Tenor System 8-Channel Data Logger User Manual, version 2.
Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................3 2.0 SOFTWARE AND USB DRIVER INSTALLATION ..............................................4 3.0 HARDWARE DESCRIPTION...............................................................................6 3.1 TECHNICAL DETAILS .....................................................................................................7 3.2 LED INFORMATION .........................................
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 1.0 Introduction The Tenor Data Logger from Soft dB is an 8-channel acquisition system that can collect data from different sensors (ICP and pre-amplified sensors). This instrument is based on an external acquisition USB unit and a PC application, and is suitable for acoustic and vibratory measurements. The Tenor instrument has been designed to be a high-quality acquisition system at a reasonable price.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 2.0 Software and USB driver installation ! Do not connect the Tenor unit to your PC before installing the software and the Tenor USB driver (Windows does not automatically recognize the Tenor unit, and the wrong drivers could be installed). Follow each step below precisely to ensure proper installation of the software and drivers on your PC. See Appendix A for more details.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. STEP 2: Power the Tenor unit Connect the power supply to the Tenor unit using the “12Vdc/2.0A” connector at the rear of the unit. The Board Status LED on the rear of the Tenor unit should turn yellow. STEP 3: Connection of the Tenor unit to the PC Connect the Tenor unit to a computer using a USB cable. Windows will then ask for the Signal Ranger Mk2 Drivers. The Signal Ranger Mk2 is the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) board on which the Tenor system is based.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 3.0 Hardware Description The hardware unit of the Tenor acquisition system is based on a USB DSP/FPGA acquisition board. It also includes an ICP conditioning board. The metal box that contains the USB acquisition board is equipped with 12 BNC connectors for 8 inputs and 4 outputs. The internal switches on the conditioning board allow selecting the Direct DC, Direct AC or ICP input paths. Each input and output has a LED to indicate saturation or a low-level problem.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 3: Tenor Hardware Unit (rear) 3.1 Technical details Here are the hardware technical details: • External board with a USB link for realtime acquisition • 8 analog inputs and 4 analog outputs • Sampling rate of 48.8 kHz per channel • SNR: 105 dB (input) and 105 dB (output) • 3 input types: Direct DC, Direct AC and ICP • Input dynamic range +-4.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 3.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.0 Using the acquisition software The next paragraphs present the set-up and acquisition portions of the software. The instrument set-up functions and the acquisition interface will be presented in detail. Postprocessing functions are not covered in this section (this information is covered in section 5.0). 4.1 Launching the Tenor software Connect the power supply to the Tenor unit using the “12Vdc/2.0A” connector at the rear of the unit.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.2 Set-up interface The Figure 4 shows the main interface just after launching the Tenor software. Figure 4: Tenor Software (Set-up Tab) The main interface has three tabs: 1) the set-up tab, 2) the acquisition tab and 3) the postprocessing tab. The set-up tab allows specifying the configuration of the instrument. Four groups of parameters are presented in this tab (see next sections for details). 4.2.1 General Set-up Figure 5: General Set-up section User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The general set-up group of parameters presents the application set-up. 4.2.2 Input Set-up The input set-up is done through the following section of the set-up tab: Figure 6: Input Set-up section Set-up Parameters Each input can be activated or deactivated using the green dots on the left. When activated, the set-up controls of a specific input become available.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. measurement with a microphone, the standard dB reference value is 2E-5. Sensitivity This is the sensitivity of the input measured in mV/Unit. The sensitivity is used by the interface to present a calibrated signal in the acquisition tab and post-processing module.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Frequency (Hz): This is the calibrator emission frequency (typically 1000 Hz in the case of a microphone). dBref: This is the reference value used for the dB computation (typically 2E-5 for a microphone). When the calibrator set-up has been done, the average time parameter must be set. A short average of 5 seconds is usually appropriate. Then, the averaging process can be launched with the button Start Cali.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.2.3 Output Set-up To activate the output on the Tenor system, the user must select the output(s) with the green dot and specify the path of a wave file that contains the signal to generate. Read sections 4.2.4 and 4.3 for more information on the selection and generation of an output wave file. Output selection is done through the green dots of the following section of the set-up tab.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The interface uses the extended wave format that supports multi channels and continuous sampling frequency adjustment. Windows with DirectX 8.0 module supports this format. Figure 9: Input and Output Paths section Note: If the Auto-Increment option is used, the Tenor software automatically adds a number to the input wave file name at each new measurement. This way, the name must be defined only for the first measurement.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.3 Wave Files Generator The Tenor system includes a dedicated module for creating a multi-channel output wave file. The next figure presents this module. Figure 10: Wave Files Generator interface The sample rate is the current sample rate of the instrument: it is not adjustable here. Here is the description of the controls: This is the duration in seconds, of the wave file to be generated. This is the global delay defined as the number of samples.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. This is the output file path. At the start-up of the generator interface, the path is set to the current output file path of the main interface. The user can change the file name with the folder icon. Each output channel can be activated with the green dot. Then, the output signal parameters are accessible for this selected channel.
