Recording Data; Using The Recorder To Format A Floppy Disk Or Compactflash™ Card - Omega RD8800 User Manual

Chapter 3 Getting Started

3.8 Recording Data

The Recorder saves data, on command, to either a 3½ inch floppy disk or CompactFlash™ card depending on
which option is installed. The disks/cards are MSDOS™ compatible and can be read on any IBM PC compatible
with a 3½ inch floppy drive or CompactFlash™ drive. Data is stored on the disks/cards as individual pen files with
additional files for configuration and alarm/event logging. Any DOS or Windows File Manager can be used to move,
rename, erase or archive the files. Recording may be started or stopped manually, by an external event or an
internal alarm.
Each of the 15 points may be recorded at different sample rates, or the user can choose to record all points at the
same rate. This enables slowly changing parameters to be recorded at a slower rate than faster changing signals.
The user can also choose in which mode to store the data, including: Instantaneous, Average, Peak and Valley.
The amount of data that can be saved depends on the number of channels and the sampling rate; both param-
eters can be set by the user. A 3½ inch 1.44 Megabyte floppy disk holds approximately 700,000 16-bit
samples and a CompactFlash™ Card holds approximately 64,000,000 samples for a 128 Megabyte Card.
These numbers must be divided by the number of channels and the sampling rate to determine the total storage
time for the disk/card. For example, using a 3½ inch 1.44 Megabyte floppy disk, recording four channels at 1
sample per second, the total recording time is: 700,000 divided by 4 (channels) multiplied by 1 (second) = 175,000
seconds or 48 hours. If the sampling rate were changed to 60 seconds, or 1 sample per channel every 1 minute,
the recording time becomes 120 days.
The user can also store other types of data on the disk/card, including Configuration files that contain information
about how the Recorder is set up and Alarm/Event log files that record all Alarm and/or Events to disk/card.
Configuration files use the space of around 4,000 samples, while each Alarm or Event uses the space of 6 samples.
The amount of data that can be stored on a disk/card is dependent on circumstances (how many alarms occur) and
what has been selected for recording.
NOTE: Before a disk/card can be used for recording it must be FORMATTED. For best results, format the disk /
card inside the Recorder.
3.8.1 Using the Recorder to format a floppy disk or CompactFlash™ card
To format a floppy disk or CompactFlash™ card using the Recorder:
1. Turn the unit on.
2. If you are using a floppy disk, ensure the disk is not write protected. The plastic slide in one corner of the
floppy disk must be in a position such that it exposes the hole in the plastic cover.
3. Open the door below the LCD screen and insert the disk/card, label side up, into the drive.
4. From the Main Button Bar press the MENU button to bring up the Command Menu Button Bar.
5. Press the PROGram button to bring up the Programming menu.
6. Use the UP (↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ) or DOWN (↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ) button to highlight Record Setup and then press the ENTER button.
7. Use the UP (↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ) or DOWN (↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ) button to highlight Format Disk and then press the ENTER button.
8. The display will read format=NO*. Press the YES button to change the display to read format=YES?.
9. Press the ENTER button to begin formatting. Once the disk/card is formatted, the unit will verify the disk/
card. For large disks/cards this process may take a while. For disks/cards larger than 20 Meg, an
ABORT button will be available in the lower right corner, and the process of verifying the disk/card can be
aborted at any time. The light on the drive will come on until the format and verification is complete and
then Format Complete will be displayed.
10. Press the OK? button to end the format. The disk/card is now formatted and ready for use.
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