TE Technology TC-48-20 - Manual (Page 31)

31
CONTROLLER OPTIONS box
The SAMPLING indicator will flash green each time the software updates the sensor temperatures and power
output. The menu options allow for enabling/disabling EEPROM write enable, adjusting the sampling frequency
and for determining where to save test data to a file. NOTE: if you use the software with controllers having
firmware version G or earlier, the EEPROM WRITE ENABLE button will be disabled and grayed out. This control
operates only on firmware versions H and later.
The EEPROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, is a non‐volatile memory used to store
controller settings. This allows the controller to remember its settings even after power to the controller has been
turned off. The TC‐48‐20 and TC‐48‐20 OEM automatically turn on EEPROM WRITE ENABLE when power is applied
to the controller regardless of whether EEPROM WRITE ENABLE was turned off when power to the controller was
removed. With EEPROM WRITE ENABLE turned on, any changes to the controller settings are automatically written
to EEPROM. With EEPROM WRITE ENABLE turned off, any subsequent changes to the controller settings are only
saved in RAM and will not be stored to EEPROM. The maximum number of writes to an EEPROM location is
1,000,000. Even though this provides for many write cycles, you might want to turn EEPROM WRITE ENABLE off if
for example you are writing your own code to ramp set points via the computer.
The SAMPLE RATE determines the amount of time the software waits before updating the status of the controller.
This is particularly useful if you will be operating controller for a long time and you want to limit the amount of
data you save. The minimum time is 1 second, and it can be adjusted in 1 second increments.
To SAVE DATA TO FILE, enter a filename in the text box, including the entire path to the file, such as <C:\PROGRAM
FILES\TE TECHNOLOGY\TC‐48‐20\TESTDATA.TXT>. Alternatively, if you want to append data to an existing file, you
can click the folder icon to select an existing file. Then click the SAVE DATA TO FILE button to begin saving test
data. If you click the SAVE DATA TO FILE button before entering a filename and path in the text button, an error
screen will pop up and a default filename and path will automatically be entered in the text box. Click the continue
button on the error pop‐up if applicable. The arrow on the button will turn green to indicate that the software is
saving test data. The software saves the data into a TAB‐delimited format which can then be readily imported into
a spreadsheet program for further analysis.