screen (both Play and Pause mode works fine). 2. Click on the Print button. A standard Windows printout dialog box will appear. 3.
Page 34: Short Memory Data Capture
Freewave Manual HORT EMORY APTURE The Data Capture function in Freewave directly transfers standard memory length waveform data (4k points) from the oscilloscope to the PC. Captured digital waveform data is stored in CSV format. CSV is compatible with most spreadsheet applications. The Data Capture function is used to: View oscilloscope waveforms ...
Page 35 Short Memory Data Capture 4. Click on the Play button in the control panel. Freewave captures the waveform data for a single period and shows them in the screen. Channel Progress Waveform identification Source channels Waveforms Vertical position bar Horizontal position icon Waveform Zoom icon...
Page 36 Freewave Manual One waveform Two waveforms To hide a waveform, uncheck the Hiding a waveform from check box next to the waveform in the display the Waveform Identification list. The waveform data itself will not be deleted. channel on channel off First, activate a waveform by Zooming in or clicking on a waveform button...
Page 37 Short Memory Data Capture The on-screen waveform data points will be shown under the oscilloscope display. Likewise the Time/Division rate will also be updated. Time/Div Waveform Data points Default (4,000 memory points) Zoomed (1,250 memory points) Click on the waveform ID and then Vertically moving (No.2 selected) grab the short bar on the left side of...
Page 38 Freewave Manual The waveform position will be shown under the vertical position bar. Vertical postition To delete a waveform data, click on Deleting the (No.2 selected) waveform data the waveform ID and then click on the Delete icon.
Page 39: Saving Waveform Data
Short Memory Data Capture Saving Waveform Data 1. Make sure that the waveform appears in the Freewave screen. 2. Click on the Save button. A file save dialog box will appear. 3. Select the file type and location and save the data. CSV data files store the waveform data points as well as the oscilloscope identification.
Page 40: Recalling Waveform Data
Freewave Manual Recalling Waveform Data 1. Click on the Recall button. 2. Select a file to recall from the file panel. Make sure that the file is a short memory length file. CSV (*.csv) Data file format  Manufacturer Model name Data file contents ...
Page 41: Using The Commands
Using the Commands SING THE OMMANDS The command function in Freewave allows the oscilloscope to be controlled remotely without using a separate terminal application. Commands are categorized and labeled along with their descriptions. Data format and command order can be semi- automatically configured.
Page 42 Freewave Manual Selected commands Command select icon Command list Command move icon Command description Date Operation log Control panel 4. Click on the command category to show each command (example: voltage measurement commands). 5. Click on a command and then click on the right arrow to copy the command into the command list (example: MEAS:SOUR command).
Page 43 Using the Commands Click on a command in the command list and then Changing the command order click on the up or down arrow. The command changes its position in the list. Moving a command (MEAS:SOUR) up → → Moving a command (MEAS:SOUR) down →...
Page 44: Configuring And Running The Commands
Freewave Manual Configuring and Running the Commands 1. Prepare the command list according to the previous section. 2. Configure the parameters of the commands. To change from “Set” to “Query”, simply double-click on the  “Set/Query” row. → To change from “Query” to “Set”, double-click on the ...
Page 45 Using the Commands → For more details regarding each command, see Note  the programming manuals. Commands relating to screen or waveform  capture may not be available in Freewave.
Page 46: Saving A Command List And Its Result
Freewave Manual Saving a Command List and its Result 1. Prepare a command list and/or run the commands. 2. To save the command list and its result, click on the Save button. The save file dialog box opens. 3. Select the file directory, enter the file name and save the list in CSV (*.csv) format.
Page 47: Long Memory Data Capture (Gds-2000A/ Gds- 1000A-U Only)
Long Memory Data Capture EMORY APTURE (GDS-2000A/ GDS-1000A-U O The Long Memory Data Capture function in Freewave directly transfers long memory digital waveform data (up to 2M) from the oscilloscope to the PC. Captured digital waveform data is stored in CSV format.
Page 48 Freewave Manual 6. Wait while the data is transferred to the PC. This is shown by a progress bar for each channel. Channel 1 vertical scale Waveforms Channel 2 Reset vertical scale Magnify Horizontal /position Pan key Channel Cursor key progress bar Date Operation log...
Page 49 Long Memory Data Capture The waveform will be magnified to the size of the magnification area. Click on the Pan key. To pan the Horizontally screen, hold the left mouse button moving a waveform anywhere on the waveform screen and drag the waveform left or right.
Page 50: Saving Waveform Data
Freewave Manual Pressing the Reset key will reset the Reset Waveform waveform position and scale as well as remove the cursors. Clear waveforms To clear the waveforms on the screen, press the Delete key. Saving Waveform Data 1. Make sure that there is a waveform in the Freewave screen. 2.
Page 51: Recalling Waveform Data
Long Memory Data Capture Manufacturer Model name Data file contents   Serial number Firmware   Saved Date Waveform Data   When saving files, you will get the option to save “Fast” or “Detail” waveform data. Fast data only contains amplitude data. Detail data also contains the time of each point relative to the trigger point.

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Gds-1000a-u series Gds-3000 series Gds-2000a series