Digital Multimeter with PC Interface (220-0168) Advanced Functions Faxback Doc. # 3995 USING THE AUTO-HOLD FEATURE When you first turn on the meter, A-H appears in the upper left corner of the display to indicate that the auto-hold feature is turned on. When this feature is turned on, the secondary display shows the reading taken 4 seconds earlier. To turn off this feature, press FUNCTION to select one of the other advanced functions. USING THE DATA HOLD FEATURE The data hold feature lets you hold a reading on the display. To turn on the data hold feature, press FUNCTION until D-H appears at the top of the display. Both the main and secondary displays show the current reading. To hold a reading on the secondary display, press SET/RESET. The main display continues to track the current measurement. Press SET/RESET to release the measurement and return to the auto-hold function. Or, press FUNCTION to select another advanced feature. USING THE MINIMUM FEATURE The minimum feature lets you measure the minimum value of a changing reading. To turn on the minimum reading feature, repeatedly press FUNCTION until MIN appears at the top of the display. Both the main and secondary displays show the current reading. Press SET/RESET to activate the minimum feature. The secondary display only updates when the current reading is lower than the previously held reading. The main display continues to track the current measurement. Press SET/RESET to release the measurement and return to the auto-hold function. Or, press FUNCTION to select another advanced feature. USING THE MAXIMUM FEATURE The maximum feature lets you measure the maximum value of a changing reading. To turn on the maximum reading feature, repeatedly press FUNCTION until MAX appears at the top of the display. Both the main and secondary displays show the current reading. Press SET/RESET to activate the maximum feature. The secondary display only updates when the current reading is higher than the previously held reading. The main display continues to track the current measurement. Press SET/RESET to release the measurement and return to the auto-hold function. Or, press FUNCTION to select another advanced feature. USING THE RELATIVE MEASUREMENT FEATURE The relative measurement feature lets you measure values relative to a reference value that you set. For example, you can set a reference voltage and then measure the difference between the actual voltage and the reference voltage. Follow these steps to set a reference value. 1. Repeatedly press FUNCTION until REL appears at the top of the display. 2. Press UP or DOWN To set the reference value's polarity. (- appears for negative values.) Press SET/RESET. 3. Press UP or DOWN to set the reference value's first digit. Press SET/RESET. Note: The first digit can be either 1 or nothing. 0 does not appear on the display for the first digit. Repeat Step 3 for the other three digits. After you enter the last digit, the meter begins making relative measurements. The main display shows the actual measurement. The secondary display shows the difference between the measured value and the reference value. STORING MEASUREMENTS IN MEMORY Follow these steps to store up to ten measured values in memory for later recall. 1. Select the measurement type and range with the rotary selector. 2. Repeatedly press FUNCTION until MEM appears at the top of the display. 3. Repeatedly press UP or DOWN until the secondary display shows the number of the memory you want to store a value in. 4. While making a measurement, press SET/RESET to store the current measurement. RECALLING STORED MEASUREMENTS Follow these steps to recall a measured value from one of the ten memories. 1. Repeatedly press FUNCTION until RCL appears at the top of the display. 2. Repeatedly press UP or DOWN until the memory you want to recall appears in the secondary display. 3. Press SET/RESET. The stored value appears in the secondary display. USING THE DUAL MEASUREMENT FEATURE Your meter can measure and display two different types of measurements at the same time. To set the dual mode, repeatedly press FUNCTION until DUAL appears at the top of the display. The meter displays the following dual measurements: Input Range Selection Main Display Secondary Display AC VOLTAGE AC Voltage Frequency Frequency Frequency AC Voltage Notes : The meter indicates a frequency measurement on the secondary display when you select the DC/AC A, resistance, diode, or hFE modes and turn on the dual function. This measurement is not valid. When you select dual measurement while measuring frequency, the meter selects the 20V AC range for the secondary display. To measure both the voltage and frequency, when the voltage is greater than 20V AC, select AC voltage as the primary measurement. USING THE METER WITH A COMPUTER INTERFACING THE METER WITH A COMPUTER Follow these steps to connect the meter to a computer. 