Tenor Data Logger Repetitive Impulse pattern Soft dB inc. Maximum 2V Frequency of the repetition --- --- * For Gaussian White Noise, the maximum output voltage is limited to 1V instead of 2V. The distribution of this type of noise can exceed the nominal requested amplitude. A maximum of 1V for the nominal amplitude allows avoiding the saturation for an output with a dynamic range of 2V. ** This value is for a block length of 4096 (or 2048 FFT number of lines).
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.4 Launching the acquisition and monitoring When the set-up is done, the user can click on the acquisition tab and launch the acquisition. During acquisition, the interface presents the following information: 1) Input dynamic range and the global level of all selected inputs. 2) Input saturation and percentage of saturation of all selected inputs.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The next figure presents the acquisition tab of the main interface: Figure 11: Acquisition tab of the main interface The following sections explain in detail the indicators and functions of the acquisition tab. 4.4.1 Dynamic and Saturation Indicators The dynamic and saturation indicators of the acquisition tab along with the LED indicators of the Tenor unit are very useful to detect the dynamic range problems.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 12: Dynamic range and saturation indicators Each dynamic range indicator has two bars. The yellow bar is the maximum peak value measured since the beginning of the acquisition. This yellow bar turns red if saturation occurs. The blue bar is the current peak value of the current acquisition block. The peak values are presented in dBFS.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The LEDs on the Tenor box are also useful for analyzing the saturation and low signal level problems. The following table explains the meaning of the colour for input and output LEDs: LED colour description Black Red Yellow Green Inputs Not used Saturated Low Level Used Outputs Not used --- --- Used 4.4.2 Global Indicators The global level and the dynamic range indicators share the same tab at the bottom of the acquisition interface.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.4.3 Time/Spectrum Indicators During acquisition, four curves are available to display the time signal, the global level historic or the spectrum of a selected input/output. These four curves are presented in two separate graphs. The top graph presents the A and B curves while the bottom graph presents the C and D curves. Figure 14: Graph for A and B curves For both AB and CD graphs, the user can select the input/output and the type of curve.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. This control allows selecting a linear or log scale for the X axis. This control state is not used when the time or historic graphs are selected. Advanced display functions Some advanced functions can be used for both AB and CD graphs to manage the X and Y scale settings.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 4.4.4 Export Graphs When the acquisition has been completed, the Export Graph function can be used to save the data of all four curves of the AB and CD graphs.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.0 Post-Processing The post-processing tab includes a complete software tool allowing the analysis of a multichannel wave file. The post-processing can be used even if the external Tenor unit is not present. The post-processing interface accepts wave files recorded with the Tenor software and standard wave files. Tenor-recorded wave files always have an associated configuration file that contains the complete configuration of the instrument.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Peak and time signal graphs The approach used by the post-processing module allows the analysis of a large wave file (the wave standard allows a maximum size of 2GB for a wave file: about 3.0 hours at 48.8 kHz). The use of a streaming approach solves the memory limitation problem met when a large wave file is used. This means that the whole signal contained in the wave file is never completely loaded in the PC’s memory.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Cursor legend activation The next figure shows how to activate the cursor legend. The cursor legend is activated by right-clicking the graph. The cursor legend will be presented at the upper right corner of the graph. Note that all post-processing module graphs have a cursor legend that can be activated this way. Figure 19: Activate the cursor legend with a right click The cursor legend presents the cursor’s X position and Y value.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.1 Play Wave Function This function can be used to playback any portion of the selected channel. The blue cursor of the peak curve is used to specify the playback starting point.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.2 Analysis Functions Tab The post-processing module includes six analysis functions, that are applied on the entire selected framework (see section 5.4 for more information about the framework selection). These functions are grouped under the Analysis Tab at the bottom of the main postprocessing interface. The next sections describe these functions in detail. 5.2.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 22: Global level historic module interface At any time, the computation parameters can be changed and the recompute button can be used to update the results. The Do Graph Autoscale button allows adjusting the Y and X scales for the new data of the global historic graph. The next table explains the computation parameters: Computation parameter Description The time step of the global level historic can be adjusted between 50ms and 60000ms. The dB/Lin.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. This parameter allows adjusting the overlap between the time blocks used for the global levels historic calculation. This parameter can be adjusted from 0% to 90%. This parameter is used to increase the number of blocks and the time resolution of the historic graph. We suggest to keep this parameter to 0% if standard acoustic signals are used. A larger overlap can be used to avoid aliasing problem when the signal is impulsive. The Export .
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. At any time, the computation parameters can be changed and the recompute button can be used to update the results. The Do Graph Autoscale button allows adjusting the Y and X scales for the new data of the average power spectrum graph. The next table explains the computation parameters: Computation parameter Description This is the number of lines of the average power spectrum. The selections are: 1024, 2048, 4096 or 8192 lines.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The function Export .txt allows exporting the average power spectrum in text format. 5.2.3 Statistics This module allows computing the standard Lx% statistics on the global level historic for the entire framework of the selected channel. The Statistic function starts by computing the global levels of the framework with an adjustable time resolution.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. At any time, the computation parameters can be changed and the recompute button can be used to update the results. The next table explains the computation parameters: Computation parameter Description The statistics are computed for all global levels of historic. The time step of the global level historic can be adjusted between 50ms and 1000ms. The dB/Lin. parameter allows choosing the amplitude scale format. The choices are dB, dB(A), lin. rms, lin. 2 peak or lin. rms .
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 25: Waterfall interface At any time, the computation parameters can be changed and the recompute button can be used to update the results. The next table explains the computation parameters: Computation parameter Description This is the number of lines of the average power spectra. Possible selections are 1024, 2048, 4096 or 8192 lines. The FFT calculation is done with a block size of 2*Nbr Lines.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The Integration parameter allows applying a simple or double integration in the frequency domain for an acceleration measurement. For the simple integration option, the power spectra are divided by jω. For the double integration option, the spectra are divided by – 2 ω.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 28: Dialog box for waterfall graph scale adjustment The frequency and amplitude scales can be adjusted through the dialog box shown in Figure 28. The frequency scale can also be put in logarithmic mapping mode. Note that no options are available for the time scale. The waterfall graph is always generated for the entire framework. The starting point and the length of the framework can be adjusted in the main interface (see section 5.4). The Export .
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 29: Interface of the FRF module At any time, the computation parameters can be changed and the recompute button can be used to update the results. The FRF interface has two graphs: 1) The FRF graph to present the amplitude (or the phase) versus the frequency, and 2) the coherence graph.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The coherence graph allows determining if the signal measured on both channels is linked. The equation used for the coherence is: Coherence=H1/H2=Sxy2/(Sxx*Syy) Tthe Do Graph Autoscale button allows adjusting the Y and X scales of both the FRF and coherence graphs. The next table explains the computation parameters: Computation parameter Description This is the number of lines of the average FRF. Possible selection are 1024, 2048, 4096 or 8192 lines.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. or These controls allow the integration of the inputs in the FRF calculation process. This control can be used to select the format of the Y-axis for the FRF graph. The amplitude, phase (deg./rad), Im and Re formats can be used. The function Export .txt allows exporting the FRF (the Phase (Deg./Rad), Amplitude, Im and Re) and the coherence data in a text format. 5.2.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. The ISO2631 standard has one filter for the XY-axes and another filter for the Z-axis. The following curves present the frequency response of these filters. Figure 31: Frequency responses of ISO2631 filters At start-up, the Compute ISO2631 button is yellow. This means that the ISO2631 filters have not been applied and the statistics are not up-to-date.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.2.7 Change Inputs Set-up This function allows changing the input sensitivity, the input description, the unit name and the dB reference set-up. This function has been added to allow the calibration of an existing wave file, which is not recorded with the Tenor system. When opening an external wave file, the Tenor system generates a standard associated configuration file with an input sensitivity of 1.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.3 Filter and Integration Tab The Filtering and Integration tab at the bottom of the main post-processing interface includes two filter functions that can be applied across the entire selected framework (refer to section 5.4 for more information about the framework selection). The Filter function is a generic filtering module while the Integral x(t) function allows making simple or double-time integration on an acceleration signal.