1. Connect the supplied RS-232C cable between the meter's and the computer's serial port. 2. Press POWER to turn on the meter. 3. Turn on the computer. USING THE SUPPLIED SOFTWARE We have included two programs to log and display data collected with your meter. The MS-DOS program is called RS, and is in the GRAPHIC subdirectory on the supplied diskette. The Windows program is called Scopeview, and is in the GRAPHIC subdirectory on the supplied diskette. Note: You can not log frequencies on the computer if the voltage exceeds 20V AC. Using the DOS Software Follow these steps to install and run the MS-DOS software. Note: The following steps assume a basic knowledge of MS-DOS commands, and also assume you have a hard disk. Refer to your computer's MS-DOS User's Guide for information about MS-DOS commands. This software requires a VGA monitor. 1. Insert the supplied diskette in your computer's 3 1/2-inch drive. 2. Create a directory on your hard disk for the software. For example, to make a directory called METER for the software, type: cd\ md METER 3. Make the directory you created the current directory. For example, if the directory is METER, type: cd\METER 4. Copy the files from the GRAPHIC subdirectory on the floppy drive to your hard disk. For example, type: copy a:\GRAPHIC c: 5. To run the program, type RS . Follow the on-screen help for specific operating instructions. Notes: If you do not have a hard disk, you can still run the program from the supplied floppy diskette. Change to the GRAPHIC subdirectory on the diskette, and type RS . To stop the program or to escape from a device I/O error, press . To get the DOS software to save data, when you begin the program, go to the file option on the top of the screen (with either the mouse or by pressing the F10 key and using the arrows) and select NEW prior to taking measurements. Later to retrieve it, go to OPEN in the same pull down menu. Using the Windows Software Follow these steps to install and run the Windows software. Note: The following steps assume a basic knowledge of Microsoft Windows. Refer to your computer's Windows User's Guide for information about using Windows. This software requires Microsoft Windows, Version 3.1 or later and a VGA or EGA display. 1. Start your computer and run Windows. 2. Insert the supplied diskette in your computer's 3 1/2-inch drive. 3. From the Windows Program Manager, pull down the FILE menu and select the RUN option. 4. At the prompt, type: a: \scope\setup (If you placed the diskette in Drive A) b: \scope\setup (If you placed the diskette in Drive B) 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. 6. To run the program double-click the SCOPE-VIEW icon. Follow the on-screen help for specific operating instructions. Also, refer to the README file in the diskette's SCOPE subdirectory for operation hints. TECHNICAL INFORMATION You need the following information if you are writing your own interface software. Communication parameters Transmission rate: 1200 Baud Character coding : 7-bit ASCII Parity : None Stop Bits : 2 Data Format The data format consists of a frame of 14 bytes. The frames are set as follows: BYTE) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E Example 1) D C - 1 . 9 9 9 V CR Example 2) 1 . 9 9 9 M o h m CR REPLACING THE FUSE WARNING: TO AVOID ELECTRIC SHOCK, DISCONNECT THE TEST PROBES BEFORE REMOVING THE BATTERY OR THE FUSE. REPLACE ONLY WITH THE SAME TYPE OF BATTERY OR FUSE. SERVICE SHOULD BE PERFORMED ONLY BY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL. CAUTION: For continued protection against fire or other hazard, replace only with a fuse of the specified voltage and current ratings. F1 - Radio Shack Cat. No. 270-1052 F2 - Radio Shack Cat. No. 270-1041 Follow these steps to replace the fuse. 1. Turn off the meter and disconnect the test probes. 2. Remove the cover by unscrewing the four screws and pulling off the meter's cover. 3. Remove the blown fuse. 4. Install the new fuse in the fuse compartment. 5. Replace the cover and secure it with the screws. WARNING: DO NOT OPERATE YOUR METER UNTIL THE BACK COVER IS IN PLACE AND FULLY CLOSED. (br/ir-07/11/96)