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.3.1 Filter The Filter function is very useful for removing some frequency components on a group of selected channels. Some typical tasks that can be done with this function are a DC filter, a notch filter to remove the 60 Hz and its harmonics and a low-pass filter to remove highfrequency noise for clearer playback. This function has a filter design interface, which is presented in the next figure.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. This parameter allows specifying the cut-off frequency of Lowpass and HighPass filters and the low cut-off frequency of Bandpass and Bandstop filters. This parameter allows specifying the high cut-off frequency of the Bandpass and Bandstop filters. This parameter is not used for the Lowpass and Highpass selections. This is the filter order. This parameter is available for all filter type selections. This parameter is used only for the Elliptic and Chebyshev filter types.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.3.2 Integral x(t) This function performs a time integration on the signal of a group of selected channels. Some modules in the analysis functions tab allow integration in the frequency domain. This function is useful for analyzing the signal coming from an accelerometer, especially if the speed and position must be analyzed in the time domain. There are many available techniques for performing time integration.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. This control allows selecting the group of channels for which the integration will be done. This button launches the integration operation. User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.4 Signal Extraction Tab The signal extraction tab includes a function for extracting a portion of the signal. This feature is very useful for analyzing a portion of the wave file and for removing the beginning of a wave file after a filtering operation. Also, a saturated portion of the signal can be excluded for better analysis. The extraction can be cancelled at any time, and the entire framework of the original wave file will be recovered.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Extraction example The objective of this example is to keep the signal between time 00:03:50 and 00:06:00. First, the blue and green cursors are moved to the desired start and end-points: Figure 35: Extraction example (first step: cursor positioning) Then, the Extract between cursors button is used to launch the extraction. After extraction, the peak value graph looks like this: Figure 36: Extraction example (Peak value graph after the extraction) User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. 5.5 Export/Save Tab The Export/Save tab includes five functions to export the time signal data to a text file, a wave file or a SDF file (Standard Data File from HP). Here is a description of the Export/Save tab functions: Function Description This function exports the selected channel to a text file. The exported signal is calibrated and the format of the text file can be adjusted through a dedicated dialog box*. This function saves only the selected framework.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Figure 37: Text format dialog box The data can be saved in line or column and the delimiter can be 1) a standard tab 2) a semi-colon (;) or 3) a custom delimiter. If the custom delimiter option is selected, the user has to specify the custom delimiter character. User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Appendix A: Tenor Driver and Software Installation Procedure ! The Tenor unit is not automatically recognized by Windows. Follow each step below precisely to ensure proper installation of the system. 1) Execute the Tenor24Bit_DataLoggerVer2_0.exe file (see installation disk provided with the Tenor). 2) Follow the installation procedure. By default, the Tenor software is installed in the C:\Program Files\Tenor_24Bit directory.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Check Install from a list or specific location (Advanced) and then click on Next Use the Browse button to specify the location of the USB driver for the Tenor unit. Select the C:\Program Files\Tenor_24Bit\USBDriver folder (or the one where you installed the software in step 2) and then click Next. The driver is installed and the Tenor unit is ready to be used. Click on Finish. To test whether the Tenor Unit is properly installed, go to My Computer/Properties.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Right click on My Computer and select Properties Click on Device Manager in the Hardware tab User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Expand the USB tree and check for the following entry: Signal_Ranger_mk2 User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Appendix B: Tenor input/output specifications Specification Commentary Direct AC, Direct DC and ICP inputs SNR 105.0 dB This is the signal–to-noise ratio for the analog input. This result is for an output dynamic of +-4.5V. Output SNR 105.0 dB This is the signal–to-noise ratio for the analog output. This result is for an output dynamic of +-2V. Input impedance 1 kOhms For the direct DC. 18 kOhms For both ICP direct AC inputs. Output impedance 0.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Input Frequency Response The next figures present the frequency response for all input types. User Manual p.
Tenor Data Logger Soft dB inc. Output Frequency Response User Manual p.
